In the Fall of 2013 a Russian documentary filmmaker contacted numerous LGBTQ activists and filmmakers in Canada and the United States with whom they had worked with in previous years to screen their films. The message they sent was a request to help fund a film that they believe desperately
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PostArctica: Water – Edward Burtynsky
One of my favorite photographers, and a Canadian, eh? “While trying to accommodate the growing needs of an expanding, and very thirsty civilization, we are reshaping the Earth in colossal ways. In this new and powerful role over the planet, we are also capable of engineering our own demise. We
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Crisis of Civilization – Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
Uh-oh. One hour and 17minues of important viewing? Hmm… I recommend taking a gander at what Mr.Ahmed has to say as he sheds some light on some of the systematic problems faced by western societies. Enjoy. Filed under: Education, Politics Tagged: Capitalism, Documentary, systematic problems, Systemic Causes, The
Continue readingPostArctica: Lisa Ross “After Night”
Having previously photographed ritual objects and burial sites of the Uyghur people of Western China in the series, Living Shrines, she has created a new series that documents the surprising number of beds to be found, apparently in the middle of nowhere, in the landscape outside of the Uyghur community.
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Rest Stops : Vanishing Relics of the American Roadside – Ryann Ford
Rest Stops : Vanishing Relics of the American RoadsideLiterally, before our eyes, rest stops are vanishing from the landscapes of America. All over the country, rest areas are losing the fight to commercial alternatives: drive-thrus at every exit and mega-sized travel centers offering car washes, wi-fi, grilled paninis and bladder-busting
Continue readingezra winton: The costs of consumption
The next time someone asks me why I’m an anti-capitalist, I’m just going to tell them to watch GREEN: DEATH OF THE FORESTS by Patrick Rouxel. A stunning visual essay showing the reasons behind and consequences of Indonesia’s massive deforestation, GREEN is without narration, talking heads or any humans really
Continue readingArt Threat: Friday Film Pick: Blockadia Rising: Voices of the Tar Sands Blockade
This week’s FFP is a new one-hour documentary by Garrett Graham (in collaboration with the Tar Sands Blockade) about the direct action efforts of activists in Texas, who try to stop construction of the planned Alberta tar sands pipeline. There is some seriously heavy-handed narration at the beginning, but if
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: WikiLeaks Leaks Transcript of Hollywood Doc on Julian Assange, Online Activism
WikiLeaks leaks transcript of “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”, the Hollywood doc on Julian Assange and online activism a day before the $2 million vindictive and biased film is publicly released. The post WikiLeaks Leaks Transcript of Hollywood Doc on Julian Assange, Online Activism appeared first on The
Continue readingArt Threat: We will stop Monsanto: Docs on an agribully
Today in over 250 countries worldwide, thousands of people marched against agricorpo giant Monsanto. The St Louis based chemical company is known for genetically modifying crops and trapping farmers into cycles of chemical use that profit Monsanto and harm everyone and everything else. They’re also known for many other terrible
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: 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 readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: Making Peace with Aging and Infirmity
On holiday in Cat Island, Bahamas recently, something happened. Regular readers of my blog might recall that I’ve blogged about Cat Island before – it’s a remarkable place in its beauty, its simplicity and its authentic (but few) inhabitants. Last year, I visited an 87 year old firecracker called Miss
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: Bowling for Columbine turns ten
Editor’s note: Art Threat has launched a cultural archaeological project that involves digging up previously published but now inaccessible film reviews and cultural musings from Montreal-based writer and teacher Matthew Hays. We’re calling it The Hays Files, and to get things rolling, we’re republishing a review Hays wrote of Bowling
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 readingArt Threat: The Documentary Download Dilemma
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 to
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Fractured Land: A Dene warrior battles Big Oil and neo-colonialism
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb 1, 2013: This is the trailer of Fractured Land a film that tells the story of Caleb Behn, a young Dene warrior from northeastern British Columbia, “taking on Big Oil and Gas to protect his ancestral land and people from the ravages of neocolonialism.” I met Behn
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: “We Steal Secrets”: The Story of WikiLeaks (VIDEO)
by Guest Blogger | Jan 27, 2013: Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney discusses his new documentary, “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” with Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now! The film examines the key players involved in the whistleblowing website’s release of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables to
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