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Films for 2008
Film Descriptions
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS - At The Fritz During the final days of communism in Romania, two college roommates Otilia and Gabita are busy preparing for a night away. But rather than planning for a holiday, they are making arrangements for Gabita's illegal abortion and unwittingly, both find themselves burrowing deep down a rabbit hole of unexpected revelations.
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE - At The Fritz Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s which captures the Zeitgeist of the era--with the early innocence; the struggle for civil rights,; drugs, sex and rock and roll; and anti-war protests. . At once gritty, whimsical and highly creative, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action, special effects and animation, the film is paired with many songs written by The Beatles that define the time. ANIMATED SHORTS Three eco-cartoons from the 60s and 70s, Arkelope, Blowhard, and What on Earth?, bookended by last year’s Oscar winner The Danish Poet, and this year’s Canadian Oscar nominee, Madame Tutli Putli. An animated journey you won’t want to miss. ARGENTINA: TURNING AROUND In the 1990s Argentina embraced globalization, but the economy collapsed. The eyes of the world were on Argentina as a desperate people turned to each other for mutual support in a remarkable outpouring of grassroots organizing. Now, years later, have there been fundamental changes, or is it business as usual? ARGENTINA: TURNING AROUND shows the new models of work, politics and community development that are now underway, as people re-invent their society to offer a better life for all. (Trailer on YouTube) THE BIG LIE A quick, historical study of fascism in Franco’s Spain. One man’s account of his personal experiences there, his view of creeping fascism, and parallels to present day behaviour in the US. His thesis: If you’re going to tell a lie, make it a big one, because no one would believe you’d make-up something so outrageous. BLESSED UNREST BLESSED UNREST explores the diversity of a movement, its brilliant ideas, innovative strategies, and hidden history, which date back many centuries. A culmination of Hawken's many years of leadership in the environmental and social justice fields, it will inspire and delight any and all who despair of the world's fate, and its conclusions will surprise even those within the movement itself. Fundamentally, it is a description of humanity's collective genius. BORDERLESS BORDERLESS gives a voice to the dreams and struggles of the undocumented workers in Canada. Two undocumented workers tell their stories of exploitation and displacement. Against the odds, they work to build a future for families painfully separated by restrictive immigrations laws. You will meet an often invisible workforce and reflect on the hidden costs of sustaining our “first world” economy. BREAKFAST WITH SCOT - At The Fritz Eric lives for all things hockey. Now in his thirties, he’s managed to turn his stint as an ex- Toronto Maple Leaf into a full-time gig as commentator for sports TV. But when Eric?s boyfriend Sam announces that they’re to become temporary guardians of a young boy, Eric’s comfortable world shatters. Enter Scot -- a recently orphaned, swishy 11-year-old sissy-of-a-boy -- and Eric?s mirror opposite. Freaked out by Scot’s “joie de vivre”, Eric and Sam gently nudge Scot away from scented hand cream and all things pink, towards a more “acceptable” pastime, hockey. But after Scot?s disastrous first game, Eric begins to rethink the compromises he’s made in his own life in order to be “accepted.” CANDEMONIUM You won’t believe the sculptures that can be built using cans of food! Check out this most delightful short where you construct sculptures out of cans in support of this annual Vancouver anti-hunger project, “Canstruction.” You will find yourself smiling for quite awhile after seeing this film.
CHINA BLUE Shot clandestinely, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retailers don't want us to see: how the clothes we buy are actually made. Following a pair of denim jeans from birth to sale, China Blue links the power of the U.S. consumer market to the daily lives of a Chinese factory owner and two teenaged female factory workers. Filmed both in the factory and in the workers' faraway village.
COTTONLAND When the last of Cape Breton's once thriving coalmines shut down in the late 1990s, the shrinking population of Glace Bay faced chronic unemployment. For some, despair led to a dependency on the prescription painkiller OxyContin. Strong and cohesive social networks can help people to resist drug dependency. In the neighbouring native community of Membertou, the economy is flourishing and a culture of hope thrives. CottonLand emphasizes the importance of a collective approach to problems of addiction and dependency. CRUDE IMPACT A powerful and timely exploration of the interconnection between human domination of the planet and the discovery and use of oil, Crude Impact exposes our deep-rooted dependency on the availability of fossil fuel energy and examines the dire implications of the pending threat of global peak oil. It is considered one of the best documentaries on this subject and positively promotes hopeful changes that will create a more just and sustainable world. THE CURSE OF COPPER Intag region in Ecuador is one of the world’s ten most threatened biodiversity hotspots. After a fierce battle in the 1990s between local people and mining corporations, the local government declared the whole of Cotacachi an “Ecological County”, and banned mining activities in the region. Despite this, in August 2002, two mining concessions in the Intag were secretly auctioned off. These rights were transferred to Ascendant Copper Corporation (ACX), based in Vancouver. Cotacachi has resisted and has gained the support of international organizations including Friends of the Earth, Mining Watch Canada and Rainforest Concern. DAMAGE DONE: THE DRUG ODYSSEY
Is the war on drugs doing more damage than the drugs themselves? After 30 years of drug war, illegal narcotics are decreasing in price, increasing in purity and demand continues to surge. The heroes of this film are veterans of the drug war and they urge us to consider ending drug prohibition. They have had a complete revolution in their thinking. Now they are working to end the War on Drugs. Find out what happened to change their minds.
EMILY CARR: GROWING PAINS Emily Carr was the first white woman artist to discover the totem villages, brooding forests and majestic mountains of our west coast. A desire to paint their mystery became the driving force in her life. This intimate biopic combines dramatic sequences, archival photos and interviews with people who knew her. EMPOWERING YOUTH Between 2003 and 2007, 18 African organizations partnered with Canada World Youth to deliver the Africa-Canada Eco-leadership Program. Following the program, African participants started up their own eco-enterprises or educational projects. These programs provided youth with an experience in global citizenship, environmentally sustainable development, civil society building, and democratic participation. ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS Malalai Joya is a 28 year-old woman from Afghanistan. This film follows her parliamentary campaign to her election as a delegate in Wolesi Jirga, or National Assembly. It is the first democratic parliament election in Afghanistan in over 30 years. Surrounded by security, Malalai Joya spreads her political beliefs despite several death threats. It is her courage and conviction which has made her into a folk hero. ESCAPE FROM LUANDA Following 27 years of civil war, Angola remains one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world; hardly somewhere you would expect to find hope or laughter. This documentary shatters expectations with a portrait of three students from Luanda, who run the gauntlet every day to attend the country's only music school, finding escape from the horrors of the conflict and the shanty towns where they live, in the work of Mozart and other composers. ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA Through personal stories and interviews we see how declining world oil production has already begun to affect modern life in North America. Expert scientific opinion is balanced with “on the street” portraits from an emerging global movement of citizens’ groups who are confronting the challenges of Peak Oil in extraordinary ways. Escape from Suburbia asks the tough questions: What are our future energy options? What are ordinary people doing in their own communities to prepare for Peak Oil? EVERYTHING’S COOL While industry funded nay-sayers sing what just might be their swan song of pseudo- scientific deception, a group of climate change messengers are on a high stakes quest to find the iconic image, the magic language, the points of leverage that will finally create the political will to move the US from its reliance on fossil fuels to a new earth-friendly economy – and fast! FAITH WITHOUT FEAR
In FAITH WITHOUT FEAR, controversial author and outspoken Muslim Irshad Manji asks herself: How has Islam, a religion of justice, become mired in fear? Manji journeys through the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America on a mission to reconcile her faith in Allah with life in the 21st century.
FORGIVENESS: STORIES OF OUR TIME
The filmmaker follows four people who have suffered catastrophic personal loss. The intimate stories of their journeys illuminates shock, grief, forgiveness, and healing. They show us it really is possible to heal from some of the worst that life can offer up. For those with the courage to confront their demons, light and peace are still possible . These stories of loss and redemption will tear your heart out. FtF: FEMALE TO FEMME
Envisioning more than it documents, FEMALE TO FEMME celebrates dyke femme identities, combining farce and seduction with analysis and personal history. For years, femmes have forged community and created space for themselves out of edgy performance and authentic parody. FtF recognizes these strategies and builds them into an unforgettable sexy, funny and moving film.
GOOD FOOD “A SNEAK PREVIEW”
Demand for organic food is growing at 20% per year. Farmers are finding a new place on the land. We are seeing a sea change to something better for the long run. As the system expands, local and sustainable growers find more opportunities. GOOD FOOD, a new feature documentary to be released in early 2008, will help celebrate, spread the word, and invite new interest.
KUPER ISLAND: RETURN TO THE HEALING CIRCLE They called it Alcatraz. It was the Kuper Island Indian Residential School. The film’s focus is not the horrors of the residential school - some buried their babies (a result of sexual abuse) near the school grounds and others died trying to escape in canoes or on floating logs. Welsh and Campbell concentrate on the healing that will free the former residents from the past and give them hope for the future. LOOP Loop is a study of four men whose lives are in transition--two retiring, two searching for meaning. We witness two young gadabouts who journey far from home in a leaky fishing boat, an ambulance driver/former UN rep in Lebanon and Bosnia who seeks solitude in a fire watchtower, an octogenarian returns to the mountain peaks of his youth, and a rock climber hell bent on setting a record. Adventuresome yet thoughtful, and beautifully filmed. MEMORIES OF A DREAMER Félix Mora suffered under Pinochet's cruel and inhumane dictatorship. Thirty years later he relives the shocking details of the human rights abuses he escaped from, and the challenges he faced as an exile in Italy and Canada. For Félix, exile became a catalyst to fight for freedom and democracy. This inspirational film where terror and injustice are overcome by courage and determination is a testament to the lives of many Chilean exiles.
MY DEAD HUSBAND’S LAND Culture and its proponents prevent Luo women of Kenya from inheriting and owning their deceased husbands’ land and properties. The widows themselves are deemed property and are often “inherited.” They are forced to marry male relatives, usually brothers-in-law, according to an ancient custom known as ‘ter.’ But the women of Orongo are emerging victorious in a battle against practices they consider oppressive and cruel. NO MORE HIROSHIMA, NO MORE NAGASAKI A powerful telling of the horrendous disaster of the August 1945 nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed and/or died of radiation and few are still alive to tell the tale. We meet several survivors of that nuclear war and hear the stories of their personal experiences being on the ground in those cities while under nuclear attack. When so many countries are currently stockpiling and building nuclear weapons, the film reminds us about the reality of warfare of this magnitude. NOMAD’S LAND They're civilians, yet the military runs their lives. Wives of soldiers, these women inherited a lifestyle they hadn't necessarily chosen. When her husband joined the Air Force, filmmaker Claire Corriveau discovered a singular world where everything was subordinate to the needs of the Canadian Forces, to the detriment of family life. Without their sacrifices and backstage work, the military would be unable to deploy its operations. Their unsung contributions come at a high personal price.
OS TRES DE PORTUGAL/THE THREE OF PORTUGAL Os Três de Portugal is a Vancouver fado music group comprised of luthier Jose Amaral, guitarista Manuel Redondo and singer Suzana Rodrigues. The trio is driven by the desire to preserve fado, an important cultural tradition from their native Portugal and they try to impart the spirit of fado to a new generation of Canadians. This beautifully photographed film climaxes with a final concert held at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. PETE SEEGER: THE POWER OF SONG The son of an academic musicologist and a gifted violinist, Pete introduced “We Shall Overcome” to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and later spearheaded the cleanup of the Hudson River. He suffered banishment due to his political affiliations for decades after the McCarthy Witchhunt era. He will soon be 90. Pete Seeger is an institution and a monument and remains devoted to peace, justice and democracy and song. THE PLANET The extraordinary visual style and the unexpected content may unlock alienated attitudes about climate change. Yet, the film is about more than climate change, It’s about the earth as a whole, and the overall global changes we’re experiencing right now, including the dramatic loss of life in the animal and plant kingdoms. Incredibly shot.
THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN Shooting farmer John Peterson over the 25-years of their evolving friendship, and using multiple media, from 8 mm home movies to modern video, allowed Taggart Siegel to capture his alternately humorous, heartbreaking and spirited life with raw drama and intimacy. Defying all odds, John gradually transforms his land from production farming into a revolutionary community, where people work and flourish providing fresh vegetables and herbs to thousands of people every week through Community Supported Agriculture. RED AND DEAD Swaths of red have come to colour B.C.’s forest landscape. Wildland firefighters describe these areas as “red and dead”, each tree suffocated by the mountain pine beetle. And as climate change reduces the occurrence of cold snaps that perform pest control, infestations have spread like wildfire. REEL BAD ARABS It started as fun and entertainment, then became a stereotype, then evolved into racism, and crossed over from Arabs to a broader Islamophobia. The film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists". These attitudes reinforce a narrow view of individual Arabs and the affects specific US domestic and international policies on their lives.
SALT SPRING ISLAND DISCOVERY
The film takes us on a journey into the cultural heritage and natural beauty of the Burgoyne Valley - one of British Columbia's oldest farming communities. The spirit of the land and its people emerges as local elders, the descendants of pioneers, share their memories. SAVING LUNA What happens when a wild orca tries to make friends with people – not for food, but for companionship? SAVING LUNA is a true story about one such killer whale. In 2001, when Luna was just a baby, he found himself alone, more than 200 miles away from his family. Orcas normally spend their entire lives together, but Luna was lost. Then people got involved. As conflict and tragedy stained the waters, Luna became a symbol of the world’s wildest beauty: easy to love, hard to save.
SEXY INC. OUR CHILDREN UNDER INFLUENCE SEXY INC. analyzes the hypersexualization of our environment and its noxious effects on young people. Psychologists, teachers and school nurses criticize the unhealthy culture surrounding our children, where marketing and advertising are targeting younger and younger audiences and bombarding them with sexual and sexist images. Sexy Inc. suggests various ways of countering hypersexualization and the eroticization of childhood and invites us to rally against this worrying phenomenon. SHE’S A BOY I KNEW Parents lost a son, sisters lost a brother, and saddest of all, a wife lost her husband after Steven Haworth answered the nagging inner voice of his true gender identity and undertook the process to become Gwen, the director of this film. In the retelling of her own story, Haworth employs archival footage and animation to enhance a transgender success story. Refreshing in its candor, SHE’S A BOY I KNEW becomes a deeply moving story of loss and unconditional love.
SKYGGENES DAL (REMAINS) An expose’ of the traumatic consequences of sexual abuse on a young life. REMAINS portrays the lives of three siblings who were abused by their father during childhood and who are still traumatized. With honesty and openness, the siblings share their memories. Why is sexual abuse against children such a great taboo in many societies? Can one ever really be free from the past, and how much can a human heart forgive?
STRONG COFFEE: The Story of Cafe Feminino In coffee-yielding regions, a new and dynamic product is blossoming that continues to reshape the sociocultural landscape of the developing world - a product christened Café Femenino. A coffee grown, harvested and produced exclusively by female farmers, it contributes a great deal to attempts to reverse the machismo-fueled, patriarchal attitudes of local coffee culture - by proving and justifying gender equality and dramatically cutting back on misogynistic violence. TABLELAND From the orchards of Interior BC, Napa Highlands, rural Quebec and other places where “slow food” is celebrated, TABLELAND consists of interviews with chefs, farmers, writers, teachers, activists and other proponents of the production of tasty, local and seasonal food from field to plate. The movie contains themed sections on taste, sustainability, the environment and is filled with fun stories, entertaining facts and tasty treats. TRADING DEMOCRACY FOR CORPORATE RULE The top ten reasons to oppose the two worst trade agreements in Canadian history, TILMA (the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement) and the SPP (the Security and Prosperity Partnership). It describes 10 areas and issues that will be impacted by these agreements. Several experts send an alarming message to Canadians that it is time to end undemocratic trade deals that are developed with input from only the largest corporations. TSEPONG: A CLINIC CALLED HOPE In December 2004, the Ontario Hospital Association had their first team of health care workers on the ground in Lesotho, operating out of Tsepong Clinic (“the place of hope” in Sesotho, the local language.) As part of a three-year partnership with the Lesotho Ministry of Health, they help with the wide-spread distribution of affordable life-saving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs.) Doctors, pharmacists and a single nurse provide instructions and ongoing coaching to patients under extraordinary working conditions. THE UNBEARABLE WHITENESS OF BEING Faisel Aziz tackles a topic that many people won’t even be aware of in this interesting documentary – the rising trend of Asian skin-lightening. Talking to a couple selling ‘all natural’ products that promise to make skin look whiter and a host of Asians whose attitudes vary from the converted to those who view it as a worrying development, it is revealing as well as slightly depressing. THE UNION
No longer a hobby for the stereotypical hippie culture of the ’60s, BC's illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a seemingly unstoppable business giant, dubbed by those involved as “The Union”. Commanding upwards of $7 billion Canadian annually, “The Union’s” roots stretch far and wide, directly and indirectly affecting all areas of our society. Follow filmmaker Adam Scorgie as he dives head first into Canada's most socially acceptable illegal activity.
VOICES IN WARTIME VOICES IN WARTIME sharply etches the experience of war through powerful images and the words of poets – unknown and world-famous. Soldiers, journalists, historians and experts on combat interviewed in Voices in Wartime add diverse perspectives on war’s effects on soldiers, civilians and society. In Voices in Wartime, poets around the world, from the United States and Colombia to Britain and Nigeria to Iraq and India, share their views and experiences of war that extend beyond national borders and into the depth of the human soul.
WORK FOR PEACE—CONSCIENCE CANADA This fast-paced, informative, emotionally engaging film on conscientious objection to military taxation invites us to refuse financing war and to redirect our taxes to peace.
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