Reel Life, Real Ideas: Movies and more…

If you’re like most folks in Vancouver, you not only care and have compassion for those folks living on the streets, but you know that homelessness is growing and will only get worse in the lead up to the corporate fest called the Olympics.

Well, 4 different people thought that becoming a “mentor” for one or two homeless people would not only alleviate their guilt but actually make a difference for someone no one else seems to care about.

DEVIL PLAYS HARDBALL documents these efforts and is showing SUNDAY, May 11th @ 7:30pm at the Pacific Cinematheque (1131 Hornby @ Helmken, Downtown) as part of the Frames of Mind Film Festival.

This film is very well produced and never drags. The “mentee”s are fascinatingly real and completely direct the action. The mentors growth is also well documented and the narration keeps it together and honest.

Some real insights can be gleaned from this hour long film:

• the woeful inadequacies of the supports that do exist,
• the maliciousness of the current social “welfare” system, and
• the near impossibility of getting out of a vicious vortex that anyone can land in.

This documentary really adds to the homeless discussion; see it if you can, especially since there will be a post-screening discussion with the director and an MD working in the DTES. I leave it for you to decide if the method of help/intervention used is effective for anyone involved…for more info, visit http://cinematheque.bc.ca/framesofmind/index.html#devil