Awareness Film Night

Awareness Film Night, Wednesday April 2nd, presents “Salud!”. This Victoria area premiere is an inspiring look at Cuba, cash-strapped, yet providing over 28,000 health care professionals to the poorest regions of 68 countries and home to the largest medical school in the world where 12,000 low-income students from 27 countries receive a free medical education. The film’s cameras reach into Gambia, rural South Africa, coastal villages of Honduras and river settlements in the Amazon, where a Cuban doctor is often the first doctor a poor community has ever seen. “Salud!”, which was the featured film in the recent Vancouver Film Festival will not be in the Awareness Film Night library after the screening.

Awareness Film Night has the rare opportunity to also present John Waller, New York based coordinator of the Pastors For Peace Caravan to Cuba. He has visited Cuba 16 times since 1992 and has written extensively about Cuban healthcare in both campaigning pamphlets and professional medical journals. Also on hand will be Randy Caravaggio of the Victoria Goods for Cuba Campaign. John and Randy will answer questions after the screening about Cuban healthcare, the U.S. blockade and the 2008 Caravan that will send 5 buses full of aid to Cuba in June/July.

Join awareness Film Night for “Salud!” with John Waller and Randy Caravaggio at 7 p.m. at the Edward Milne Community School theatre. Admission is by donation with proceeds going to the Victoria Goods For Cuba Campaign

Info: http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/index.html

In 2006, Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” woke the world up to the dangers of global warming. But, argues Joel Kovel, while we should be grateful to Gore for sounding the alarm, we also need to go far beyond his reading of the causes of this crisis and of what needs to be done about it. What is “really inconvenient” is the truth that global warming is directly related to the uncontrolled growth of the dominant world capitalist system – a system in which Al Gore has played a leading role, for which reason he (and the whole movement he represents) avoids the heart of the matter and distracts us with moral uplift and technological fixes. Joel Kovel insists, rather, that we need to address – and transform – the basic social dynamics that lead to the regime of cancerous production and mindless consumption. Only by facing up to what is “really inconvenient” can we win through to a livable future.

Joel Kovel has written several books, is editor of the quarterly journal “Capitalism Nature Socialism” and in 2000 he sought the presidential nomination of the US Green Party.

Discussion to follow.

Showtime is 7 p.m. at Edward Milne Community School theatre – 6218 Sooke Rd. Admission is by donation.

Info:

Wednesday Feb. 13  “Woman Among Warlords – Malalai Joya”. Afghanistan’s youngest (29) Member of Parliament is, despite assasination attempts and death threats, refreshingly outspoken about the actual situation in Afghanistan today. She talks about the warlords and drug kings who are her fellow elected officials, about the women of Afghanistan, who are “suffering more than ever” and about the misguided role of foreign troops “heading toward disaster” . Includes a clip of a 15 minute speech given by Malalai in Vancouver during her tour of North America in the fall of 2007 in which she talks about the situation in Afghanistan and the role of Canadian troops there. 7 p.m. Edward Milne Community School theatre. 6218 Sooke Rd. By donation.

Info: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114207995

Awareness Film Night January 9th – “Dahr Jamail – Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From An Unembedded Journalist”. Film of a talk given by Dahr in Vancouver one month ago in which he discusses what’s happening on the ground in Iraq today and what it felt like to be in Iraq as an unembedded journalist.  

In early 2003 Dahr Jamail was in his mid-30’s, happily working as a mountain guide in Alaska when the drumbeat for war in Iraq destroyed his peace. He decided he could sit at home, depressed and angry, or he could take action. He bought a laptop, a digital camera and a plane ticket. Today he dispatches his unembedded reports to media around the world, including the BBC and Democracy Now!. His frank, easy going manner and wealth of first hand information on the current situation in Iraq make this an hour not to be missed. 7 p.m. Edward Milne Community School theatre 6218 Sooke Rd. By donation.

Info: http://www.haymarketbooks.org/hc/Beyond-the-Green-Zone

Awareness Film Night and the Sooke Community Health Initiative – Food Security present:

“GARDENS OF DESTINY”

A VANCOUVER ISLAND PREMIERE 

Admission by Donation

ABOUT THE FILM ITSELF

GARDENS OF DESTINY
In this documentary, filmmaker Jocelyn Demers meets Dan Jason on Salt Spring Island, on Canada‚s west coast. Jocelyn Demers explores Dan‚s garden and seed world and investigates what other experts from the agriculture milieu think about Dan‚s observations.

The film investigates many important issues related to pollution and health.
These include: How humans have died because of genetically modified plants, the resilience that results in insects and pests because pesticides are utilized in agriculture; and why some countries have environmental courts of justice. The film also reveals how a major food crisis was created because of mono crops due to pressure from the World Bank. Additionally, it examines how organic food has proven to be protective against cancer.

GARDENS OF DESTINY offers several easy and fun solutions for citizens and governments. Two of these remedies include supporting organic growers and starting your own organic garden.

POST SCREENING Q & A WITH DAN JASON
Dan is an organic gardener with a fantastic selection of seeds, vegetables, grains, medicinal plants and flowers. Mr. Jason has been a long time critic of the non-organic food system in North America. He is also the head of the grassroots organization called the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of Canadian gardeners who are preserving as much plant diversity as is possible.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW PLEASE CONTACT US!

Sooke Food Community Health Initiative www.facebook.com group

PR: KATE KITTREDGE

Info: http://www.mondefilms.com/#!__gardens-of-destiny

Wednesday October 3 – “The Ground Truth” – tells the story of soldiers – how they are recruited, how they are trained to overcome their natural aversion to killing, what they experience on the ground and their struggle to reintegrate into their families and communities when they come home. Producer/director Patricia Foulkrod writes “I wanted to show how insidious and deep the effects of killing in combat trully are”. 7 p.m. Edward Milne Community School 6218 Sooke Rd. in Sooke. By donation.

Movie:

Hello moviegoers…..the May Awareness Video Night film will be “The Iron Wall”. This 2006 documentary examines the situation in Israel and Palestine that exists after 39 years of occupation by Israel. The film shows the 670 km. long wall that Israel is building and how it impacts on every aspect of life for Palestinians. Jean-Jacques Joris, head of the Swiss Representative Office to the Palestine Authority said: “This powerful documentary exposes one of the most pressing issues of the Palestine-Israeli conflict….It is imperative that this film get a wide audience, and that efforts be mobilized to prevent an imminent disaster”. Showtime is May 9th at 7 p.m. at the EMCS theatre. Admission is by donation.

Movie:

Weds. April 11 – Alvin “Skipper” Bailey, a filmmaker, activist and music producer from New York City is currently touring North America with his film “Venezuela Rising”. Co-sponsored by Awareness Video Night and Victoria in Solidarity With Venezuela, this film night is a great opportunity to find out more about Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. When making the film, Bailey, an Afro American, and his 3 person crew, moved into a “hood” in Caracas. “The place is known as ’23 dinero’ “, Bailey explains. “It has been the home of resistance and struggle for the last 25 years. It was incredible how the whole community was involved.” In addition to coming to Awareness Video Night in Sooke, Skipper Bailey will be taking the film to Vancouver, Victoria and Saltspring. Both Skipper and Randy Caravaggio from Victoria in Solidarity with Venezuela will be attending the screening and able to answer questions that may arise from the hour long film. 7 p.m. at the EMCS theatre. By donation 

Info: http://venezuelarising.blogspot.com/

It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity and produced no emissions. The lucky few who drove one never wanted to give it up. So why did G.M. crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert in 2004? Produced in 2006 by a former EV1 owner and narrated by Martin Sheen, “Who Killed the Electric Car?’ is a murder mystery like no other, as it unravels the puzzling demise of a vehicle that could have had a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions and the world’s dangerous addiction to oil. Showtime is 7 p.m. at EMCS theatre. Admission is by donation.

Info: http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

Awareness Film Night and the Sooke Community Health Initiative – Food Security present:

“GARDENS OF DESTINY”

A VANCOUVER ISLAND PREMIERE 

Admission by Donation

ABOUT THE FILM ITSELF

GARDENS OF DESTINY
In this documentary, filmmaker Jocelyn Demers meets Dan Jason on Salt Spring Island, on Canada‚s west coast. Jocelyn Demers explores Dan‚s garden and seed world and investigates what other experts from the agriculture milieu think about Dan‚s observations.

The film investigates many important issues related to pollution and health.
These include: How humans have died because of genetically modified plants, the resilience that results in insects and pests because pesticides are utilized in agriculture; and why some countries have environmental courts of justice. The film also reveals how a major food crisis was created because of mono crops due to pressure from the World Bank. Additionally, it examines how organic food has proven to be protective against cancer.

GARDENS OF DESTINY offers several easy and fun solutions for citizens and governments. Two of these remedies include supporting organic growers and starting your own organic garden.

POST SCREENING Q & A WITH DAN JASON
Dan is an organic gardener with a fantastic selection of seeds, vegetables, grains, medicinal plants and flowers. Mr. Jason has been a long time critic of the non-organic food system in North America. He is also the head of the grassroots organization called the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of Canadian gardeners who are preserving as much plant diversity as is possible.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW PLEASE CONTACT US!

Sooke Food Community Health Initiative www.facebook.com group

PR: KATE KITTREDGE