Michael Rubbo Movies

In December of 1988, Lorna Henkel, a woman in her late fifties living in Johannesburg, South Africa, answered a knock at her door to find a young man standing at her steps. Moments later, the man burst into Henkel's home, raping and brutally beating her in an attack which left her physically and emotionally scarred beyond repair. In 2003, with the 15th anniversary of the crime looming, Henkel's assailant still remained at large, and Cathy Henkel (Lorna's daughter) took it upon herself to do something about it. With a small film crew in tow, Cathy Henkel launched her own investigation into the attack and discovered a bungled police inquiry, familial discord over the nature of the crime, and a nation gripped by an epidemic of criminal sexual assault. The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face explores the crime that changed Lorna Henkel's life forever and what her daughter learned when she tried to bring the offender to justice. The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Veteran documentary filmmaker Michael Rubbo dives into the age-old debate over who authored William Shakespeare's plays with this engaging, passionately argued work. In his attempts to get to the bottom of the literary world's worship of Shakespeare -- "Bardolatry" as the filmmaker calls it -- Rubbo talks to English eccentrics and snooty Americans in London, Seattle, Venice, and even "Canada of all places," hoping to answer one question: Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? Rubbo asserts that Christopher Marlowe is the prime suspect. A rouge, freethinker, and atheist, Marlowe was also the most influential playwright of his day until his murder in 1593. But was he really killed? As scholar Calvin Hoffman argues in this film, Marlowe could have faked his death and fled to Italy to write some of the Western world's great works. At the same time, Rubbo argues Shakespeare's lack of an education -- he reportedly did not own a single book -- makes it unlikely that he penned such learned works as Titus Andronicus and The Tempest. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This Canadian fantasy, aimed at children, is the sequel to 1987's Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller. This imaginative story has Tommy, his sister and friends gathered together to try to liberate Charles Merriweather who has been stuck for 60 years on a Canadian stamp depicting the famous Bluenose sailing ship. They begin to work their magic. Tommy is hoping that the newly returned Charles will become his partner in a stamp collecting business. The other two just want to help him. The magic works and Charles returns. But surprise! It isn't Charles at all, but Molly Merriweather, Charles' pretty little sister. Unfortunately Molly begins aging rapidly and can only regain her youth after the youngsters cover her with Bluenose stamps. To get them they had to go to the Cook Islands. They succeed, Tommy falls in love, Charles returns, and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A young woman's real talent gets her mixed up with crooks selling fake art treasures in this comedy for the whole family. Jo (Nina Petronzio) is a 13-year-old girl who loves to draw and has a very special talent -- she can sketch and paint in a style that bears a startling resemblance to the work of Vincent Van Gogh. Jo's talent has won her a grant to art school, but she also discovers it can earn her pocket money when a man in a coffee shop sees her sketching and offers to pay her to do some drawings for him. Jo agrees, but regrets her decision when she discovers she's unwittingly become part of an art counterfeiting ring -- her drawings are being as sold as Van Gogh originals, with customers lining up to pay the multimillion-dollar price tags! Vincent and Me also features Christopher Forrest, Paul Klerk, and Tcheky Karyo as the ghost of Vincent Van Gogh. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

After having arranged an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro, who then did not show up, the three men in this documentary film recouped their losses by making this film about Cuba and themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi