The Commons

February 08, 2016 – May 31, 2016

For the last decade (2003-2013) Cinema Politica has built a strong reputation for connecting audiences to important, under-represented, independent film and video. While the films we program tend to focus on issues, topics and subjects that revolve around social justice, identity and the environment, we have decided to seek out, program and disseminate titles that specifically highlight the intersection of social justice, the economy and the environment, in a special program called “The Commons.”

Documentaries selected deal with issues such as oil and natural gas extraction, mining, hydro-damming, clean water, soil and air, renewable energy, and the civic, industrial and political debates around them. A special section called “Quebec Extraction” will invite government, industry and civil society’s members to speak after screenings of works by Montreal and Quebecois artists focusing on the above issues. All screenings will be accessible to both French and English speaking audiences.

We have chosen “The Commons” as the theme for a sidebar screening program for the following reasons: (1) newsworthiness and topicality – issues of resource depletion, scarcity and management have been increasingly featured in the news media and have garnered signification attention in the public sphere; (2) there is a abundant body of cinematic work focused on these issues, especially by Quebecois and Canadian filmmakers, which are rarely exhibited beyond the festival circuit and never in the commercial theatre system; (3) Recent polls show that the environment and resource management has become a major concern for a majority of citizens.