Reel Life, Real Ideas: Movies and more…

Thursday, May 1st @ 7:30pm, One of Many makes its Vancouver Premiere at the Pacific Cinémathèque.

This film is powerful. It not only documents the genocide of aboriginal people in what is called Canada, it moves beyond by looking at some of the work going on to overcome the pain and dysfunction that residential schools and other Canadian government policy deliberately and consciously imposed on the people that have always lived on this land.

I really liked the use of various genres of music (Tutchone, Cree, hip-hop, more) to keep the viewer’s spirit lifted while we voyage through one survivor’s story of residential school and foster homes. Sally Tisiga, the courageous single mother of two teenage boys and a member of the Wolf Clan, Kaska Nation, first shares her story before we watch her struggle to overcome this past. Her passion to keep her sons with her and to connect all of them to her people’s culture touched this single father’s heart deeply.

Using archival footage, we see that far from what the capitalist media has portrayed, aboriginal people have been continually struggling for their inherent right to self-government. When a residential school northwest of Edmonton is occupied, the film shows how these elders transformed doubt into an incredible source of strength; 37 years later, Blue Quills continues to thrive and grow.

That this is a German/French co-production is both surprising and insightful. But then, why would “Canadians” want to expose their own genocidal practice, especially when it continues to this day. At the same time, a respectful outsider’s perspective can be sharper and go deeper.

One of the co-directors, Doris Butignol, will be at this screening for a Q&A. She has previously documented some of the work done by the Zapatistas and anti-globalization activists in Seattle and France. She will be arriving from Haida Gwaii where she is working on a film about the recent death of the Golden Spruce. She had a couple of moments to answer a few questions today:

Why did you make this film?
DB: I met Sally in 1992; the shock of her story was so big, I needed to try to understand it.

What makes this film different?
DB: I’ll let the audience decide.

What does the elder at the end of the credits say?
DB: in Blackfoot, she describes how her people survived through the power of ceremony and culture.

What is the joke that they laugh at?
DB: the elder makes a face.

Hank Bull, a long time member of and builder within the Vancouver Arts Community, will introduce the film.

This will be an event. Don’t miss it. For more information or to buy tickets online, visit:
http://www.cinematheque.bc.ca/mar_apr_08/one_of_many.htm

Sigur Rós’ concert film Heima plays this weekend (April 18-20) at the Vancity Theatre @ 7:15pm and 9:30pm

Heima is Icelandic for “at home” and watching this movie is a cozy, beautiful place to be, especially in the posh Film Centre’s seats.

This film is worth slowing down for. For me, it started slow; I took a song to get into it and then was mesmerized by the combination of music and cinematography. I must admit I didn’t know a thing about Sigur Rós but now understand them to be a group of very talented, humble musicians that have created a unique place within popular music…they seem worthwhile knowing and it was an enjoyable way to meet them.

The premise of the film is that Sigur Rós (and Amiina) are giving free concerts around Iceland as a way of giving back to their kin. Of course, they made a film out of this free tour, so it obviously wasn’t all give. In any case, they set a high standard for musicians (or anyone) that care about their friends and family; for a band that seems to be so popular and successful, it’s more than refreshing.

The setting makes this film gorgeous, even without the artistic stagings and lightings of the various concerts. Iceland still seems to have so much land in a wild state; I wonder if motorized vehicles really have as little presence as they do in the film or if the film makers consciously chose to remove them.

The band even makes a statement - albeit a feeble one - about the destruction of our planet when they divert their tour to include a protest camp at a new dam site that is to make electricity for a new aluminum smelter by flooding a vast, wild plain. If only they had read Derrick Jensen’s writings! To the filmmaker’s credit, the simultaneous statement by the wind/land/planet IS included.

Throughout, the film stays true to its name, creating a cozy atmosphere where children and dogs roam free to explore the different stages. It’s seductive musicality is definitely worth watching - I’ve never seen a rock marimba before!

For more info or to buy tickets online, visit http://www.vifc.org/

The View from Above (La vue d’en haut) is a French language play about to start its second week in Vancouver at Théâtre la Seizième (Studio 16).

When I saw it last week, I was impressed with both the set and the acting. The storyline got me there though because it is set in North Vancouver two years after the cancelled Olympic games. Why were they cancelled? Because of the rain, which hasn’t stopped for 3 years!

The play digs deep at our current situation: the poor (mostly referred to as junkies in the play) were rounded up and imprisoned in the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool building on the North Shore before the Olympics. Two years later, they were still imprisoned until the silo is finally blown up from within.

The main character, Stuart (played brilliantly by Joey L’esperance), unquestioningly accepts the science offered by an article he read in a Danish magazine that blames the rain on the poor that were imprisoned. The article claims that when you put junkies and whores together, there is a lot of friction and wetness, which feeds the clouds and creates lots of rain.

Stuart’s wife Marsha (Rachel Robillard, who mesmerizes even before the play even begins) is literally on the edge of both her sanity and the North Shore slopes…she never leaves her house that is about to slide away.

When Stuart and Marsha’s son Roland (Allen Morrison) and his girlfriend Trish (Samantha Madely) return home after escaping from the silo they blew up, we learn that the local real estate agent/neighbourhood security enforcer/thug, Reg Simon, is offering a bonus to homeowners that sell: 1% added to the price of the sale price for each junkie that comes with it.

Stuart’s house has plunged in value, being less than a quarter of it’s pre-Olympic million dollar value, so he comically tries to round up the surviving junkies and sell the house before it slides away.

Perhaps the most powerful point of the show is how it makes clear that food is scarce for everyone now.

There are lots of subtle surprises throughout the show, which plays Wednesday to Saturday (April 5th) at 8pm.

If you speak French and want to see what the dark side of the Olympics can look like, as well as spark your imagination, it’s well worth a look. You can find more information here: www.seizieme.ca

If you don’t speak French, the English language version opens on April 11th with a free preview at Performance Works on Granville Island (and runs until April 27th with 2 for 1 Tuesdays and Wednesdays). It also has a second run beginning April 30th (to May 3rd) at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby. You can find more info at www.rubyslippers.ca