Co-presented with Sierra Club of B.C.

This film is from the U.S. where there is a change in the national attitude towards the damming of rivers from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that the future is bound to the life and health of rivers.  Dams are coming down in the U.S. and several dammed rivers and their ecosystems are being restored to their natural states.

Not so in B.C. where the provincial government has just approved creation of the Site C dam on the Peace River which will flood over 100 kilometers of prime farmland found on the river valley bottomland, sever the Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor and flood First Nations heritage sites.

Post-screening discussion will be lead by Ana Simeon, Peace Valley campaigner from Sierra Club of B.C.

Co-sponsored with Transition Sooke.

Is it possible to live completely waste free for a year?  In this award-winning documentary, partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a light-hearted competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least garbage.  Set in Vancouver, this film is a call to action that speaks to crowds of all ages.

Before the film in the theatre foyer there will be a chance to visit the Free Store Table (bring a functional item you no longer need….maybe a Christmas gift that didn’t quite resonate with you…….. and take away something that you do; see below for guidelines) and the Transition Sooke table where there will be a small display of items that can replace some of the plastic in our lives such as reusable produce bags, can and bowl toppers, and cleaning sponges.

Once in the theatre, the evening will start with a short video tour (done by Jen and Grant) of the Gibsons Recycling Depot and a talk by Buddy Boyd, from Zero Waste Canada and co-founder of the Gibsons depot.

After the screening of “The Clean Bin Project”, there will be a discussion led by Transition Sooke’s Tony St. Pierre focusing on ideas for reducing the garbage footprint in the Sooke and Juan de Fuca Districts attended by Sooke Mayor Maja Tait and several owners of local businesses who have taken steps to reduce their garbage footprint.  We will learn about Transition Sooke’s initiatives to reduce the use of plastic bags and will be launching a Zero Waste Committee to hopefully work with our elected and appointed officials on making our local garbage disposal areas less of a “dump” and more recycle and re-use friendly.

The evening is expected to go a little longer than usual, likely until 9:30

Here are some guidelines for the free store table:

1. Items should be cleaned prior.  2. Items should be useful/functional and/or art rather than knick knacks.  3. A max of 3 items for the table; unlimited takeaway.  4. No clothing unless it is a special item (handmade, vintage, brand new, etc.).  5.  If you have items too large to be carried away, bring a photo and/or description and contact info for the table.

Awareness Film Night will celebrate 20 years of presenting monthly documentaries on topics normally disregarded by the mainstream media with a re-screening of the first film we screened back in 1994: “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media“.

Mark Achbar (“The Corporation”) and Peter Wintonick’s award-winning documentary presents Noam Chomsky, world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist and highlights his probing analysis of mass media and critique of the forces at work behind the daily news.  Including footage of Chomsky’s visit to Malaspina College in Nanaimo.  This film is almost 3 hours long, so we will only screen one part of it.

The rest of the evening will be devoted to cake, tea, the giveaway table (see below) and maybe some  reminiscing and reflection on how we might be more aware than we were in 1994.   Any other ideas for adding to the celebration are most welcome…..after all, Awareness Film Night is all of our baby.

There will be a no-shopping, recycle, re-purpose free store table at the film night for those wanting to reduce time spent in corporate stores during the holiday season.  

POSTSCRIPT:

Hello moviegoers…………

The 20th Birthday Party for Awareness Film Night brought back many memories for me, as I sorted through the list of screenings and some of the newspaper articles from over the past 20 years for a little “Memorabilia” table.  For the first few years there were only 3 or 4 or maybe a whopping 6 people attending many of the film nights. There was even one night, in March of 1997, when we screened a film called  “Genetic Time Bomb”,  about GMOs, where no one came at all except myself and Kathy, my stalwart Awareness Video Night cohort.  In all fairness, we screened the same film again the next March (1998) and 18 people came out (a big crowd in those days).  And by December 2012, when we screened ” Genetic Roulette”   there were 70 people who came to see the film and hear Dr. Thierry Vrain.

The film “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media” is available at the AFN library and also on YouTube, as are many Chomsky talks.  Here is a link for a 55 minute interview of him by Chris Hedges from September, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTDIpu5UjAw

This beautifully filmed documentary takes viewers on a journey through the untarnished scenery, pristine ecosystems and life rich in culture and history of the B.C. coastal areas that are under threat by the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines and the tankers that will be servicing them.  The film features expedition stand up paddler Norm Hann, who will be attending the screening, iconic West Coast surfer Raph Bruhwiler and a first nations high school class building their own SUPs as they journey through the waters of B.C. showing the landscape and wildlife that would be affected by an oil spill.

Post screening discussion and comments will be led by Celine Trojand of the Dogwood Initiative with assist from those supporting the Sooke municipal election plebiscite on “no expanded tanker traffic in B.C. coastal waters”.  Celine Trojand grew up in northeastern B.C.  Her family made a living in agriculture and horticulture.  She has a degree in Anthropology and began working for the Dogwood in 2009. Celine is unfalteringly devoted to building power in communities across her home province and is best when she’s having exciting conversations and meeting new people.

The evening will also feature some fantastic water sports and recreation prizes to be given away: 

Two 3 hour kayak rentals from Ocean River Sports, value $100.

A package of surf and SUP supplies from the new Sooke branch of HtO.

And more……

2014/2015 Season Premiere

Co-presented with the Victoria Mining Justice Action Committee (MJAC).

If you want to register your mining company in a country that has the least amount of encouragement or regulations for acting responsibly and cooperatively towards the peoples and the ecology near your mine, pick Canada!

“Defensora” is a documentary about Mayan Q’eqchi resistance against mining in Guatemala.  Set along the shores of Lake Izabal, this is a timely film that provides candid insights into the brave struggles of the men and women in El Estor, Guatemala who, faced with the violence, intimidation, poor health and forced evictions that Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals has brought about in their home and ancestral lands, have now brought their battle for justice to the Canadian courts.

After the film there will be an opportunity to have a discussion and ask questions hosted by 3 members of MJAC.  Kay Gimbel is on the executive of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union, representing about 500 ships officers across the province.  He travelled to Guatemala earlier this year with a mining justice delegation led by Rights Action.  Kay visited several mining sites including the mining impacted community of El Estor and met many of the people who are depicted in this film.  Janet Gray is an active member of MJAC and KAIROS.  She has organized film and discussion events and other social justice projects and she participated actively in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  Janet has also visited Guatemala and will bring first hand experience to the current tensions involved with mining companies there.  Heather Tufts is a social justice activist, citizen journalist and independent researcher.  She is an active member of MJAC and has organized many events and programs.  As an educator Heather believes in the “learning and research for change” model and has engaged with grassroots movements and indigenous communities for many years.

Now that we in B.C. have had a glimpse of the irresponsibility of mining companies and the blind eyes of the government towards them with the Mt. Polley tailings pond spill, this precedent-setting court case is all the more relevant to us in Canada.  So far there have been no murders and rapes such as happened in El Estor, but the killing of an ecosystem is surely also a criminal act.

2013/2014 Season Finale

A (VIDEO) EVENING WITH CHARLES EISENSTEIN
Author of “Sacred Economics – Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition” and “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible”.

Some quotes from Charles:

“We sense that ‘normal’ isn’t coming back, that we are being born in to a new normal: a new kind of society, a new relationship to the Earth, a new experience of being human.”

“Another way of being is possible and it is right in front of us, closer than close….yet it slips away so easily that we hardly believe it could be the foundation of life; so we relegate it to an afterlife and call it Heaven or we relegate it to the future and call it Utopia.  Either way we set it apart from this world and this life and thereby deny its practicality and its reality in the here-and-now.  Yet the knowledge that life is more than Just This cannot be suppressed.  Not forever.”

“What has rendered us helpless to resist the ugliness, pollution, injustice and downright horror that has risen to engulf the planet in the last few centuries?  What calamity has so resigned us to it that we call this the human condition?  Those moments of love, freedom, serenity, play – what power has made us believe these are but respites from real life? …….Underlying the vast swath of ruin our civilization has carved is not human nature, but the opposite: human nature denied.”

Postscript:

photo courtesy of Eugene Richards

Co-presented with Sierra Club of B.C.

The evening will feature 3 short films about fracking.   What exactly IS fracking and how do fracking wells work?  Can anyone just drill fracking wells anywhere in the countryside?  Is liquified natural gas (LNG) really a “clean energy”?  Is the information we are being given about fracking and LNG by the fracking industry and governments around the world, including here in B.C. a complete picture?

After the films we will have an opportunity to learn more about what is going on with fracking and other extractive fuel processes here in B.C. from Caitlin Vernon who is the Coastal Campaigner with the Sierra Club of B.C.  Caitlin has a BSc. in Biology and a Masters in Environmental Studies.  Since 2007 she has been working to protect the Great Bear Rainforest, support community-based First Nations’ monitoring initiatives and keep the B.C. coast free from tar sands pipelines and tankers.

We will also hear from Terry Dance Bennick who is coordinating a Victoria Healing Walk to be simultaneous to the annual Healing Walk that takes place in Alberta.

Finally, there will be a presentation by the District of Sooke of their draft Community Energy Emissions Plan (CEEP), developed with support from B.C. Hydro, which looks at the energy and emissions data (such as transportation, building basics and waste management) for the community and outlines an action plan.

The evening will conclude with a question and answer period where moviegoers will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback for all 3 presenters.

Farming and Gardening Gala March 12

   Co-presented with Sooke Food CHI

           “Preserving Farmland”

The evening will feature 3 short films:  “Hands Off the ALR Townhall Meeting” held in Sidney in November, “Growing Farmers” and “Hands in the Dirt”.

Post screening discussion with Kimi and Kareno, featured in “Hands in the Dirt”, Javier Ojer of Dandy Shots Productions, filmmaker, who co-produced “Hands in the Dirt”, Nathalie Chambers of the Farmland Protection Coalition and Mary Coll and Mary Alice Johnson of the newly formed Sooke Region Farmland Trust. 

Kimi and Kareno have been a part of the Saanich Organics growers, Richmond Sharing Farm and Kwantlen University Farm School.  They are now residents of Finn’s Slough on the banks of the Fraser where they grow organic veggies for Richmond and Vancouver on Sweetdigz Farm.  Kimi and Kareno are young and energetic and are farmland activists with “Farm Watch”.  They will share with us their passion of “urban farming” and farmland stewardship.

The Farmland Protection Coalition is a grassroots organization of groups and individuals committed to protecting farmland and supporting farmers and food systems in the Capital Region and across B.C.  They recently organized a rally on Family Day in Victoria attended by 1500 people in support of maintaining the Agricultural Land Reserve as it is rather than stripping it of its jurisdiction and teeth as is being tossed about by the B.C. government.

The Sooke Region Farmland Trust has been created to assist in acquiring and preserving land for farmers to work who cannot afford to buy farming acreages in our area and to advance community awareness, local resilience and participation in food security.  “High land values, vanishing ALR land and the loss of processing and distribution infrastructure have undermined local food systems.  The trust’s objective is to enrich Sooke as a place to live, work, raise families and share organic, GE-free food”,  says Mary Coll of InishOge Farm in Sooke and one of the trust’s founding board members. Founded in the summer of 2013, this is the area’s first farmland trust.  Find out about what this means and how you can be a part of it.

The evening will also include:

*  Tables in the foyer with a variety of information on farming and gardening for all ages plus local produce and products made from locally grown ingredients for sale.

*  Tea and gourmet cookies featuring local ingredients made by the Culinary Arts students at EMCS. Bring a mug.

*  Door prizes of garden gift baskets.

(Don’t forget to bring some cash for the cookies and the locally grown produce and products….supporting our local economy!)

7-9:30

POSTSCRIPT:

The Farming and Gardening Gala was…..well…………..a gala.

The gardening enthusiasm was palpable.  There were great farming/gardening products to buy and learn about and most yummy lavender, mint and nettle cookies and herb tea to refresh us. We heard some informed, passionate and eloquent speakers voicing concern about vanishing farmland and farmers here in Sooke and on the Island and, in fact, all over the world. We were encouraged to approach elected officials on all levels of government about the absolute necessity of not only preserving farmland but also of creating avenues for purchasing farmland when it comes onto the market in order to stem the hemorrhaging of arable land that has been going on for the past decades, especially notable in Sooke according to provincial stats.

The short films “Hands Off the ALR Townhall Meeting on Farmland Protection” and “Growing Farmers” are available to watch on the internet. “Hands in the Dirt” will be making the rounds of film festivals so keep an eye peeled if you missed it at the film night (one of its premier screenings).

For anyone wanting more information on Farm Watch BC, the organization that panelists Kimi and Kareno are involved with, go to www.farmwatchbc.blogspot.ca and the Farmland Protection Coalition that panelist Nathalie Chambers was representing can be found at www.farmlandprotection.ca. The Sooke Region Farmland Trust can be reached at their website www.sookefarmlandtrust.weebly.com or on facebook.

“Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle”

They called it Alcatraz.  It was the Kuper Island Residential School and it stood on a remote island off the coast of Vancouver Island.  For almost a century hundreds of Coast Salish children were sent to Kuper Island where they were forbidden to speak their native language, forced to replace their cultural heritage with the Anglo-Christian culture and often faced with physical and sexual abuse.  Some died trying to escape on logs across the water.  Many more died later, trying to escape their memories.  Metis filmmaker Christine Welsh and Peter C. Campbell join survivors of the school, 20 years after its closure, as they embark on an extraordinary healing journey.

Traditional welcome by T’sou-ke Nation Chief Gordie Planes and Elder Shirley Alphonse.

Film Producer Peter Campbell will be attending the screening.  Post screening discussion and slide show will include residential school survivors Alex Nelson and Belvie Brebber.  Alex went to St. Michael’s School in Alert Bay run by the Anglican Church and Belvie went to the Kuper Island school discussed in the film.  Elder Shirley Alphonse will bring healing words and will offer smudging to anyone attending.  And she will explain what smudging is. Carey Newman will speak about his Witness Blanket art project www.witnessblanket.ca  Members of the audience who would like to share stories of his or her time at a residential school are encouraged to do so.  For everyone else, no action required.  A time for listening.

POSTSCRIPT:
The Feb. 12 evening on residential schools was very moving and very beautiful. There were around 150 people there and many had journeyed from other places in the region to sit with this story of children plucked from their homes and transplanted into a foreign, regimented and generally inhospitable environment to try and grow, and the effects it has had on them and on future generations. Many thanks to Edith Newman for bringing the evening together and to T’sou-ke Chief Gordie Planes, Elder Shirley Alphonse, Carey Newman (www.witnessblanket.ca), Peter Campbell, Belvie Brebber and Alex Nelson and everyone else who added his or her voice to the remarkable conversation that happened before and after the screening.
And to all who came and listened and gave space.

Tompkins County New York is one of the cloudiest, least windy places in the U.S. and yet the residents are proving that they can meet their energy needs through totally renewable resources.  From solar and wind to geothermal and even biodiesel, this film tells the story of one community’s role in the energy independence revolution.  Film Producer Suzanne McMannis, an organic farmer who has been living off the grid for over a decade, says:  “I wanted to make a movie that demonstrates how practical, affordable and fun it can be to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels”.

Post screening discussion with Andrew Moore project director for the T’souke First Nations’ award-winning solar installations, Liz Ferris, Climate Action Program Coordinator for the CRD who will discuss a proposed incentive program to assist home owners wanting to incorporate solar energy technology into their home (this program has been delayed so Liz Ferris will not be attending the film night) and Mike Geldreich, an electrical contractor and “very green guy” who has been installing renewable energy systems “solar, wind turbines, micro hydro…we’ve done it all” for 10 years. There will also be a chance to learn about a company that is making a vertical axis wind turbine that turns like a merry-go-round claiming to use less space, less moving parts, making little noise and doing no harm to birds compared to conventional wind turbines.

Come and ask your questions!