|
|
 Dates
About the Festival
Venues
Tickets
Contact Info
Volunteering
Download ReFrame Schedule
REELKids Film Festival
Other ReFrame Events:
Speakers
Filmmakers Panel
Performances
In Late Night
Art Shows in the Downtown
Your Inner Artist
International Bazaar
The Next Generation
Dates
January 23 to 25 2009
Friday Jan. 23, 2009
Saturday Jan. 24, 2009
Sunday Jan. 25, 2009
About the Festival
What’s in a name, and why ReFrame? Quite a bit. We are now a totally made-in-Peterborough festival. In our first year most of our films were selected by the World Community Film Festival in Courtenay, British Columbia. Last year was the first time our committee programmed all of its own films. We have since chosen the name ReFrame because it reflects what we want to do.
The independently made films we choose don’t just cover international issues; they re-frame them. They tell stories that often get little or no media coverage but need to be seen and heard by all members of our community. They provoke thought and offer insight. Mainstream media often explore issues from an outside observer’s point of view, while we try to choose films that refocus the lens to get a closer look at the insiders’ perspectives — the people who have lived the experience.
ReFrame celebrates the latest works created by filmmakers from our community, Canada, and around the world. We select films that will develop the audience’s appreciation for and awareness of arts and culture in contemporary media. The 2009 program brings together film screenings, filmmakers’ panels, children’s and high-school programs, workshops, art exhibits, fair trade crafts, international foods, live performances, volunteers, and community partnerships.
This year we are excited to collaborate with the MUSE Film Series, Aboriginal, and local filmmakers on pre-festival premieres. The REELKids six programs for elementary school children now have an audience of over 3,000 and our high school program will focus on smaller numbers but dig deep into understanding and practicing the art of social justice filmmaking.
ReFrame involves over a hundred community organizations and local businesses. Community group representatives introduce films to help the audience make the connection between what is happening in the film and what is happening locally. Over sixty volunteers from all ages and walks of life step forward to make the festival a reality.
Thank you. Thank you for coming to the festival. Thanks to all of you who belong to community organizations that sponsor the festival. ReFrame is a festival by, for, and of the people.
We hope you enjoy.
Venues
Do NOT sell tickets.
Market Hall Theatre
336 George St., Peterborough
(705) 749-1146
Peterborough Public Library
345 Aylmer St., Peterborough
(705) 745-5560
Showplace Performance Centre
290 George St. N., Peterborough
(705) 742-SHOW (7469)
Tickets
On sale December 1, 2008
Weekend passes-access to all:
films, events, exhibits & displays,
talks, panels, workshops!
$25.00 - For entire festival
$12.00 - Students/Unwaged
Suggested Donation $5 / Film
Have You Seen
321 Alymer Street,
Peterborough
750-0770
Titles Book Store
379 George Street,
Peterborough
743-9610
Happenstance Books and Yarn
44 Queen Street,
Lakefield
652-7535
Kawartha World Issues Centre (KWIC) Environmental Sciences Building
Room B101
Trent University
748-1011 ext. 1680
Millbrook
Bear Essentials
40 King Street East
Millbrook
932-2850
Common Grounds
40 Kent Street West,
Lindsay
324-8117
Contact Info
Krista English
reframefilmfestival@gmail.com
(705) 748-1680
Volunteers needed before and during festival!
If you'd like to volunteer, contact our volunteer coordinator:
Daphne Ingram
tingram@nexicom.net
Speakers
Carole Roy Celebration
of Human Dignity
Friday Night’s feature presentation is in honour of Carole Roy, one of the festival co-founders of the Traveling World Community Film Festival Peterborough. Carole’s community vision was the inspiration for this festival 5 years ago. Carole has since moved away from our community but her idea and underlying philosophy of human dignity resonates deeply in the members of the festival organizing committee. Friday night is the 2nd annual Carole Roy Celebration of Human Dignity.
Filmmakers Panel
Urgency: Stories that Need Telling
- Why did you choose to tell this story?
- Can you talk about how you chose to make the film and why?
- How about funding films like this?
Su Ditta Panel Moderator
Su Ditta is President and CEO of Wild Ideas Arts Consulting, a private consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning, facilitation, arts management and arts policy development and program review. She has worked professionally in the Canadian arts and culture sector for almost 30 years. While her specialty is the media and visual arts, Su has also worked for dance, theatre, music and multidisciplinary, community-based arts organizations.
Lester Alfonso, Twelve 2008
Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Lester Alfonso is a filmmaker, writer and video artist whose work has
appeared on CBC's ZeD TV, Nickelodeon Asia and Salon.com. Trying to Be
Some Kind of Hero, his award-winning documentary tracing the footsteps
of his missing grandfather, was the official selection for more than a
dozen film festivals across North America. “Twelve” won the National Film Board of Canada's Reel Diversity competition in 2007. This is his first film with the
NFB.
Ian Connacher,
Addicted to Plastic, 2008
Director, Writer, Producer
For more than 10 years, Ian Connacher has been documenting solutions
to environmental issues. He has written for various newspapers and
magazines including Shift, Canadian Geographic and The Globe and Mail.
He also co-founded Earth Change Productions, which distributed a
documentary on climate change solutions to schools and libraries in
2000. In 2001, Ian produced segments for CBC's SUNDAY show and then
spent 5 years producing segments for the science show Daily Planet on Discovery Canada. In 2005, Ian founded Cryptic Moth Productions and
produced a short film entitled Alphabet Soup, which chronicles a
scientific voyage to an ocean vortex where plastic debris accumulates.
This was the inspiration for Addicted to Plastic.
Tracey Deer –Club Native, 2008
Director, Writer, Producer
Tracey Deer, a Mohawk from the community of Kahnawake, obtained her bachelor’s degree in Film Studies from the Ivy League Dartmouth College in 2000. Tracy directed, filmed and wrote, Mohawk Girls, the story about the lives of three Mohawk teenagers growing up on the Kahnawake reserve. Mohawk Girls won the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award at the Imaginenative Film Festival in 2005. Her latest project, Club Native, is a feature documentary examining the concept of modern Native identity. The film has been recognized as Best Canadian Film Award, 2008 DOXA film Festival, Vancouver and Best Canadian Film Award, 2008 First Peoples’ Festival, Montreal. She has also co-directed a feature documentary about a Mohawk immersion elementary school, her first short fiction film.
Robert Lang,
Return to Napal, 2008
Director, Writer, Producer
Robert Lang is a director, producer, writer and cameraman who, over the past fifteen years, has been responsible for production of over 150 television programs, among them: the 3-part Gemini Award winning series Diamond Road (TVO, Discovery Times Channel, ZDF/Arte); 3 seasons of 72 Hours:True Crime (CBC, TLC); and 5 seasons of the hit series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science (Discovery/CTV, TLC).
Since he first began as a director/cameraman at the NFB in Montreal in the 1970s, themes of sustainability and biodiversity have been central to his work in documentaries film making. Return to Nepal is his third film with Bruce Cockburn.
Amy Miller,
Outside of Europe, 2007
Director, Producer, Manager, Writer, Editor
'Outside of EUrope' is Amy’s first documentary project. Amy background is in popular education and organizing within social movements. She’s currently involved with numerous media projects, including reporting for The Dominion, Free Speech Radio News and Groundwire. She believes documentary films are a strong medium to educate and spark debate on pressing social issues. Amy is currently directing a full length documentary film called ‘Myths for Profit: Canada’s Role in Industries of War and Peace.’
Performances
Unity Singers
(Performing Saturday January 24 @ 2:15 before the film “Club Native”)
The Unity Singers were formed in 2000 by a group of women at Trent University.
They sing traditional and contemporary hand drum songs in several Algonkian languages.
The Hand Drum has performed in many varied venues over the years they have been together.
They sing for the joy of singing and just as important, to keep traditional songs alive for the
generations to come.
PCVS African Drumming Group (Performing Friday January 23 @ 7:30 before
the film “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai)
PCVS (omit African) Drumming Group
The 15 members strong PCVS African Drumming Group works with rhythms coming
mostly from West Africa, but has recently begun to broaden its repertoire.
They are led by student, Jake Ferguson.
Trent International Student Choir (Performing Friday January 23 @
7:30 before the film "Taking Root: The vision of Wangari Maathai)
The Trent International Student Choir is one many clubs through the Trent International Student
Association. Students from around the world join together creating beautiful music from around
the world. They perform a broad array of music representative of the countries the students
call home.
Spoken Word Artists
(Performing Saturday, January 24 @ 7:30 before the film "Ghosts")
Live performances by Ottawa spoken word artist Greg "Ritallin" Frankson and
Toronto-based electronic music composer and performance poet Gein Wong,
exploring the realities faced by migrant workers right here in Canada.
www.ritallin.com
www.geinwong.com
In Late Night
The Late Night program is back by popular demand. Please join us Friday night for the “Community Reception” and Saturday night for Beats for Justice. Details below.
Community Reception
(Friday Night @ 9:30 pm)
Where: Downstairs at Showplace
When: Friday night after the “feature film.”
Join us downstairs immediately following the Friday night feature to celebrate the opening of our 5th annual festival. The reception is an opportunity to mix, meet and mingle with filmmakers, volunteers, sponsors and most importantly you, our wonderful audience.
Entertainment will be provided by Jonah Cristall-Clarke, a Peterborough born, jazz musician who now arranges, composes and teaches music in Toronto.
Beats for Justice!
(Saturday Night @ 9:30)
Where: The Spill Café (On George Street, north of Hunter)
When: Saturday, January 24
at 9:30 pm
Featured poets: Ritallin (Ottawa spoken word artist) and Gein Wong
(Toronto-based electronic music composer and performance poet). Featured
film: Min-Sook Lee's Sedition, starring wordsmiths Rafeef, Boonaa and LAL.
Art Shows in the Downtown
(Friday January 23 until Sunday January 26, 2009 at specified locations)
Need a break from watching film? Take a walk throughout the downtown and visit the “Still ReFrame” Art Shows.
Exhibition of Photography
by Corin Ford Forrester
Where: Black Honey
Address: 221 Hunter Street West Peterborough
When: January 31- March 13, 2009
Corin’s black and white art photographs blend images of the feminine form with landscapes both natural and manmade. They explore the tremendous impact that human beings have on the planet and the beauty and value of what we stand to lose.
“Film Show” and Video Installation
Where: Blue Tomato
Address: 168 Hunter St. Peterborough
When January 9-31, 2009
The "Film Show" in the upstairs gallery displays visual art pieces, exploring the medium of film and how it is used to highlight important issues. Also notice the video installation in our front window from January 10th - February 10th.
Zimbabwe Exhibits
Where: Nata’s Café
Address: 376 George St. Peterborough
When: January 23-26, 2009
This year 2.4 million Sub Saharan Africans will die of AIDS, a number that is increasing each year. There are few dollars or resources to make a sizable impact on the crisis. For many years a group of Peterborough volunteers have raised money and supplies and have volunteered at the Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe, a country with one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. Larry Gillman's last trip was with his son Steve, and this photo exhibit looks at the crisis through the eyes of one volunteer.
Changing Views: Viewing Change
Where: Peterborough Arts Umbrella
Address: 378 Alymer St.-(side entrance behind Peterborough
Green-Up)
When: January 5-30, 2009
Changing Views: Viewing Change, an art show by teacher Cydnee Hosker’s Grade 12 printmaking class at Peterborough Collegiate (PCVS), depicts students’ understanding of our modern world as they challenge views to respond to their creative interpretations.
Poster Exhibition, Syracuse Cultural Workers
Where: Peterborough Public Library
Address: 345 Alymer St.
When: January 23-26, 2009
Sponsored by Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation Equity and Diversity
The Syacuse Central Workers mission is to help create a culture that honors diversity and celebrates community; that inspires and nurtures justice, equality and freedom; that respects our fragile Earth and all its beings; that encourages and supports all forms of creative expression.
“Twelve”: An Artist Perspective
Where: Peterborough Public Library
Address: 345 Alymer St.
When: January 23-26, 2009
A collection of original paintings inspired by the film “Twelve” by Lester Alfonso. The artwork depicts the local artists idea of “Twelve”
Exhibition of Photo’s called “Palestine Through Our Eyes”
Where: Showplace
Address: 290 George St. N, Peterborough
When: January 20-26, 2009
Palestine Through Our Eyes: 60 Years Since the Nakba. Birthright Replugged is an organization that provides a unique opportunity for Palestinian children in refugee camps in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, to visit Jerusalem, the sea, and the villages their grandparents fled in 1948. This exhibition features the children's own photographs and writings from their journeys.www.birthrightunplugged.org/
Women Helping Women:
Photo Voice
Where: Market Hall
Address: 336 George St. N., Peterborough
When: January 23-26, 2009
A photo-voice project created by women in local women's peer support groups. The photo's are taken by women in Peterborough area.
Your Inner Artist
Workshops have been added this year to give our audience an opportunity to express themselves using art, a response to the stories seen in film. Artists will facilitate the community art projects, so don’t miss this new and exciting opportunity to participate in a collective art project
Tent for Darfur:
Community Art Project
Where: The Spill
Address: 414 George Street N.
When: Saturday January 24,
2p.m.-5:30 p.m.
The "Peace Tent Project “is a community-based project that envisions a powerful union of artistic creativity and social concern in response to the crisis in Darfur.
We encourage the Peterborough community to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan by participating in the decoration of a canvas refugee tent --with images of hope, love, freedom, humanity, and peace.
Together we will create a tent that is both a unique work of art and a focal point within Peterborough for learning about, assisting and establishing a relationship with the people of Sudan. Cameras will accompany the tent to record the (painting) process and will be sent to Darfur with the tent. The two sets of images documenting this journey will be exhibited publicly as an on-line exhibition.
For more information contact art@mickyrenders.ca
Drumming Circle for Peace:
Community Art Project
Where: Peterborough Art’s Umbrella
Address 378 Aylmer Street North-(side entrance, behind Peterborough Green-Up)
When: Sunday Jan. 25, 12-2:00 pm
The drum has been part of the community experience for at least 10,000 years and still today it is being used as a bridge for differences of thought, religion and lifestyle as well as helping to create a common ground, to build stronger community. No one culture holds dominion over drumming and people drum in every country all across the earth. Peterborough is no exception.
Come and join the ReFrame Drumming Circle during the festival. Anyone with a desire to drum is welcome to participate. A sense of rhythm or lack thereof is not considered to be a hindrance in our drum circle. Everyone across a wide range of skill levels from expert to novice is encouraged to join in. We will have drums available or you can bring a drum. Members of the PCVS Drumming Group will lead the circle.
International Bazaar
Downstairs at Showplace you will find the International Bazaar. At the Bazaar there will be food vendors, international goods for sale, coffee, drinks and a comfortable place to discuss films. If you are taking a break from films, don’t forget to visit.
Here’s a selection of our vendors for 2009:
A Taste of Russia
Cabbage Rolls, Perogies, Blinis, and more – made with local ingredients.
Inna Trotchine. atasteofrussia@cogeco.net.
Black Duck Wild Rice.
Natural wild rice from Peterborough area.
James Whetung. 657-1301.
Greek Community of Peterborough
Souvlaki, salads, desserts
Thomas Paligianni, President.
Jess' Kitchen
Indian food: Meals to Go, Snacks, and Veggie Options.
742-4893
Kids for all Kids
Muffins, cookies, coffee, tea and juice to support local youth group.
kidsforallkids@yahoo.com
New Canadians Centre Chefs
International foods from Korea, Mexico, Philippines and more.
743-0882
Perpetua’s Knitting
Toques, mittens, scarves, and socks, made with alpaca wool.
742-4458
Voices of Burma
Artwork by Burmese migrants and refugees living in Thailand.
trentvoicesofburma@gmail.com
Zatoun
Fair trade olive oil from Palestine
www.zatoun.com
The Free Market
Come take what you need and donate what you don't at this
free store. opirg@trentu.ca
The Next Generation
ReelKids Film Festival
Where, Showplace & Market Hall
When January 20 21, 22/09
ReelKids Film Festival, the very successful children’s branch of ReFrame Peterborough International Film Festival. Children from Peterborough and area watch award winning films on topics including the environment, indigenous people, social justice and world issues. If you are interested in more information about REELKids please visit our website at www.quidnovis.com/reelkids or e-mail reelkidsfilmfestival@gmail.com
The Reframe Festival: A High School Social Issues Film Festival
Where: Thomas A Stewart
When: February 2009 (date TBA)
Secondary students from all KPR schools and other secondary schools in the Peterborough area will have an exciting opportunity to see films by acclaimed local and international film makers about social issues affecting young people today. As many as 400 students may attend the screenings where they will also meet film makers and have a chance to ask questions about film making and about the social issues contained in the films presented. Ten students from each school will also be able to attend workshops with filmmakers and video artists.
|
|  |
|
Welcome!
We are now a healthy and growing five years old — and this year the festival has a new name. The former Traveling World Community Film Festival: Peterborough has officially become ReFrame Peterborough International Film Festival.
Film Listings (Alphabetical)
... What Makes Me Happy
| | Released: 2007 UK/Nepal Occupied Palestinian Territories | | Film Length: 10 minutes | | Directors: Annie Gibbs & Tsering Rhitar Sherpa (Nepal), Munia Dweik (Occupied Palestinian Territories) |
 Mahmoud (Occupied Palestinian Territories) is desperate for some time to himself. But people keep calling out his name and asking him to run another errand. After every errand he climbs a little further up the stairs outside his house. But each time he hears his name again, and is sent off to do something else. What's at the top of the stairs? And why does Mahmoud want to get there?
Ranjita (Nepal) First thing every morning Ranjita has a few minutes to herself before she has to wake her brothers and sisters. Every day she has to help with the housework. With so many important jobs to do, you'd think that Ranjita and her brothers and sisters would never have time to laugh and have fun. But they do. |
 TOP
Aboriginality
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 14 minutes | | Directors: Dominique Keller, Tom Jackson |
 Aboriginality follows an urban youth as he heads down the mystical Red Road, where the sweet grass grows, to re-connect and be inspired by both new and traditional elements of First Nations culture. We meet world champion hoop dancer and hip-hop artist Dallas Arcand, Aboriginality re-imagines the strength and spirit of First Nations culture through new narrative mediums that connect urban First Nations youth to their rural ancestral histories |
Sponsor: Peterborough New Dance |
TOP
Addicted to Cheap Shopping
| | Released: 2007, Great Britain | | Film Length: 60 minutes | | Directors: BBC |
 We are living in strange times. The laws of inflation dictate prices should go up. Instead the cost of things is actually going down. In the last 10 years the price of clothes has fallen by 36%, electronics by 56% and computers by 90%. This is the Age of Cheap. And we love it. But while there's much to celebrate, there are some intriguing questions that need to be asked: why are things so cheap. What are the hidden costs? And is it all going to come to an end soon? The film looks into the world economic effects of the Wal Mart way of doing business; at Ikea philosophy and the emerging power of the economy of China. |
TOP
Addicted to Plastic: the Rise and Demise of a Modern Miracle
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 85 minutes | | Directors: Ian Connacher |
 Addicted to Plastic is a feature-length documentary about solutions to plastic pollution. The point-of-view style documentary encompasses three years of filming in 12 countries on 5 continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic's path over the last 100 years and provides a wealth of expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. These solutions - which include plastic made from plants - will provide viewers with a hopeful perspective about our future with plastic. |
Sponsor: Peterborough Green-Up Waste Reduction Program |
TOP
Alethea
| | Released: 2007 Turkey | | Film Length: 41 minutes | | Directors: Petra Holzer |
 Since 1989 multinational mining companies have been coming to Turkey in order to mine gold using the cyanide leaching process. Eurogold, an Australian and Canadian joint venture is one of them. Their mine is situated in Bergama. The people living in Bergama and the surrounding 17 villages started to resist the project. The people won their legal struggle in the courts, however, the mine still operates.
Alethea documents the people Bergama and their long struggle.
Awards 2nd award for best documentary Environmental Film Festival Istanbul 2007, Audience award best documentary The Boston Turkish Film Festival 2007 |
Sponsor: Peterborough NDP |
TOP
Angels of Fire
| | Released: 2007 Spain / Peru / Guatemala | | Film Length: 13 minutes | | Directors: Marcelo Bukin |
 Eight-year old Angel works in a brick manufacturing plant all day long. Six days a week from dawn until dusk Angel hauls materials, forms bricks and keeps track of inventory - all in the open. These inhumane conditions are all he's known since childhood and though he hopes for a better life, he knows it's unlikely that his future holds anything other than hard labor. In this hopeless community in Puno, Peru, the suffering of the adults often manifests itself as physical abuse toward their children and Angel is no exception.
WINNER 2006 IDA AWARDS BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT, Los Angeles USA |
TOP
Another Kind of Dance, Two
| | Released: 2008, Canada | | Film Length: 7 minutes | | Directors: Wendy Trusler |
 Another Kind of Dance, Two playfully examines the connections between cooking, art and dance. What can be rekindled by a smell, a taste or by the simple act of making? |
TOP
Bevel Up
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 45 minutes | | Directors: Nettie Wild |
 Bevel Up follows street nurses from the outreach street program of the BC Centre for Disease Control as they work with youth, sex workers, and street-entrenched men and women in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver's inner city. The footage is startling in its intimacy, compassion, and real-life drama. Divided into chapters, each segment offers additional compelling on-location footage and expert interviews. Key ethical, practical and legal issues are discussed and debated by the nurses featured in the documentary as well as a nursing ethicist and nursing practice consultant from the British Columbia College of Nurses. |
Sponsor: Victoria Order of Nursing Peterborough Victoria Haliburton, Peterborough Legal Services |
TOP
Blue Gold: World Water Wars
| | Released: 2008 | | Film Length: 94 minutes | | Directors: Sam Bozzo |
 Water will be a source of global conflict, as oil is now. Based on the groundbreaking book Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, the film makes the case against commodification, proclaiming water as a precious public resource to be protected for eternity. With dwindling clean water supplies, conflicts are already developing between corporations, private investors, government interests and the human race that needs water to survive. Narrated by Malcolm McDowell, Blue Gold is a powerful exploration of existing water wars and a direct warning of what is to come.
Awards 2008 Winner of Audience Choice Award Best Environmental Film, Vancouver International Film Festival |
Sponsor: Kawartha Community Midwives, Council of Canadians, KAIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, OPSEU, Green Party |
TOP
Body and Soul: Diana and Kathy
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: 40 minutes | | Directors: Alice Elliott |
 "Body and Soul: Diana and Kathy" chronicles two disability rights activists who met in Illinois three decades ago. Diana, who has Down Syndrome, and Kathy, who has Cerebral Palsy, vowed then to live independent lives. When aging and a medical crises threaten this freedom, they attempt to meet the challenge together. The story moves beyond disabilities and activism, giving a rare portrait of a profound and symbiotic friendship.
Awards Best of Festival Award SuperfestXXVIII Disability Film Festival, Crystal Heart Award Heartland Film Festival 2007, NAFDMA Insight Award for Excellence, Short Film Documentary 2007 TASH Positive Image in Media Award 2007 |
Sponsor: Peterborough Down Syndrome Association |
TOP
Breadmakers
| | Released: 2007 United Kingdom | | Film Length: 11 minutes | | Directors: Yasmin Fedda. |
 At a unique Edinburgh bakery, a community of workers with learning disabilities makes a variety of organic breads for daily delivery to shops and cafes in the city. The workers interact using individual expressions, repetitive speech and sign language, revealing intricate social relationships with each other and their support workers. In what can seem a chaotic workplace, there is a mix of sounds that can approach levels of white noise amidst the carefully structured everyday process of bread production.
The featured bakery is part of a centre inspired by the ideas of Rudolph Steiner where the workers realise their potential for self-discovery and creativity in a social environment. |
Sponsor: Peterborough Down Syndrome Association, COIN, Peterborough Communication Support Systems |
TOP
Breaking Ranks
| | Released: 2006 Canada/USA | | Film Length: 55 minutes | | Directors: Michelle Mason |
Breaking Ranks is a documentary about the plight of four U.S. soldiers seeking sanctuary in Canada as part of their resistance to the war in Iraq. The film documents their experiences as they try to exercise their consciences amidst profound emotional, ethical and international consequences. Filmed over the course of the refugee process, this provocative film explores the meaning of duty through the powerful testimonies of these young soldiers. |
Sponsor: Kawartha Ploughshares & Peterborough Allowed Meeting (Quakers). |
TOP
Carts of Darkness
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 60 minutes | | Directors: Murray Siple |
 On the way to cash in bottles for a few dollars, a group of homeless men turn into road warriors, careening their grocery carts down the death-defying hills of North Van at speeds of 70 kilometres per hour. There are dangers and sometimes a man is seriously injured. "That's life. Everybody in extreme sports gets bruises," says Big Al, a cart racer and hell raiser just out of prison. Director Murray Siple loves speed and made sports films until a car accident 10 years ago rendered him quadriplegic. So when he met these guys cashing in bottles at the supermarket, a friendship and mutual trust developed through the understanding that their disabilities make them invisible to society. Fergie, "pickeled as a newt," sings a wicked version of Tennessee Stud. Max barbecues a gourmet salmon in the liquor store parking lot. Al takes us on a tour of grocery stores to teach us how to choose exactly the right vehicle. In the tradition of the best documentaries, both subjects and filmmakers are revealed as fragile, funny and fully human. |
Sponsor: Canadian Mental Health Association |
TOP
Chasing Wild Horses
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 50 minutes | | Directors: Matt Trecartin |
 Chasing Wild Horses is a beautiful story of reverence and splendour. Roberto Dutesco, New York City's top fashion photographer, works with human beauty every day. Raised in Canada, his unique artistic eye has brought him fame and recognition throughout the fashion world. Many years ago, he took a small plane to Sable Island, where he found an exceptional environment that would change his perception of beauty and undeniably impact on his art. The discovery of this unique island's wild, long-maned, untamed horses, running through the dunes was an aesthetic experience like no other for Roberto. He became fixated with the natural beauty of the untouched wild horses. In Chasing Wild Horses¸ he returns to the island with his camera and with him, we discover the hidden treasures this country can offer. Access to the island is nearly impossible - very few are admitted and these measures have been put in place to preserve the island. Through his photos, and his gallery in New York, Roberto wants to bring support to the various organizations dedicated to preserving the beauty of Sable Island. |
TOP
Circle
| | Released: 2007 UK | | Film Length: 8 minutes | | Directors: Mehul Desai |
 A young westernised South Asian doctor visits an elderly Indian woman and soon discovers the immense healing power of storytelling and belief.
Awards Silver Award for "Dramatic Original" short film Houston International Film Festival 2008. Coconut, Platinum Award for best "Live Actin (Non-Dialogue) short film Houston International Film Festival 2006, Tonight, shortlisted for BFM Film Festival "Short Award" Nominated for 7 awards CAN Leicester Short Film Festival 2008 |
TOP
Club Native
| | Released: 2008, Canada | | Film Length: 78 minutes | | Directors: Tracey Deer |
 Tracey Deer grew up on the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake with two very firm but unspoken rules drummed into her by the collective force of the community. These rules were very simple and they carried severe repercussions: 1) Do not marry a white person, 2) Do not have a child with a white person.
The consequences of ignoring these rules were equally simple: 1) Lose all status as a Native person and, 2) Deny your unborn child their status as a Native person. The larger tragedy, of course, was that by breaking either of these rules, she would be depleting the growth of "the Nation" and, by extension, betraying everyone she loved.
In Club Native, Deer looks deeply into the history and present-day reality of Aboriginal identity. With moving stories from a range of characters from her Kahnawake Reserve - characters on both sides of the critical blood-quantum line - she reveals the divisive legacy of more than a hundred years of discriminatory and sexist government policy and reveals the lingering "blood quantum" ideals, snobby attitudes and outright racism that threaten to destroy the fabric of her community.
Awards Kodak-Vision Globale Award for Best Canadian Film, First Peoples' Festival ( Land InSights ), Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary, Doxa - Documentary Film and Video Festival |
Sponsor: Trent Indigenous Studies Program |
TOP
Deadly Playground
| | Released: 2007 UK/Lebanon | | Film Length: 23 minutes | | Directors: Katia Saleh |
 Thirteen-year-old Hussein from the village of Sadikkeen in south Lebanon has been watching the de-mining experts in his area clearing the estimated 3 million cluster bombs that the Israeli forces dropped in the war with Hezbollah in 2006. A projected 1 million of these remain unexploded and scattered around the villages and mountains of south Lebanon. Hundreds of children, like Hussein, are still fascinated by them. |
Sponsor: Amnesty International Peterborough |
TOP
Deb-we-win Ge-kend-am-aan / Our Place In the Circle
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 21 minutes | | Directors: Lorne Olson |
 Traditionally, the two-spirited person was one who has been given the gift of having both a female and male soul that would allow the individual the ability to see the world from two perspectives at the same time. This unflinchingly honest documentary profiles two-spirited people united in their experiences of self-discovery and affirmation. |
TOP
Do Not Go Gently
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: N/A minutes | | Directors: Melissa Godoy |
 What role does creativity play in aging? How important is imagination in the experience of being human? Three artists aged 84, 93, and 103 share their answers. This documentary challenges the outdated notion that people who reach a certain age have nothing left to contribute. America's seniors, like those highlighted in Do Not Go Gently, have had decades to master skills and garner accomplishments, often rendering them our best leaders and innovators. The film also emphasizes how mutually beneficial it is for seniors to continue exercising their creative force - both to the society that reaps the benefits of their creations, and to the elderly whose quality of life is maintained."
Awards Official Selection Medocino Film Festival 2007, Official Selection Memphis International Film festival 2007, Official Selection Wisconsin Film Festival |
Sponsor: Older Women's Network |
TOP
English Surgeon
| | Released: 2007 UK | | Film Length: 94 minutes | | Directors: Geoffrey Smith |
 When British brain surgeon Henry Marsh first visited the KGB Hospital in Kiev in the early 1990s, he was appalled by the conditions. Patients were dying from simple tumours left untreated. Since then, Marsh has been on a mission to create a viable brain surgery clinic, salvaging discarded equipment from British hospitals, second-hand drills from flea markets and any other tools that may be fashioned to do the job. Geoffrey Smith's exceptional documentary follows the maverick neurosurgeon on his latest trip to the Ukraine, as he once again encounters patients for whom he is their last chance. Marian is among them. Stricken by an enormous, life-threatening brain tumour, we follow Marian through his harrowing brain surgery. As Marsh tackles increasingly risky cases, he is haunted by the memory of a young Ukrainian girl whose operation went fatally wrong. Tense, heartbreaking and at times humorous, this is an extraordinary documentary.
Winner Best Int'l Feature Documentary Hot Docs 2008, Best Int'l Feature Documentary Silver Docs 2008, Most Popular Audience Film, Sheffield 2007, In Competition, BFI 51st London Film Festival, 2007 |
TOP
Flores De Ruanda (Flowers of Rwanda)
| | Released: 2008, Rwanda | | Film Length: 24 minutes | | Directors: David Munoz |
 Flores De Ruanda examines Rwanda 14 years after the genocide that took away the lives of more than 800.000 people. What's the current situation of the country? What feelings prevail in the hearts of the victims? Can victims and killers live together? What's the importance of education in a society that has lived through a genocide? May a genocide happen again in Rwanda? Who should act when a genocide is happening? Do we, as individuals, have any responsibility?
Awards Best Documentary Film Award, Audience Award Human Values Award Festival Dunas De Cine Y Video, Spain, Special Jury Award Golden Boll Film Festival, Turkey, Best Short Film Award Un Film Per La Pace Festival Italy, Best Documentary Film Award Planet ant Film Festival Michigan US |
Sponsor: PCVS African Connections |
TOP
Garbage Warrior
| | Released: 2008 UK | | Film Length: 87 minutes | | Directors: Oliver Hodge |
 What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of "earthship biotecture" by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians dither, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four different countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.
Awards Audience Award Vancouver International Film Festival 2007, Finalist Climate For Change Award |
Sponsor: Camel's Back Construction & Safe And Green Energy (SAGE) |
TOP
Gene Boy Come Home
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 25 minutes | | Directors: Alanis Obomsawin |
 Eugene "Gene Boy" (pronounced Genie Boy) Benedict was raised by his Great Uncle and Aunt on the Odanak Indian Reserve an hour and a half east of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He left home at age 15 to work in construction in New York State. At 17, adrift and beginning to lose his way, he accepted a dare and enlisted in the US Marines. A few months later, he was on his way to the frontlines of the Vietnam War.
Gene Boy Came Home is the harrowing and deeply moving story of his two years of service in Vietnam and his long journey back to Odanak afterwards. At this critical point in the world's history, celebrated filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin turns her camera on the ugliness of war through the eyes of one survivor. Her new documentary will resonate with all those who have been touched by war, and with anyone who has had to travel the painful path of healing that eventually leads home. |
Sponsor: Trent University Indigenous Studies Program |
TOP
Generation XXL
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 43 minutes | | Directors: Teresa MacInnes |
 Intimate, funny and character driven, Generation XXL follows four teens as they confront their pounds and themselves. As the kids struggle against fast food, computers, video games, soda pop, parents and peer pressure, we learn that weight loss is more complex then simply getting off the couch.
Exposed in their hopes, dreams and clothing, the kids act as heroes, allowing us to see the complexities of obesity and raise serious questions about societies response to the extra large. Directed by Teresa MacInnes, Generation XXL is a documentary that gives youth a voice and has a message that benefits people of all ages.
Awards Best Documentary, ViewFinders Film Fest '07, Winner Student Choice Award Sprockets Film Fest '07, Gemini Nominated. |
TOP
Ghosts
| | Released: 2006 UK | | Film Length: 96 minutes | | Directors: Nick Broomfield |
 The film tells the story of Ai Qin, a Chinese immigrant to the UK. It follows her from China to the UK and looks at the work she does in the food industry. It reveals that the UK's food industry is heavily dependent on underpaid, exploited, migrant labour. Eventually she starts work cockle-picking at Morecambe Bay. The film begins and ends with the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, in which 23 illegal workers lost their lives while cockle-picking.
Awards Best Director, San Sebastian Film Festival 2007, Golden Screen Festival European Des 4 Ecrans, 2007, 2006 Bafta Special Award for his contribution to the Documentary genre, Winner of the British Academy Award, First Prize at the Sundance Film Festival 2007, First Prize Chicago Film Festival |
Sponsor: New Canadians Centre, Community and Race Relations Committee of Peterborough |
TOP
How to Be Australian with Raj and Vim
| | Released: 2007 Australia | | Film Length: 8 minutes | | Directors: Manushka Khisty |
 An 'old migrant' Vin teaches a 'new migrant' Raj everything he knows about Australia, to help him prepare for the new migrant test. Vin imparts his unique take on Australian language, culture, history and customs. Humorously touching upon topical issues like the citizenship test, refugees, Mr Howard's refusal to say 'sorry', his aversion to the term 'Multi-Culturalism' and the advent of the word 'Unaustralian'; Vin encourages us not to forget what he feels is the most important of all Australian Values: 'A Fair Go'. |
TOP
Iron Ladies of Liberia
| | Released: 2007 Liberian | | Film Length: 77 minutes | | Directors: Siatta Scott Johnson and Daniel Junge |
 After surviving a 14-year civil war and a government riddled with corruption, Liberia is ready for change. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated President - the first freely elected female head of state in Africa. Having won a hotly contested election with the overwhelming support of women across Liberia, Sirleaf faces the daunting task of lifting her country from debt and devastation. She turns to a remarkable team of women, appointing them in positions such as police chief, finance minister, minister of justice, commerce minister and minister of gender.
With exclusive access, directors Siatta Scott Johnson and Daniel Junge follow these "Iron Ladies" behind the scenes during their critical first year in office as they tackle indolent bureaucracy, black markets and the omnipresent threat of violent riots. Highlighting the challenges that African countries currently face, this film provides an uplifting example of women who have become the backbone of change. As the filmmakers explore a historic transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the viewer is treated to a joyous, inspirational testimony of the political power of women's leadership and diplomacy.
Winner AFI Dallas Int'l FF, Target Ten Filmmaker,Best Doc |
Sponsor: Women's Events Committee & YWCA Peterborough Victoria & Haliburton |
TOP
Kids + Money
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: 32 minutes | | Directors: Lauren Greenfield |
 Only in L.A. can a 14-year-old rationalize dropping a grand on a purse. In a city that exalts materialism, young people from both the posh and poor sides of town share their feelings about money. High in the hills, Phoebe thinks nothing of having four nannies, while in East L.A., Luis remembers saving up for his family's fridge. Shocking for both its insights and entertainments, this film by Lauren Greenfield offers a striking portrait of kids and consumerism in America.
Awards Winner Audience Award AFI Film Festival 2007 |
TOP
La Corona (The Crown)
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: 40 minutes | | Directors: Micheli, Isabel Vega |
 What do a former assassin, a guerrilla, a hustler and a gang member all have in common? A beauty pageant, of course! Colombia is a country well known for its pageants, so the fact that Bogota's Women's Penitentiary holds an annual crowning is not completely out of the ordinary. For Maira, Viviana, Angela and Angie, the competition offers temporary excitement and respite from the crushing boredom, isolation and depression of prison life. La Corona (The Crown) moves beyond the novelty of big-house dress up and raises larger issues-femininity as identity, overrun prisons, arbitrary sentencing and civil war.
Awards Oscar Nominated, Best Documentary Short Subject 2007, Outstanding Documentary Short Outfest Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2008 Sarasota Film Festival Audience Award for Best Short Film, Honorable Mention,Sundance Film Festival |
Sponsor: Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough |
TOP
Land of the Silver Birch... Home of the Beaver
| | Released: 2008, Canada | | Film Length: 4 minutes | | Directors: Sarah DeCarlo |
 A parody of the Keep America Beautiful campaign, this unique video pokes fun at the stereotype of the North American Indian within Canadian culture. Sarah DeCarlo is an emerging filmmaker, signer/songwriter, musician, arts advocate, and mother living in the Peterborough area. |
TOP
Mandatory Service
| | Released: 2007 Israel, Palestine, USA | | Film Length: 19 minutes | | Directors: Jessica Habie |
 The cultural impact of the militarization of Israeli society has both challenged and stifled the cultivation of creativity in the country. Mandatory Service asks a series of often ignored yet important questions about how forced military service-and resistance to it-influences Israeli artists' and activists' efforts to re-civilize the consciousness of Israeli society.
Awards Winner Short Documentary Competition 2008 Tribeca Film Festival |
Sponsor: PCVS SMAC (Student Art Collective) |
TOP
Me Masi and Mr. Clean
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 8 minutes | | Directors: Nina Sudra & Patrick McLaughlin |
 Me, Masi & Mr. Clean is a charming tale about a young girl's struggle with self acceptance and society's obsessed with unrealistic ideals. Seema, a precocious 11 year old girl constantly goaded by her Masi (Aunt) about her dark skin, resorts to an unusual means of confronting the "problem." "Mr. Cleanliness is next to Godliness after all, so a few bottles of this beloved household product could be just the thing to help her. After an unexpected turn of events, beautiful truth is revealed.
Awards Nominated for Best Children's Program Golden Sheaf Award, Official Selection Reelworld Film Festival, |
TOP
Meet Me Out of the Siege
| | Released: 2008 U S A, Palestinian Territories, France | | Film Length: 13 minutes | | Directors: Jessica Habie |
 Experiences of the artist in exile, Hani Zu'rob, one of Palestine's most prominent emerging visual artists, have been stuck in Paris for over a year. His forced immobility is but another chapter in a life so chronicled by restrictions and human rights violations. Originally traveling to France for a uniquely permitted three month stay, Hani has been unable to return to his wife and his homeland due to Israel's sudden severance of all diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority after the democratic election of the Hamas Government. Hani is joined in Paris by another deeply respected Palestinian artist, Kamal Boullatta, who shares his own story of exile that begun in 1967 when he was forced to leave his home of Jerusalem. Meet Me Out of the Siege unravels the stories of both men, and observes as these two resilient and patient artists, reunited unexpectedly after many years, reflect on the origins of creativity, the pressures of everyday life under occupation, and the geometric language of exile. |
Sponsor: PCVS SMAC (Student Art Collective) |
TOP
Milosevic on Trial
| | Released: 2007 Denmark | | Film Length: 69 minutes | | Directors: Michael Christoffersen |
 In February 2002 in The Hague, there began the biggest war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg trials. Indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the dictator Slobodan Milosevic was charged with 66 counts covering war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed during the wars in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia. Milosevic refused to recognize the legality of the Tribunal and defended himself. Arrogant towards the court, impassive and indifferent during the harrowing indictments, he denied having ordered the killings of which he was accused and claimed he acted in accordance with the will of his people. Throughout this mammoth operation and with exclusive access to the trial, filmmaker Michael Christoffersen followed the players as the trial unfolded. Recording strategies, obstacles, conflicts and victories, this is the only documentary to tell the true story of a trial in which a judgment was never rendered. |
TOP
My Happy End
| | Released: 2007 Germany | | Film Length: 5 minutes | | Directors: Milen Vitanov and Dennis Rettkowski |
 All dogs chase their tails. A dog once succeeds in catching his own tail. That changes his life as he finds his best friend in it.
Awards Jury's special award for Graduation Films Annecy 2008, Best film for children Animafest 2008, Best Short Film for the Young People's Jury Sprocket Toronto International FF for Children 2008, Childrenn Jury Prize 2nd Best Short Animated Film Chicago Int. Children's Festival 2007. |
TOP
Oil + Water
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: 55 minutes | | Directors: Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt |
 Two kayakers embark on the longest-ever, biofuels-only road trip: 35,000 kilometers from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-fitted Japanese fire truck named Baby. The friends converted their regular diesel engine to run on any kind of natural oil and followed an endless summer journey for over a year through 16 countries. They collaborated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Come ride along with the boys and see how their epic journey unfolds.
Awards Best Environmental Film Taos Mtn Film Festival, Best Picture Jules Verne Adventure Film Fest, Peoples Choice Patagonia Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Best Documentary REEL Paddling Fil Festival |
TOP
Outside of EUrope
| | Released: 2008 Belgrade Serbia | | Film Length: 28 minutes | | Directors: Amy Miller, Boban Chaldovich |
 Outside of EUrope is a critical, short documentary examining the exclusionary nature of EU immigration and border policies and the responsibilities that are placed on periphery countries to handle the flow of migrants and refugees. Ukraine is used as the case study. Far from the eyes of the public, and never seen before on film, the documentary takes the viewer inside the Mukachevo Detention Centre for Women and Children Refugees, as well as the Pavshino Detention Centre for Illegal Migrants and Refugees in Ukraine. Through diverse interviews that include refugees who failed in their attempt to cross into the EU, as well as officials such as the Immigration Minister for the Transcarpathia region, 'Outside of EUrope' throws light on various human right issues that incur from the expansion of the European Union. |
TOP
Pauls Opa
| | Released: 2007 Germany | | Film Length: 19 minutes | | Directors: Ove Sander |
 Paul, an eight-year-old inventor, yearns to make his all-time dream come true. He wants to have a grandpa, just like all the other children. So he builds himself one, and sets about doing things with him he would never dare do alone. Just as Paul begins to realise that his grandpa could never take the place of a real one, a small miracle happens... |
TOP
Please Vote for Me: Why Domocracy
| | Released: 2007 South Africa/Mandarin | | Film Length: 58 minutes | | Directors: Weijun Chen |
 Wuhan is a city in central China about the size of London, and it is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A grade 3 class at Evergreen Primary School has their first encounter with democracy by holding an election to select a Class Monitor. Eight-year olds compete against each other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents. Elections in China take place only within the Communist Party, but recently millions of Chinese voted in their version of Pop Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen's experiment is to determine how, if democracy came to China, would it be received. Is democracy a universal value that fits human nature? Do elections inevitably lead to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait of a society and a town through a school, its children and its families.
Awards Screening Educational Documentary Award DOCNZ 2007, Best Film (Student Jury) One World International Documentary Festival, Juried Best Documentary Ashland Independent Film Festival, Stirling Feature Award Silverdocs Washingon DC |
Sponsor: Trent University Student Association In International Development |
TOP
Return to Nepal
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 46 minutes | | Directors: Robert Lang |
 Twenty years have passed since Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn first visited Nepal with USC Canada, an aid organization that promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world. The former kingdom, now installed with a Maoist regime is much changed even though salt caravans, subsistence farming and ancient footpaths connect remote villages still dotting the world's most majestic mountainous terrain. Today, more women and farmers are empowered and children are able to attend school despite persistent grinding poverty. In this landscape Cockburn encounters an organic farmer who reshapes his patch of earth out of volcanic debris; he observes a woman milling flour in a traditional watermill and he witnesses a population coming to terms with the effect of climate change within their region. Their tenacity, spiritual wisdom and interdependence are shared in this wonderful journey in which a celebrated Canadian experiences a remarkable community. |
Sponsor: Gzowski College |
TOP
Road to Baleya
| | Released: 2008 Canada/Mali | | Film Length: 50 minutes | | Directors: Bay Weyman |
 This one-hour documentary by award-winning filmmaker Bay Weyman follows a group of Canadian musicians who journey to Mali, West Africa, to record local musicians. Equipped with a portable sound recording facility to make quality recordings available to the African musicians, they embark on a remarkable journey that takes them from the dusty streets of Bamako, the capital, to the remote villages of the rugged south-west hill country. In the process, the documentary examines issues of basic education, private sector development, communication and music as a catalyst for human rights, democracy and good governance.
Sponsored by Alumni Association |
Sponsor: Trent Alumni Association |
TOP
S/He
| | Released: 2007 Taiwan | | Film Length: 12 minutes | | Directors: Gina Pei Chi Chen |
 S/He deftly illuminates the struggle of one 12-year-old girl to follow her expected gender and cultural roles and while exploring an emerging masculine nature |
Sponsor: Rainbow Service Organization, Affirm United |
TOP
Salim Baba
| | Released: 2007 India/USA | | Film Length: 15 minutes | | Directors: Tim Sternberg |
 Salim Muhammad is a 55-year-old man who lives in North Kolkata, India with his wife and five children. Since the age of ten he has made a living by screening discarded film scraps for the kids in his surrounding neighborhoods using a hand-cranked projector that he inherited from his father. A pragmatic businessman as well as a cinephile Salim runs his projector with his sons in the hopes that they will carry on his legacy of showing films to the local children.
Awards Woodstock Film Festival 2007 2nd Prize Best Documentary Palm Sprins International Film Festival 2007 Winner 2008 Julius Epstein Humanitarian Award Cleveland Film Festival, 2008 Nominated Academy Award Best Documentary Short |
Sponsor: Ken Yates Fine Carpentry, PCVS SMAC (Student Art Collecitve) |
TOP
Searching 4 Sandeep
| | Released: 2007 Australia | | Film Length: 56 minutes | | Directors: Poppy Stockell |
 Love in the digital age is complex: immediate, yet distant, emotionally close, yet physically far. When Sydney-sider Poppy Stockell set out to "research" her light-hearted doc about the online lesbian dating scene, she had no idea that it would launch her on a journey that would change her life forever. Frustrated, lonely and single, 28-year-old Stockell finds more than just research on the Internet. To her surprise and delight she forges a deep online connection with an English woman, Sandeep Virdi. Poppy sends Sandeep a camera and we watch as their virtual long-distance crush blossoms into a very real physical relationship. But they face obstacles greater than the vast oceans that separate them. Sandeep is Sikh, lives at home with her conservative family and, at 31, is still in the closet about her sexuality. Through raw, incredibly frank footage, Searching 4 Sandeep follows Poppy and Sandeep's tumultuous relationship across two years and three continents.
Awards Sydney Film Festival, World Movies Channel Award, WOW (World of Women), Best Documentary and Audience Award |
Sponsor: Rainbow Service Organization |
TOP
Sexy Inc
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 35 minutes | | Directors: Sophie Bissonnette |
 Are children being pushed prematurely into adulthood? Sophie Bissonnette's documentary 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. These stereotypes treat girls of all ages as sexual objects, and exercise a damaging the effect on their identities. Because they see degrading images of sexuality on the Internet, some children confuse sexual relations with pornography. Sexy inc. suggests various ways of countering hypersexualization and the eroticization of childhood and invites us to rally against this worrying phenomenon. |
Sponsor: Ontario Secondary School Teachers Equity and Diversity Committee & Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre |
TOP
She's a Boy I Knew
| | Released: 2007 Canada | | Film Length: 70 minutes | | Directors: Gwen Haworth |
 She's a Boy I Knew is guaranteed, says the filmmaker, to be the most compelling do-it-yourself, gender-bending, feel-good film directed by a transsexual lesbian you've seen all year!
And it's true, but it's faint praise - for this documentary is so much more than that. At 23 years old, Steven Haworth, a married heterosexual man, took the brave decision to tell his wife about his true female gender identity. It was the start of a process that led to Steven becoming Gwen, the director of this movie, which documents her transition and the effect it has on her family with both wit and wisdom.
It's that rare thing - a 'home' movie that manages to be both a narrative work of art and a tool for activists to use in the fight for acceptance.
Awards The Vancity People's Choice Award for Most Popular Canadian Film & The Women in Film and Video Vancouver Artistic Merit Award, Vancouver International Film Festival 2007.
It's that rare thing - a 'home' movie that manages to be both a narrative work of art and a tool for activists to use in the fight for acceptance. |
Sponsor: Peterborough Collegiate Institute Gay Straight Alliance, Peterborough YWCA, Affirm United |
TOP
Shikashika
| | Released: 2008 USA | | Film Length: 10 minutes | | Directors: Stephen Hyde |
 Shikashika is a documentary short that offers a rare glimpse into life in the Andes mountains of Peru. The filmmakers focus on the unseen practices of extracting glacial ice for shikashika, which is sold at the steps of a cathedral beneath the mountain, Huscaran. |
TOP
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
| | Released: 2008 USA | | Film Length: 80 minutes | | Directors: Lisa Merton, Alan Dater |
 This compelling film tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner who through the simple act of planting trees sparked a powerful political crusade to protect the environment, women's rights, and democracy. After rural women described to her the human and environmental costs of rampant deforestation, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots tree-planting program that has restored the land, reduced soil erosion, and provided new food sources-and in the process empowered the previously disenfranchised women behind it. Dramatic scenes of political turmoil, chilling first-person accounts, and cinéma-vérité footage of tree nurseries and the people who tend them coalesce into a gripping portrait of a woman of unwavering determination and courage.
Awards Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award, Durban International Film Festival 2008 Audience Award Projecting Change Film Festival, May 2008, Vancouver, BC, Audience Award Winner Outspoken/Outstanding, Hot Docs 2008, Full Frame Women in Leadership Award, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, 2008 |
Sponsor: Kawartha World Issues Centre & Peterborough Collegiate Institute African Connections |
TOP
The Beloved Ones
| | Released: 2007, UK | | Film Length: 6 minutes | | Directors: Samantha Moore |
 The Beloved Ones tells the true stories of two African women living with the repercussions of HIV? AIDS in a compelling and intimate portrait. Maureen is head of the family at the age of 16 and survives with her only sister after they lose their parents to AIDS. HIV positive Anna is 42 years old and preparing her five children for own imminent death. The film weaves their two stories together and by doing so makes something else entirely producing a lyrical and moving short film that goes beyond the usual clichés of the African AIDS pandemic. |
TOP
The Dancing Forest / La forêt danse
| | Released: 2008 UK | | Film Length: 76 minutes | | Directors: Brice Lainé |
 It seems rare these days to hear good news from Africa, but this documentary about a grassroots community project celebrates one bright beacon of hope. Until recently the village of Baga in northern Togo was anything but that. Plagued with infertile soil, the declining peasant population was barely scratching out a living. CIDAP--the Centre International pour le Development Agro-Pastoral--was created by Seda, a local man schooled in new agricultural techniques. Initially reaching out to widows and divorced women--the most deprived in Nawdba society--he showed them how to increase crop yields, an education that has empowered subsequent generations of "Bakote" women, and which has proved so successful that more than a thousand locals come every year to learn more.
This lyrical, beautifully photographed film mirrors CIDAP's philosophy by listening first and last to the women and men who have participated in the program. It takes its name from a Nawdba harvest ritual that recognizes the forest as the home of their ancestors, a place of life to be preserved and respected.
Awards RaveMedia Research and Development Award & Project Award |
Sponsor: Peterborough Coalition for Social Justice, Kawartha Heritage Conservancy |
TOP
The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
| | Released: 2007 USA | | Film Length: 76 minutes | | Directors: Lisa Jackson |
 Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film sensitively yet unflinchingly brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country's intractable conflicts. A survivor of rape herself, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Jackson travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. The film features interviews with activists, peacekeepers, physicians, and even the indifferent rapists. But the most remarkable moments of the film come as survivors recount their personal stories-inspiring examples of resilience, resistance, courage and grace.
Awards Sundance FF, Special Jury Prize: Documentary, London Human Rights Watch FF, Best of Fest, Roma Independent FF, Best Documentary |
Sponsor: Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre |
TOP
The Sari Soldiers
| | Released: 2008 US/Nepal | | Film Length: 90 minutes | | Directors: Julie Bridgham |
 Filmed over three years during the most historic and pivotal time in Nepal's modern history, The Sari Soldiers is an extraordinary story of six women's courageous efforts to shape Nepal's future in the midst of an escalating civil war against Maoist insurgents, and the King's crackdown on civil liberties. When Devi, mother of a 15-year-old girl, witnesses her niece being tortured and murdered by the Royal Nepal Army, she speaks publicly about the atrocity. The army abducts her daughter in retaliation, and Devi embarks on a three-year struggle to uncover her daughter's fate and see justice done. The Sari Soldiers follows her and five other brave women, including Maoist Commander Kranti; Royal Nepal Army Officer Rajani; Krishna, a monarchist from a rural community who leads a rebellion against the Maoists; Mandira, a human rights lawyer; and Ram Kumari, a young student activist organizing the protests to establish democracy. The Sari Soldiers intimately delves into the extraordinary journey of these women on all sides of the conflict, through the democratic revolution that reshapes the country's future.
Awards Human Rights Watch FF, NY, Nestor Almendros Prize |
Sponsor: WIRE MEGAzine |
TOP
The Sweetest Embrace: Return to Afghanistan
| | Released: 2008 Afghanistan | | Film Length: 75 minutes | | Directors: Najeeb Mirza |
 Soorgul and Amir were two of many Afghan children sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the civil wars that broke out on both sides of the border left the children stranded. They were meant to be in Tajikistan only temporarily, to attend school. Instead, they became stranded there, unable to leave the country until Canada accepted them as refugees. It took 16 years before they could return home. |
Sponsor: Peterborough Friends of Afghanistan |
TOP
The Women's Kingdom
| | Released: 2006, China/US | | Film Length: 22 minutes | | Directors: Xiaoli Zhou |
 Keepers of one of the last matriarchal societies in the world, Mosuo women in a remote area of southwest China live beyond the strictures of mainstream Chinese culture - enjoying great freedoms and carrying heavy responsibilities.
Beautifully shot and featuring intimate interviews, this short documentary offers a rare glimpse into a society virtually unheard of 10 years ago and now often misrepresented in the media. Mosuo women control their own finances and do not marry or live with partners; they practice what they call "walking marriage." A man may be invited into a woman's hut to spend a "sweet night," but must leave by daybreak. While tourism has brought wealth and 21st century conveniences to this remote area, it has also introduced difficult challenges to the Mosuo culture - from pollution in the lake, to the establishment of brothels, to mainstream ideas about women, beauty and family. This finely wrought film is a sensitive portrayal of extraordinary women struggling to hold on to their extraordinary society.
Awards Student Academy Award, Silver Medal, San Francisco Women's Film Festival, Best Editing |
TOP
The World According to Monsanto
| | Released: 2008 Canada | | Film Length: 109 minutes | | Directors: Marie-Monique Robin |
 Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. This century-old empire has created some of the most toxic products ever sold, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the herbicide Agent Orange. Based on a painstaking investigation, The World According to Monsanto puts together the pieces of the company's history, calling on hitherto unpublished documents and numerous first-hand accounts.
Today, Monsanto likes to style itself as a "life sciences" company. The leader in genetically modified seeds, engineered to resist its herbicide Roundup, claims it wants to solve world hunger while protecting the environment.
In the light of its troubling past, can we really believe these noble intentions? Misleading reports, collusion, pressure tactics and attempts at corruption: the history of Monsanto is filled with disturbing episodes. Behind its clean, green image, Monsanto is tightening its grasp on the world seed market, striving for market supremacy to the detriment of food security and the global environment. |
Sponsor: The Seasoned Spoon, OPIRG |
TOP
This Time We Can't Say We Didn't Know / "Ovog puta ne moZemo reci da nismo znali"
| | Released: 2008 CROATIA | | Film Length: 3 minutes | | Directors: Slaven Zimbrek |
 Winner of the Croatian national FIPRESCI award "OKTAVIJAN", This Time We Can't Say We Didn't Know combines the archived footage and still images of the Holocaust, Rwanda and Darfur genocides with testimonies of the Holocaust survivors to establish a parallel between the ongoing crisis in Darfur and the Holocaust. However, as the film's title points out, ignorance cannot be used as an excuse for not helping out because "this time we can't say (that) we didn't know". The film was produced jointly by the Jewish Community of Zagreb and Zimbra Film with the objective to increase public awareness in Croatia about the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. |
TOP
Tiger Spirit
| | Released: 2008 Korea | | Film Length: 72 minutes | | Directors: Min Sook Lee |
 The psychic scar shared by millions of people, separated from their families during the Korean War in the 1950s, is symbolized by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing communist North from capitalist South. Tiger Spirit begins in the Korean foothills, where the filmmaker Min Sook Lee joins videographer Lim Sun Nam in his obsessive quest to prove tigers still live in the DMZ's swath of wilderness. A powerful symbol of resilience in Korean mythology, the tiger once roamed the peninsula, but is thought extinct in the region. Lim believes finding the tiger will reconnect Koreans to their spirit and fuel the reunification train. But a tiger's stripes extend beyond its fur. Inspired by her desire to understand the country she left as a child when her family moved to Canada, Lee takes us deeper than symbols, asking the crucial question-how will the two Koreas be put back together? |
TOP
To See if I'm Smiling
| | Released: 2007 Israel | | Film Length: 59 minutes | | Directors: Tamar Yarom |
 Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. To See If I'm Smiling is a disturbing look at the actions and behavior of women soldiers in the Israeli army who, stationed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, help maintain the 40-year-old occupation of Palestinian territories. The women in the film, veterans who've tried to bury the past for years, finally speak openly about their experiences. Deeply personal interviews are dramatically interwoven with both archival footage and details of the women's daily lives. One woman recounts how she posed for a photo with a Palestinian corpse. She searches for that picture, saying, "I wanted to see if I'm smiling." At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics, and moral responsibility intersect during war.
Awards Int'l Doc F F Amsterdam (IDFA), Silver Wolf Award, Int'l Doc F F, Amsterdam (IDFA), Audience Award, Hot Docs, Special Jury Price, Sarasota FF, Special Documentary Jury Prize, Haifa Int'l Film Festival, Best Documentary, Dokufest, Best Feature Documentary, Israeli Documentary Competition, Best Documentary |
Sponsor: Sisters of St. Joseph |
TOP
|
|
