Some time in the 1960s, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, this new gigantic fish multiplied incredibly fast, and its white fillets are today exported all around the world. Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo: Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the African continent.
Events
11 / 21
Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
El Contrato follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town's population absorbs 4000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages no local will accept. Under a well-meaning government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Grievances are deflected by a long line of others "back home" who are willing to take their place. Start: 19:30
End: 22:30
This WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING is co-sponsored by RIDM, Montreal's International Documentary Film Festival. ROADSWORTH is preceded by the experimental documentary short THE SPOT (Alexandre Philippe / France / 2008 / 17 min), a MONTREAL PREMIERE SCREENING. THE SPOT looks at that infamous historical location where JFK met his maker, and where tourists and looky-loos continue to flock to. | ||
11 / 22
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11 / 23
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11 / 24
Start: 20:00
End: 22:00
In the Dominican Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to pristine beaches unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. | ||
11 / 25
Start: 15:45
End: 18:00
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
In Collaboration with London Indymedia. The Big Sell Out is a political film. In various episodes the abstract phenomenon of privatization is depicted in stories about very concrete human destinies around the globe. The documentary tells tragic, tragicomic but also encouraging stories of the everyday life of people, who day by day have to deal with the effects of privatization politics, dictated by anonymous international financial institutions in Washington D.C. and Geneva, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt! Start: 19:30
End: 22:30
The filmmaker may not feel he has made a political film, but we'll let the audience decide... | ||
11 / 26
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11 / 27
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11 / 28
Start: 19:00
End: 21:30
Celebrate Buy Nothing Day 2008 with an entertaining look at how our surplus lifestyle comes at the expense of others. On this "biggest shopping day of the year," we will say "no" to the corporate-greed economy and "yes" to a free-will exchange of goods. Bring your loved & unwanted clothes, tools, nick nacks and toys for a Free Swap after the film in the firehouse basement. Coffee donated by Coffee Obsession. Donations are appreciated but not required! About the film: | ||
11 / 29
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11 / 30
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12 / 1
Start: 19:30
End: 22:30
MONTREAL PREMIERE SCREENING What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt! | ||
12 / 2
Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
In the Dominican Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to pristine beaches unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. Start: 20:00
The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. | ||
12 / 3
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12 / 4
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12 / 5
Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
Screened to audiences at the Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, this fresh, irresistibly lively, intensely engaging documentary from widely acclaimed Egyptian director Tahani Rached (SORAÏDA, WOMAN OF PALESTINE and FOUR WOMEN OF EGYPT) follows a band of teenage girls living on the streets of Cairo. Rached won astonishing access to the girls’ world; this vigorous, cinematic film is built upon the deep trust of its subjects and the long experience of the filmmaker. Start: 19:00
End: 21:30
The coca leaf is indigenous to Bolivia and a sacred leaf revered and used by the majority of Bolivians. It is also the source ingredient for cocaine and the target of billions of dollars worth of militarized coca eradication, alternative development and narcotic interdiction efforts. Fifteen years since George Bush Sr. declared a war on drugs in his inaugural presidential address, cocaine is still a thriving business and the impact of American drug policy on the people of Bolivia has brought the country to the brink of a total social upheaval. | ||
12 / 6
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12 / 7
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12 / 8
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12 / 9
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12 / 10
Start: 19:00
What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt! | ||
12 / 11
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12 / 12
Start: 19:00
End: 21:00
Argentina’s troubled history, culminating in the major crisis of 2001, has seen the rise of a wave of original artistic and cultural expression. The documentary The Art of Resistance introduces us to several creators and artist collectives who use artistic expression as a means to deliver powerful social statements, explore unbridled creativity, and participate actively in constructing a new reality. Start: 19:00
End: 21:30
In 2003, the United Nations revealed that for the first time in history, more refugees were disrupted by environmental factors than from war or political persecution. As the number of natural disasters increases and governments spend more time debating their role and responsibility as global citizens than effecting change, Canadian filmmakers Helene Choquette and Jean-Philippe Duval focus on the actual plight of individuals from the Maldives to Brazil who are being uprooted by the degradation of the environment they depend upon to live. | ||
12 / 13
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12 / 14
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12 / 15
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12 / 16
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12 / 17
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12 / 18
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12 / 19
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12 / 20
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12 / 21
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