The newest agit-POP video from the folks at the Albino Squirrel Vimeo Channel asks Morgan Freeman and CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi to stand with Palestinians and consider cancelling an event set to take place in a few days.
Continue readingAuthor: Ezra Winton
Art Threat: Blood work: A conversation with the director of Blood Relative
One ongoing trend in documentary filmmaking involves privileged minority world saviours travelling to distant destitute lands in order to do good or capture the act of doing good on film. In films like FUCK FOR FOREST, playing at this year’s Hot Docs film festival, people from rich countries set out
Continue readingezra winton: Trading songs for socks – Has Indiegogo become colonized by capital?
Remember when crowd funding was a baby? It was an innocent but fierce little phenomenon that you would feed, along with a whole community, and lo and behold, a project would be raised, big and strong ready to tackle the world. Amazing things like literacy projects, art therapy, and independent
Continue readingezra winton: The fish farm conspiracy – BC salmon are diseased from farms but the Canadian Govt covers it up
This is a great independent doc by a friend from British Columbia. It is absolutely shocking to see the lengths the provincial and federal governments are going to in order to not allow the dissemination of information about the role of BC fish farms in the destruction of wild salmon
Continue readingArt Threat: Fatal fish farms
Salmon Confidential is a new film by Twyla Roscovich on the government cover up of what is killing BC’s wild salmon. It is absolutely shocking to see the lengths the provincial and federal governments are going to in order to not allow the dissemination of information about the role of
Continue readingezra winton: Hot Docs turns twenty – Five tips on making a great fest better
IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY It was a year like any other – the ceremonial swap between less liberal and more liberal leader of the US took place when Clinton picked up where Bush left off (launching a cruise missile attack on Iraq just half a year into his
Continue readingArt Threat: Hot Docs turns twenty
Twenty years ago today, it was a year like any other. The ceremonial swap between less liberal and more liberal leader of the United States took place when Clinton picked up where Bush left off (launching a cruise missile attack on Iraq just half a year into his term and
Continue readingezra winton: Ya still cool
I can’t stand most advertising but this ad for a public bus service in Denmark is hands down the bomb. Hollywood pack your bags (and get on the bus).
Continue readingezra winton: Black Sea pirates at Hot Docs
Svetla and I are giddy with anticipation with the thought of attending the world premiere of a new doc by our Bulgarian friends Vanya and Svetlo, THE LAST OF THE BLACK SEA PIRATES at this year’s Hot Docs. If the film is half as good as the incredible trailer above,
Continue readingezra winton: Hidden riches of world’s wealthiest exposed
Kudos to the Guardian and to the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], for their ground-breaking investigative work that has now revealed the names of the world’s most questionable millionaires. In an era of austerity, with massive cuts to services, the arts, education, and labour in many countries, it’s sobering
Continue readingezra winton: Representing addiction in documentary cinema
In just under a month on May 11th, I’ll be speaking in Vancouver at a conference about the intersection of documentary, addiction, madness and social health. I’ll be speaking about NFB and activist docs and focusing on three new conceptual frames I’m developing in my documentary research: proximal empathy, hierarchies
Continue readingezra winton: The animals on our screen – A review of The Ghosts in Our Machine
Over the last decade of programming political documentary for Cinema Politica I can say with confidence that there are two subjects that have always been decidedly divisive and caused the most vociferous backlash from audience members. One of those subjects is the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine and the other
Continue readingArt Threat: Print your own gun
This week’s Friday Film Pick is a new 24-minute documentary produced by Motherboard and distributed by Vice Magazine, on 3D gun printing (video after jump). The film peaks into the weird and extremely controversial world of Cody Wilson and associates, young gun-loving geeks who celebrate the intersection of firearms, freedom
Continue readingArt Threat: The Ghosts in Our Machine defends the animals on our screen
Over the last decade of programming political documentary for Cinema Politica I can say with confidence that there are two subjects that have always been decidedly divisive and caused the most vociferous backlash from audience members. One of those subjects is the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine and the other
Continue readingArt Threat: Sexist Ford India advert criticized
The Huffington Post has come to be known as a reliable news source for sleazy celebrity raunch, violent sensationalism and mindless drivel. From time to time the liberal news site does produce good stories, but the Huffpost still shows its profit over morals design even when those green stems rise
Continue readingArt Threat: Art Seen: The Sleepers
Who: Sergio Clavijo What: Les dormeurs / The Sleepers Where: Montreal, Quebec, as part of Art SouTerrain (a literally underground city festival of art) When: Friday, March 1, 2013 Why: The implications of this installation are more than artistic. The Sleepers is a disruption in a process of exhange. To
Continue readingArt Threat: Anti-bully Beauty
Vimeo staff pick. Shane Koyczan. Collaborative artists animating each 20 seconds of powerful, stirring, anti-oppression spoken words. Enough said.
Continue readingArt Threat: Free Int’l Women’s Day Films at NFB.ca
The beaten (by the Canadian Conservative budget cuts) but not down National Film Board of Canada is offering a treasure trove of titles for free streaming today, in celebration and recognition of International Women’s Day. Included in the bunch is the 2012 experimental short by Jenn Strom, below (after the
Continue readingezra winton: Free International Women’s Day Films at NFB.ca
The beaten (by the Canadian Conservative budget cuts) but not down National Film Board of Canada is offering a treasure trove of titles for free streaming today, in celebration and recognition of International Women’s Day. Included in the bunch is the 2012 experimental short by Jenn Strom, below (after the
Continue readingezra winton: The Documentary Download Dilemma – A Conversation with Doc-streamers Thought Maybe
Much ink has been spilled and pixels punctuated regarding the ongoing controversial topic around the copyright, downloading, streaming and file sharing of creative content — yet there has been little discussion (outside of organizational listserves and at festival forums) of documentary cinema and file sharing. This may be in large part due
Continue reading