When Silence is Golden
UBC (Vancouver)
Tuesday September 30, 2008
Screening begins 19h00
Venue: Norm Theatre, UBC SUB
Sicotte-Levesque/ Canada/
In collaboration with Journalists for Human Rights, Cinema Politica at UBC will be screening When Silence is Golden.
When Silence is Golden follows the film’s director in her quest to lift the silence on the gold mining activities of a Canadian mining company near a small town in Western Ghana. Through her journey, we meet the inhabitants of this town who, despite efforts by the government to silence them, cannot hide their anger and are eager to express their grievances. In seeking to explain this complex situation, the film comes face to face with the human rights implications of gold mining operations in Africa—intimidation by soldiers policing the towns to suppress growing tensions, severe contamination of water sources and the possible resettlement of these communities. This is a film about the struggles of ordinary people who want their voices to be heard; a portrait of a battle that many may consider as already lost.
Through the characters’ pursuit for answers that they never get, larger questions are reflected upon. In 2007, Ghana celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence. The Governor General of Canada makes an official visit to Ghana, stressing Canada’s important relationship to this West African country.
Canada solidifies its commitment in development aid to the West African country while ignoring the plight caused by Canadian mining activities. Moreover, Canadians’ pension plans are being invested on the Toronto Stock Exchange through, among others, shares of Golden Star Resources (GRS). The film travels between Canada and Ghana,and questions to what extent Canadian trade and aid policies are coherent with Canada’s proclaimed commitment to promoting democratic governance and human rights in Africa--what are Canada and Ghana’s responsibilities towards communities affected by Canadian mining interests?
This film is not about poor Africans dying. This film will try to set itself away from the stereotypical African story, where Africans abandon their fate to greater powers. This film is about the resilience of these communities—how people brought to the brink of despair keep on fighting, expressing their anger and trying to do whatever they can to ensure themselves a better future. The characters are people who have been let down by their own government, where soldiers whose salary they pay are brought against them. All the characters are poor, relatively uneducated but eloquent about their grievances and their basic needs. And perhaps most importantly, this is a story that can happen anywhere, in Canada or Africa— a story that shows that we can all find incredible strength within ourselves at the worst times in our lives.
Funded by: Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund (CIFVF), Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, ARTICLE 19
Director and Producer: Alexandra Sicotte-Lévesque (JHR Productions)
Editor: Andrea Henriquez
Camera: Simon Deeley, Lyndsay Duncombe, Alessandro Pavone, Dennis Porter
Production Assistant: Joseph Nyabire Age Fole
Driver: Kofi Korankye
Music:Afroganic
Editing: Télépoint Inc.
Sound editing: Audio Post-Production SPR Inc.
Print design (poster & dvd): Kimberly Jane Fuller
Web design: Mustapha Hamoui
Special thanks to:
Nathalie Barton and InformActions Film, Ian Smillie, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), The Dumasi and Prestea Community, Francis Kwesi Blay, Assemblyman, Prestea
