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1. No Direction Home
2. Home – Movies
3. This Ain’t Wonderland (
London
speech)
1.
No Direction Home
For those of us who care
about the plight of poor and vulnerable populations, these are not good days
for people here in
Canada
.
On the West Coast, in
Vancouver
alone, the number of homeless people rose by almost 300
per cent between 2002 and 2005. It
continues to grow at such a fearsome rate that a recently released report
says the homeless population could triple again in time for the 2010 Olympic
Games. Vancouver Mayor Sam
Sullivan told CTV News, "It's a civic, and provincial and national
shame."
On
the East Coast, in
St. John's
,
Newfoundland
and
Labrador
,
Canada
's first national
conference on youth homelessness took place on September 26 to the 29th.
Young people are one of the fastest-growing groups of homeless with
close to 65,000 in this country alone with many thousands more at risk of
being homeless.
In
Ontario
, about 60,000 families are being evicted every year
because they can't afford to pay the rent.
With the man-made disaster of
homelessness growing unabated across this county and the atrocities
continuing against our poorest and most vulnerable people, I have to say
that I was shocked, saddened, amazed, distressed and very angry when Stephen
Harper's government recently announced $2 billion in spending cuts, $1
billion from social programs and other projects, the very same day they
announced a massive $13.2 billion budget surplus.
The Canadian Government could
have easily brought the disaster of homelessness to an end with the
implementation of the 1% solution and the reinstatement of our national
housing programme. Instead, we
continue to watch this man-made disaster grow, with no lifeline anywhere to
be found.
On a personal note, I felt
very tired and a little devastated by the (lack of) direction this
government has for our country. It
is with this in mind that this year’s Toronto International Film Festival
was what I really needed to get re-energized, for what would appear to be a
very long and frustrating fight ahead.
2.
Home – Movies
For me, movies have always been about home – whether it is memories of
watching black and white movies as a kid with my dad on Saturday afternoons,
watching the Wizard of Oz for the umpteenth time (as an adult), or renting a
video at home to watch with friends and family.
Last year, after I attended the Toronto International Film Festival, I
described the emotional impact that movies can have in my September 2005
newsletter. http://tdrc.net/Crowe-Newsletter_05-09.htm
Movies can inspire, they can challenge, they can witness and document, they
can create nourishment for the mind and soul.
I want to share a number of my favorite viewings from this year’s
festival, movies that did some of the above for me.
Away
from Her
Director: Sarah Polley,
Canada
I have to begin my film fest favorites with Away
From Her, the first feature film directed by well known Canadian
actor and activist Sarah Polley. I
first met Sarah in 1996 when she agreed to sit on a panel, set up by the
Toronto Coalition Against Homelessness, which was established to hear
evidence about shelter conditions and the state of homelessness from both
homeless people and front-line workers. The resulting report was called ‘One
is Too Many’ and Sarah’s sincerity was one of the reasons that
significant attention was paid to the report which was a lead up to an
inquest into homeless freezing deaths.
Away from Her,
based on the short story by Alice Munroe ‘The
Bear Came Over the Mountain’ is not about homelessness but it is
about loss of home, the things we need to make and keep home, and the
challenges to home when home becomes an institution.
I particularly loved the complexities of the ‘nurse’ character
– which frustrated me to no end, but portrayed real challenges.
It is worth mentioning that this film stars icons Julie Christie, Gordon
Pinset, Michael Murphy and Olympia Dukakis.
If I had to use one word to describe the film it would be
‘exquisite’.
The film will be distributed in 2007 by Lions Gate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Away_From_Her
Hana
(Full title: Hana Yori Mo Naho)
Director:
Hirokazu Kore-eda
,
Japan
I am a huge fan of this director, having seen his 1998 film After
Life at the
Toronto
festival. Hana is Hirokazu
Kore-eda’s first samurai film.
An
Edo
tenement in the year 1702 is the backdrop for this period piece which tells
the story of a cowardly, inept warrior who becomes a hero through his
contribution to the community. It’s
a film that weaves themes of moral judgement, individual and community
strengths.
I hope it will reach North American audiences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirokazu_Koreeda
EMPZ
4 Life
Director:
Allan
King
,
Canada
The awkward title, EMPZ 4 Life
refers to graffiti seen by the film makers during the shooting of the film.
This documentary, set in the violence plagued community of Malvern,
lays bare some of the social issues in this
Toronto
suburb. Unlike the media
coverage of the ‘Summer of 2005’ that portrayed shootings, gang violence
and the need for more police, King shows us some of the layers of social
problems in Malvern. With
incredible footage and no narration, he introduces us to a group of youth,
their families, determined volunteer outreach workers, and a dedicated
mathematician. None of the
suggested solutions are rocket science, it’s just that King shows, in a
way we haven’t seen in this media, the desperate need for focused
attention, funding and programming for youth.
He inspires hope that the solution to troubled communities lies in
something other than police presence.
http://www.allankingfilms.com
Sleeping
Dogs
Director: Terrance Odette,
Canada
Odette is described as having a profound sympathy for the marginalized and
the powerless. He has made two
previous films Heater
and Saint Monica that had
story lines which included poverty and homelessness. His treatment of
characters in these two films demonstrates his compassion.
Sleeping Dogs, set
in Kitchener-Waterloo, reaches another level altogether, telling the
engaging story of difficult Jarrod, hospitalized for complications of
alcoholism, and the intriguing hospital orderly who is relegated to chasing
Jarrod when he goes AWOL. The
film has a wonderful sound track, several powerful performances and an
ending – well, that is stunning.
Look for indie releases soon.
http://www.sleepingdogsfilm.ca
When
the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Director: Spike
Lee
,
USA
We know it’s important to be whistle-blowers before a tragedy occurs but
it’s also important to do so afterwards, no matter how many times the
truth has been told and no matter what speaking out might do to one’s
career. Spike Lee tells it like
it is – for four solid hours, in his documentary
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.
Lee, in describing his reaction to
the catastrophe in
New Orleans
and his motivation for the movie, said:
“It was
a very painful experience to see my fellow American citizens, the majority
of them African-American, in the dire situation they were in. And
I was outraged with the slow response of the federal government.”
In the film, the people themselves speak:
“How
hard can that be, to bring in food and water?”
“She
drowned in her own home!” - a son describing his mother.
“Not
just the levees broke, the spirit broke.”
“Hope
is not a job.” (graffiti)
“I want
someone to know I’m suffering.”
“Where
is my government?”
Pre-Katrina, 30% of the
New Orleans
population lived below the poverty
line. Lee suggests that class,
not just race, was a major contributing factor to the inadequate federal
response. You’ll see in
Lee’s film the violent emotional reaction by
New Orleans
residents when they realize they are
being called refugees in their own country.
There are painful similarities between the victims of
Katrina and those facing poverty and the housing crisis here in
Canada
.
Both cases involve purposeful neglect by policy makers and
politicians, for example, decisions to not fund infrastructure whether it be
levees or housing, and decisions to hold back promised monies.
In both cases huge numbers of people are displaced, dislocated and
left to die.
www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/index.html
3.
This
Ain’t
Wonderland (
London
speech)
On that note, there are enough atrocities continuing in this country that in
a speech I recently gave in London, I described the images that Lee or a
film maker like him might be compelled to document, should he or she create
a documentary to show the situation of displaced persons here in Canada.
Click here to read
‘This Ain't Wonderland’
Cathy
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