The last 48 hours have been quite the whirlwind of activity at Cinema Politica HQ here in Montreal. We’ve been planning a launch date for our newest expansion of the political cinema terrain: Cinema Politica Video-On-Deman (or #CPVOD as we like to call it for short). Anna, our fearless Network Coordinator (she works with all the CP locals, or chapters, worldwide) came up with the brilliant turn-of-phase above, Streaming Truth to Power. Marie-Noelle has been multi-tasking design and translation to such an effect that I’m sure I saw custom-designed (and…read more
Continue readingAuthor: Ezra Winton
ezra winton: Streaming Truth to Power: CPVOD Launches!
The last 48 hours have been quite the whirlwind of activity at Cinema Politica HQ here in Montreal. We’ve been planning a launch date for our newest expansion of the political cinema terrain: Cinema Politica Video-On-Deman (or #CPVOD as we like to call it for short). Anna, our fearless Network
Continue readingezra winton: Padre – Inspired Political Animation
I love this short Argentine animation film Padre, and I think you will too. If the film piques your interest into animation production, then check out the wonderful making-of short the filmmakers have so generously provided here (https://vimeo.com/886…
Continue readingezra winton: Padre – Inspired Political Animation
I love this short Argentine animation film Padre, and I think you will too. If the film piques your interest into animation production, then check out the wonderful making-of short the filmmakers have so generously provided here.
Continue readingezra winton: Curating the North: Documentary Screening Ethics and Inuit Representation in (Festival) Cinema
This article was originally published at ArtThreat.net on December 17, 2015. Documentary festivals are certainly not immune to scandal and controversy, and this year’s RIDM, which took place in Montreal in November 2015, was no exception. Following on the heels of the festival’s public screenings of Dominic Gagnon’s film Of the North, Inuit artists like Tanya Tagaq and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril took to social media to express their dismay, anger and frustration over the inclusion of an ethically problematic film in the festival’s program. The resulting fallout revealed a deep chasm…read more
Continue readingArt Threat: Curating the North: Documentary Screening Ethics and Inuit Representation in (Festival) Cinema
Documentary festivals are certainly not immune to scandal and controversy, and this year’s RIDM, which took place in Montreal in November 2015, was no exception. Following on the heels of the festival’s public screenings of Dominic Gagnon’s film Of the North, Inuit artists like Tanya Tagaq and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril took to social media to express […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Hot Docs 22: CanCon and BrandCon
North America’s largest and most sweeping doc-deluge, the Canadian International Hot Docs Festival, is once again in full swing, and the moment wouldn’t be complete, for me at least, without some form of commentary that assesses this institutional giant as it marks another year. In that spirit and as with
Continue readingezra winton: Hot Docs 22: CanCon and BrandCon
North America’s largest and most sweeping doc-deluge, the Canadian International Hot Docs Festival, is once again in full swing, and the moment wouldn’t be complete, for me at least, without some form of commentary that assesses this institutional giant as it marks another year. In that spirit and as with past “taking stock” previews (2014 is here, 2013 is here and 2012 is here) of Hot Docs, I humbly present my take on this year’s fest, divided into three Sergio Leone-inspired sections: what’s promising, what’s looking like a fixer-upper, and…read more
Continue readingArt Threat: Petition to Save Film Heritage in Former Yugoslavia
An appeal from the international community of film scholars, cinephiles and archivists: Dear Colleagues, Avala Film, the former Yugoslavia’s oldest film studio – which was at the heart of Mila Turajlic’s 2010 internationally acclaimed documentary CINEMA KOMUNISTO – is to be sold by the Serbian government for the value of
Continue readingArt Threat: A Changing Chinatown
Julia Kwan’s NFB-produced Everything Will Be (Canada, 2014) examines the gentrification of Vancouver’s Chinatown as an uneasy balance of preservation, assimilation, and creative re-purposing. A flurry of condo development encroaches on the neighbourhood’s familiar faces, such as the witty nonagenarian newsvendor and the members of the senior’s singing club. Meanwhile,
Continue readingArt Threat: Performing Aloha in Queer Times
In 2001, filmmakers Kathryn Xian and Brent Anbe broke new ground with their documentary Ke Kulana He Mahu: Remembering a Sense of Place. The film, which documents the lives, struggles, and aspirations of several queer and trans Kanaka Maoli (Indigenous Hawaiians), also made an important and, at the time, novel
Continue readingezra winton: Still Talking about Challenge for Change
Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle was a program launched by the National Film Board of Canada in the late sixties that facilitated the production of around 200 social documentaries known for their inclusion of subjects in the production process and their uncompromising critiques of government programs. In 2010 I co-edited a
Continue readingezra winton: Best Canadian Essays 2014
A couple of weeks ago I had the honour and privilege to be invited as a guest to a book launch in Toronto for a yearly anthology published by Tightrope Books called Best Canadian Essays. My POV Magazine essay, Upping the Anti: Documentary, Capitalism and Liberal Consensus in an Age
Continue readingezra winton: My Programmers Rant – 2014
I’ve watched over 50 documentaries in the last two weeks (and many more over 14 years of programming), and here’s what I’m thinking: The first point is so important that I’d like to just put it up front and center, then get on with the lesser evils of contemporary documentary
Continue readingArt Threat: Abortion at sea: A review of Vessel
Vessel (Diana Whitten, USA, 2014) is fast-paced, heart-thumping adventure into reproductive rights and activism on the high seas. This was one of my favourite films at Hot Docs 2014, and having let the documentary sit with me for a few days, I’ve realized it is as much about abortion as
Continue readingezra winton: Launching the Cinema Politica Book
From left to right, at the Cinema Politica book launch: Svetla Turnin, John Greyson, Thomas Waugh and Ezra Winton. High up on the eleventh floor of Concordia’s EV (Engineering and Visual Arts) building in downtown Montreal 150 or so people gathered as a sun set reflected in orange hues
Continue readingezra winton: My second interview with the incredible George Littlechild
AAbove is a screen shot from the Art Threat site, which currently features my newest interview with an artist whose work is alive with history, heart and healing. I’ve been honoured and privileged to interview George Littlechild once before, and seized upon the opportunity for a follow-up on the heels
Continue readingezra winton: CP book launch and John Greyson talk
This is the poster for the John Greyson talk and CP book launch in Montreal in a few days. Can’t wait!
Continue readingArt Threat: Painting, Resisting, Giggling: An Interview with George Littlechild
I first stumbled upon George Littlechild’s art at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in my hometown of Courtenay, British Columbia. After reeling from the emotional turmoil and historical reopening, rapprochement and reordering rendered in his bold and colourful brush strokes and integration of collage through archives, I was delighted further
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