10 Conditions of Love - 2009 -
54 min
Director: Jeff Daniels Arcimedia/Common Room
Year Presented: 2010
This is the story of Rebiya Kadeer, the woman China accuses of inciting terrorism within China’s borders. It is also the story of the ‘other Tibet’, the country its Muslim people call East Turkestan, but which the Chinese call Xinjiang Province. Exiled in the US and twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Kadeer is fighting for the human rights of her people, the Uyghur, China’s oppressed Muslim minority. But Kadeer’s campaign condemns her sons to on-going solitary confinement in a Chinese prison, an appalling consequence of her actions – but she will not relent. Rebiya Kadeer is a remarkable woman who pays a terrible price for patriotism.
Aboriginality - 2009 -
13 min
Director: Dominique Keller & Tom Jackson
Year Presented: 2010
*FAMILY FRIENDLY* Through animation and live-action dance sequences, Aboriginality follows world champion hoop dancer and hip-hop artist Dallas Arcand 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. Arcand, a seventh generation First Nations Canadian from Alexander (Kipohtakaw) Plains Indian Cree Nation, is both a positive First Nations presence in mainstream urban media and a touchstone to traditional First Nations roots and culture. In Aboriginality, the power and spirit of culture sweep across time and space to empower the next generation of First Nations people through heritage and self-awareness.
Sponsors: Aboriginal Student Services. StFX, Paq'tnkek Adult Learning Centre, and Paq'tnkek Youth Group
Apology of an Economic Hitman - 2008 -
90 min
Director: Stelios Kouloglou Moxie Films
Year Presented: 2010
From 1971 to 1981, John Perkins was a prominent member of the top-secret team of “economic hit men” who used fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, military coups and murder to help create the global American empire. Working as an economist for consulting firm Chas T Main, his job was to structure huge loans to Indonesia, Panama and Saudi Arabia – loans for massive construction projects that would funnel the money back to US contractors, at the cost of national self-sufficiency, and resulting in endemic poverty for the vast majority of the local population. Economics – not Intelligence – is where the real cloak-and-dagger stuff happens.
At the Edge of the World - 2009 -
90 min
Director: Dan Stone Wealth Effect Media
Year Presented: 2010
This is an account of the 3rd Antarctic Campaign undertaken by the controversial Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which was arguably “the perfect combination of imperfections.” The actions it takes to stop a Japanese whaling fleet are astonishingly reckless and admirable, and the undertrained international volunteer crew uses a combination of bizarre and brilliant tactics to stop the whalers. But first they must locate them in the vast expanse of the Ross Sea. With one ship (The Farley Mowat) too slow to chase down the whaling fleet and their second ship (The Robert Hunter) unsuited for Antarctic ice conditions, the situation becomes increasingly desperate in this real-life David-vs.-Goliath
Be the Media - 2009 -
22 min
Director: Nick Middleton and Chad Schroter-Gillespie Reel Rising Productions
Year Presented: 2010
Be the Media examines the state of Canada's highly concentrated, deregulated and privatized media industry while showcasing the vital role of local independent citizen journalism and media production in the mid-Vancouver Island region. Featuring interviews with a diverse cast of inspired citizens, Be the Media offers a unique and proactive approach to democratizing the media. Original music by Tongue & Groove and Peter Bowles.
Blessings:The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet - 2009 -
104 min
Director: Victress Hitchcock Chariot Production/Pundarika Foundation
Year Presented: 2010
In the summer of 2005, renowned Buddhist teacher, Tsoknyi Rinpoche III, accompanied by a handful of western students, traveled to the Nangchen region in Eastern Tibet. The purpose of the trip was to document the lives and assess the needs of the Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns – 3,000 remarkable women who live and practice an ancient yogic tradition in nunneries and hermitages scattered across this remote, mountainous region. Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet tells the story of this extraordinary journey.
Sponsors: Atlantic Superstore
Bogotá: Building a Sustainable City - 2008 -
27 min
Director: Tad Fettig Green Planet Films
Year Presented: 2010
As few as 10 years ago, Bogotá, Colombia was characterized by drug cartels, senseless violence and a 30-year civil war. Every three hours someone was kidnapped. Every 15 minutes someone was murdered. Today as you move around the city you’ll see mega-libraries, greenways, 1,000 parks, over 70,000 trees and a state-of-the art transportation system called the TransMilenio. People from all walks of life are out of their cars, enjoying their city space. This remarkable transition came out of the vision of Enrique Peñalosa, Mayor of Bogotá from 1997 through 2000. Peñalosa believed that cities should encourage walking and biking, which would promote community and make the streets safer for everyone.
Burma VJ - 2008 -
84 min
Director: Anders Østergaard KinoSmith
Year Presented: 2010
Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker Anders Østergaard brings us close to the courageous video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country. Armed with small handycams, the Burma VJs stop at nothing to capture their reportages from the streets of Rangoon. This film offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing documentation of the dramatic days of September 2007, when the Buddhist monks started marching.
Sponsors: Department of Political Science, StFX
The Business of Gold: Chronicle of a Foretold Conflict - 2010 -
54 min
Director: Gregorio LaSalle
Year Presented: 2010
Since the peace accord of 1996, the Guatemalan government has encouraged (“impulse”) multinational companies to extract resources from indigenous lands. This policy violates the rights of indigenous people who are organizing in defense of their lands. This documentary is about the collective resistance against multinationals and neo-liberal policies, but more specifically, it is the story of resistance by some of the population of San Miguel Ixtahuacan against a Canadian mining company, Goldcorp Inc.
Sponsors: Project Accompaniment and Breaking the Silence — Antigonish Committee
Champions of the Wild: Dolphins - 1998 -
26 min
Director: Jack Silberman
Year Presented: 2010
Every year, dozens of bottlenose dolphins are captured and shipped off to aquariums and theme parks. Diane Claridge and her husband Ken Balcomb are committed to setting the dolphins free. Their marine mammal survey, based on the Bahamian island of Abaco, identifies individual dolphins living in the area. Conventional wisdom has it that captive dolphins can't survive in the wild, but in 1992, a bottlenose known as Bahama Mama escaped after 17 years in captivity. Five months later, Claridge and Balcomb identified her swimming with a group of wild dolphins. The finding has provided ammunition for their fight to free the planet's imprisoned dolphins and whales.
Chinese Violin - 2002 -
8 min
Director: Joe Chang
Year Presented: 2010
*FAMILY FRIENDLY* A young girl and her father leave everything familiar behind when they move to Canada from China. The only piece of home they bring with them is a Chinese violin. As they face the huge challenges of starting new lives in a new place, the music of the violin connects them to the life they left behind – and guides the girl to a musical future. The Chinese Violin is part of the NFB's Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
Concrete, Steel & Paint - 2009 -
55 min
Director: Tony Heriza & Cindy Burstein
Year Presented: 2010
When men in prison join with victims of crime to create a mural about healing, their views on punishment, remorse, and forgiveness collide. But as the participants move deeper into the creative process, the mistrust begins to give way to moments of common purpose and human contact. The film raises important questions about crime, justice and reconciliation and illustrates the role that art can play in facilitating dialogue about difficult issues. In a country such as the U.S., with the highest incarceration rate in the world, there are no easy answers, but Concrete, Steel and Paint points to the need for fresh ideas and new approaches to criminal justice and corrections.
Cubers - 2008 -
70 min
Director: Richard Leblanc
Year Presented: 2010
The Rubik’s Cube is back! Finally, after 25 years, Cubers, an elite breed of braniac misfits who can solve the puzzle in 20 seconds, get another chance to be crowned the World Rubik’s Cube Champion. Battling to win. Battling to fit in. For Cubers, this isn’t just a game.
La Dernière batture (Turning Tides) - 2008 -
24 min
Director: Mathieu D’Astous
Year Presented: 2010
Summer trippers line up for the famous local friedclams and whole families dig for the white mollusc in the tangy air of the sandbars. But as the clams dwindle, so do these tableaux from Maritime culture. For commercial fishermen it's the end of a livelihood; for others, it's the death of a tradition. Can this really be the end of a resource that used to be as plentiful as the air we breathe?
Dhamma Brothers: East Meets West in the Deep South - 2008 -
76 min
Director: Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura & Anne Marie Stein
Year Presented: 2010
Donaldson Correctional Facility, situated in the Alabama countryside, houses men considered the state's most dangerous offenders. Within this dark environment, a growing network of men meditate regularly. Jenny Phillips, a cultural anthropologist and psychotherapist, first visited the facility in 1999 to observe the meditation classes facilitated by inmates and to interview the inmate meditators about their lives. As she met with them, she was transformed by their openness and willingness to talk freely about themselves, even though high levels of apprehension, distraction and danger characterize their lives as prisoners. Is it possible to live with a sense of inner peace and freedom within this harsh prison environment?
Dream Magic - 2008 -
5 min
Director: Katerina Cizek
Year Presented: 2010
This revealing portrait of NFB filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin was shown at a gala ceremony in 2008, where Obomsawin received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. Her work has captured some of the most startling events in Canadian history, including the armed standoff between the Canadian Army and Mohawk warriors in 1993. Her films cross a spectrum of social issues, but they are always human. Obomsawin explains in the interview, "For me, a real documentary is when you're really listening to somebody; they are the ones that will tell you what the story is, not you."
Sponsors: Aboriginal Student Services. StFX, Paq'tnkek Adult Learning Centre, and Paq'tnkek Youth Group
Dust (TOZ ) - 2009 -
35 min
Director: Petra Holzer, Selçuk Erzurumlu and Ethem Özgüven
Year Presented: 2010
At one end of the chain there are jeans, while on the other, in unregistered Turkish workshops, there are the people who have contracted mortal lung diseases. While expensive stonewashed jeans are sold, workers’ lives fade away at an alarming pace. This film follows the group of lawyers, doctors, trade unionists, workers, patient relatives and artists who are working to break this circle.
Sponsors: Aqua Terra Natural Health Clinic Inc.
Fatherhood Dreams - 2007 -
55 min
Director: Julia Ivanova
Year Presented: 2010
Meet four gay men who have always wanted to be dads and discover the challenges they face as they realize their dreams of becoming parents. Fatherhood Dreams invites people into the day-to-day lives of gay dads Scott, Steve, Randy and Drew, who are fathers through adoption, co-parenting, and surrogacy. Their private journey through fatherhood forces them to deal with much larger issues that affect gay fathers in Canada, including the legal aspects of surrogacy, the complexity of "open adoption", and the human rights battles concerning the official recognition of LGBT and multi-parent families. This is a film about the power of love in fulfilling dreams.
Sponsors: Rainbow Warriors and Xpride, StFX
Feast or Famine - 2010 -
51 min
Director: Tim Tracey
Year Presented: 2010
Feast or Famine is a glimpse into a rapidly vanishing way of life: sustainable food production in rural Nova Scotia. It connects not only the minds but also the hearts of the community with local farmers. Despite the huge challenges faced by small scale farmers, they remain incredibly positive. The interviews explores how to reclaim the self-sufficient aspects of Nova Scotia's food production in times past and how to reconnect people with the value of food. Can we adopt a system that nurtures our environment, or will we continue abusing Mother Nature on our terms?
Freedom of Space: Skateboard Culture in Public Space - 2009 -
60 min
Director: Steve Olpin and Tim Irvin
Year Presented: 2010
Shot in Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and across the globe, Freedom of Space provides a look at the culture of skateboarding, street skating, and use of public space. Interviews include long-time skateboarder and original Burnside builder Kent Dahlgren, Justin Hindery, The Skateboard Mag’s Kevin Wilkins, 12-year old skate advocate Patrick Craddock, the mayor of Portland, Tom Potter, and many more. This film was one of the finalists in the FUEL TV Experiment.
Sponsors: Antigonish Highland Skateboarding Association
Garbage Dreams - 2009 -
53 min
Director: Mai Iskander Working Films
Year Presented: 2010
Filmed over four years, Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto on the outskirts of Cairo. For generations, the residents of Cairo have depended on the Zaballeen to collect their trash, paying them only a minimal amount for their services. These workers recycle 80% of all the garbage they collect. When the city suddenly decides to replace the Zaballeen with multinational garbage disposal companies, the community finds itself at a crossroads. Faced with the globalization of their trade, each of the teenagers is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.
Good Food - 2008 -
57 min
Director: Mark Dworkin & Melissa Young
Year Presented: 2010
Something remarkable is happening in the fields and orchards of the Pacific Northwest. After leaving the land for decades, family farmers are making a comeback. They are growing healthier food, and more food per acre, while using less energy and water than factory farms – and most of this food is organic. For decades Northwest agriculture was focused on a few big crops for export, but climate change and the end of cheap energy mean that each region needs to produce more of its own food and to grow it more sustainably. Good Food visits farmers, farmers' markets, distributors, stores, restaurants and public officials who are developing a more sustainable food system for all.
Sponsors: Antigonish Farmers’ Market Association and Forever Green Organics
Infinite Vision - 2004 -
35 min
Director: Pavi Mehta
Year Presented: 2010
Thirty years ago, at the age of 58, Dr. Venkataswamy started an 11-bed eye clinic in an old temple-city, and with his team, turned Aravind Eye Care System into the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world. Taking its compassionate services to the doorstep of rura India, Aravind's stunningly effective strategies have created a self-sustaining system that now treats over 1.4 million patients each year, two-thirds of them for free. This award winning documentary tells the inspired story of what made Dr. V's leadership and spiritually grounded vision so compelling.
Sponsors: Antigonish Optical
Justicia Now - 2009 -
31 min
Director: Martin O’Brien & Robbie Proctor
Year Presented: 2010
Chevron/Texaco left a toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest. A courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness, and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history. The lawsuit, representing 30,000 people, charges Chevron/Texaco with damaging the environment and health of the community. The company denies any responsibility and blames the campesinos for their health problems. Activists Daryl Hannah and Stuart Townsend speak out about the issues.
Sponsors: Aqua Terra Natural Health Clinic
Kick Like a Girl - 2009 -
26 min
Director: Jenny Mackenzie
Year Presented: 2010
Kick Like A Girl is the story of what happens when “The Mighty Cheetahs”, an undefeated third grade girls soccer team competes in the boys’ division. With humor and honesty this documentary reveals the reality of the boy-girl issues and what "Kick Like A Girl" really means on and off the playing field. The film is narrated by 8-year-old Lizzie, a selfdescribed soccer girl, who doesn't let juvenile diabetes, elbow blocks or grass stains interfere with her desire to compete. Kick Like A Girl reminds us all of the lessons learned in competitive athletics and how sports has been one of the most effective instruments of social change in our lifetime.
Sponsors: Faculty of Education, StFX and Bergengren Credit Union
Land of Oil and Water - 2009 -
44 min
Director: Warren Cariou and Neil McArthur
Year Presented: 2010
Underneath the woods and the muskeg of northern Canada lie roughly two trillion barrels of oil, fifteen percent of the world’s known reserves. Aboriginal communities in Alberta continue the struggle to preserve their traditional way of life in the midst of the largest and most destructive oil recovery operation the world has ever known. Land of Oil and Water follows the journey of Warren Cariou, a Métis writer from northern Saskatchewan, who travels to his homeland to talk to people there about their hopes and fears about the development now expanding into their area. This film looks at the true cost of development and listens to the Métis and First Nations people who call this place home.
Sponsors: Aboriginal Student Services. StFX, Paq'tnkek Adult Learning Centre, Paq'tnkek Youth Group, and Peak Experiences
Learning through Community - 2010 -
3 min
Director: Wojciech Tokarz
Year Presented: 2010
This film presents the benefits of community engagement for students who participated in the StFX Service Learning Exchange Program in Guatemala in February 2010.
Made in L.A. - 2007 -
70 min
Director: Almudena Carracedo
Year Presented: 2010
Made in L.A. is an Emmy award-winning documentary that follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labour protections from trendy clothing retailer Forever 21. In intimate observational style, Made in L.A. reveals the impact of the struggle on each woman’s life as they are gradually transformed by the experience. Compelling, humourous, deeply human, Made in L.A. is a story about immigration, the power of unity, and the courage it takes to find your voice, as seen through the eyes of María, Maura and Lupe.
Sponsors: StFX Association of University Teachers and the Department of Business Administration, StFX
Madre Tierra (Mother Earth) - 2010 -
23 min
Director: Clif Prowse
Year Presented: 2010
For the indigenous Guatemalan campesino, land is life. It provides a place to live. It provides food. It provides a way out of extreme poverty. Yet the majority of Guatemalans make less than minimum wage, and will never own a piece of land, living in almost feudal conditions. While Guatemala is a lush l and of great natural resources, it is also the country with the worst land distribution in the Americas. Madre Tierra follows the struggle of the CCDA, an Indigenous Rights Organization, in their attempt to get rural Guatemalans access to land.
Sponsors: Breaking the Silence — Antigonish Committee and Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (Antigonish Diocese)
Magic Lion - 2004 -
7 min
Director: Charles Githinji
Year Presented: 2010
An African boy goes on a quest to save his gravely ill grandfather. He must find a mysterious village where healers create medicine with special properties. On his way, the boy meets a strange lion caught in a trap. Freeing the lion is risky but he trusts that things will work out if he shows kindness.
Sponsors: Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
March Point - 2008 -
53 min
Director: Annie Silverstein, Tracy Rector, Cody Cayou, Nick Clark & Travis Tom Longhouse Media/Native Lens
Year Presented: 2010
March Point follows Cody, Nick and Travis, three teens from the Swinomish Indian Tribe who participate in a community justice diversion program. They originally wanted to make a gangster movie but find themselves using video cameras to investigate the impact of two oil refineries on their tribal community, which have negatively affected the health of the water and land and the very fabric of cultural tradition itself. March Point follows their journey as they come to understand themselves, the environment and the threat their people face. The boys grapple with their assignment through humour, sarcasm and a candid self-knowledge.
Sponsors: Aboriginal Student Services. StFX, Paq'tnkek Adult Learning Centre, and Paq'tnkek Youth Group
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers - 2009 -
93 min
Director: Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith Kovno Communications/InSight Productions
Year Presented: 2010
This story catapults us to 1971 where we find America in the grip of a familiar scenario: a dirty war based on lies. And Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, one of the nation’s leading war planners, has the documents to prove it. Armed with 7000 pages of Top Secret documents, he leaks the truth about the Vietnam War to The New York Times and risks life in prison to end the war he helped plan. This is the story of a daring act of conscience which sets into motion an extraordinary series of events: Watergate, President Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. The film speaks directly to the world today, as national security and the people’s right-to-know are in constant tension.
Sponsors: Bergengren Credit Union
Nero’s Guests - 2009 -
56 min
Director: Deepa Bhati Mistral Movies
Year Presented: 2010
What starts as isolated reports of one or two suicides a month in a village soon becomes an epidemic. The suicides and their cause (crushing debt) are well known in the countryside but less so in the cities where fashion and lifestyle news dominate the headlines. As Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, reporter P. Sainath has been writing about India’s agrarian crisis for over ten years, and he’s furious. Nero's Guests follows Sainath as he travels from devastated villages and the homes of dead farmers to the Parliament and university lecture halls, impassionedly spreading the message of how we must wake up to the suffering in our midst.
Sponsors: Coady International Institute
One Peace at a Time - 2009 -
84 min
Director: Turk Pipkin
Year Presented: 2010
Turk Pipkin takes us on his journey to find some positive solutions for a “messed up world.” How can we provide basic rights to every child? The film features the insights of Nobel laureates Muhammad Yunus, Desmond Tutu and Stephen Chu. Willie Nelson and many others offer their perspectives on what is required for a more equitable world. Music by Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, Jack Johnson, Cat Stevens, Explosions in the Sky and more.
Sponsors: MacLean Brothers Woodworking
Pray the Devil Back to Hell - 2008 -
72 min
Director: Abigail E. Disney & Gini Reticker
Year Presented: 2010
Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. Thousands of ordinary women, both Christian and Muslim, came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside the presidential palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they took on the warlords and non-violently forced a resolution to the stalled peace talks. This is the inspiring story of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.
Sponsors: Tuesday Night Meditation Group
Rebecca’s Wild Farm - 2009 -
49 min
Director: Rebecca Hosking
Year Presented: 2010
Wildlife camerawoman Rebecca Hosking returns to her childhood home to take on the family farm. The Hosking farm is not a normal farm – it is a haven of biodiversity, with majestic oak trees full of birds, water meadows and hayfields heaving with wild flowers. We follow Rebecca as she investigates different ways to run a productive farm without using fossil fuels. In doing so, the film reveals a fascinating and beautiful glimpse into positive alternatives such as permaculture for the future of farming.
Sponsors: Pleasant Valley Nurseries
Refugees of the Blue Planet - 2006 -
53 min
Director: Hélène Choquette & Jean-Philippe Duval
Year Presented: 2010
Each year, millions of people the world over are driven to forced displacement. From the Maldives to Brazil, and here in Canada, the disturbing accounts of people who have been uprooted are amazingly similar. The enormous pressure placed on rural populations as a result of the degradation of their life-supporting environment is driving them increasingly further from their way of life. The Refugees of the Blue Planet sheds light on the little-known plight of individuals who are suffering the repercussions of this reality: environmental refugees. They are constantly growing in number and often have no legal status, though their right to a clean and sustainable environment has been violated.
Sponsors: The Fresh Air Society
Seeking Refuge - 2009 -
70 min
Director: Karen Cho
Year Presented: 2010
Five asylum seekers set out on the lengthy journey to be accepted as refugees in Canada. Plunging into the experiences, hopes and struggles of asylum seekers looking for protection, Seeking Refuge follows newly-arrived claimants awaiting their hearings and captures the lives of those who have been denied asylum and are facing deportation. From border crossings to refugee shelters, Seeking Refuge offers a provocative look at both the refugee system and those whose lives lie in the balance.
Sponsors: the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor, StFX
El Sistema - 2008 -
100 min
Director: Paul Smaczny & Maria Stodtmeier
Year Presented: 2010
This film shows how ‘El Sistema’ (the publicly financed Venezuelan music education program led by Jose Antonio Abreu) functions on a daily basis. Three young people from the poor ‘La Rinconada’ area of Caracas are accompanied through their daily lives for a whole year. There are few overlaps in their biographies – up until the day when they become part of the ‘system’ and are confronted by their own instruments, as well as the love, persistence and patience of their teachers. The film explores a central question: What can the system accomplish by connecting young people with classical music, and to what extent can it change their lives?
Sponsors: Atlantic Superstore
Slapp Chopp (6 min) & Wear a Chair (1 min) - 2010 -
7 min
Director: Julianna Khoury, Peter Storseth, Keegan Pauls, Emily Bastin Descoste, Dianna Kendall, Oliver Cunningham, Patrick Bowman,
Year Presented: 2010
The Antigonish C@P Site in partnership with the Pictou Antigonish Regional Library with funding from the Department of Economic and Rural Development, offered a program for youths ages 11-14 to teach them how to make films. Over the course of the program the participants learned the art of film making including script writing, acting, lighting and editing. The final products are the Slap Chop parody and Wear a Chair.
Sponsors: Bergengren Credit Union, and CAP (Community Access Program), Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
Soldiers of Conscience - 2007 -
54 min
Director: Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg
Year Presented: 2010
From West Point grads to drill sergeants, from Abu Ghraibinterrogators to low ranking reservist-mechanics, soldiers in the U.S. Army today reveal their deepest moral concerns about killing in war. Soldiers of Conscience reveals that far more soldiers decide not to kill than we might expect. Made with official permission from the U.S. Army, Soldiers of Conscience includes never-before-seen footage of basic training and the war in Iraq. It is a realistic look at war, peace, and the power of the human conscience. Warning: This film shows images from war.
Tapped - 2009 -
76 min
Director: Stephanie Soechtig Atlas Films
Year Presented: 2010
Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity to be bought and sold? Tapped is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car, this timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell our water back to us. From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, we follow the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table.
Sponsors: Antigonish Harbour Watershed Association
Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma - 2009 -
88 min
Director: Patrick Reed
Year Presented: 2010
The act of triage is the ultimate humanitarian nightmare. Racing against time with limited resources, relief workers make split-second decisions: who gets treatment, who gets food, who lives, who dies. This impossible dilemma haunts humanitarians like Dr. James Orbinski, who accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) as their President, and was a field doctor during the Somali famine, the Rwandan genocide, and other catastrophes. Now, Orbinski returns to Somalia, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo, revisiting the past and engaging with the present. He hopes that here, in the place where he witnessed humanity literally torn apart, he can rediscover the true heart of humanitarianism.
Sponsors: Just Us! Coffee
Turbulent Waters - 2004 -
75 min
Director: Malcolm Guy & Michelle Smith
Year Presented: 2010
Turbulent Waters takes us below deck to meet the men who toil at the grimy heart of the global economy. Whether it's petroleum, wheat or computer keyboards, over 90% of international trade moves by sea. Yet the men whose labour is the lifeblood of world trade reap few benefits. Every year over 2500 seafarers die on the job. Many work in dangerous conditions on ships flying flags of convenience, a common practice whereby companies register vessels in countries with low labour standards and corporate taxes. This hard-hitting documentary exposes the reality of international shipping, while giving voice and dignity to the men who risk their lives to bring us the goods we need.
Sponsors: Lyghtesome Gallery
Under Our Skin - 2008 -
103 min
Director: Andy Abrahams Wilson Open Eye Pictures
Year Presented: 2010
A gripping tale of microbes, medicine & money, Under Our Skin exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most controversial and fastest growing epidemics of our time. Each year, thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told that their symptoms are "all in their head." Following the stories of patients and physicians fighting for their lives and livelihoods, the film brings into focus a haunting picture of the health care system and a medical establishment all too willing to put profits ahead of patients.
Untold Revolution - 2010 -
8 min
Director: Prem Lata, Sidra Hameed and S. Waqas Hussain
Year Presented: 2010
This documentary revolves around an art institute, which is owned, run and funded by Government of Pakistan, called NAPA (National College of Performing Arts), where different art forms (music, theatre, dance, etc.) are taught. Using NAPA as a character to represent Pakistan’s media and art industry, the film explores how creativity has flourished and evolved since 9/11. NAPA is located in a place called “Hindu Gymkhana,” in the heart of Karachi city. Years ago it was used as a club where people use to come for recreation.
A Village Called Versailles - -
52 min
Director: S. Leo Chiang Walking Iris Films
Year Presented: 2010
In a New Orleans neighborhood called Versailles, a tight-knit group of Vietnamese Americans overcame countless obstacles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, only to have their homes threatened by a new government-imposed toxic landfill. A Village Called Versailles is the empowering story of how the Versailles people, who have already suffered so much in their lifetime, turn a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.
Sponsors: Coady International Institute
Water Detectives - 2007 -
11 min
Director: David Springbett
Year Presented: 2010
In Matamoros, Mexico, a severe water shortage led the city to take the unusual step of putting local children in charge of changing adult attitudes and habits. Thousands of schoolchildren were enlisted as "water detectives" – educated in concepts of water conservation, and encouraged to discuss the importance of proper water usage with adults. Kids were authorized to give "tickets" to transgressors who were seen to be wasting water, and the municipality followed up by fixing leaks and visiting homes. The result? Matamoros lowered its water consumption by nearly 20% in just one year! This inspiring film features lively narration from three of the water detectives, Mariana, Carlos and Raoul.
Where the Water Meets the Sky - 2008 -
60 min
Director: David Eberts
Year Presented: 2010
Written by Jordan Roberts and narrated by Morgan Freeman, Where the Water Meets the Sky tells the inspiring story of a group of women in a remote region of Northern Zambia who achieve the unimaginable: they learn how to make a film as a way to speak out about their lives, raising an issue that no one will discuss – the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS. What begins as a workshop in filmmaking becomes a journey in empowerment as the women rise to the challenge of pressing their community to change.
Sponsors: Department of Adult Education, StFX and Antigonish Women's Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association
Who Does She Think She Is? - 2008 -
84 min
Director: Pamela Tanner Boll
Year Presented: 2010
In a half-changed world, women often feel they need to choose between mothering and working. Your children’s wellbeing or your own? Responsibility or self-expression? This documentary by director Pamela Tanner Boll (Born into Brothels) features five fierce and creative women who refuse to choose. Through their lives as artists, we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity; partnering and independence; economics and art. Along the way, the film invites us to consider the ancient legacies of women.
Sponsors: Lyghtesome Gallery
Youth 2 Youth Workshop:Connecting Young Filmmakers from Nova Scotia and Pakistan - -
min
Director:
Year Presented: 2010
Join us as we experiment with the first AIFF interactive film workshop! This is an exciting opportunity for local NS youth to virtually engage with young filmmakers from Pakistan. Viewings of short films from both regions will be followed by a Skype discussion on the joys and challenges youth face in filmmaking.