Today is day five of Hot Docs 2012 and unlike last year, a lethal combination of meetings, movies and meanderings have kept me from a daily tally here at Art Threat. No mind, I intend to make up for in the remaining five days of the fest, beginning with this
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Art Threat: Just do it (direct action)! – Activist documentary made free for May Day
From our activist and filmmaker friends in the UK: Constellation and Occupy.com present A FREE 24-hour ONLINE SCREENING of Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws, in celebration of May Day and in honour of the direct action being taken by thousands of people. The film will be
Continue readingArt Threat: Storytelling in post-Mubarak Egypt – Al Jazeera short-doc on performance artist Abeer Soliman
Al Jazeera’s Artscape presents a wonderful short documentary on Abeer Soliman, an Egyptian storyteller and performance artist whose work changed after the uprising.
Continue readingArt Threat: Hot Docs 2012 – The good, the bad, the incomprehensible
The 19th edition of North America’s largest documentary showcase and one of the world’s largest film festivals begins this week, running from April 26 to May 6 in Toronto. With Charlotte Cook replacing Sean Farnel as head programmer, new directions (less films, more focus is the official line), new initiatives
Continue readingArt Threat: That’s a wrap? – Killing Saskatchewan’s film tax credit is economic nonsense
The cast from InSecurity. The TV show will no longer be produced in Saskatchewan. With the announcement of the axing of the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit, we are effectively telling the rest of the film-producing world that Saskatchewan is closed for business. It’s a commonly known fact that film
Continue readingArt Threat: Killed by Canada’s Oil & Gas companies? – Doc subject & eco-activist Wiebo Ludwig succumbs to cancer
Wiebo Ludwig, Canada’s controversial anti-oil patch activist died of esophageal cancer yesterday, leaving behind a legacy of resistance against this country’s dirtiest industry and greediest corporations. The Albertan had his share of scuffles with the law (and a shamefully demonizing mainstream media), and was accused (and charged once) of eco-terrosim
Continue readingArt Threat: Some kind of monster – Film screening cancelled amid unsubstantiated copyright fears
Canadian filmmaker and activist John Greyson is no stranger to controversy — whether haranguing Justin Bieber to pull concerts scheduled for Israel, supporting queer film festivals in hostile environments, or scuffling with TIFF over the erasure of occupation in special programming, the prolific auteur has seen his share of messy
Continue readingArt Threat: News Remix: Mar 23 – April1, 2012 – A bricolage of (some of) last weeks news stories
Nairobi graffiti by artists Uhuru B, Swift, Smokilah and Bankslave Kenyan graffiti artists are painting the walls of Nairobi with reminders of government corruption. Executions are up in the Middle East – in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Yemen – as governments there continue their efforts to quell political turmoil.
Continue readingArt Threat: Of Waves, Bears and Oil – Friday Film Pick: Tipping Barrels
Tipping Barrels (Ben Gulliver, 2012) is one part surfing movie, one part wildlife documentary, one part guy flick and one part political commentary. It’s for parts two and four that I include it as this week’s Friday Film Pick. The short doc, running at 18 minutes, gazes in on British
Continue readingArt Threat: Emotionally devastating documentary explores Israeli bombing of Gaza – Friday Film Pick: Tears of Gaza
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed or wounded in Israel’s latest bombing campaign of Gaza, while the Israeli military stubbornly insists the child-killing attacks are necessary to stop “terrorism”. Such bloody assaults on Gaza are unfortunately common, and those that took place over 2008-2009 may have been the most devastating.
Continue readingArt Threat: KONY 2012 and the mischievous media habits of slacktivists
Video still from Kony 2012. I was swamped at work last week, when I took a little Twitter break to see what was going on in the world. My feed was bombarded with what appeared to be a video gone viral, called Kony 2012. Even celebrities like Rihanna, Taylor Swift,
Continue readingArt Threat: Artists invited to join Occupy Arts Committee – 3rd gathering in Montreal set for March 17
Bryant Park, Manhattan. Photo by Eric Walton Montreal artists are invited to join the growing collaboration of the Occupy Arts Committee, a gathering of artists from all disciplines who want to support Occupy Montreal with creative practice. According to organizers, this meeting will be a creation workshop to start imagining,
Continue readingArt Threat: Education versus war – Friday Film Pick: War Made Easy
As students wage a massive strike in Quebec, over proposed tuition hikes that will nearly double rates in a few years, and with police responding like violent fascists—blinding the eye of one young student only two days ago—it seems an apt time to reflect on the hierarchy of values, matched
Continue readingArt Threat: Debunking the “asking for it” myth – Scottish anti-rape PSA tackles sexist attitudes toward women
I know I know, this is sooooooo 2010 – but there is a chance you didn’t catch this snappy little PSA by Rape Crisis Scotland as it was circulating way back when. If that’s the case, watch it now, one day after International Woman’s Day.
Continue readingArt Threat: Kony 2012: the photographer who shot the hipsters with a proud colonial mindset
Photograph by Glenna Gordon (detail). By now you’ve heard of the Kony 2012 campaign, and I’ve already expended enough energy discussing it on Facebook to bring anything new and arts-related to the table. However, the Washington Post has provided a different angle by interviewing Glenna Gordon, the photographer who shot
Continue readingArt Threat: It’s International Women’s Day – And we’re digging through the Art Threat archives
Sarah Maple — Signs, C-Type Print, 2007 As today is International Women’s Day, I thought it would be worthwhile to dig though our archives and offer up a selection of past content focused on women and feminist issues. Also, here’s a worthy read from The Guardian a few years back:
Continue readingArt Threat: Farmers fight back against Honduran elite – Friday Film Pick: Resistencia
Produced by Amy Miller, the documentarian behind MYTHS FOR PROFIT and her much-anticipated follow-up THE CARBON RUSH, this week’s Friday Film Pick is the film-in-progress RESISTENCIA. Directed by Jesse Freeston, the documentary follows the land-and-rights struggle by farmers against Miguel Facussé, the richest man in Honduras. Freeston is a committed
Continue readingArt Threat: The dirty truth as visual essay – Canada’s govt continues aggressive pro-Tar Sands campaign
In the face of all evidence to the contrary, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government continues to shake the shoulders of critics, eliciting the lonely, pitiful cry: “The Alberta Tar Sands are clean and friendly!” Now the Canadian government is even going up against the EU, the newest Tar Sands nay-sayer, and
Continue readingArt Threat: The power of citizens media at Vancouver Olympics – Friday Film Pick: With Glowing Hearts
This week’s Friday Film Pick is a documentary about the power citizen’s media has to diversify representation, tell under-represented stories, and contribute to community. With Glowing Hearts looks at the flurry of alternative media activity that took place in the lead-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With corporate media
Continue readingArt Threat: Swedish beats and archival treats – Friday Film Pick: The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
One of the best documentaries to emerge from 2011 is the incredibly inspired, polished and dreamy The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. A treasure trove of hundreds of hours of 16 and 35mm footage shot by Swedish journalists and filmmakers during that tumultuous and very eventful period in the US has been
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