Wal-Town, The Film & My Cultural Divide

To open the fall 2006 season we thought we would provide audiences with a special treat of not one, but two brand new docs from Montreal filmmakers. Both deal with issues of consumerism, labour, and culture, and both look at Wal-Mart. At this screening we will also be giving out our new Fall 2006 programme, so be sure to show up! You can also download the two page pdf version here.

Wal-Town, The Film

Canada / 66min / 2006 / DigiBeta

Six student activists. Thirty-six Canadian towns. One giant corporation. A daunting experiment in activism. After over two years in the making, Wal-Town, the Film is here, and has already received critical aclaim. Two sold-out screenings at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Sunday, September 3 Radio-Canada TV airing have started a major buzz about this new Canadian doc. The next screening will take place at Concordia to launch the Fall 2006 season of Cinema Politica, where we will also hand out our season programmes. See you there!!

A group of six university students, calling themselves Wal-Town, take to the Canadian highway over two summers. Armed with thousands of pamphlets and fliers, and with one gonzo journalist along for the ride, they visit 36 of Canada's more than 200 Wal-Mart stores with one formidable goal: to raise public awareness about Wal-Mart's business practices and the effects of the company's policies on cities and towns across Canada.

Wal Town: The Film is the story of their ambitious, exasperating and ultimately rewarding journey. Since the late 1980s, Wal-Mart has become an unstoppable force in the North American retail market. It is the largest corporation and the largest private employer in the world. Its growth rate is on an exponential curve that makes most economists blush.

But not everyone believes Wal-Mart's soaring success to be a good thing. The members of Wal-Town foresee dire consequences for Canada and the rest of the world if the Goliath retailer is not challenged immediately. With youthful passion, they bring their message, in the form of often hilarious cultural jams, to the very heart of Canadian consumerism—Wal-Mart's front door.

Interspersing frank exchanges between activists and Wal-Mart shoppers with interviews with a range of characters from either side of the issue, Wal Town: The Film takes us to the frontlines of the ongoing debate over the company’s increasing dominance in the Canadian retail market. The film also creates an intimate portrait of six young activists as they experience the highs and lows of their first cross-country campaign.

Credits

Director - Sergeo Kirby
Producer - Ian McLaren (Grand Nord Productions)
Producer - Germaine Ying Gee Wong (NFB)
Producer - Sergeo Kirby (Loaded Pictures)
Executive producer - Sally Bochner (NFB)
Music - Matt Tomlinson
DOP - Keith Pattington

Links

For more info on Wal-Town, the film, check out the NFB page.
For info on Wal-Town, check out the official site.

My Cultural Divide

Quebec / 60min / 2006 / mini DV

Filmmaker Faisal Lutchmedial goes beyond the activist stereotype as he takes a personal journey into his mother’s native country for the first time. A three month visit to Bangladesh becomes a discovery of family and home that runs parallel with his attempt to tackle the complex issue of global trade.

Starting from the opening scene My Cultural Divide questions the logic of the hardcore political activist, and wonders aloud whether ethical consuming actually does anything good for the workers behind the machines. Because of family connections Lutchmedial makes his way into some of the worst factories in Bangladesh, and talks frankly with the workers inside about their job and living conditions. Sometimes contradicting western activists, the labour leaders he speaks to soon make Lutchmedial question his own long-standing beliefs on child labour and personal responsibility.

Accompanied by his ailing mother, Lutchmedial takes us on a very personal journey to bridge the gap between his heritage in Bangladesh and his life in Canada. He connects his politics with his humanity, and weaves together a story that is both thought provoking and touching

Credits

Writer/Director/Producer/Editor: Faisal Lutchmedial
Cinematographer: Tara Arnst
Additional Camerawork: Jim Hoffman, Moses Maura, Tyrell Henry, Jeff Thorn, Zahid, Faisal Lutchmedial
Photographs by Faisal Lutchmedial and Tara Arnst, with exception of "Pentex Factory Police beatings" provided by the National Labor Committee.
Archival footage supplied by the Internet Moving Images Archive in association with Prelinger Archives.
Integration Report I (1960), dir: Madeline Anderson

Links

Official Site