Awareness Film Night

The Fashion Industry is one of the largest polluters and producers of waste on the planet.  Who knew?  Then there is the well-known unsafe working conditions and poorly paid workers, which has not improved even tho it has come into the occasional media limelight over the past 10 years.  It is well past time for a re-evaluation of our attitude towards clothing. and this film is an eye-opening encouragement to do just that.

The film will be preceded by a Fair Clothing Faire in the theatre foyer featuring upcyclers (makers of clothing and accessories such as bags, belts, blankets and footwear from used clothing and other used materials) and vintage/used clothing from local thrift stores.

Vendors to date: jamin creations (@jamin.creations); The Hollow Tree (@thehollowtreeshop) CANCELLED; Gillian Gravenor; Jean Gig Clothing (@jeangigclothing); Fawn V Vintage Clothing; Sean S. Keough (keoughkeough.com) CANCELLED; Sooke Family Resource Society Thrift Store; Abigail Road Design (facebook.com/abigail.road).

DOORS OPEN AT 6:45 FOR BROWSING AT THE FAIRE; FILM WILL START AT 7:30.  Bring some cash, as you might want to do some early Christmas season shopping, and not all vendors will be able to process cards.

This 2016 film from Germany outlines a wealth of green-friendly innovations and the figures behind them.  Energy alternatives such as celitement, biogas, kite-powered ships and passive houses are all explored along with the more well-known solar, wind and electric cars.  The film shows the conflict over Germany’s energy revolution which began as a grassroots movement and is being advanced  through decentralized, regional players.  “Power to Change – The Energy Rebellion” has a clear message:  a complete turnaround in energy policy towards 100% renewables is possible and it can be achieved much faster than its opponents would have you believe.   Its aim is to put an end to the doomsday scenarios and the cynical discussion over the feasibility of switching to renewable energy.

Post screening discussion with Sooke’s Steve Unger and Clayton Fischer.  Both are members of the Viridian Energy Co-operative, a workers’ co-op that designs and installs renewable energy systems on Vancouver Island.  Steve is a professional electrical engineer and Clayton is a certified red-seal electrician.  Together and with other members of Viridian they have installed 62 kW of solar power in Sooke in the past 16 months.

Featuring the film “Seed: the Untold Story”, farm-related vendors and non-profit groups in the theatre foyer, tea and goodies and gift baskets.

94% of the Earth’s seed diversity has disappeared. “Seed: The Untold Story” is a well-paced, up to date, beautifully filmed and comprehensive movie that details why this has happened, what it means for the world’s food supply and what grass roots groups around the world are doing to save and plant local, climate and place specific seeds.  From the pueblos of New Mexico to a seed bunker in Norway, India to Peru and Hawaii the film reveals the work of farmers, scientists, educators, lawyers and indigenous seed keepers who are working to save our indigenous seeds.  The directors, Jon Betz and Taggart Siegel have said:  “We aim to bring into clear focus the beauty, hope and magic that seeds represent for humanity at this critical juncture.”

The evening will start at 6:30 in the theatre foyer with a host of vendors of locally-grown produce, seeds and plants and locally created food and herbal products for sale as well as information tables of land, growing and sustainability-focused community groups.  There will be fresh herbal tea and goodies made by the Culinary Arts class at EMCS (by donation) and a draw for several gift baskets of products donated by the vendors.  We will have an hour or so to browse, stock up, chat and nosh.  Vendors will include: ALM Farms, Full Circle Seeds,  Homesteaderz Farm, Metchosin Farm, Sheila’s Coastal Crunch, InishOge Farm, Dakini Tidal Wilds, Glen’s Gardening Company and Herbal Tea Station.    Don’t forget to bring some cash.

The film will start at 7:40 or so and we will have our gift basket giveaway when it is over, at around 9:20.

             A Story of Hope.  B.C. currently has no law to protect endangered species.  But everywhere in the province local communities are taking action to stand up for species at risk – western toads, barn owls, mountain caribou, Oregon spotted frogs and more.  For the last 4 years co-directors Mike McKinlay and Isabelle Groc have documented people, families and communities across B.C. who have come together to take action to save the wildlife in their backyard.  These stories have been brought together in the Wilderness Committee’s inspiring film “Toad People”.

In 2013 U.S. biologist Dr. Brian Hooker received a phone call from a Senior Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. William Thompson.  Dr. Thompson had led the agency’s study done in 2004 on Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and its possible link to autism. In that phone call Dr. Thompson confessed that crucial data revealing a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism had been omitted in the final report.

Dr. Hooker enlisted the help of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the British gastroenterologist falsely accused of starting the “anti-vaxx” movement when he reported in 1998 that the MMR vaccine has a possible link with autism.  This is not an anti-vaccination film.  In fact Dr. Wakefield notes in the film that he still recommends children receive MMR vaccines, but in single doses rather than all at once.  In his ongoing effort to advocate for children’s health, Wakefield has directed this 2016 documentary examining the evidence behind an appalling cover-up.

This 90 minute film features interviews with pharmaceutical insiders, doctors, politicians and parents of vaccine-injured children in addition to the confidential data provided by the whistleblower, Dr. Thompson.

There will be a post screening discussion and Q&A with Dr. Anke Zimmermann, a Naturopathic Physician from Victoria who has 25 years experience working with natural treatments for autism, ADHD and other behavioural and developmental disorders with a special interest in vaccine injuries.

      Co-sponsored with Transition Sooke

Author and journalist Andrew Nikiforuk has been writing about the oil and gas industry for over 2 decades.  His articles have appeared in a variety of Canadian publications, including The Walrus, Mac Leans, Canadian Business, Georgia Straight, Equinox, Chatelaine, and Harrowsmith. A list of the books he has written includes “Energy of Slaves”, “Empire of the Beetle”, “The Tar Sands” and his latest, “Slick Water:  Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry”.  Formerly based in Calgary, Andrew Nikiforuk now lives on Vancouver Island. He is a frequent contributor to B.C.’s online news site thetyee.ca. Here is a sampling of his articles:

www.thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/10/21/Canadian-Pipeline-Harsh-Truths/

www.thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/11/10/BC-LNG-Fraud/

“A Last Stand for Lelu” is a half hour documentary about Lelu Island, the site of the proposed LNG plant and shipping berth near Prince Rupert.  Lelu Island is in the middle of Flora Banks, the most important juvenile fish habitat for the entire Skeena River system, some of the most important salmon habitat in Canada. It is also on the traditional territory of the Lax Kw’alaams First Nations, who voted 100% “NO” for this project, refused a $1 billion offer from Malaysian state oil firm Petronas to put the LNG terminal on Lelu Island, only to see it being given a go-ahead by the BC provincial government.  The film was produced and directed by Farhan Umedaly (VoVo Productions) and Tamo Campos (Beyond Boarding).

We will screen the film at 7:00 and then give the stage over to Andrew.

A collaboration between Awareness Film Night, the Sooke Philharmonic Society and Harmony Project Sooke

The evening will be a benefit for the Harmony Project and will feature 3 short films followed by live music and mulled cider and seasonal goodies in the theatre foyer.

The original Harmony Project was founded L.A. by Dr. Margaret Martin who saw the great need and potential benefit of providing free musical education to children in the inner city neighborhoods of L.A.

Several years ago Maestro Norman Nelson of the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra visited HP in L.A. and came away inspired to bring a similar program to Sooke. Although the context in inner city L.A. of violent gangs and extreme poverty is quite different from our context here in tranquil and relatively well-off Sooke, both communities share the need of more access to musical education, especially as school districts have been forced to cutback programs in the Arts.

The evening will begin with performances by The Harmony Project’s Beginning Strings and Drumline classes. We will then screen the recently produced half hour documentary “For the Love of Music”, described as “an intimate look at the celebrated Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra…and the orchestra’s relevance within this small West Coast town”.  That will be followed by several short films about the Harmony Project, its history, successes and some research into the benefits of learning to play a musical instrument.

Filmgoers are then invited to enjoy live music by members of  the SPO in the theatre foyer plus refreshments at a concession offering coffee, mulled cider, baked goodies and popcorn.  The evening will end when the mingling, music and mulled cider are finished.

Proceeds from the event and concessions will go towards the work of HPS and SPO to continue promoting and producing music in our community.

The proposed Site C dam that would flood B.C.’s beautiful Peace River Valley is slowly going ahead despite the fact that it will drown 12,000 hectares of valuable farming land, key North American wildlife habitats including a UNESCO Wildlife Reserve in Alberta and many First Nations traditional hunting and fishing areas and has been shown to be unnecessary for electricity needs now or in the foreseeable future by no less than a Joint Federal and Provincial Review Panel.

The creation of the Site C dam would be a very expensive project with next to no returns on investment given the high cost of production and low projected demand for the electricity it would produce.  This would leave B.C. Hydro customers (you and me) on the hook for the (at least) 9 billion that this project will cost.

This evening will feature the film “Peace Out” followed by a Q & A with our MLA and Provincial NDP leader John Horgan and Steve Gray, a NoSiteC campaigner from Metchosin who participated on this summer’s Rolling Justice Bus Tour to the Peace River Valley.

“Peace Out” is a thought-provoking and beautifully made documentary by Charles Wilkinson (“Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World”) that takes the viewer from the Peace River Valley to the Alberta tar sands to Vancouver boardrooms to explore deeper causes of environmental exploitation.

Bring your questions for the Q&A.  Here are some to get you started: Where do we stand today? What is the reality and what are the myths about Site C? How feasible are more sustainable/less destructive sources of power? What has been done to date?  What would it look like if we were to halt the whole thing?

If we go past 9:00, so be it.

If the upcoming U.S. election is leaving you frustrated and longing for a voice of sanity amidst the political hype, look no further than the inimitable Noam Chomsky.  “Requiem for the American Dream” is a clear-eyed outline of how and why American idealism has been sabotaged.  Filmed over 4 years, these interviews with Noam Chomsky are profoundly personal and thought-provoking.

“A sobering vision of a society in an accelerated decline….this well-paced film spotlights a man who, now 87, seems at the height of his intellectual powers”

– New York Times (Critics’ Pick)

“A provocative X-ray of current American political realities….the vicious cycle of wealth influencing power and therefore influencing legislation is effectively illustrated in a series of episodic, easily digestible vignettes”

– rogerebert.com

B.C. filmmaker Charles Wilkinson’s (“Peace Out”; “Oil Sands Karaoke”) award-winning 2015 documentary is set on pristine Haida Gwaii.  It shows how the distinct world view of the 14,000 year old indigenous society is co-mingling with an influx of progressive, modern urbanites to create a sustainable world that well may survive the formidable challenges of the 21st century.

From a woman who constructs solar power installations to people doing sustainable logging and farming and traditional fishing to legendary resolute Haida warriors, all of the remarkable people in this film are determined to keep their island home the beautiful paradise that it is.  Haida Hereditary Chief Allan Wilson observes:  “People from other countries are coming here to see what we’re doing….how do you fight your government and corporations over this land?  How do you fight over the water?  How come your Nation is so small and yet you’re able to do all of these things?”

Gorgeous footage and cogent tales of practical living and activism make “Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World” an inspiring and hopeful film.