2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival Program Guide

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CONTENTS Festival Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Map of Venues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tickets & General Festival Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Documentary Media Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Welcome from DOXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Greetings from our Funders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Awards and Juries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Industry Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Spotlight on Troublemakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Justice Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Rated Y for Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Transmissions: Extended Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ESSAY: Trumped! What the $%*%(!! Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Trumped! Now What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ESSAY: Two Cats, An Owl and a Lot of Nice Human Beings . . . . 30 French French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

SCREENINGS 78/52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Ada for Mayor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Ambulance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 The Beekeeper and His Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Brasilia: Life After Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch (One Day In The Life Of Andrei Arsenevich) (w/ Le Souvenir d’un avenir [Remembrance of Things to Come]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Katyusha: Rocket Launchers, Folk Songs and

Brûle la mer (Burn the Sea) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Ethnographic Refrains (w/ Everything Turns...) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Burning Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Let There Be Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Butterfly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Limit Is the Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Caretakers (w/ Water Warriors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Little Go Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

The Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Manifesto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chats perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Mermaids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Miss Kiet’s Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

City Voices: Shorts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

A Moon of Nickel and Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Complicit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

PACmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Le Concours (The Graduation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Pornocracy: The New Sex Multinationals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Creature Comforts: Shorts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Praia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

The Dazzling Light of Sunset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Dolores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Road Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Donna Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

The Road Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Dropka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Elsewhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Sacred Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Stuff: Shorts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Être-Cheval (Horse-Being) (w/ Animals Under Anaesthesia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Swagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Everything is Performative: Shorts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Tokyo Idols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Far Away Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Transference: Shorts Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Fattitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Le Tombeau d’Alexandre (The Last Bolshevik) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without a Cat) Parts 1 & 2 . . . 81

Unrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

For Dear Life (w/ For My Mother) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Free Lunch Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Vancouver: No Fixed Address

Freelancer on the Front Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

(w/ Drunken Laundry Day with Charles Bukowski) . . . . . . . . . . 39

Ghost Ship (w/ The Bloop) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness) (w/ Les Cloÿs) . . . . . . . . . 65

The Grown-Ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Waking the Sleeping Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

L’Héritage de la chouette (The Owl’s Legacy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

You Are on Indian Land (w/ ôtênaw) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Island Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

COVER: MERMAIDS. PHOTO: CAITLIN DURLAK.

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THURSDAY MAY 4 7:00 PM | VOGUE THEATRE

THE ROAD FORWARD (p 37)

MARIE CLEMENTS, CANADA

3:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

UNE JOURNÉE D’ANDREI ARSENEVITCH (ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANDREI ARSENEVICH (p 57) WITH LE SOUVENIR D’UN AVENIR (REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS TO COME) CHRIS MARKER AND YANNICK BELLON, FRANCE

FRIDAY MAY 5 6:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

LIMIT IS THE SKY (p 47)

JULIA IVANOVA, CANADA

6:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

LE CONCOURS (THE GRADUATION)

(p 47)

LITTLE GO GIRLS (p 57)

ELIANE DE LATOUR, FRANCE

4:30 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

CREATURE COMFORTS: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 59)

7:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

MAHDI ZAMANPOUR KIASARI, IRAN

7:00 PM | VPL CENTRAL BRANCH

WAPIKONI: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 25)

9:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD (p 49)

CATHERINE BAINBRIDGE AND ALFONSO MAIORANA, CANADA

9:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

EVERYTHING IS PERFORMATIVE: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 51)

9:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

ÊTRE-CHEVAL (HORSE-BEING) (p 51)

JÉRÔME CLÉMENT-WILZ, FRANCE

WITH ANIMALS UNDER ANAESTHESIA: SPECULATIONS ON THE DREAMLIFE OF BEASTS

BRIAN M. CASSIDY AND MELANIE SHATZKY, CANADA

INDUSTRY PANEL: DISTRIBUTION, ONDEMAND, AND DISCOVERABILITY (p 21)

11:30AM | SFU-GCA

INDUSTRY PANEL: REALITY VIRTUALLY

DIEDIE WENG, SWITZERLAND/CANADA

2:00PM | SFU-GCA

INDUSTRY PANEL: DOCUMENTARY & PERFORMANCE (p 21)

2:00 PM | SFU-GCA

MERMAIDS (p 55)

ALI WEINSTEIN, CANADA

2:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

COMPLICIT (p 55)

HEATHER WHITE AND LYNN ZHANG, US/CHINA

3:30 PM | SFU-GCA

INDUSTRY MASTER CLASS: CINEMA LANGUAGES: WORDS, BODY, INTERIORITY (p 21)

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8:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

PACMEN (p 72)

LUKE WALKER, AUSTRALIA/US

7:00 PM | SFU-GCA

DAVID GOLDBERG, CANADA

VANCOUVER: NO FIXED ADDRESS (p 39)

CHARLES WILKINSON, CANADA

DRUNKEN LAUNDRY DAY WITH CHARLES BUKOWSKI

WITH

FIONA TINWEI LAM, H. KRISTEN CAMPBELL, HENRY DOYLE AND ANALEE WEINBERGER, CANADA

THE CARETAKERS (p 70)

WITH

WATER WARRIORS

MICHAEL PREMO, US

2:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

DOLORES (p 72)

PETER BRATT, US

7:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

4:45 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

YURI ANCARANI, ITALY/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND

DIEDIE WENG, SWITZERLAND/CANADA

8:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

6:45 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

DMITRII KALASHNIKOV, BELARUS/RUSSIA/SERBIA/ BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA/CROATIA

FÉLIX LAMARCHE, CANADA

THE CHALLENGE (p 61)

THE ROAD MOVIE (p 63)

9:15 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

GHOST SHIP (p 63)

KOLDO ALMANDOZ, SPAIN

THE BLOOP

9:30 PM | SFU-GCA

VERS LA TENDRESSE (TOWARDS TENDERNESS) (p 65) ALICE DIOP, FRANCE

WITH

LES CLOŸS

THE BEEKEEPER AND HIS SON (p 53)

FAR AWAY LANDS (p 73)

7:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

BURNING OUT (p 73)

JÉRÔME LE MAIRE, BELGIUM/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND

7:00 PM | MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER

BRASILIA: LIFE AFTER DESIGN (p 74)

BART SIMPSON, CANADA

9:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

STUFF: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 74)

JULIA HECHLER, US

12:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

THE BEEKEEPER AND HIS SON (p 53)

BRÛLE LA MER (BURN THE SEA) (p 71)

MAKI BERCHACHE AND NATHALIE NAMBOT, FRANCE/TUNISIA

12:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

THE GROWN-UPS (p 61)

12:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

12:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

8:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

MAITE ALBERDI, CHILE/THE NETHERLANDS/FRANCE

SUNDAY MAY 7

JEAN-MARIE BARBE AND ARNAUD LAMBERT, FRANCE

THE DAZZLING LIGHT OF SUNSET (p 71)

MONDAY MAY 8

(p 21)

CHRIS MARKER, NEVER EXPLAIN, NEVER COMPLAIN (p 53)

7:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

6:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

CARA CUSUMANO, US

9:30 AM | SFU-GCA

WATER WARRIORS

MICHAEL PREMO, US

BUTTERFLY (p 59)

WITH

SATURDAY MAY 6

WITH

4:30 PM | SFU-GCA

5:45 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

FABRIZIO TERRANOVA, BELGIUM

THE CARETAKERS (p 70)

DAVID GOLDBERG, CANADA

SALOME JASHI, GERMANY/GEORGIA

CLAIRE SIMON, FRANCE

DONNA HARAWAY: STORY TELLING FOR EARTHLY SURVIVAL (p 49)

6:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

DROPKA (p 65)

YAN CHUN SU, US/CHINA

TUESDAY MAY 9 12:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

FATTITUDE (p 75)

LINDSEY AVERILL AND VIRIDIANA LIEBERMAN, US

3:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

3:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

GUILHERME B. HOFFMANN, BRAZIL

MILA AUNG-THWIN AND VAN ROYKO, CANADA

3:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

6:30 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

CHRISTIAN TOD, AUSTRIA/GERMANY

(p 76)

4:15 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

7:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

PETRA LATASTER-CZISCH, PETER LATASTER, THE NETHERLANDS

PAU FAUS, SPAIN

PRAIA (p 67)

FREE LUNCH SOCIETY (p 67)

MISS KIET’S CHILDREN (p 69)

5:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

SACRED WATER (p 69)

LET THERE BE LIGHT (p 75)

CITY VOICES: SHORTS PROGRAM

ADA FOR MAYOR (p 76)

8:45 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

A MOON OF NICKEL AND ICE (p 77)

FRANÇOIS JACOB, CANADA

OLIVIER JOURDAIN, BELGIUM

5:45 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

FOR DEAR LIFE (p 70)

9:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

VERS LA TENDRESSE (TOWARDS TENDERNESS) (p 65)

CARMEN POLLARD, CANADA

ALICE DIOP, FRANCE

WITH

WITH

FOR MY MOTHER

MANNY MAHAL, CANADA

LES CLOŸS

JULIA HECHLER, US

WEDNESDAY MAY 10

FRIDAY MAY 12

12:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

12:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

MARIE CLEMENTS, CANADA

(p 43)

THE ROAD FORWARD (p 37)

WAKING THE SLEEPING GIANT

JACOB SMITH, US

3:15 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

CITY VOICES: SHORTS PROGRAM

(p 76)

3:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

LE CONCOURS (THE GRADUATION)

8:45 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

GHOST SHIP (p 63)

KOLDO ALMANDOZ, SPAIN WITH

THE BLOOP

CARA CUSUMANO, US

9:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

MERMAIDS (p 55)

ALI WEINSTEIN, CANADA

(p 47)

6:30 PM | SFU-GCA

CLAIRE SIMON, FRANCE

OLIVIER BABINET, FRANCE

5:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

SWAGGER (p 41)

7:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

PRAIA (p 67)

GUILHERME B. HOFFMANN, BRAZIL

7:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

QUEST (p 77)

JONATHAN OLSHEFSKI, US

9:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

TRANSFERENCE: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 78)

9:00 PM | SFU-GCA

CHATS PERCHÉS (THE CASE OF THE GRINNING CAT) (p 78)

CHRIS MARKER, FRANCE

9:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

SACRED WATER (p 69)

OLIVIER JOURDAIN, BELGIUM

LE FOND DE L’AIR EST ROUGE (A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT) PARTS 1&2 (p 81)

CHRIS MARKER, FRANCE

SUNDAY MAY 14 12:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

FOR DEAR LIFE (p 70)

CARMEN POLLARD, CANADA WITH

7:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

KATYUSHA: ROCKET LAUNCHERS, FOLK SONGS AND ETHNOGRAPHIC REFRAINS (p 82)

KANDIS FRIESEN, CANADA WITH

EVERYTHING TURNS

FOR MY MOTHER

MANNY MAHAL, CANADA

2:15 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

THE GROWN-UPS (p 61)

MAITE ALBERDI, CHILE/THE NETHERLANDS/FRANCE

AARON ZEGHERS, CANADA

3:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

7:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

YURI ANCARANI, ITALY/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND

CYRUS SUTTON, US

4:15 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

ISLAND EARTH (p 82)

THE CHALLENGE (p 61)

8:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

EVERYTHING IS PERFORMATIVE: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 51)

JENNIFER BREA, US

4:45 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

9:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

BART SIMPSON, CANADA

UNREST (p 83)

THE UNTOLD TALES OF ARMISTEAD MAUPIN (p 83)

JENNIFER M. KROOT, US

BRASILIA: LIFE AFTER DESIGN (p 74)

6:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

COMPLICIT (p 55)

HEATHER WHITE AND LYNN ZHANG, US/CHINA

THURSDAY MAY 11

6:30 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

12:30 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

SATURDAY MAY 13

OLIVIER BABINET, FRANCE

12:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

SWAGGER (p 41)

3:00 PM | ORPHEUM ANNEX

STUFF: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 74)

5:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

LE TOMBEAU D’ALEXANDRE (THE LAST BOLSHEVIK) (p 79) CHRIS MARKER, FRANCE

6:30 PM | SFU-GCA (p 43)

WAKING THE SLEEPING GIANT

JACOB SMITH, US

7:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

PORNOCRACY: THE NEW SEX MULTINATIONALS (p 79)

OVIDIE, FRANCE

7:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

ELSEWHERE (p 80)

UNREST (p 83)

JENNIFER BREA, US

12:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

FREELANCER ON THE FRONT LINES

(p 84)

SANTIAGO BERTOLINO, CANADA

WITH

ÔTÊNAW

2:45 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

THE DAZZLING LIGHT OF SUNSET (p 71)

SALOME JASHI, GERMANY/GEORGIA

4:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

L’HÉRITAGE DE LA CHOUETTE (THE OWL’S LEGACY) (p 85)

ALEXANDRE O. PHILIPPE, US

MOHAMED JABALY, NORWAY

9:15 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

6:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

KYOKO MIYAKE, CANADA/UK

MILA AUNG-THWIN AND VAN ROYKO, CANADA

9:30 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

7:30 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

ANIMALS UNDER ANAESTHESIA: SPECULATIONS ON THE DREAMLIFE OF BEASTS WITH

MELANIE SHATZKY AND BRIAN M. CASSIDY, CANADA

TBC REPEAT SCREENING

(CHECK WEBSITE)

CONOR MCNALLY, CANADA

5:00 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

ÊTRE-CHEVAL (HORSE-BEING) (p 51)

8:30PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

YOU ARE ON INDIAN LAND (p 84)

8:30 PM | SFU-GCA

JÉRÔME CLÉMENT-WILZ, FRANCE

TBC REPEAT SCREENING

(CHECK WEBSITE)

MICHAEL KANENTAKERON MITCHELL, CANADA

CHRIS MARKER, FRANCE

TOKYO IDOLS (p 81)

8:00 PM | THE CINEMATHEQUE

2:45 PM | VIFF’S VANCITY THEATRE

OUANANICHE, CANADA

78/52 (p 80)

MANIFESTO (p 45)

JULIAN ROSEFELDT, GERMANY

AMBULANCE (p 85)

LET THERE BE LIGHT (p 75)

CREATURE COMFORTS: SHORTS PROGRAM (p 59)

8:00 PM | SFU-GCA

MANIFESTO (p 45)

JULIAN ROSEFELDT, GERMANY

V I F F ’ S VA N C I T Y T H E AT R E

1181 Seymour St

T H E C I N E M AT H E Q U E 1131 Howe St THE ORPHEUM ANNEX 823 Seymour St, 2nd fl SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 149 W Hastings St T H E V O G U E T H E AT R E 918 Granville St M U S E U M O F VA N C O U V E R 1100 Chestnut St 5

MAP OF VENUES 1 . V I F F ’ S VA N C I T Y T H E AT R E 1181 Seymour St (@ Davie St)

WATERFRONT STATION

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3. T H E O R P H E U M A N N E X 823 Seymour St, 2nd fl (@ Robson St)

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TICKETS & GENERAL FESTIVAL INFORMATION MEMBERSHIP

$2 • DOXA presents films that have not been seen by Consumer Protection BC. Under BC law, anyone wishing to see these unclassified films must be a member of The Documentary Media Society, and at least 18 years of age, unless otherwise stated.

When you purchase your $2 membership, you are entitled to attend screenings, provided you show your membership card and your ticket. Check out the films we rate especially for youth and families (18 and under) at doxafestival.ca.

TICKETS

General Admission: $13 • Weekday evenings and weekends Weekday Matinee Tickets: $11 • Weekday films starting at 5:00pm or earlier Students (with valid ID) / Seniors (65+) • $2 discount from regular prices for any film screening.

Opening Night: $22 film and party Closing Night and Special Presentations: $15 • All screenings at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts and Museum of Vancouver FESTIVAL PASS

$195 • Includes membership; valid for all film screenings including opening and closing night film and party.

FESTIVAL TICKET PACKS

5 Ticket Pack: $60; 10 Ticket Pack: $110 Festival 5 and 10 Ticket Packs are only available online and are valid for one ticket each for 5 or 10 films. All films must be chosen at time of purchase. NOTE: Ticket Packs are NOT valid for opening, closing, special presentations, Museum of Vancouver, and do not include the $2 membership.

INDUSTRY

Industry Panels (each): $15 General / $10 DOC BC Members Industry Day Pass: $60 General / $35 DOC BC Members The Industry Day Pass provides access to all Industry programming on Saturday, May 6 at SFU, including the panels and reception.

REFUND POLICY

TICKETS AT THE VENUES

Box office opens 30 minutes prior to the first screening of the day at the venue. (Please note: Festival tickets are only available at our festival venues on days when there are festival screenings. Please check the schedule on pgs. 4-5.)

RUSH TICKETS

Rush tickets may be available at the door when all advance tickets have been sold. An allotment of seats are reserved for passholders. Any unclaimed seats will be released starting 10 minutes prior to the screening on a first come, first serve basis.

WILL CALL

Will Call opens 60 minutes prior to opening, closing, and special presentation screenings, and 30 minutes prior for all other screenings. Please arrive in advance to allow time to pick up your order. You must present your ID for pick up.

THEATRE PROCEDURES FOR FESTIVAL PASSHOLDERS

Bring your festival pass and membership and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the screening you wish to attend. Festival passholders are not guaranteed seating to sold-out shows. All passes are strictly non-transferable and passholders are required to show ID. VENUES

VIFF’s Vancity Theatre • 1181 Seymour St (@ Davie St) The Cinematheque • 1131 Howe St (@ Helmcken St) The Orpheum Annex • 823 Seymour St, 2nd fl (@ Robson St) SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts • 149 W Hastings St (@ Abbott St) The Vogue Theatre • 918 Granville St (@ Smithe St) Museum of Vancouver • 1100 Chestnut St ACCESSIBILITY

All theatres are wheelchair accessible with limited spots available. Please email boxoffice@doxafestival.ca or call the DOXA office to make note of space requirements for advance ticket purchases. Attendants accompanying people with disabilities will be admitted at no cost.

RATED Y FOR YOUTH

Tickets are $6 per student when purchased by school groups. Further All sales are final. DOXA only offers refunds in cases of technical failure subsidies may be available if needed. Contact april@doxafestival.ca. or cancellation of screening.

COMMUNITY BOX OFFICE

EXCHANGE POLICY

Tickets may be exchanged for a $3 service fee for each ticket exchanged.

This must be done in person at a DOXA Box Office at least one hour before screening time. Exchanges can only be issued to the original purchaser with a valid picture ID. Complimentary and contest tickets cannot be exchanged.

On April 22–23, from 12pm to 5pm, come buy your hardcopy festival tickets in person at the DOXA office.

DOXA Office #110–750 Hamilton St / Vancouver, BC / Canada V6B 2R5 604.646.3200

ADVANCE TICKETS

facebook.com/DOXAfestival Online tickets are available for purchase up to two hours in advance of twitter.com/DOXAfestival the screening at www.doxafestival.ca. If the screening takes place within two hours, tickets must be purchased at the venue box office. Advance youtube.com/DOXAfestival tickets are available at all venues 30 minutes prior to the first screening instagram.com/DOXAfestival of the day.

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THE DOCUMENTARY MEDIA SOCIETY The DOXA Documentary Film Festival is presented annually by The Board of Directors Documentary Media Society, a Vancouver based non-profit, charitable Jill Anholt, Chris Dafoe, Kevin Eastwood, Sonia Fraser (chair), Andrea society (incorporated in 1998).

Gin (vice chair), Brad O’Hara (treasurer), Roger Holdstock, Debra Pentecost (secretary) DOXA is a founding member, with PuSh Festival, Music on Main, and Touchstone Theatre, of the 110 Arts Cooperative at The Post at 750.

Programming Committee Joseph Clark, Selina Crammond, Nike Hatzidimou, Paloma Pacheco, DOXA STAFF, BOARD & COMMITTEES Carson Pfahl, Anant Prabhakar, Dorothy Woodend Executive Director Kathleen Mullen Director of Programming Dorothy Woodend Audience Services and Operations Manager Gina Garenkooper Development Manager Tara Flynn Film Programmer and Communications Coordinator Selina Crammond Hospitality Manager Kaen Séguin Communications Assistant and Program Book Coordinator Jackie Hoffart Program Outreach and Volunteer Assistant April Parchoma Finance Coordinator Nancy Loh Print Traffic Coordinator Kathy Evans

Screening Committee Jurgen Beerwald, Michelle Bjornson, Josie Boyce, Gopa Caesar, Patrick Carroll, Andrew Gaybull, Brent Holmes, Jessica Johnson, Brie Koniczek, Viktor Koren, Christina Larabie, Anna Lumberjack, Janine Malikian, Michelle Martin, Kris Rothstein, Milena Salazar, Jonathan Stonehouse Fundraising Committee Tara Flynn, Sonia Fraser, Andrea Gin, Kathleen Mullen, Brad O’Hara, Kaen Séguin Audience Development Committee Roger Holdstock, Kevin Eastwood, Kathleen Mullen, Jill Anholt, Debra Pentecost, Selina Crammond, April Parchoma, Jackie Hoffart, Giulia Carpino Guest Curators Thierry Garrel (French French) David Beers (Trumped! Now What?)

Writers Josie Boyce, Alex de Boer, Selina Crammond, Thierry Garrel, Joseph Clark, Nike Hatzidimou, Carson Pfahl, Anant Prabhakar, Kris Rothstein, Avril Woodend, Dorothy Woodend

STAFF KATHLEEN MULLEN, DOROTHY WOODEND, GINA GARENKOOPER, TARA FLYNN, SELINA CRAMMOND

Technical Coordinator Al Reid KAEN SÉGUIN, JACKIE HOFFART, APRIL PARCHOMA, NANCY LOH, KATHY EVANS, MICHAEL BATTLEY

Box Office Michael Battley, Jessica Brudner, Vanessa Yip Venue Managers Graham Lim, April Parchoma, Teresa Weir Media Relations Marnie Wilson / The Artsbiz Public Relations Graphic Design Steve Chow / chowdesign.ca Web Development Left Right Minds / leftrightminds.com 8

JESSICA BRUDNER, VANESSA YIP, GRAHAM LIM, MARNIE WILSON, STEVE CHOW, AL REID

BOARD JILL ANHOLT, CHRIS DAFOE, KEVIN EASTWOOD, SONIA FRASER, ANDREA GIN

BRAD O’HARA, ROGER HOLDSTOCK, DEBRA PENTECOST

WELCOME FROM DOXA WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Welcome to the 2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival, proudly brought to you by the Documentary Media Society.

Documentaries have the ability to open our eyes and minds to different perspectives. They can challenge us, engage our emotions, or simply entertain us. We have an outstanding lineup of documentary films we are thrilled to share with you during the festival. We hope these films inspire meaningful discussion and critical thought, both of which seem that much more relevant during these strange times in which we are living.

I would like to thank our incredibly talented staff led by Dorothy Woodend and Kathleen Mullen, who, along with their programming, sponsorship and volunteer teams, have been working tirelessly on all aspects of the festival. Their efforts are made possible by the many partners, funders, and donors who continue to provide us with the much needed resources to showcase DOXA. As with any festival, we rely on a tremendous number of enthusiastic volunteers who donate their time and talent. DOXA also relies on the support and vision of our Board of Directors, for whom I am grateful.

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING

So, here we go again, folks — another year, another festival. But what a year it’s been!

For those of you still scratching your heads, trying to make sense of the current Trumped-up reality in which we find ourselves, I have good news and bad.

The bad news is obvious. It’s all around us, in the evening news, in Twitter storms and Facebook tirades. When even PBS and Sesame Street aren’t safe anymore, you know we’ve reached a low point in history. But just when things seem particularly grim, humans can still surprise you. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in documentary cinema. A single mother runs for Mayor of Barcelona in Ada for Mayor.

A group of activists battle for democracy in Waking the Sleeping Giant.

Cate Blanchett shouts MANIFESTO from the rooftops. And a filmmaker named Chris Marker singlehandedly restores one’s faith in the insistent, undeniable, practically unbreakable spirit of humanity. It pops up on walls, and in the street, like a giant yellow cat — anarchic, untamable, leaping away over the rooftops, an indicator that eventually all will be well.

Documentary is like that. It will break your heart one moment, and then mend the next. Follow it, if you will.

Thanks to our sponsors, our Board of Directors, and to our great audience.

Lastly, I wish to thank you, our audience, for coming to DOXA. Be sure And thank you, as always and forever to the DOXA gang. A better band to share the experience with friends, family, and colleagues. Enjoy the of brigands, I have never known. I hope you enjoy the Festival. cinematic ride.

Dorothy Woodend

Sonia Fraser

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING

BOARD CHAIR

WELCOME FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the 2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival! It’s been almost a year since I began my adventure as the new Executive Director of DOXA. I am thrilled to be here with you to present a full spectrum of experiences at this year’s 16th annual festival.

With an outstanding team, as well as some fresh venue locations, DOXA delivers an enriching and challenging slate of documentaries that expose and explore the depths of today’s society. In amongst the high doses of insightfully delivered, sometimes raw-to-the-bone reality, DOXA maintains its legacy of giving audiences the chance to engage in postfilm discussions with filmmakers and special guests. This year, we have also added live performances, artist talks and much more. DOXA is not simply about watching a film — we are looking for your participation and engagement with the stories and ideas contained therein.

In appreciation for all that you do, I extend a huge thank you to our donors, board, sponsors, and audience members. Your support allows us to continue to offer the collective experience of cinema, and to engage in inclusive and open dialogue about the world’s ever-changing cultural and social landscape.

It’s an exciting and important time for documentary film and independent media. I invite you to join us in this next chapter of all that DOXA has to offer in 2017!

Kathleen Mullen EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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GREETINGS FROM OUR FUNDERS A MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER OF CANADIAN HERITAGE

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR OF VANCOUVER

Welcome to the 16th DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation. It is a time to share what makes our country unique, to appreciate the road we have travelled, and to look to the future with optimism. Canada has a long history of documentary filmmaking, and the genre continues to play a starring role in our cultural landscape, reflecting diverse perspectives and realities.

Over the next 11 days, Vancouver plays host to some of the best independent documentary productions from across Canada and around the world. The wide selection of juried screenings, along with public forums, panels and workshops, promises to challenge and engage audiences, as well as inspire the next generation of Canadian documentary filmmakers.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I want to thank The Documentary Media Society and its volunteers and organizers for making DOXA such a success. Enjoy the festival!

The Honourable Mélanie Joly MINISTER OF CANADIAN HERITAGE

A MESSAGE FROM TELEFILM CANADA

Several decades ago, our country’s filmmakers dreamed of offering Canadians more stories based on Canadian experiences. In 1967, the development of an original model for funding films in Canada led to the creation of Telefilm Canada.

2017 marks our 50th anniversary! What a great opportunity this gives us to celebrate 50 years of talent—to honour those who helped build this industry, including our partners at DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

And, of course, thank you to you the audience—you drive the success of Canada’s cinema. Thank you for watching Canadian movies for the last five decades, for talking about them, for sharing them—for allowing them to live and breathe.

Looking to the next 50 years, the future is bright for Canadian cinema with a diverse generation of emerging talent who create works for screens of all sizes. Play it forward…

On behalf of Telefilm, I wish you all a wonderful festival full of discovery and delight.

Michel Roy CHAIR OF THE BOARD, TELEFILM CANADA

On behalf of the citizens of Vancouver and my colleagues on Vancouver City Council, I want to extend my warmest greetings to all those attending the 16th Annual DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

Documentary film plays an indispensable role in bringing new issues, concerns and human experiences to public attention.

This year’s festival, like those that have gone before, brings a remarkable new series of films, both local and international. Vancouver’s film and television production industry is one of the strongest in North America and programs like DOXA offer an important showcase for documentary productions.

Best wishes for the best festival ever!

Gregor Robertson MAYOR, CITY OF VANCOUVER

A MESSAGE FROM THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

Art and culture are intrinsic elements of our sense of belonging — to a community, a nation, a country, a society, to humanity itself. With their creative visions, expressions of hope and questioning of the status quo, artists play a vital role in helping us to better understand and address the complex challenges of our times. They provoke new ways of thinking and transformations that enrich the lives of their fellow Canadians. The Canada Council for the Arts is proud to support DOXA Documentary Film Festival because for us, art is essential in pointing us, together, toward a brighter future.

Simon Brault, O.C., O.Q. DIRECTOR AND CEO OF THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

A MESSAGE FROM THE BC ARTS COUNCIL

Documentary filmmaking is constantly evolving, exploring new ways to challenge, inform, and entertain by seeking truths, sharing untold stories or sparking thought-provoking ideas.

DOXA Documentary Film Festival provides an important forum for this essential art form to connect audiences with voices and visions from home and around the world.

Through public screenings, panel discussions and educational programming, DOXA has garnered national acclaim over the past 17 years. With funding provided by the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council is pleased to support this outstanding festival that adds to both Vancouver’s vibrant arts scene and the region’s creative economy.

Best wishes to all the artists showcasing their talents over this 11-day festival and thanks to the organizers and volunteers who help produce such an important platform for this innovative genre.

Merla Beckerman CHAIR, BC ARTS COUNCIL

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FUNDERS

The Employment Program of British Columbia is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

artsVest™ British Columbia is operated by Business for the Arts with the support of the Government of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada.

MAJOR SPONSORS

PREMIERE MEDIA PARTNERS

CULTURAL PARTNERS AND CONSULATES

Consulat général de France à Vancouver

INDUSTRY PROGRAM | MAJOR SUPPORTERS

INDUSTRY PROGRAM | AUDIENCE SUPPORTERS

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HOSPITALITY PARTNERS

AWARD SPONSORS

MEDIA PARTNERS

PRINT SPONSOR

TRANSPORTATION PARTNER

DISTRIBUTION PARTNER

PREMIERE TECHNICAL PARTNER

TECHNICAL PARTNER

SCREENING SPONSORS

AUDIENCE SPONSORS

HEU ACFC WEST, LOCAL 2020 UNIFOR

HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES’ UNION

SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

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THANK YOU TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS, SUPPORTERS & VOLUNTEERS

AUDIENCE SURVEY

Fill out DOXA’s 2017 Audience Survey and you could win goodies from our pals at Modo, JJ Bean, and Big Rock Brewery. We’ll even throw in a 2018 DOXA Festival Pass, too!

Find the survey at every screening venue and online at doxafestival.ca/survey

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audiencesurvey.indd 1

Jeanette Ageson Kris Anderson Norman Armour Lynn Arychuk Smita Acharyya Tammy Bannister Lise Beaudry Janice Beley David Beers Mike Bernardo Sarah Berman Brian Berry Shane Birley Marilyn Blanchette Michael Boucher Véronique Bourlon Josie Boyce Mimi Brody Colin Brown Josh Cabrita Giulia Carpino Anthony Casey Greg Chambers Lisa Christiansen Joseph Clark Ann Coombs Michelle Cyca Yi Cui Jen DeTracey Meeru Dhalwala Félipe Diaz John Dippong Teagan Dobson Heather Doucette Roxanne Duncan Barbara Fairbrother Etienne Farreyre Rachel Feldbloom-Wood Tracy Friesen Graeme Findlay Thierry Garrel Patty Gibson Prem Gill Marc Glassman Judy Gladstone Rob Gloor Stephanie Goodwin Greg Graham Jeff Grayston Steven Hawkins Madeleine Hadfield Allen Linda Hay Anna Hetherington

2017-03-22 11:41 AM

Aude Hesbert Carolyn Hicks Beau House Landon Hoyt Shaun Inouye Julia Ivanova Alan Jernigan Jessica Johnson Carla Jones Sheryl Jones Ami Kambo Barbara Kaminsky Peter Kendall Phil Klapwyk Kyle Knapp Alan Kollins Denise Kostash Erika Kumar Matt Kunau Kate Ladyshewsky Phoenix Lam-Phipps Christina Larabie Roger Larry Kenji Maeda Yves J. Ma Anne Mark Karen McAthy Aileen McBride Ted McLellan Allyson McGrane Joanne MacKinnon Cherryl Masters Kelly Maxwell Carrie MacGregor AnnMarie MacKinnon Graham McGlashan Sandy McLeod Jennifer Merin Jay Minter Robin Mirsky-Daniels Andrea Moore Laura & Rex Moore Kelly Morris Anne-Mary Mullen Sheila Mullen Pat Mullen Rosie Nathani Kaleim Nathani Jesse Neate Jem Noble Pablo de Ocampo Nilesh Patel Brian Paterson

Rob Pazdro David Pay Rob Pazdro Jason Plourde Eleni Polychronakos Rafael Pont Leanne Prain Giulio Recchioni Al Reid Maureen Reynolds Noé Rodriguez Joyce Rosario Benjamin Rummen Fanny Saintenoy Milena Salazar Jacob Saltzberg Guinevere Sanderson Fred Savioz Minna Schendlinger Liz Shorten Christian Sida-Valenzuela Claire Simon Jim Sinclair Robin Smith Teri Snelgrove Sam Snobelen Dana Solomon Leah Squance Bonnie Sun Ash Tanasiychuk Bill Tieleman Karen Truscott Melissa Tsang Kendrie Upton David Vaisbord Michelle Van Beusekom Shirley Vercruysse Mauro Vescera Alisha Weng Lauren Weisler Charles Wilkinson Marnie Wilson Avril Woodend Troy Vierus Ellen Siew Meng Yap Vanessa Yip Judy Wolfe Nick Woodhouse Natasha Woodhouse

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS DOXA Festival is incredibly thankful for the support of all of our donors. This year, we are thrilled to see many new contributors alongside our loyal benefactors. We are humbled by the dedication of our long-time supporters, many of whom have contributed to DOXA for many years.

PRODUCER ($1,000+)

Joe Clark~ & Andrea Gin Sonia Fraser~ Fiona T Lam • In memory of Joe Wai Laura & Rex Moore Steve Robertson~ ADVOCATE ($500-$999)

John Bell Janice Chutter * MOTIVATOR ($150-$499)

Kris Anderson * & Sheena Campbell~ Jill Anholt Evelyn Armstrong Dale Aucoin~ Colin Browne * Patrick Carroll~ CUPE Local 15 Chris Dafoe Zoë Druick Kathy Evans • In memory of Sumit Guha Ian Gibson Harry Hertscheg Neil Jones-Rodway John LeBlanc Stacy LeBlanc~ Stephen Lock~ Kenji Maeda~ & Alan Jernigan Moshe Mastai * Karie McKinley * & Lauren Weisler * S. Ti Muntarbhorn Opus 59 Films • In honour of Ken Carter Martin Roland Lara Smith Teri Snelgrove~ Carmen Wiseman

Michelle Bjornson Susan Boutwood Peter Cameron * Elise Chenier Marian Collins Melanie Covey Blair Cresswell * Juergen Dankwort Donna Doerksen Roxanne Duncan Venay Felton Pat Feindel Sarah Fielding Cynthia Flood Tara Flynn & David Sikula • In memory of Heather Beaton Edward Gilling Laurie-Ann Goodwin Lynda Griffiths Beverley Harshenin Wei-Ning Ho Lucy Hyslop~ Jessye Jacob Carol Jerde David Jones Paul Jones Susan Kirkpatrick David Kerr Harry Killas Mike Klassen Bonnie Klein Kellie Lawson Yves Ma Jocelyn Macdougall Melody Mason Mel McElree John Mendoza • In honour of Manuel and Pilar Mendoza

SUPPORTER ($20-$149)

Joanne Miller Anne-Mary Mullen Kathleen Mullen Sheila Mullen • In memory of Richard Mullen

Norman Armour Simone Artaud Peter Ball David Bedwell

Marlie Newbert * Wendy Oberlander~ Barbara Parkin David Pay & Brian Laberge

Jeanne Pentecost Ana Policzer~ Geraldine Pratt Maureen Reynolds Sarah Rowland Mary Schendlinger Nancy Shaw Mo Simpson~ • In memory of Haida Paul Veronica Singer~ James Smith Michele Smolkin Nadine Soukoreff Glenn Stensrud Colleen Taylor Leslie Thompson * Louise Van Engelsdorp Gastelaars Shauna Woolley Robyn Young ...and all of our anonymous donors

* DONORS OF TEN YEARS OR MORE ~ DONORS OF FIVE TO NINE YEARS

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR LONG-TIME DONORS Our deepest appreciation goes out to each of our long-time benefactors for your continued support of DOXA Documentary Film Society.

Kris Anderson Colin Browne Peter Cameron Janice Chutter Blair Cresswell Marlie Oden Moshe Mastai Karie McKinley Leslie Thompson Lauren Weisler

DOXA’S INDIVIDUAL GIVING PROGRAM

For more information about our individual giving program, contact Tara Flynn at tara@ doxafestival.ca or 604.646.3200 ext 105.

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FINAL ARTWORK

TICKETS FROM

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$

Season Sponsor

Kevin MacDonald & Amber Lewis – Much Ado About Nothing (2017)

Howard Family Stage

June 1 to September 23 bardonthebeach.org • 604-739-0559 Production Sponsors

Documentary In Song

Fraser Union’s latest CD, BC Songbook, is a record of life in this precious coastal land: from the significance of fishing, mining, trucking and log-salvaging, to the joy and beauty of the setting.

Media Sponsors

Learn more at www.fraserunion.com CD available from www.cdbaby.com BC Songbook artwork: Claire Kujundzic Fraser Union artwork: Marian Buechert

fraserunionHALFPAGEadVERTICAL.indd 1

2017-03-02 10:47 AM

DOXA’S FALL FUNDRAISER | THANK YOU In December 2016, DOXA hosted an epic disco vs. punk duel at the legendary Ironworks for FLIPSIDE, our fall fundraiser. The evening featured punk legend Joe Keithley, and was hosted by the inimitable Isolde N. Barron and Peach Cobblah. Beau House from Cineworks Annex dazzled us with some original film projections. Blue Heron Creamery provided delicious canapés and a decadently divine vegan cheese platter; Les Amis du Fromage also donated some delectable cheese. Beverages were provided by Revelry Import Company and Sperling Vineyards, Granville Island Brewing, and Bruce Cost Ginger Ale. And once again, our silent and online auctions were a great success, featuring 130 different items generously donated by: Air North

Harbour Dance Centre

The Green Moustache

Andrew Peller Imports

Havana

Theatre Replacement

Arts Club

International Cellars

Truffles Fine Foods

Arts Umbrella

Jean Duguay

UBC Farm

Ballet BC

John Fluevog Shoes

Urge Chocolates

Banyen Books

Latab

Vancouver Aquarium

bed

Line 21 Media

Vancouver Farmers Markets

Big Rock Brewery

Live Nation

Vancouver Folk Music Festival

Bike Doctor

Marpole Curling Club

Vancouver International Film Festival

Bonniebrook Lodge and Chasters Restaurant

Mint Records

Vancouver International Wine Festival

Burrowing Owl Estate Winery

MOA

Vancouver Latin American Film Festival

Cactus Club

Mountain Equipment Coop

Vancouver Opera

Café Ético

Natalie Reynolds

CBC Vancouver

NFB: National Film Board

Vancouver Queer Film Festival / Out on Screen

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Off the Eaten Track Tours

Chris Dafoe

Original Joe’s/Robson

The Cinematheque

Our Community Bikes

Coastal Jazz & Blues Society

Pacific Theatre

Crazy8s

Queer Arts Festival

The Cultch (Vancouver East Cultural Centre + York Theatre)

Raku Therapeutic Japanese Head Massage

DanceHouse Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak Easy Park Ecomarine Paddlesport Centres Electronic Arts Ethical Bean Float House Forbidden Vancouver Gateway Theatre Georgia Straight gravitypope Great Canadian Gaming (Hastings Park Racecourse)

Rebus Creative Red Cat Records Sandhill Wines SFU Hockey Shelter Point Distillery Shiatsu & CranioSacral Therapy by Francesca Show One Productions Sidesaddle SIFF Sorella St. Geneve fine bed linens

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Vancouver Whitecaps FC VIA Rail Victor J Harris Videomatica Sales Wagner Family of Wine Vancouver Whitecaps Watermark Beach Resort Women in Film & Television Yaletown Brewing Co. We would also like to thank David Sikula, Erik Iversen, John Bolton, Madlove, Odd Society Spirits, Wayne Stewart, Wayne Wiens, Vanessa Yip, the DOXA Board of Directors and Fundraising Committee, our wonderful volunteers, and all our supporters for making the night so fantastic.

Swallow Tail Ten Thousand Villages 17

AWARDS AND JURIES Lisa Christiansen

The DOXA award winners are selected on the basis of three major criteria: success and innovation in the realization of the project’s concept; originality and relevance of subject matter and approach; and overall artistic and technical proficiency.

Lisa Christiansen is a broadcaster from Vancouver who currently provides traffic reports, music and “banter” at CBC Radio’s On The Coast. She is also co-host of the podcast “Pop This” — two women DOXA is very happy to welcome an outstanding group of filmmakers, talking about pop culture and feminism. Lisa has film critics, and journalists to the Awards Juries this year. Jury members meet during the course of the festival to choose the winning films, as well also served as juror for the Polaris Music Prize and Juno Awards. She watches a lot of films and Netflix dramas, and Real Housewives wherever... as award honourable mentions.

DOXA FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD JURORS

Pablo de Ocampo Pablo de Ocampo is the Exhibitions Curator at Western Front in Vancouver. From 2006 to 2014, he was the Artistic Director of the Images Festival in Toronto. In 2013, he was the Programmer for the 59th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, History is What’s Happening. He was a founding member of Portland, Oregon’s Cinema Project and has curated screenings, exhibitions, and performances at festivals, cinemas, galleries and other art spaces in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia.

Josh Cabrita Josh Cabrita is a freelance film critic and programmer from Vancouver who has written for CinemaScope, MUBI Notebook, the Georgia Straight, Movie Mezzanine and others. He has been a member of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s Canadian screening committee since 2015, and has served as the Artistic Director of the Port Moody Canadian Film Festival for the last three years.

AWARD PARTNER

Yi Cui Yi Cui was born and raised in northwest China and currently lives between her homeland and DOXA SHORT DOCUMENTARY AWARD JURORS Canada. Before starting to make films, she worked Joyce Rosario in conservation ecology. She received her MFA in Joyce Rosario is currently Associate Curator at the film from York University in Toronto. Her body of PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. She work consists of experimental, documentary, narrative and essay films. developed her practice as a performance curator, The constant search for poetry and musicality is a recurring theme in alongside her work in the dance milieu leading her films. Her selected filmography includes: Ying (2011, short), Shadow organizations such as New Works and Made in Puppet (2013), Of Shadows (2016), Late Summer (2017), Through the BC – Dance on Tour. Joyce is a graduate of UBC Theatre Production/ Looking Glass (2017).

Design Program, and was once nominated for a Jessie Richardson award for Costume Design.

Kurt Walker Kurt Walker is an experimental filmmaker and programmer. His first film, Hit 2 Pass (DOXA 2015), was nominated for best debut feature by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle in 2015. He is also a programmer for MUBI and co-programs for Kinet, an avant-garde cinema publishing platform.

DOXA CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY AWARD JURORS

Rachel Feldbloom-Wood Rachel Feldbloom-Wood is the Grants Administrator for Bell Media’s BravoFACT program. Before joining the BravoFACT team, she worked as an arts administrator in Toronto’s non-profit arts sector for almost a decade and has been immersed in the world of arts funding since 2008, when she began working at the Toronto Arts Council.

Tammy Bannister Tammy Bannister is the director of programming for R2R International Film Festival for Youth, and has produced the festival for over six years. She also coordinates, consults, and writes for VIFF’s international program. Tammy regularly scouts international festivals for R2R and VIFF, and her curatorial investigation centers on discussions of intersectionality. As a long-time associate member of the DGC, she worked as an assistant director on numerous films, TV series, independent projects, and commercials.

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Sarah Berman Sarah Berman is an editor and writer for VICE Canada, based in Vancouver. Her reporting has appeared in Maclean’s, the Globe and Mail, The Tyee and the Vancouver Sun.

AWARD PARTNER

NIGEL MOORE AWARD FOR YOUTH PROGRAMMING

DOXA is extremely proud to announce the fifth edition of the Nigel Moore Award for Youth Programming. Named in memory of Nigel Moore, a young man whose passion for knowledge, exploration, and advocacy found a home in his love for documentary film. For younger audiences, documentary has particular relevance. The world in which they’re growing up is an increasingly complex place. Documentary not only captures this complexity, but also has the capacity to act as a catalyst for social change, and fundamentally alter people’s behaviour.

The award will be adjudicated by a youth jury, who will choose the film that best exemplifies the qualities of compassion, social engagement, and spirit in which Nigel lived.

Anna Hetherington Anna Hetherington is a 20-year-old business student at the Beedie School of Business, concentrating in accounting. Anna is known as a creative and outgoing individual who loves to volunteer in the community. She and Nigel grew up together from the time they were born. Anna’s most vivid memories of their time together include art classes, body painting, and losing to Nigel at every game they played.

WE THINK FRANCE AND CANADA HAVE A LOT TO SHARE IN THE ARTS AND CULTURE...

Want to know more?

Francecanadaculture.org

Jacob Satlzberg Jacob Saltzberg has been a juror for DOXA for the past four years. He is a musician from Vancouver who has been involved with the Vancouver music scene for the past two years under the name Traffik.

He is also a UBC student in his third year of studies.

Steven Hawkins Steven is a second-year student at the University of Victoria working towards a Bachelor of Commerce. He is also an avid musician who has worked with theatre productions, short films, and live concerts. He has a passion for social and ecological issues, and story telling, hence his love for documentaries.

Teagan Dobson Living in Vancouver for the past 15 years, Teagan Dobson is currently with The Georgia Straight Newspaper as Receptionist/Promotions Assistant. She participates on an on-going basis with BC Children’s Hospital in the implementation of The Family Handbook, a project that disseminates evidence-based practices for clinical intervention to help families battling clinicallysignificant Somatization symptoms.

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STORYHIVE IS PROUD TO SUPPORT INNOVATIVE STORYTELLING AND DOXA’S INDUSTRY DAY

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D OX A I N D U S T R Y DAY S AT U R DAY M AY 6 SFU’S GOLDCORP CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

VANCOUVER: NO FIXED ADDRESS

In Vancouver, there is a newly emergent film culture, comprised of filmmakers who combine elements drawn from a broad spectrum of different cultural forms — everything from contemporary art practice to VJ performance — to make work that is not confined to any one definition of the genre.

This year DOXA’s Industry Day will offer panels on VR (interactive and augmented reality), professional development and networking opportunities (distribution, funding, discoverability and export), and panels with a focus on the creative practice of nonfiction cinema.

9:30AM–11:00PM | PANEL

Distribution, On-Demand, and Discoverability As the means of accessing documentary cinema continues to grow and evolve, what does this new abundance of platforms mean for filmmakers?

Representatives from Tënk and STORYHIVE will talk about their respective programs. Panelists will look at how to integrate film funding, production, and new dissemination models.

11:30AM–1:00PM | PANEL

Reality Virtually Vancouver’s digital media industry currently includes more than 600 different companies that encompass everything from interactive design and gaming to mobile content. This panel will investigate the new opportunities and relationships that digital media organizations represent to documentary filmmakers. Panelists Alan Jernigan (Charm Games), Rob McLaughlin (The National Film Board of Canada’s Digital Studio), and SFU’s SIAT (School of Interactive Arts and Technology) will explore the different manifestations and areas of development (commercial, academic, and creative) that are opening up in the brave new world of VR. Moderated by Prem Gill (Creative BC).

1:30PM–3:00PM | PANEL

Documentary & Performance Documentary film has increasingly incorporated elements of live performance (music, dance, theatre, and spoken word). While the opportunity to collaborate with performing arts organizations represents a new realm of programming possibilities, working with different disciplines can be complex. This panel will focus on the scope of programming possibilities, as well as the challenges of navigating other (different) modes of presentation.

3:30PM–4:30PM | MASTER CLASS

Cinema Languages: Words, Body, Interiority DOXA will offer a master class with Eliane de Latour who is a researcher, anthropologist, and film director. Through cinema, photography, scientific or literary writing, de Latour looks at the closed worlds of those who are forced behind a physical or social barrier. (See page 57 for screening times of her film Little Go Girls) 4:30PM–6:00PM | INDUSTRY RECEPTION

The Industry Reception is intended to provide filmmakers and Industry attendees an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and experiences in a casual and informal setting. Please join us for a beverage and some delicious hors d’oeuvres in the intimate setting of the NFB’s Screening Room, as we celebrate the launch of the third edition of our French French Program.

The Industry Reception is made possible by the generous support of our partners The National Film Board of Canada, DOC BC, and the Consulate General of France in Vancouver.

INDUSTRY TICKETS & PASSES

Industry Panels (each): $15 General / $10 DOC BC Members Industry Day Pass: $60 General / $35 DOC BC Members Industry Day Pass provides access to all Industry programming on Saturday May 6 at SFU, including the panels and Industry Reception.

Industry Day participants are welcome to join our regularly scheduled festival programming (tickets not included in Industry Day Pass). We have two very special evening screenings at the David Mowafaghian Cinema at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts with Charles Wilkinson’s Vancouver: No Fixed Address and Alice Diop’s César-winning film Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness).

6:30PM | FILM SCREENING + EXTENDED PANEL DISCUSSION

Vancouver: No Fixed Address

(screening with Drunken Laundry Day with Charles Bukowski)

9:15PM–10:30PM | FILM SCREENING

Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness) (screening with Les Clöys)

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New flavour!

Equal parts crisp, fruity and refreshing In-stores and fresh on tap

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big rock urban | 310 west 4th avenue

SPOTLIGHT ON

TROUBLEMAKERS CHRIS MARKER, NEVER EXPLAIN, NEVER COMPLAIN

In the words of Chris Marker, the original documentary rebel: “Rarely has reality needed so much to be imagined.”

Our Spotlight on Troublemakers celebrates deep dissent and defiance with a selection of films about people righting wrongs and reimagining the future. Activists and artists, muckrakers and outlaws, single mothers and rock stars come together to shake the very foundations of the old order. This selection of films slashes new paths forward, imagining not only what may be possible (Cyborgs! Housing rights! Democracy!) but also looks back at the people who carved out the most radical and conceptually challenging ideas from the previous century. Creative revolutionaries, heed the call! If ever there was a moment, when things needed to change, that time is now.

Donna Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival (p. 49) Fabrizio Terranova, Belgium, 2017

FRI MAY 5 | 7:00 PM | ANNEX

Donna Haraway (author of the seminal text A Cyborg Manifesto) talks about her work and her life in director Fabrizio Terranova’s film portrait.

Haraway’s winding reflections and insights are set against images of squiggly sea creatures, kooky animation, and a breezy electronic score.

The result is a tranquil, yet playful meditation that dives headfirst into the mind of one of the most inventive and curious thinkers living today.

RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World (p. 49) Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, Canada, 2017

FRI MAY 5 | 9:00 PM | VANCITY

From the opening guitar thunder of Link Wray’s smash hit, you know you are in for a wild ride.

Directors Catherine Bainbridge (Reel Injun) and Alfonso Maiorana have assembled a veritable who’s who in the music business, from Tony Bennett to Steven Tyler to attest to the pivotal role that First Nations artists played in the development of Blues, Rock and Funk.

Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain (p. 53) Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert, France, 2016

SAT MAY 6 | 12:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

Directors Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert’s film biography portrays Chris Marker and his creative oeuvre through the testimonies of seven people who knew him and worked with him, including Wim Wenders, Patricio Guzman and Thierry Garrel.

Complicit (p.55) Heather White and Lynn Zhang, China/US, 2016

SAT MAY 6 | 2:00 PM | VANCITY SUN MAY 14 | 6:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

While people in the West use smartphones to live healthier, happier lives, the construction of such devices has horrific health effects on the people who actually make them. Complicit shines a light on the dark irony of the global electronic manufacturing industry in China, where 90% of the world’s consumer electronics are produced, including 70% of its cell phones.

The Caretakers (w/ Water Warriors) (p. 70) David Goldberg, Canada, 2017

SUN MAY 7 | 6:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE MON MAY 8 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

Director David Goldberg captures the intense conviction that was a central part of the Burnaby Mountain protest. The grit and tenacity of local activists is on full display as they face down the RCMP on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people.

Ada for Mayor (p. 76) Pau Faus, Spain, 2016

TUE MAY 9 | 7:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

The incredible story of one woman’s journey from radical grassroots activist to principled politician. An inspirational rallying cry for a new kind of populist politics — one that is truly about the people.

Waking the Sleeping Giant

(p. 43)

Jacob Smith, US, 2017

THU MAY 11 | 6:30 PM | SFU FRI MAY 12 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

The struggle for racial justice, economic equality, and women’s rights was hard enough in the USA, but then the American election came to its final shocking conclusion. Jacob Smith’s incendiary new film offers a glimmer of hope in these dark days through an intersectional coalition of activists, politicians and ordinary people who are fighting for genuine democracy.

Manifesto (p. 45) Julian Rosefeldt, Germany, 2017

SAT MAY 13 | 8:00 PM | SFU SUN MAY 14 | 6:30 PM | VANCITY

Rabid dissent and gonzo defiance are given voice by actress Cate Blanchett, who delivers a century’s worth of great cultural and political manifestos, from Fluxus to Dogme 95, in the guise of thirteen different characters.

Dolores (p. 72) Peter Bratt, US, 2017

MON MAY 8 | 2:30 PM | ANNEX

Dolores Huerta may just be the most vocal activist you’ve never heard of. Along with Cesar Chavez, Huerta was responsible for organizing minority farm workers all across California and founding United Farm Workers. Dolores is a vibrant and long overdue tribute to a trailblazing 20th century feminist.

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JUSTICE FORUM

ISLAND EARTH

PORNOCRACY

The intent of the Justice Forum is to facilitate Free Lunch Society (p.67) active and critical engagement, create space for Christian Tod, Austria/Germany, 2017 dialogue, and sow the seeds for social change.

SUN MAY 7 | 3:00 PM | VANCITY Each Justice Forum film is paired with a panel of speakers including filmmakers, experts in the Imagine receiving a cheque every month that would cover your essential needs. Unconditional field, academics, and community activists. basic income, guaranteed annual income, and The 2017 Justice Forum films encompass a broad negative income tax, are just a few of the names range of social justice issues including workers’ for the social security program that has been rights, environmental activism, new journalism, gaining momentum around the world. and the ongoing battle for human dignity and freedom. Each of these films contends actively with complex, sometimes seemingly intractable Burning Out (p. 73) problems, but more importantly they offer Jérôme le Maire, Belgium/France/Switzerland, 2016 up radical ideas for change and progress, and MON MAY 8 | 7:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE ultimately, hope for the future.

For two years, Belgian director Jérôme le Maire followed the members of a surgical unit at one Complicit (p. 55) of Paris’ biggest hospitals. The result is gripping and infuriating, tragic and ridiculous. It’s like Heather White and Lynn Zhang, China/US, 2016 ER meets The Office, as directed by D. A. PenSAT MAY 6 | 2:00 PM | VANCITY nebaker.

As personal computers and smartphones become extensions of our bodies and minds, the grim reality of the people actually making these Pornocracy: The New Sex devices is carefully hidden. Workers and activists Multinationals (p. 79) in China are actively speaking out about the Ovidie, France, 2017 poor wages, abysmal working conditions, and THU MAY 11 | 7:00 PM | VANCITY horrific health effects of the global electronic The dirtiest thing in director Ovidie’s investigamanufacturing industry. tion of the global porn business is not the sex, but the money. The numbers are staggering.

Much of the profit generated by ‘tube sites’ Dropka (p. 65) comes from the poverty-level wages paid to an Yan Chun Su, US/China, 2016 amateur workforce.

SUN MAY 7 | 12:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

Yan Chun Su observes the last of Tibet’s dropka (nomads) as they lead herds of yak and sheep over hilly grasslands. No longer limitless, the dropka move across the section of pasture randomly allotted to them by the Chinese government. The film captures the last years of an agentive people caught inside a political and ecological landscape beyond their control.

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Island Earth

(p. 82)

Cyrus Sutton, US, 2016

FRI MAY 12 | 7:00 PM | VANCITY

Like the beautiful Hawaiian archipelago where the film is set, Cyrus Sutton’s Island Earth is a complex mix; at once hopeful and celebratory, but interwoven with notes of hardship and despair. The film examines how former plantation fields are now used for open air fieldtesting of restricted-use pesticides.

Freelancer on the Frontlines (p. 84)

Santiago Bertolino, Canada, 2016

SAT MAY 13 | 12:00 PM | VANCITY

From Egypt’s post-Arab Spring elections to Israel’s “Apartheid Road” to Turkey’s sprawling Syrian refugee camps, journalist Jesse Rosenfeld moves swiftly between countries and areas of conflict as stories surface. Freelancer on the Front Lines reveals how the news is made and disseminated. More than just informing his readers of disturbing events, Rosenfeld hopes to evoke real change through his writing.

You Are on Indian Land (w. ôtênaw) (p. 84)

Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell, Canada, 1969

SAT MAY 13 | 2:45 PM | VANCITY

On December 18, 1968, members of the Akwesasne Mohawk community blockaded the international bridge near Cornwall, Ontario. The intent was to bring public attention to treaty violations by the Canadian government. One of the most poignant and powerful works to come out of the Challenge for Change and the Indian Film Crew (IFC).

Ambulance (p. 85)

Mohamed Jabaly, Norway, 2016

SAT MAY 13 | 5:00 PM | VANCITY

Without preamble Ambulance opens on a community in panic. A bomb has just fallen, turning filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly’s neighbour’s home into a pile of rubble. So begins a close-up view of war that barely gives us time to catch our breath, let alone consider the broader context.

TRUMPED! NOW WHAT? CURATED BY DAVID BEERS

CURATED BY DAVID BEERS

To quote the inestimable Mr. David Beers, our guest curator for this collection of ferocious fire-breathing films, “Just how much toxic bile does reside in the body politic? How responsive is it to total bullshit? How much damage can be done in it its name, once unleashed? After Trump, does just a less bozo fascist win? Or can the good in human nature — rebellious, but constructive, smart and cooperative — be tapped to defeat Trumpism? No one doubts anymore populist anger is real — can it deliver real reform?”

The question looms in the air at the moment, and resting on it may very well be the future of humanity. So, the time is now, people, get it together, or get voted off the planet.

Ada for Mayor (p. 76)

Waking the Sleeping Giant (p. 43)

Pau Faus, Spain, 2016

Jacob Smith, US, 2017

TUE MAY 9 | 7:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

THU MAY 11 | 6:30 PM | SFU

In Barcelona, housing activists were on the frontlines of the battle when the housing market collapsed in Spain, and at their helm was Ada Colau, a fiery and passionate social justice advocate, who, three years later, would become the mayor of Barcelona.

FRI MAY 12 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

PACmen (p. 72) Luke Walker, Australia/US, 2017, 83 mins

Five people, including a school bus driver from LA, an antipoverty activist from West Virginia, the organizers of Democracy Spring, and Senator Bernie Sanders, all come together in an intersectional coalition that offers a glimmer of hope in these dark days.

Read David’s Essay on page 28.

SUN MAY 7 | 8:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

Political junkies will enjoy this light-hearted look into the political campaign of Dr. Ben Carson, who briefly polled ahead of Donald Trump in the 2015 run for the Republican nomination, and sought to define himself as the anti-establishment candidate who appealed to “real people.”

FREE SCREENING

Friday, May 5, 7:00pm Central Library (350 W. Georgia St.) Alice MacKay Room

Discover dynamic Indigenous voices through films made by First Nations youth from coast to coast. DOXA and VPL are happy to copresent an eye-opening program of curated films by Wapikoni Mobile that will reveal unique stories, incredible talent, and powerful voices throughout Canada’s Indigenous communities.

Visit doxafestival.ca for more info! wapikoni.indd 1

2017-03-22 11:54 AM

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RATED Y FOR YOUTH Now in its ninth year, Rated Y for Youth was founded upon the idea of facilitating media literacy. DOXA selects programming specifically for high school students and youth, giving young people an opportunity to attend the festival, view thought-provoking documentaries, and actively participate in post-film discussions with filmmakers and community members.

Fattitude (p. 75)

Olivier Babinet, France, 2016

TUE MAY 9 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

THU MAY 11 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

Fattitude tackles the subject of body size prejudice from a multiplicity of perspectives including race, class, and gender. Featuring interviews and analyses from a broad range of writers, academics, activists, and artists, This year’s selection includes films about Indig- Fattitude assails a complex tangle of cultural and enous and environmental activism, anti-bullying social constructs — everything from economic and body positivity, migrant and economic jus- status to the politics of being seen. tice issues, and truth and reconciliation.

The Caretakers (w/ Water Warriors) (p. 70) David Goldberg, Canada, 2017

MON MAY 8 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

In 2014, activists, ranging from new Canadians to First Nations people, ascended Burnaby Mountain to set up a protest camp on the future route of the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline.

Swagger (p. 41)

Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman, US, 2017

The Road Forward (p. 37)

The Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois, garnered international attention after the violence and rioting of 2005, but for kids growing up here, it is home. Director Olivier Babinet spent more than three years, working with a dozen students and residents, posing questions about family and relationships, hopes and dreams.

Waking the Sleeping Giant (p. 43)

Marie Clements, Canada, 2017

Jacob Smith, US, 2017

WED MAY 10 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

FRI MAY 12 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

Marie Clements’ musical documentary is simultaneously a piece of BC First Nations history, a call for revolution and resolve, and a portrait of a people who have retained their power and identity through community and activism.

Five people including a school bus driver from LA, an anti-poverty activist from West Virginia, the organizers of Democracy Spring and senator Bernie Sanders, all come together in an intersectional coalition to fight for genuine democracy and real change.

SCHOOL BOOKINGS

For information about the Rated Y program or to book your school group tickets, contact April Parchoma at april@doxafestival.ca or 604.646.3200 ext.108.

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TRANSMISSIONS EXPANDED CINEMA A selection of experimental programming made Elsewhere (p. 80) up of some of the most eclectic filmmaking/ Ouananiche, Canada, 2016 performance/ multimedia on offer, Transmissions THU MAY 11 | 7:30PM | CINEMATHEQUE includes work that is at the crossroads of It starts with a pulse. A single beat of sound. cinema, video, and sound art.

From a generic Montreal subway platform to In addition to live performance, artist talks, the most far-flung parts of the planet, Elsewhere projections and screenings from independent explores the human passion for movement and Canadian filmmakers and media artists, the undeniable siren song of travel. This is a film Transmissions explores the points of convergence that is felt, as much as witnessed, pushed along between contemporary art practice and by a propulsive soundtrack and zippy animation. nonfiction cinema.

Includes an artist talk.

Animals Under Anaesthesia: Speculations on the Dreamlife of Beasts (w/ Être cheval [Horse Being]) (p. 51)

Katyusha: Rocket Launchers, Folk Songs and Ethnographic Refrains (p. 82)

Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, Canada, 2016

Kandis Friesen, Canada, 2016

FRI MAY 5 | 9:30PM | CINEMATHEQUE

FRI MAY 12 | 7:00PM | ANNEX

THU MAY 11 | 9:30PM | CINEMATHEQUE

If people dream of becoming animals, then perhaps animals also harbour fantasies of a human existence. Such is the premise of Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s wild new film.

What blossoms at a veterinarian’s office as dogs, pigs, and cats are put under is a vivid, sometimes shocking dreamscape.

City Voices: Shorts Program (p. 76) Various, Canada, 2017

TUE MAY 9 | 6:30PM | VANCITY

Katyusha: Rocket Launchers, Folk Songs and Ethnographic Refrains focuses on the role of song as cultural form, following the Soviet wartime hit song Katyusha, the rocket launcher that subsequently took on its name, and the tragic life of the secretly Mennonite Soviet pop star Anna German, who recorded an immensely popular version of the song in 1962. A video installation and performance work, where a live narration blends with a live-mixed video and audio track, Katyusha draws on reworked found and archival moving image, photo, and sound.

Everything Turns... (p. 82)

Aaron Zeghers, Canada, 2016

FRI MAY 12 | 7:00PM | ANNEX

A shorthand study of the mythology of numbers from 1 to 12, where scientific tradition is adopted then eschewed for rumours, legends, and defunct theories from across the ages.

Just like Hans Richter nearly 100 years ago, we discover that everything turns, everything revolves, and everything feels the deep score of time. Includes a live score.

ôtênaw (w/ You Are on Indian Land) (p. 84) Conor McNally, Canada, 2017

SAT MAY 13 | 2:45PM | VANCITY

Drawing on the tradition of oral storytelling, ôtênaw is a philosophical and creative treatment of land rights, territory, history, and culture.

As Dr. Dwayne Donald leads a walking tour of amiskwaciwâskahikan (now the city of Edmonton), talking about the history of the land and the people who lived there, the layers of human habitation slowly reveal themselves.

A powerful example of 4th Cinema, Conor McNally’s film incorporates archival photos, animation, and 16mm footage into a palimpsest of human existence, scored with language and memory.

SUPPORTED BY

WED MAY 10 | 3:15PM | ANNEX

This collection of films is offered as a portrait of Vancouver, a kaleidoscopic collection of people and their city, from the West End to the Downtown Eastside, a moving, changing coalescence of bright and dark shards of life and experience. Featuring live performances from some of people highlighted in the films.

Transference: Shorts Program (p. 78)

Various, Canada, 2015-2017

WED MAY 10 | 9:00PM | CINEMATHEQUE

From Qatar to Quebec, Serbia to Ohio, this collection of short films retraces and exposes sites of personal and emotional history. A variety of film and video techniques employing light, movement, and sound give each piece its own distinct temporal motility, pushing the formal and narrative boundaries of contemporary Canadian experimental cinema.

KATY USH A

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TRUMPED!

B Y D AV I D B E E R S

Donald Trump might melt into a yellow puddle of leaks, tweets and tantrums tomorrow. He could be led off in a straitjacket by Stephen Colbert — but it wouldn’t begin to resolve the terrifying set of questions he has surfaced. Like: Just how much toxic bile resides in the body politic? How responsive is it to total bullshit? How much damage can be done in it its name, once unleashed? After Trump, does just a less bozo fascist win?

Or can the good in human nature – rebellious, but constructive, smart and cooperative – be tapped to defeat Trumpism? No one doubts anymore that populist anger is real, but can it deliver real reform?

To such questions, a trio of films showing in this year’s DOXA festival bring clarity and even hope.

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If you are wondering what diabolical alchemy could have possibly converted tycoon Trump into the outsider candidate for America’s forgotten little people, may I suggest PACmen. Which isn’t about Trump but Ben Carson — the African-American, fundamentalist Christian neurosurgeon who, for a brief moment, looked to be the perfect selfmade Republican hero. As he sweetly brags: “I went from the bottom one per cent to the top one per cent!”

Carson’s biggest champion is a gung-ho archconservative named John Philip Sousa IV, great grandson of the famed composer of “Stars and Stripes Forever,” a song first marched to when America was great (1897).

PACmen shows us Sousa and other rich white guys high in corporate suites working the phones, hauling in Political Action Committee (PAC) money, moving their black chess piece forward.

We meet the pawns, too, white suburban evangelicals enlisted to recruit Republican primary voters by phone and on foot. They are very worried that the United States increasingly looks and sounds quite unlike the insides of their churches. Their speakerphone meetings always end in prayer, the pious millionaires joining their petrified plebeians to thank the Lord for sending Ben Carson to “save America.”

But whoops. It’s the devilish Trump who goes on to scoop ten times Carson’s evangelical votes, even though, as one Carson ‘PACman’ says to another, “Trump wouldn’t know a Bible if it hit him in the head!” Sousa lets that settle in and replies, ominously: “Interesting.”

that “living in poverty creates toxic stress.” In her opinion, “right now in America, most everyone hates themselves right now. Cuz we’re stuck.”

But what unsticks Shrader are Jesus’ teachings of empathy (“All people deserve love,” she tells voters, “and no sin is greater than another”) and Sanders’ program to re-distribute opportunity and wealth.

The documentary makers invite us to see Shrader as an arm, maybe a little toe, of the rousing giant. She joins unionists, Black Lives Matter activists, academics, environmentalists, LGBTQ advocates, the quite religious and the not religious, red staters, blue staters, rural dwellers and urbanites, all manner of just plain decent hard-working people, and yes, one or two members of the liberal media, in channeling her anger into a politics of inclusivity.

Credit where it’s due: Carson’s PACmen were early to guess that widespread disgust with politicians would make running a non-politician a good bet. But after Carson bumbles one too many times, one of his That anger. It is hungry and one way or another must be fed. At one point PACmen names the game — and the fear churning his particular gut. in PACmen Ben Carson is perplexed. “People love me! They just won’t Without a Republican in the White House, furious citizens will make life vote for me. But that’s okay!” But it’s clear the surgeon blew it when he made his slogan “Heal America.” That’s no battle hell for one-percenters like himself, who he calls JUST HOW MUCH cry, and voters were ready to rumble when they “producers.” He’s shifting his cash to Trump the chose Trump. hate-mongering fake populist because Trump is winning, Trump will protect him.

The war must only escalate when and if people realize RESIDES IN THE BODY POLITIC? they’ve been Trumped, left to fend for themselves President Trump, as we now know, wasted no as moneyed elites deepen their political control. time in selling out the faith and family voters who HOW RESPONSIVE IS IT TO Could such a war (“Our Revolution” as Sanders believed he would topple Washington’s corrupt now calls it) be fought and won with creativity and order. He’s packed his cabinet with Wall Street kings joy alongside the anger, in a way that leaves most (and Ben Carson) and set about slashing taxes for citizens feeling affirmed by democracy’s workings? the wealthy, while stripping health care from 24 million vulnerable citizens. Trump might keep up HOW MUCH DAMAGE CAN BE Well, that’s exactly what is at stake in Ada for Mayor, his populist charade as long as his Rasputin Bannon DONE IN IT ITS NAME, ONCE a documentary about the unlikely run for mayor churns out conspiracy theories and wedge issues, UNLEASHED? AFTER of Barcelona by Ada Colau, an affordable housing but only if current spasms of progressive opposition advocate with one toddler and no political party. don’t morph into a full-blown movement built to last The movement she comes to lead might look a bit and win. like Occupy Wall Street at first, but taken inside by DOES JUST A LESS BOZO the documentary makers, we see it’s very different.

Such a movement began to weave itself during FASCIST WIN? It’s all about the careful, good-faith brokering of an Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic presidential candidacy, and this is the subject of Waking the Sleeping alliance of many different populist and progressive political groups with a Giant. It’s bracing to see how early and easily Sanders connected. Before focus on establishing core principles, sticking to them and winning office. he’s even decided to run, he tells a room full of Iowans they are the A bit of brilliant branding doesn’t hurt either. I will not reveal much more producers – “producing more than 20 or 30 years ago, but wages are about this one in order to avoid spoilers. going down.” To these nodding Walmart shoppers he says, “The Walton family owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of the American Suffice it to say that all of us, having been Trumped, must guard against despair. Drip, tweet, drip... each new intrigue, outrage and weird-ass people. One family.” poll result raises more harrowing questions about the very essence of Here’s one right out of Trump’s script: “You can’t keep doing what you’re human nature. I submit that human nature is up to the job —if appealed doing. You can’t keep beating down the middle class. You can’t keep to properly and joined to a savvy new way of doing politics and getting buying elections. You can’t keep sending our jobs to China. That’s wrong.” people elected. Trumpism can be repealed and replaced in Washington, in But this is Sanders, a self-labeled “democratic socialist,” explaining his your town, in an angry, hurting heart. That is the fact-based conclusion agenda and receiving, that day in Iowa, a standing ovation. How it stings one must reach upon viewing Ada for Mayor. You’ll see. And you’ll feel a to watch it, knowing that Hillary Clinton chose to obsessively court Wall bit less terrified, I promise.

Street, spending most of her $1 billion raised on ads that, by one analysis, were “almost policy free” and aimed instead to make people feel dumb and dirty for resonating to Trump. Sanders’ prescription was the opposite: David Beers founded The Tyee, was senior editor at “Our job is to mobilize.”

Mother Jones and two large newspapers, and has won Among those inspired by Sanders is Sabrina Shrader, a young white National Magazine Awards in the U.S. and Canada woman who barely scrapes by in West Virginia coal country. She is running for his writing. Blue Sky Dream, his acclaimed Silicon for office for the first time as a Democratic candidate for the state house.

Valley memoir, is widely assigned in universities. He Shrader is union-backed, has a sister who’s battled drug addiction, and is an adjunct professor at the UBC Graduate School displays Bible verses on the walls of her house. She knows first-hand of Journalism and co-organizer of the Urbanarium City Debates.

TOXIC BILE TOTAL BULLSHIT?

TRUMP

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TWO CATS, AN OWL AND A LOT OF NICE HUMAN BEINGS

BY THIERRY GARREL

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The Gallic rooster is back at DOXA! This third edition of FRENCH FRENCH includes a selection of new auteur documentaries, as well as an eclectic retrospective of the work of Chris Marker — “The most famous of unknown filmmakers.”

Chris Marker was both a world traveller and a time traveller. Throughout his peripatetic life, he remained largely a secret cinéaste, although his name and his films (La Jetée/The Jetty, or Sans soleil, which ranked third in Sight & Sound’s poll of the greatest documentaries ever made) have influenced generations of filmmakers.

Three years after the retrospective at Centre Pompidou, organized after his death (he died on his 91st birthday), and in advance of the Cinémathèque française’s encompassing multimedia event planned for May 2018, I am proud to present to Vancouver audiences, 7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER, a selection of Marker’s rarely screened films. The timing is curious, and like so much of Chris’s work, serendipitously entwined with our current moment in history.

Long considered the inventor of the film essay, Marker is a master of editing and narration. Nowhere is this more evident than in Le Tombeau d’Alexandre/The Last Bolshevik (1993), that depicts the life and work of Russian film director Alexander Medvedkin (1900-1989). Epic in scope – covering a century of the Soviet Union and the failure of communism – the film is also replete with Marker’s inimitable humour and whimsy.

The intermission features his beloved orange cat, “Guillaume-en-Egypte” listening to music by Catalan composer Mompou.

Among the unique and compelling films produced for cultural television, is the legendary series L’Héritage de la chouette/The Owl’s Legacy (1989). Banned for a quarter of a century, the series explores the shadow cast over our civilization by Ancient Greece.

Organized as a kind of platonic banquet of artists, philosophers and scientists, the series demonstrates proficiency in pairing TV and intelligence. It is here in all its joyful, cantankerous, wine-soaked wisdom.

A feast!

From the collection Cinéma, de notre temps/Cinema, of Our Time, comes the little known and splendid Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch/One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich (1999). The film is devoted to the Russian master and Marker’s good friend Andrei Tarkovsky, who found shelter in France at the end of his life, and died when he was completing the editing of his last movie, The Sacrifice.

With Presidential elections taking place in France and provincial elections in BC this May, it is appropriate to (re)discover Marker’s epic film essay, Le Fond de l’air est rouge/A Grin Without a Cat. A monumental elegiac archival fresco, masterfully edited, the film was completed forty years ago, and reedited by Marker in 1993. The film revisits the global political turmoil of the 60’s and 70’s in two sections: hope (Part One: Fragile Hands), and disillusionment (Part Two: Severed Hands). Throughout this welter of images, snatches, and fragments of history, is Marker’s authorial voice — literate, cogent and cultured, brilliantly digressive and associative, and at the same time witty, tender and humanist.

Chats perchés/The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004), Marker’s last film, dizzily combines a yearly diary about political events and demonstrations in Paris, with poetic excursions triggered by an enigmatic smiling yellow cat tagged on Parisian walls. “Thank you, cats. We will badly need you wherever we go!”

As an opening to this retrospective, Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain (2016), by Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert, portrays the cinéaste and his works through the testimonies of seven people who knew him and worked with him – including Wim Wenders, Patricio Guzman, and … yours truly, as I had the privilege to collaborate on the production side while working for French Television at INA, La Sept and ARTE, with all the films presented!

A roaming, dreamy POV shot of the suburbs of Paris swoops into the open window of a young boy. A fractured, fragmented travelling sequence shot in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan. A rolling oceanic tempest edited into THEY CREATED a mesmerizing hypnotic loop. These are some of the startling images from this year’s selection of new French documentaries. Each of these films BECAUSE THEY CREATED embodies the current trend of documentary: back to cinema itself and peculiar écritures, be it through cinematography, reenactment, narration, sound and image interplay, music, silence and mise en scène.

“

A CL ASSIC

SOMETHING NEW

”

WROTE MARCEL PROUST A CENTURY AGO ABOUT COURBET, RENOIR AND MANET.

SO IT IS HERE, AS WELL.

Le Souvenir d’un avenir/Remembrance of Things to Come (2001), codirected with Yannick Bellon, is based on the work of photographer Denise Bellon (1902-1999). A pioneer in photojournalism in the 30’s and 40’s, Bellon was friends with the leading members of the surrealist movement, including Salvador Dali, André Breton, and Marcel Duchamp.

Composed of still images, stitched together with Alexandra Stewart’s calm and measured narration, it is the documentary soul sister of La Jetée, and a very French journey in time “where each of the photos shows the past, yet deciphers the future.”

All deal with the human condition, with the goal to share intimacy and restore dignity through the richness and power of cinematic language. These ordinary people, often teenagers or young adults coping with life, love, and exile, are revealed to be the heroes of our time. The films don’t serve any cause. They simply attempt to capture the essential vibration of life.

Alice Diop’s film Vers la tendresse/Towards Tenderness (recently awarded a César for Short Documentary) is a profoundly empathetic but unvarnished examination of the sexuality of young men stuck in the quartiers. Elegant in its construction, but filled with searing grief, pain and vulnerability.

In Swagger, director Olivier Babinet sublimates the hopes and dreams of a dozen boys and girls who live in the Aulnay-sous-Bois project (coincidentally enough, the same housing project where Alice Diop grew up). Spilling over with hope, anguish and the manic joy that is adolescence, Swagger is a pulsing, throbbing cinematic explosion.

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Maki Berchache and Nathalie Nambot’s Brûle la mer/Burn the Sea tells the story of young Tunisians who fled their country after the fall of dictator Ben Ali. Torn between their motherland and France, where they remain unwanted guests, their stories are captured with delicacy and cinematic bravery in 16mm and 8mm (!)

Anthropologist and filmmaker Eliane de Latour tenderly captures the life of the Go in the ghettos of Abidjan in Little Go Girls. The young women utilize their bodies as cash machines, in the hope of gaining some measure of freedom. Without pathos or sentiment, the film is also an attempt to create a small “casa” community between the filmmaker and her subjects.

In Être-Cheval/Horse-Being, director Jérôme Clément-Wilz follows a transgender ex-school teacher named Karen in her initiation/quest to accomplish her fantasies. On a Virginia farm, Karen engages in “pony play” – a ritual of domination and submission between a trainer and a trainee, involving harnesses, hooves and bridling. Despite its potentially salacious topic, the film is elegant, mournful, and deeply human.

After a retrospective of her work at DOXA 2016, Claire Simon is back with her new film Le Concours/The Graduation, awarded at the Venice Film Festival, and newly released in theatres across France. The film plunges into the very heart of the comprehensive selection process for candidates applying to La Fémis, one of the most prestigious cinema schools in the world. (Simon has been Head of Directing Studies for several

years.) Without any commentary, and paradoxically shot in an almost Wisemanian vérité style, the film looks with empathy at the applicants, as well as the members of the juries. It’s about cinema, of course, but also about Bourdieu’s “distinction” as well. So French!

The defense and illustration of “la politique des auteurs” (the “auteur theory”) is where we began. What is an auteur after all? And what do you expect of him or her? “Ils ont fait classique parce qu’ils ont fait nouveau,” — “They made it classic because they made it new,” wrote Marcel Proust about Courbet, Renoir and Manet. So it is here, as well. These impassioned auteurs bring evidence that documentary is becoming the art of the 21st century, and that cinema has been reborn as documentary.

Thierry Garrel, a French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, joined the Research Department of French Television (ORTF) at the age of twenty, and went on to Head of the Documentary and Junior Authors Division at the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA). From 1987 until 2008, he was the Head of the Documentary Film Department of La Sept and ARTE France, where he developed the renowned “GRAND FORMAT” collection, which co-produced and aired over 200 international award-winning feature length documentaries.

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NEW FRENCH DOCUMENTARY

Le Concours (The Graduation) Claire Simon, France, 2016

FRI MAY 5 | 6:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE FRI MAY 12 | 3:00 PM | ANNEX

CURATED BY THIERRY GARREL

DOXA is very proud to offer this, our third, and very special edition of French French with six new extraordinary films, and a program of the work of the most seminal filmmaker Chris Marker.

To quote our indefatigable curator Thierry Garrel, who worked with Marker during the production of many of these films: “Chris Marker was both a world traveller and a time traveller. Throughout his peripatetic life, he remained largely a secret cinéaste, although his name and his films (La Jetée/The Jetty, or Sans soleil, ranked third in Sight & Sound’s poll of the greatest documentaries ever made) have influenced generations of filmmakers.”

In advance of the major retrospective and multimedia event planned for the Cinémathèque française in 2018, DOXA is especially proud to offer this selection of some of Marker’s rarely seen work for Vancouver audiences. The timing is curious, and like so many of Marker’s films, particularly, almost painfully, relevant to our current moment in time.

From Swagger, Olivier Babinet’s bright, bold explosion of youthful energy, and some angst, to the more reflective and insular moments captured in Eliane de Latour’s Little Go Girls, this collection of contemporary French films speaks to the power, vibrancy, and vivre (in all its many possible connotations) of documentary cinema.

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Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness) (w/ Les Cloÿs) Alice Diop, France, 2016

SAT MAY 6 | 9:30 PM | SFU TUE MAY 9 | 9:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

The title, translated as “the entrance exam,” is an in-depth and intimate look at the students looking to gain a place in La Fémis, one of the most famous and prestigious film schools in the world. (Simon herself was the Head of Directing Studies.) As the budding cinéastes struggle to find a place, the narrative spends a good deal of time with their interlocutors, pulling back the curtain to reveal the depth of seriousness and care that is extended to the students.

Along the sidewalks and cafés of Seine-SaintDenis, groups of young men, dressed in hoodies and streetwear, talk with remarkable bluntness and honesty about love, desire, sex, and race. As one man says “White people experience love.

They were taught how.” Made with a shattering level of intimacy, Alice Diop’s film is both a cinepoem and a piercing statement on the nature of disenfranchisement.

Être-Cheval (Horse-Being)

Brûle la mer (Burn the Sea)

(w/ Animals Under Anaesthesia: Speculations on the Dreamlife of Beasts) Jérôme Clément-Wilz, France, 2016

FRI MAY 5 | 9:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE THU MAY 11 | 9:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

When a transgender ex-schoolteacher named Karen travels to the US to work with an old cowboy in an extended series of ‘Pony Play’ sessions, the rituals of domination and submission between trainer and trainee must be strictly observed. In the arena where they work, Karen is taught the rigors of donning a bit and bridle, how to walk in ornate leather hooves, and how to pull a cart. These are only the physical manifestations of Karen’s sundering of control.

Little Go Girls

Eliane de Latour, France, 2015

SAT MAY 6 | 4:30 PM | SFU

Recalling the work of Portuguese master Pedro Costa, in particular his Fontainhas trio (Ossos, In Vanda’s Room, and Colossal Youth) Little Go Girls has the same almost magisterial quality of image. The women and girls who ply their trade initially regard de Latour’s camera with benign indifference. But the relationship between the women and the filmmaker gradually grows more trusting.

Maki Berchache and Nathalie Nambot, France, 2014

SUN MAY 7 | 8:15 PM | VANCITY

The opening shot in Brûle la mer of roiling storm-tossed seas moving in perpetual motion sets the tone for the film essay to come.

Elegantly constructed, the film employs the age-old device of someone telling you a story. In this case, the narrative is that of young Tunisian refugees (some 25,000), including Maki and his two brothers, who fled their country after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution.

Swagger Olivier Babinet, France, 2016

WED MAY 10 | 6:30 PM | SFU THU MAY 11 | 12:30 PM | ANNEX

The Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois garnered international attention after the violence and rioting of 2005, but for kids growing up here, it is home. Director Babinet spent more than three years working with a dozen residents, posing questions about family and relationships, hopes and dreams. A box office sensation in France, Swagger is bursting with life, and fantasy-fueled mise en scène, but the underlying sadness that colours so much of these young lives curls darkly at the edges.

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7 FOIS CHRIS MARKER

Chats perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat)

Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without a Cat) Parts 1&2

Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert, France, 2017

Chris Marker, France, 2004

Chris Marker, France, 1993

SAT MAY 6 | 12:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

WED MAY 10 | 9:00 PM | SFU

FRI MAY 12 | 5:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

The life and work of Chris Marker could easily fill several documentary portraits, maybe even several freight trains, but directors Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert have kept it to a brisk 144 minutes. “Who is Chris Marker?” is the question posed by the directors/interlocutors, and every answer reveals a different reality.

Chris Marker’s last film, made at the very beginning of the new Millennium, takes as its leaping off point the appearance of mysterious yellow felines, gracing the walls, the streets, even the Metro stations of Paris. Possessed of a manic grin that is equal parts Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire and Miyazaki’s Totoro, it is both weirdly thrilling, and truth be told, a bit unsettling.

Camera in hand, Marker takes to the streets, filming protests of every stripe, searching for a sign, or a clearer indication of what is going on.

Here is Chris Marker’s magnum opus in all its ferocious intelligence and scale. Originally released in 1977, and reedited in 1996, the rise and fall of the Left is ostensibly Marker’s subject, the great political revolutions of the 60s and 70s, totemic figures like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, composed like a heaving orchestra of archival material, demonstrations, occupations, and blood in the streets.

Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain

Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch (One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich) (w/ Le Souvenir d’un avenir

[Remembrance of Things to Come]) Chris Marker, France, 1999

SAT MAY 6 | 3:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

Two of Chris Marker’s remarkable film portraits, including his masterful and deeply personal analysis of the work of Andrei Tarkovsky. Edited some twelve years after Tarkovsky’s death for the collection Cinéma, de notre temps (Cinema of Our Times), Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch (One Day In The Life Of Andrei Arsenevich) is an extraordinary love letter from one filmmaker to another, and a memento mori of the most profound kind.

Le Tombeau d’Alexandre (The Last Bolshevik) Chris Marker, France, 1993

THU MAY 11 | 5:00 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

Chris Marker’s expansive, nay, insanely encompassing portrait of his friend and colleague, Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedkin begins with Medvedkin assailing the screen and stating: “Chris, you lazy bastard, why don’t you ever write to me, send me a letter, even that short…” So begins this epistolary film, composed of six different letters, each corresponding to a period of Medvedkin’s life and work. The film is Marker’s post-mortem answer (and tribute).

L’Héritage de la chouette (The Owl’s Legacy) Chris Marker, France, 1989

SAT MAY 13 | 4:30 PM | CINEMATHEQUE

The legendary 13-part series, commissioned by Arte and the Onassis Foundation (that kept Marker’s work unavailable for twenty years), alights at DOXA in its first three episodes.

Interviews were filmed in Tbilisi, Athens, Paris, Berkeley, and Tokyo. The cast of character is equally expansive with composers, filmmakers, philosophers, and friends including Iannis Xenakis, Michel Serres, Cornelius Castoriadis, George Steiner, Oswyn Murray, Michel Jobert, and Elia Kazan. But what is most startling are the ideas examined.

Consulat général de France à Vancouver

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VANCOUVER’S NEWS WEATHER TRAFFIC PEOPLE PLACES &STORIES HEAR IT ON

THURSDAY MAY 4

OPENING GALA SCREENING

7:00 PM VOGUE

The Road Forward Marie Clements, Canada, 2016, 101 mins

Marie Clements’ musical documentary is simultaneously a piece of BC First Nations history, a call for revolution and resolve, and a portrait of a people who have retained their power and identity through community and activism.

With bold blues and rock musical breakdowns led by a cast of Indigenous musicians and performers, the film charts a path of resurgence, honouring the work of ancestors, and passing on the burden of struggle, creating a way towards genuine self-determined reconciliation. We are extremely proud to open the 2017 DOXA Festival with this powerful celebration of Originally commissioned and performed at the Aboriginal Pavilion for the song and spirit. -DW 2010 Olympics, The Road Forward was produced as a full-length theatrical show for the PuSh Festival in 2015. With an original score, composed This special presentation of The Road Forward is the official launch of

by Wayne Lavallee, and featuring a powerhouse ensemble that includes Aabiziingwashi (#WideAwake): NFB Indigenous Cinema on Tour!

Jennifer Kreisberg, Michelle St. John, Cheri Maracle, Ostwelve, Murray Throughout 2017, the NFB is offering its exceptional collection of 250+ Porter, Russell Wallace and Shakti Hayes, The Road Forward comes to Indigenous-made films to all Canadians! To book a screening in your surging cinematic life from the vision of Marie Clements, and the BC & community or for more information, please contact wideawake@nfb.ca.

Yukon Studio of The National Film Board of Canada.

ADDITIONAL SCREENING

In the 1930s, when it was still illegal for Native people to meet and WEDNESDAY MAY 10 | 12:30PM | ANNEX organize, Edwin Newman remembers community members coming THE MAY 10 SCREENING IS PART OF THE RATED Y SERIES. together to advocate for their rights, forming the Native Brotherhood and MORE ON PAGE 26. BOTH SCREENINGS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY Sisterhood. The Native Voice, Canada’s first Indigenous-run newspaper, A FILMMAKER Q+A. became the collective network for First Nations communities.

From fighting for treaty rights in BC to challenging the Canadian Government, the continuum of grassroots activism took on ferocious form in the Indian Constitution Express, a protest train organized by George Manuel to battle the then-Trudeau government’s termination of Aboriginal Rights. The train left Vancouver, headed towards Ottawa, on November 24, 1980. “Everybody was onboard,” Vicki Lynne George remembers. Doreen Manuel remembers her father George Manuel calling for direct action with the words: “You don’t ask for it, you take it.”

NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

MAJOR SPONSOR

#DOXA2017

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VancouverÔs story begins here.

Canada’s premier civic history museum is a must-visit destination for people who love Vancouver–located in scenic Vanier Park: 1100 Chestnut Street.

SAVE $2 on admission.

May not be combined with other offers.

Expires July 16, 2017.

SATURDAY MAY 6

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

7:00 PM SFU

Vancouver: No Fixed Address Charles Wilkinson, Canada, 2017, 75 mins

There is no topic that unites all of Vancouver quite like that of housing.

At every dinner party, social gathering, or chance meeting in the street, everyone has an opinion, and they want to share it. Charles Wilkinson’s new film Vancouver: No Fixed Address tackles the subject from a multiplicity of perspectives. A chorus of voices chime in — everyone from David Suzuki, to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Seth Klein, Condo King Bob Rennie, Senator Yuen Pau Woo, and lots of regular Vancouver citizens.

Delineated into chaptered sections like The Boom, The Back Story, and The New Normal, the film lopes around the city, looking at everything from the influx of offshore money to the exodus of young people, who can no longer afford to live here. We are not alone. The issues that threaten Vancouver — global capitalism, the influence of liquid capital, and the corporate agenda — that have infiltrated other major centres like London, New York, and Hong Kong have also taken up residence here. Or, as Sandy Garossino from the National Observer puts it bluntly, the city “is now a commodity to be sold.”

On the eve of the provincial election, it seemed an appropriate moment to open up the discussion for a town hall screening and extended panel discussion. -DW PRECEDED BY

Drunken Laundry Day With Charles Bukowski

Fiona Tinwei Lam, Analee Weinberger, Henry Doyle, and H. Kristen Campbell, Canada, 2016, 4 mins

A love song to old school Vancouver from poet Henry Doyle, with a little help from Charles Bukowski and a laundromat. -DW NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

PRESENTED WITH

In the middle of the sea of for sale signs, some folk are trying alternative means of making a home, including shared houses, tiny homes, and even living out of a van. But ultimately, long-term sustainable solutions require political change. “Housing is a right,” as the slogan goes, but as prices continue to rise, and homelessness becomes an even greater problem, what does the future of Vancouver really look like? Against all of this roiling debate and discussion floats the city herself, shining and, yes, beautiful. Of that there is no argument. #DOXA2017

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WEDNESDAY MAY 10

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

6:30 PM SFU

Swagger

Olivier Babinet, France, 2016, 84 mins

From its bravura opening POV shot, swooping like a bird of prey over A box office sensation in France, Babinet’s vivid documentary is bursting an urban nightscape, Olivier Babinet’s film announces itself with a grand with life, and fantasy-fueled mise en scène, but the underlying sadness that colours so much of these young lives curls darkly at the edges. While a flourish. Swagger, indeed! little girl reads Heidi in her bed, outside young men are shouting, “They’re The Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois garnered international attention coming! The cops!” Sirens paint the air in stippled bands of red and blue. after the violence and rioting of 2005, but for kids growing up there, it Inside, one girl comforts another with a gentle pat, “Go to sleep,” she is home. Director Babinet spent more than three years working with a says, “You have school tomorrow.” -DW dozen residents, posing questions about family and relationships, hopes and dreams. Although one painfully shy girl can barely speak her name ADDITIONAL SCREENING out loud, others such as Régis Marvin Merveille N’Kissi Moggzi are bold THURSDAY MAY 11 | 12:30PM | ANNEX as brass, talking fashion and soap opera plots.

The universal melds with the specific. On the playground, the kids choose teams for a game of soccer. The agonized look of those waiting their turn to be picked, especially one chubby little guy with enormous teeth, thick glasses, and an expression that alternates between hope and despair, will be familiar to anyone. In other sections, the very French aspect becomes clear, as the residents talk about the differences between class and race.

“Blacks and Arabs are not treated the same as the French,” notes one young interviewee. The film is an interesting companion to Alice Diop’s Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness) (also playing at DOXA this year, see page 65), which examines more adult themes, but from a similar perspective of race and socioeconomic privilege. (Coincidentally enough, the housing project in Swagger is the same one that Alice Diop grew up in.)

THE MAY 11 SCREENING IS PART OF THE RATED Y SERIES. MORE ON PAGE 26. BOTH SCREENINGS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A FILMMAKER Q+A. NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

PRESENTED WITH

#DOXA2017

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Nov. 9 - 19, 2017 Call for submissions until May 31

THURSDAY MAY 11

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

6:30 PM SFU

Waking the Sleeping Giant Jacob Smith, US, 2017, 90 mins

Deep dissent is the subject of Jacob Smith’s incendiary new film. Five people — including a school bus driver from LA, an anti-poverty activist from West Virginia, the organizers of Democracy Spring, and Senator Bernie Sanders — all come together in an intersectional coalition that offers a glimmer of hope in these dark days.

The struggle for racial justice, economic equality, and women’s rights was hard enough in the US, but then the American election came to its final shocking conclusion. As the results rolled in, the full scope of the fight ahead was revealed. Van Jones describes the election night: “The Trump nightmare begins to emerge, Trumpzilla just crushing the villagers… He has stranded the entire political culture inside an entertainment culture, that the political class doesn’t understand.” Or Amy Goodman says, “He is ripping open the underbelly of hate in America.”

But in crises, there is also opportunity. As the New York Times’ Bob Herbert says about the growth of populist groups like Black Lives Matters, and low-wage workers, “I would like to see leadership emerge that could knit some of these movements together so that they form alliances.”

Sometimes that leadership comes from the most unlikely direction.

Witness: Sabrina Shrader, a third-generation Virginian who decides to run for political office, or Jan Williams, a school bus driver who grew up in LA. For Williams, the flashpoint was the murder of Mike Brown and ensuing Ferguson riots. A choir of activists, thinkers, and media voices including Van Jones, Amy Goodman, Robert Reich, Bill McKibben, Lawrence Lessig, and Bob Herbert offers articulate and thoughtful analysis. Or as the mighty Amy Goodman says, “Look at the past, the abolitionist

movement, the suffrage movement, to the environment movement, to gay rights movement, the women’s movement, Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter, the anti-war movement. These are the movements that rock the planet… These are the movements that will save us, and these movements don’t stop on election day. In fact it’s that point that has to be their launching pad.”

Waking the Sleeping Giant is part of our special Spotlight on Troublemakers that celebrates the people who act up, resist, and fight on. The film is a powerful companion to Free Lunch Society, Dolores, Ada for Mayor and PACmen, and most importantly, the political films of Chris Marker. -DW ADDITIONAL SCREENING

FRIDAY MAY 12 | 12:30PM | ANNEX THE MAY 12 SCREENING IS PART OF THE RATED Y SERIES. MORE ON PAGE 26. BOTH SCREENINGS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A FILMMAKER Q+A. NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

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LITERATURE FOR THE REST OF US Subscribe to Geist

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SATURDAY MAY 13

CLOSING GALA SCREENING

8:00 PM SFU

Manifesto

Julian Rosefeldt, Germany, 2017, 94 mins

“In this period of change, the role of the artist can only be that of the revolutionary.”

Manifesto is the flagship in our Spotlight on Troublemakers. It is the good ship trouble that carries a pirate crew of muckrakers, disturbers of the peace, radicals, revolutionaries, and, of course, cinéastes, embodied in the words of this century’s great cultural and political manifestos. Rabid dissent and gonzo defiance are given voice by actress Cate Blanchett in the guise of a baker’s dozen of characters. A frizzy-haired school teacher leading her class in a recitation of Dogme 95, or a turbaned East German choreographer directing a dance project that resembles a musical version of Ridley Scott’s film Alien whilst reciting Fluxus aphorisms. Manifesto captures the pure power of ideas, given wild flight in language that soars and screams.

Or, in other words: “Abandon love, abandon aestheticism, abandon the baggage of wisdom…Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination… Tomorrow we begin together the construction of a new city.”

Manifesto is our Closing Gala Screening for DOXA 2017, and a more fitting end, it is difficult to envision. -DW ADDITIONAL SCREENING

SUNDAY MAY 14 | 6:30PM | VANCITY NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

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The project, originally conceived as a multi-screen video installation, was reconstituted as a documentary by German artist Julian Rosefeldt. From the Futurists to the Dadaists, Pop Art in a punch up with Marxism — it is a whirling confetti of ideas and images, weirdly thrilling, and often very funny. Make no mistake, an absurdist streak runs through Manifesto, a capering anarchic spirit that aims to upend the applecart and turn everything on its head.

In the spirit of Chris Marker, who also saw humour in the movements of history and culture, Manifesto takes the most grandiose, bombastic screeds and injects them with prankish new life. The result is that we hear them anew, as a howl for change, for new ideas, and brave new worlds. #DOXA2017

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FRIDAY MAY 5

6:15 PM VANCITY

FRIDAY MAY 5 FRIDAY MAY 12

6:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 3:00 PM ANNEX

Limit Is the Sky

Le Concours (The Graduation)

For many young Canadians in the 2000s, Fort McMurray was El Dorado. Dubbed “Fort McMoney” by detractors and admirers alike, the city and its vast oil sands projects offered lucrative employment to thousands of fortune seekers who came from across Canada and around the world. Julia Ivanova’s documentary follows seven such dreamers, arriving from places as far flung as Sudan and Lebanon, as they pursue their dreams amidst a time of great uncertainty in the oil market.

DOXA is exceptionally happy to welcome back Claire Simon (the subject of our first ever retrospective in 2016) with her most recent film, Le Concours. The title, translated as “the entrance exam,” is an in-depth and intimate look at the students looking to gain a place in La Fémis, one of the most famous and prestigious film schools in the world. (Simon herself was the Head of Directing Studies.) As the budding cinéastes struggle to find a place, the narrative spends a good deal of time with their interlocutors, pulling back the curtain to reveal the depth of seriousness and care that is extended to the students.

Impassioned arguments about merit, and the very nature of cinema are hurled into the air. Everyone has a deeply held, and often passionate opinion. “Can you be insane and still be a great director?” asks one woman. “There are lots of crazy directors!” comes the furious reply. As the conversation boils and shifts, Simon’s camera captures each flick of an eyebrow, every side-eye glance. To quote our guest curator Thierry Garrel about Simon’s filmmaking style: “Tenderness is at the core of Simon’s work. She takes aim at people with a respectful and benevolent camera that is fully inhabited by the spirit of amicalité (friendliness).”

Even in wild disagreement, there is still civility.

Julia Ivanova, Canada, 2016, 107 mins

Set against the contrasting backdrops of Alberta’s Wood Buffalo region, Limit Is the Sky is an honest and intimate look into the lives and livelihoods of the compelling characters that were the lifeblood of Canada’s preeminent boomtown until the crash of 2015. Their stories provide a necessary human element to abstract arguments over pipelines, oil sands development, and the environment. The young people at the centre of Ivanova’s film did not come to Northern Alberta in a vapid pursuit of wealth, but rather work to pursue personal goals very similar to those of millennials living in Vancouver. Spending time with the young denizens of Fort McMurray featured in this film will leave audiences rooting for their success, which makes the collapse of oil-induced gold rush sting despite its inevitability.

What was a heartfelt, occasionally humorous slice-of-life picture becomes all the more immediate, as Ivanova’s camera captures the downfall of an oil town beset by a free-falling global market. The camera keeps rolling right up to the aftermath of the devastating fire that decimated the city. The haunting images of scorched forests surrounding the once majestic Fort McMurray remind us that all things must end. -CP

Claire Simon, France, 2016, 119 mins

But there is something far greater at stake here than simply who gets in and who doesn’t. Each instructor, industry professional, and filmmaker understands that they serve a greater purpose. Cinema, even culture itself is the fundament of every exchange. As the discussions become richer, deeper, wiser, the hopeful students wait outside for the results to be posted. It is insanely, gorgeously, and most wonderfully French!

-DW

VENEZIA CLASSICI AWARD, BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA VENICE 2016 THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

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FRIDAY MAY 5

7:00 PM ANNEX

FRIDAY MAY 5

9:00 PM VANCITY

Donna Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival

RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World

In 1984, Donna Haraway penned the hugely influential essay A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, a utopian text which sought to dismantle binaries between men and women, organism and machine, and animal and human. The work left a lasting impression on feminists, cyberpunks, academics, and environmentalists the world over. In this candid, oneof-a-kind portrait, Haraway outlines some of her boldest ideas. In her uniquely interconnected way, she reflects on everything from religion, to science fiction, the Anthropocene, and the emotional state of her elderly dog.

From the opening guitar thunder of Link Wray’s smash hit, you know you are in for a wild ride. “Rumble had the power to make me say, f*k it, I’m gonna be a musician,” laughs Iggy Pop. Directors Catherine Bainbridge (Reel Injun) and Alfonso Maiorana have assembled a veritable who’s who in the music business, from Tony Bennett to Steven Tyler, to attest to the power and influence of First Nations people on American music traditions — Rock, Blues, and Funk. The most exciting folk in RUMBLE are those you’ve likely never heard of before, including 1920s Delta bluesman Charley Patton, “Queen of Swing” Mildred Bailey, and guitarist Jesse Ed Davis. The stories spill forth, each one deserving of its own separate film. In this embarrassment of riches, both narrative and musical, one thing becomes clear, the time for recognition of these phenomenal artists is long overdue. -DW

Fabrizio Terranova, Belgium, 2017, 81 mins

For Haraway, “storytelling is the air she breathes,” and from the state of her narratives, it’s clear that she is quick to put her ideas into action. In one enlightening conversation, she describes how her partners, lovers, and friends embraced unconventional kinships, claiming them to be a more honest approach to love than heteronormative monogamy. In the comfort of her hand-built home in Southern California, surrounded by hefty redwood trees and bookshelves aplenty, Haraway’s external world is as peaceful as her inner world.

Filmmaker Fabrizio Terranova delicately strings together Haraway’s winding reflections and insights with images of sea creatures and kooky animations, set against a breezy electronic score. (Keep your eyes open for subtle, yet clever green-screen experiments!) The result is a tranquil, yet playful meditation that dives headfirst into the mind of one of the most inventive and curious thinkers living today. -SC

Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, Canada, 2017, 103 mins

The title comes from Rumble, the smash hit 1958 instrumental single by Link Wray (born in New Carolina to Shawnee parents) driven by innovative power chord riffs that would later influence Iggy Pop, Pete Townshend, and hosts of other rock, pop, and heavy-metal masters. Taj Mahal, one of the film’s several on-camera interviewees, recalls that the song actually made him “levitate out of bed about four feet” the first time he heard it on the radio. Indeed, Rumble was banned from the airwaves in many U.S. markets because, as Stevie Van Zandt gleefully notes, the scary swagger it conveyed made it sound like “a theme song for juvenile delinquency.” -VARIETY WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR MASTERFUL STORYTELLING, SUNDANCE 2017 MEDIA PARTNER

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FRIDAY MAY 5 SUNDAY MAY 14

9:00 PM ANNEX 4:15 PM CINEMATHEQUE

FRIDAY MAY 5 THURSDAY MAY 11

9:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 9:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

VOICES OF FINANCE

Everything is Performative: Shorts Program Dance, that most protean form of human communication, is given three wildly innovative outlets in this trio of short films. Dancers commune with their animal spirits, opera gets spooky, and dance meets finance in the streets of London town.

Ovis Aries

Harry Cepka, Canada, 2017, 22 mins

In a bucolic Norwegian pasture, a performance is underway. The Corpus Dance Company has discovered their inner sheep, much to the delight of the assembled audience, largely comprised of thrilled children and their bemused parents. Whether they’re being milked, or shorn for their wool, these human-sheep hybrids endure with almost metaphysical resignation. But sex and violence are also a part of the show! -DW

Sarah Winchester, Phantom Opera Bertrand Bonello, France, 2016, 23 mins

When the heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune lost her only child and then her mind, she embarked upon a descent into grief and madness, embodied in the creation of the Winchester Mystery Mansion. Director Bonello incorporates Sarah’s story into the creative collaboration between a composer, a performer, and a bloodied child spirit. -DW

Voices of Finance

Clara van Gool, The Netherlands, 2016, 32 mins

Être-Cheval (Horse-Being) Jérôme Clément-Wilz, France, 2016, 63 mins

When a transgender ex-schoolteacher named Karen travels to the US to work with an old cowboy in an extended series of ‘Pony Play’ sessions, the rituals of domination and submission between trainer and trainee must be strictly observed. In the arena where they work, Karen is taught the rigors of donning a bit and bridle, how to walk in ornate leather hooves, and how to pull a cart. These are only the physical manifestations of Karen’s sundering of control. Director Jérôme Clément-Wilz possesses an exquisite eye that elevates the narrative above its somewhat salacious subject matter. There is a deep and profound sadness at work here that can only be forestalled for a time in the shedding of humanity and the adoption of another creature’s sensibility. A supremely elegant and often deeply melancholic film, Être-Cheval poses questions not only about the fluidity of desire and identity, but also about the very nature (burden) of being human. -DW PRECEDED BY

Animals Under Anaesthesia: Speculations on the Dreamlife of Beasts Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, Canada, 2016, 15 mins

If people dream of becoming animals, then perhaps animals also harbour fantasies of a human existence. Such is the premise of Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s wild new film. What blossoms at a veterinarian’s office as dogs, pigs, and cats are put under is a vivid, sometimes shocking dreamscape. -DW THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

In London’s bleak financial district, traders, bankers, and hedge fund managers describe an atavistic society, blood red in tooth and claw.

As they move through the city streets, bodies become a metaphor for the extremity of an industry that twists and bends human nature into torturous form. -DW

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SATURDAY MAY 6

12:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert, France, 2016, 144 mins

The life and work of Chris Marker could easily fill several documentary portraits, maybe even several freight trains, but directors Jean-Marie Barbe and Arnaud Lambert have kept it to a brisk 144 minutes. As our guest curator Thierry Garrel states in his introductory essay, Never Explain, Never Complain “portrays the cinéaste and his works through testimonies of seven people who knew him and worked with him.”

“Who is Chris Marker?” — is the question posed by the directors/ interlocutors, and every answer reveals a different reality. Some of the recollections are funny and bittersweet, such as Wim Wenders getting blind drunk with Marker at a bar in Tokyo. “That night at La Jetée is the time when we talked most, but we drank so much sake and vodka that we forgot most of it,” says Wenders. As André S. Labarthe states simply: “He was a free spirit.”

One thing is clear, over the length of his career Marker was never content to do or be only one thing. Writer, filmmaker, photographer, polymath, cat lover — there is no single term that quite suffices. Marker was also no stranger to trouble. Statues Also Die (Les Statues meurent aussi), co-directed with Alain Resnais, was immediately banned by the French government. The rest of his major work galloped forth, unpredictable, wildly inventive, fearless, and free-roaming — Le Joli mai (1962), La Jetée (1962), Far from Vietnam (Loin du Viêt-nam) in 1967. In 1977, Marker released Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without a Cat), that captured the rise and fall of 1960s radicalism. Patricio Guzman talking about Marker’s masterwork says: “he faces the world, faces history, and seems surprised…You get no answers by the end of the film. Only reflections, words thrown in the air.” In this era of ongoing crises, Marker’s work is more vital, more critical than ever, but the man remains elusive. Slyly winking out from this expansive film portrait with a single word. Can you guess what it is? -DW

SATURDAY MAY 6 MONDAY MAY 8

12:00 PM VANCITY 4:45 PM ANNEX

The Beekeeper and His Son Diedie Weng, Switzerland/Canada, 2016, 85 mins

Despite the ongoing environmental damage and pollution that have depleted his bee colonies, Lao Yu, a stalwart beekeeper in Northern China, is determined to keep his family tradition alive. After a year of living in the city, Lao’s son Maofu has returned home to their mountain village. It doesn’t take long before intergenerational conflicts erupt between father and son.

While Lao tries to show Maofu the workings of the bee yard, Maofu has his head buried in his cell phone and business textbooks. Wishing his son would see the value in the physical labour, Lao yells, “You can’t just read marketing books and dream of profit!” For Maofu, city life is alienating and feels like an “endless rainy day”, but in the face of China’s rapidly changing globalized economy, he’s convinced that the future of their family business lies in the sales and marketing aspect of honey. Small-scale production is outdated and old-fashioned, not to mention an incredible amount of work.

Despite the family squabbles, there is a gentle rhythm to the ritual of daily chores, including making noodle dough, washing clothes in a nearby river, and tending to the apiary. Director Diedie Weng’s patient camerawork brilliantly captures family and animal life with care and often surprising comic relief. A giant stubborn pig and an exuberant white goose have as much personality as the humans. The goose hilariously interrupts every family fight, squawking loudly as though it were playing the role of mediator. Caught between three generations (his granddaughter, his son, and his elderly mother), Lao struggles with changing family dynamics and a fading tradition. But underneath it all is a genuine tenderness that offers hope and resilience. -SC

THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

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SATURDAY MAY 6 SATURDAY MAY 13

2:00 PM SFU 9:15 PM VANCITY

SATURDAY MAY 6 SUNDAY MAY 14

2:00 PM VANCITY 6:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Mermaids

Complicit

The myth of the mermaid spans the globe from the Amazon to the fjords of Scandinavia. Throughout history, the figure of the half-fish, half-human has surfaced with regularity, from the three-thousandyear-old Assyrian figure of Atargatis to the Mami Wata water spirits of West Africa. Modern mermaids are just as diverse, as Ali Weinstein’s charming new film illustrates.

While people in the West use smartphones to live healthier, happier lives, the construction of such devices has horrific health effects on the people who actually make them. Complicit shines a light on the dark irony of the global electronic manufacturing industry in China, where 90% of the world’s consumer electronics are produced, including 70% of its cell phones.

From the personal stories of the women who worked as mermaids at the famed Weeki Wachee Resort, where Elvis was an occasional visitor, to more contemporary mermaids getting together to swim, to a professional mermaid and her mother (mer-mom?) who create mermaid-themed birthday parties, to the Mermaid of Harlem, who deals with her mental health issues by putting on the fins and swimming — mermaid culture is wonderfully inclusive. As one of the women featured in the film says, “All tails are welcome.” The most compelling aspect of mermaid culture is the sense of community. The original Weeki Wachee mermaids, who met in the 1950s and bonded as mersisters, still meet up and swim together more than fifty years later.

From factory floors to hospital beds, we meet several workers and activists who speak openly about poor wages, and abysmal working conditions. Terminal illness is also a reality for an increasing number of people. Young women and men, some barely out of their teens, work in buildings with poor ventilation, and no windows. The chemicals used to clean and assemble electronics include benzene, a known carcinogen, and N-hexane, a chemical that been proven to cause damage to the nervous system. Both have been banned in industrialized Western Countries for forty years. Filmed over three years in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, filmmakers Heather White and Lynn Zhang provide an incredible first-hand look at the frontlines of China’s labour movement. (Much of the footage was shot in secret on handheld cameras.) Despite the challenges, the labour activists are organized and dedicated to taking on some of the world’s largest, most avaricious corporations. Corruption and obstruction run deep as workers struggle to get occupational disease diagnoses. There is even proof that hospital departments take bribes from those in power, refusing proper diagnoses to sick workers, who are then forced to cover their own medical bills.

Ali Weinstein, Canada, 2017, 76 mins

The film poses more in-depth questions around the human desire to subsume identity. The need to escape the confines and boundaries of humanity, to shed our skins and inhabit the body of another is certainly part of the appeal, but beneath it all is a buoyant and empowering sense of freedom. This charming and big-hearted film is a gorgeous, glamorous tribute to the siren sea creature in all of us. Jump in! The water is fine. -JB HOSPITALITY PARTNER

Heather White and Lynn Zhang, China/US, 2016, 88 mins

As personal computers, smartphones and other electronic devices become extensions of our bodies and minds, it’s even more important to seek out the truth behind these technologies. Knowledge is power, and in this case, it’s the first step to becoming morally responsible global citizens. -SC THE MAY 6 SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

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SATURDAY MAY 6

3:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Une Journée d’Andrei Arsenevitch (One Day In The Life Of Andrei Arsenevich) Chris Marker, France, 1999, 55 mins

The most extraordinary sequence in Chris Marker’s portrait of his friend Andrei Tarkovsky takes place during the shooting of the final scene in The Sacrifice. Tarkovsky, already sick with the lung cancer that would kill him, is perched behind the camera, his tuft of thick hair standing at attention. Things have not gone well, and the crew had only one opportunity to get the shot. Six minutes of non-stop filming involved a burning house, a cast of characters, and the sudden arrival of an ambulance. The seamless tracking shot that would encompass everything in a grand and magisterial swoop through space is a perfect summation of why Tarkovksy is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Marker’s portrait, edited some twelve years after Tarkovsky’s death for the collection Cinéma, de notre temps (Cinema of Our Times) is an extraordinary love letter from one filmmaker to another, and a memento mori of the most profound kind. -DW PRECEDED BY

Le Souvenir d’un avenir (Remembrance of Things to Come) Chris Marker and Yannick Bellon, France, 2001, 42 mins

A portrait of photographer Denise Bellon, who pioneered the art of photojournalism, Remembrance of Things to Come is bookended by two Surrealist exhibitions (1938 and 1947). Or, as Marker terms them: “Two small Islands of strangeness, as between two hands.”

Circuitous and discursive, the narrative is pinned in place by Bellon’s extraordinary eye. Her images catch and hold the past, whether it is Salvador Dali’s Rainy Taxi, Finnish soldiers training for war, or the Surrealists’ post-war reunion. Marker says, “The history of the century’s end will be that of its masks.” Composed like Marker’s most famous work (La Jetée) out of still images, the film is light on its feet, vivid, and given to quicksilver shifts in mood and content. -DW

SATURDAY MAY 6

4:30 PM SFU

Little Go Girls

Eliane de Latour, France, 2015, 80 mins

“In Abidjan, the Go use their bodies like cash tills in order to gain a little freedom, even if it means living in dishonour. Very young, they flee domestic violence. Trapped on paths of violence and submission, they confront authority in the hope of one day being able to make their own decisions, and shape their own lives. This quest for freedom at any cost leads them into fraîchnies ghettos (ghettos of fresh, young girls), which is where I photographed them.”-ELIANE DE LATOUR Recalling the work of Portuguese master Pedro Costa, in particular his Fontainhas trio (Ossos, In Vanda’s Room, and Colossal Youth), Little Go Girls has the same almost magisterial quality of image. The women and girls who ply their trade initially regard de Latour’s camera with benign indifference. But the relationship between the women and the filmmaker grows more trusting, when de Latour returns from Paris after a successful photography exhibit and shares the money with the women she photographed. “My portraits seemed to bring them a glimmer of dignity, allowing me to establish a link with them. Three years later I filmed them, without narration, without dialogue. They gave me the gift of their privacy, in a half-silence,” she explains.

The quotidian rituals of nursing children, sleeping, putting on makeup, washing, and singing are observed with grace and a certain kind of gentle gravity. Even the more vitriolic moments, fights over chores or money, are allowed to simply come and go, like storms on the sea. As the brief respite, offered by a casa — a home and community organized by the filmmaker comes to an end — the women drift away, back into the brutal anonymity of the city. -DW THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30. #DOXA2017

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SATURDAY MAY 6 SATURDAY MAY 13

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5:45 PM CINEMATHEQUE

FIX AND RELEASE

Creature Comforts: Shorts Program Whether it’s celebrating people who have fish-related surnames, decorating dioramas for land snails, gluing broken turtle shells back together, or forging deep connections with chimpanzees, these short films demonstrate that humans are at their finest when inspired by other living creatures.

Fish Story

Charlie Lyne, UK, 2017, 13 mins

The grand opening of a marina in Anglesey, UK, is the backdrop for an unlikely mystery involving a group of elderly Brits, a famous weatherman, and a bunch of fish. -SC

Life at a Snail’s Pace Alexandra Gaulupeau, UK, 2017, 23 mins

Marla Coppolino is a biologist, artist and self-described spokesperson for land snails. Through the creation of elaborate miniature scenes and cello scores, Coppolino displays a mighty appreciation for the tiny, slimy (and surprisingly sexy) creatures! -SC

Fix and Release

Scott Dobson, Canada, 2017, 17 mins

Duct tape, crazy glue, and a wealth of compassion are the tools of choice for veterinarians at the Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, who repair turtles involved in altercations with automobiles. -SC

Butterfly

Mahdi Zamanpour Kiasari, Iran, 2017, 65 mins

Family life in all its complicated and humble glory is the heart of Mahdi Zamanpour Kiasari’s film. Butterfly follows Zainab, an indomitable young woman, as she goes about daily routines on her family’s farmstead in rural Iran.

When Zainab was only seven months old, her father became paraplegic after he fell from a tree and suffered a severe spinal cord injury. Zainab and her mother share the work of caring for her father, assisting with everything from clipping his toenails to spotting him during his weight-lifting regime. The family spends plenty of time joking around and indulging in small pleasures like gossip and home-cooked meals.

Of the couple’s eleven adult children (all married with families of their own), Zainab is the last one living at home with her parents. Although her parents worry that she’ll be left alone when they’re gone, marriage holds little appeal for Zainab. “When suitors come, I say to them, my parents should live with me. And they never come back again!” she laughs. For Zainab, grooming her horse, chopping firewood, and jogging throughout the countryside offer something far more interesting than the confines of married life, namely freedom in all its siren power.

The film is suffused with the sensual pleasures of the natural world, from the movement of grass, to the luscious greens and browns of the countryside that change with the seasons. The film’s soundscape is especially palpable — croaking frogs, falling water, and the wind moving through the trees. The result is a rich portrait that delicately illustrates how patience, loyalty, sacrifice, and joy are the best tools to cope with life’s challenges. -SC

Lucy

Elisa Chee, Canada, 2016, 8 mins

Vancouver-based filmmaker Elisa Chee uses masterful animation to recall the story of a domesticated chimpanzee called Lucy and a human named Janis Carter, the caretaker who made it her life’s work to rehabilitate Lucy and return her to her natural environment. -SC

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SATURDAY MAY 6 SUNDAY MAY 14

6:15 PM VANCITY 2:15 PM CINEMATHEQUE

SATURDAY MAY 6 SUNDAY MAY 14

7:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 3:00 PM VANCITY

The Grown-Ups

The Challenge

The only thing sweeter than the cream puffs in Maite Alberdi’s charming film are the warm and funny interactions between middleaged students, all of whom have Down syndrome. Many of the residents have worked in the school bakery for forty years, but the pull of adulthood, and all it represents — sex, marriage, and family — has taken hold.

Yuri Ancarani’s beautiful and bizarre film takes us inside the rarefied world of Middle Eastern falconry. Here the sport attracts passionate devotees from the Qatari hyper-rich who compete at auction for the best birds, drive deep into the desert to train their charges, and then assemble in Mad Max-style stadiums for spectacular tournaments.

Shot in stark observational style and with a soaring orchestral score, the film revels in the brilliant colours of the desert, filling the screen with eye-popping visuals. Beyond the landscape there is the spectacle of the bizarre lifestyle of the film’s extravagantly wealthy subjects: including a cheetah riding in the passenger seat of a Lamborghini, falcons flying in luxury aboard private jets, and a gold-plated Harley Davidson. It all climaxes with a literal bird’s eye view of the desert as a falcon fixed with a camera tracks its prey and secures victory for its owner. You won’t see a more visually striking film this year.

Maite Alberdi, Chile/The Netherlands/France, 2016, 80 mins

Anita is a gentle yet forthright young woman who longs for responsibility, intimacy, and, above all, love. As her relationship with her classmate Andres grows stronger, she starts to advocate for her own interests. Soon enough, Anita is confronted with the parameters that society has set for her. Ricardo is full of life and bursting with ideas and ambition. In addition to overseeing all the pastry operations, he also has a job at an old folk’s home looking after seniors. All of this activity is the service of his dream of financial independence, a home, and maybe even a family of his own. But it isn’t quite as straightforward as he’d hoped. Made with exquisite intimacy and a deep and profound respect for its characters, The Grown-Ups unravels the systems of control that ignore difference and demand homogeneity. -NH AWFJ EDA AWARD, BEST FEMALE-DIRECTED FILM IDFA 2016

Yuri Ancarani, Italy/France/Switzerland, 2016, 70 mins

But for all its spectacle, the film — which won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival last year — cannot avoid implicit social commentary. As the film showcases the over-the-top lives of the fabulously wealthy, one is struck with disquieting thoughts of what is not on screen: the migrant workers building much of the infrastructure these falconers need to pursue their hobby, and the sisters, wives, and mothers of the men inhabiting this exclusively male world. The absence of these people from the screen combined with the pornographic displays of luxury remind us that obscene wealth is just that. -JC CULTURAL PARTNER

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The Road Movie

Ghost Ship

The Road Movie is a film one watches in a state somewhere between existential dread and morbid hilarity. Voyeuristic, yes, but there is something even more curious at work here, namely the capricious, occasionally malevolent force that for lack of a better term we call fate.

It pops up in meteors streaking across the sky, in car crashes, runaway tanks, forest fires and pop-eyed madmen. Here it is, the nature of the universe — endlessly unpredictable, prone to sudden bursts of freaky weirdness, all helpfully captured by dashboard cameras, present in almost all Russian cars. (For even more Russian extremity, look also to François Jacob’s film A Moon of Nickel and Ice, also playing at DOXA this year.)

In 2014, the Lyubov Orlova was spotted drifting toward the British Isles — the boat had been abandoned years before and set adrift in the Atlantic. With nowhere to go and nothing to eat, the boat was overrun with cannibal rats! This is just one of the maritime ghost stories that feature in Koldo Almandoz’s ethereal rumination on history, memory, and the deadly pull of the sea. Moving between past and present, Ghost Ship takes the viewer on a circuitous voyage from Oscar Wilde and Florence Balcombe to F.W. Murnau and a Portuguese party boat — discovering the history of blood science, film tinting, and the cruise ship industry along the way. The film draws on diary entries, telegrams, news reports, and archival footage, combining these with animation, observational camerawork, and a haunting score to create an eclectic but cohesive whole. As the fog clears, we see that Almandoz has pulled in all this flotsam to reveal to us the wreck beneath the waves. In doing so, his film speaks to the power of the sea to bring stories (and horrors) from far away places washing up on new shores — like the past haunting the present. -JC

Dmitrii Kalashnikov, Belarus/Russia/Serbia/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia, 2016, 67 mins

Watching Kalashnikov’s montage of sheer cheese to nuts madness, the famed, or infamous Russian fatalism is clearly evident. The bone-dry commentary is often the strangest (and funniest) thing that occurs.

A woman watches a paratrooper land on the highway and remarks, “I would like to ask him is it his first try?” In other fragments, when obvious damage has been done to people, you have to stop and ask yourself some questions about morality. As the film forces us, the audience, to confront our most salacious appetites, a kind of sly reversal begins to take place. We like to watch, but in this media-soaked moment, when YouTube videos have replaced more lurid entertainments of old, what does this mean for the human psyche and conscience? Is it an abyss by the dashboard light? -DW

Koldo Almandoz, Spain, 2016, 67 mins

PRECEDED BY

The Bloop

Cara Cusumano, US, 2017, 7 mins

Underwater hydrophones have detected an ultra low-frequency sound emanating from a point 1,500 miles off the coast of Chile. No one can explain it. Scientists have dubbed it “the bloop.” Cara Cusumano’s eerily beautiful film explores the mysteries that lie beneath the ocean’s surface. -JC

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“No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.”

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SATURDAY MAY 6 TUESDAY MAY 9

9:30 PM SFU 9:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Vers la tendresse (Towards Tenderness) Alice Diop, France, 2016, 38 mins

Along the sidewalks and cafés of Seine-Saint-Denis, groups of young men, dressed in hoodies and streetwear, talk with remarkable bluntness and honesty about love, desire, sex, and race. As one man says “White people experience love. They were taught how.” Made with a shattering level of intimacy, Alice Diop’s film is both a cinepoem and a piercing statement on the nature of disenfranchisement. As the young men address the camera, speaking with an almost bludgeoning sadness, something else begins to emerge — nascent, fragile as a newborn, a gentle (radical) vulnerability. Made with the same type of tensile delicacy that elevated Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, Diop’s film is a cri du coeur in the most profound sense. -DW BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY 2017 CÉSAR AWARDS PRECEDED BY

Les Cloÿs

Julia Hechler, US, 2017, 10 mins

In a Parisian neighbourhood, residents have devised a means of taking back their power and establishing their own identity through the creation of a slang called Verlan (back to front). -DW THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

SUNDAY MAY 7

12:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Dropka

Yan Chun Su, US/China, 2016, 79 mins

Director Yan Chun Su’s gorgeous observational film captures life on the Tibetan Plateau. The last of Tibet’s dropka (nomads) lead herds of yak and sheep over hilly grasslands. No longer limitless and freeranging, they move across sections of pasture, now allotted to them by the Chinese government.

The dropka speak of fences and goldmines, of happiness and hardship.

There is constant intrusion to contend with, the greatest being massive climate change, as the once-lush Tibetan Plateau enters into an increasingly rapid desertification stage. As the desert grows, sand becomes an uninvited ingredient in most dropka meals. Though the nomads resist by patching yak dung onto sprawling dunes and picking sand out of their food, they have been cornered. Su captures the last years of an agentive people caught inside a political and ecological landscape that is beyond their control.

A patient and thoughtful documentary, Dropka gives nuance to a traditional people. Beyond what is being lost — the brilliance of dayto-day dropka ingenuity and environmental sustainability — there are things to be gained. Su observes the beautiful and the problematic in equal measure. As one dropka woman puts it, “Women do most of the work.” By offering a critical and complex representation of an indigenous people who are so often simplified, Dropka demystifies Tibet’s last nomads. With balance and equanimity, the narrative fully reveals the complexities of colonialism, patriarchy and climate change without judgment. -AD THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

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Praia

Free Lunch Society

Shot over two years from 2014 to 2016, Praia unfolds a portrait of Brazilian life that captures the vibrancy and idiosyncratic eclecticism that draw tourists and locals to the country’s beaches. Filmmaker Guilherme B. Hoffmann takes an observational approach, creating a film that is by turns comic, sweet, and serious as he introduces us to a motley collection of characters on Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Copacabana Beach. Hoffmann has an uncanny ability to gain the confidence of his subjects — showing us remarkably unguarded moments. From the tentative caresses of young lovers, to squabbles between siblings on a family outing, from the world-weary pontifications of street vendors barely making a living, to the clueless questions of tourists, Praia offers up a cross-section of society without comment.

Imagine receiving a cheque every month that would cover your essential needs. How would you spend your time? What would you do with the extra cash? Unconditional basic income, guaranteed annual income, and negative income tax are just a few of the names for the social security program that has been gaining momentum around the world.

Guilherme B. Hoffmann, Brazil, 2017, 80 mins

Although this is not a film about Brazilian politics, two years’ worth of tumult looms in the background as beachgoers reflect on corruption scandals, the fallout from Olympic and World Cup overruns, and the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma — even Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup is worked into an elaborate conspiracy theory about foreign control over the country.

While the film illuminates this quintessentially Brazilian place, it also reflects on the universal power of public space in a pluralistic society.

The film makes an eloquent case for democratic spaces like the beach (and maybe festivals like DOXA) that allow people of all classes and backgrounds to encounter one another. -JC CULTURAL PARTNER

Christian Tod, Austria/Germany, 2017, 92 mins

Organized by thematic chapters, Christian Tod’s expansive film is intercut with fascinating interviews, archival footage, and lively pop culture references. Tod travels the globe to talk to social scientists, economists, and even one eccentric billionaire, all of whom are quick to point out the revolutionary potential in separating work from income. The idea of providing people with a guaranteed wage first gained popularity in the 1970s. From Germany to Alaska to Namibia to Canada’s very own Mincome experiment in Dauphin, Manitoba, we meet ordinary people who participated in basic income programs.

Their experience and insight is deeply compelling. Touted as a being the only sensible solution to redistributing exceedingly disproportionate and concentrated wealth, basic income has a multitude of additional benefits including addressing increased mechanization, and job loss.

People across the political spectrum — from socialists to libertarians, and even free market conservatives — have embraced the idea. But not everyone is a superfan.

While many on the left think it’s a great way to address growing inequality, some labour unions vehemently oppose the idea. Free market economists such as Milton Friedman have endorsed the idea as a means of dismantling the welfare state, even as right-wing factions declare that it would make people lazy. Perhaps it’s this splintering of ideologies that makes the idea of a post-work society so compelling and terrifying. -SC THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

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SUNDAY MAY 7

4:15 PM ANNEX

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5:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE 9:15 PM VANCITY

Miss Kiet’s Children

Sacred Water

Meet Haya (bossy and manipulative), Leanne (who positively glows, even when flinching from loud noises in the playground), and Jorj (who casually jokes about post-war stresses, but still clearly suffers). They are three Syrian refugees between the ages of six and nine, now students in a small town in the Netherlands. And in the background, often as a disembodied voice, is Miss Kiet, their teacher. She is understanding but firm, working calmly and efficiently under extremely challenging circumstances.

In Rwanda, there is a tradition of female pleasure that undoes all the standards of Hollywood and most of the Western world combined. It is kunyaza, a practice that centres on that mythic holy grail of human sexuality: female ejaculation. According to local mythos, a warrior queen, unsatisfied by her husband, took a servant as a lover and was so pleased with him that she brought forth the great waters that eventually turned into Lake Kivu. Talk about one for the history books!

Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster, The Netherlands, 2017, 115 mins

Miss Kiet oversees her classroom with relentless positivity, even while acknowledging the traumas that lie in her pupils’ past. For the most part, the stress that these kids feel, any sense of danger or displacement, is almost invisible. The filmmakers achieve an intense and intimate relationship with their subjects through meticulous camera work, and this brings into focus the small changes of expression and hints of fear that suggest a previous life in a war zone. Much of the material, however, is not specific to the immigrant or refugee experience. Some scenes can be uncomfortable, for example seeing Leanne being pushed around by the domineering Haya, but it is so instructive to see how small moments like these shape the experiences of school.

This fly on the wall documentary by Dutch married couple Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster cuts to the heart of the question: what is the purpose of school? And what does it mean to educate children and people? What does success actually look like? In Miss Kiet’s Children, we are privy to real-time events in the classroom, all from a child’s point of view, including moments of subtle disrespect, bad behaviour, learning to draw the perfect ‘d’, complaints about math, and also laughter, school pageants and playground games. -KR

Olivier Jourdain, Belgium, 2016, 56 mins

Sacred Water follows the charming Vestine, a Rwandan radio host on a mission to spread the gospel of kunyaza around the country and revive an important part of Rwanda’s cultural heritage. From callers describing (and sometimes enthusiastically performing) kunyaza, to informative lectures given to groups of schoolgirls and congregations of bashful husbands, Vestine is determined to ensure that the sacred water is preserved and honoured. Olivier Jourdain’s cheeky, playful and light-hearted film is as warm as its subjects. As he interviews doctors, youth, elders, and couples, it becomes evident that what is at the heart of kunyaza is connection and enjoyment — and a particular reverence for women and their bodies. As one man puts it, “if you learn it, everything will be OK!” You get the sense that he is probably right.

Scored by a vibrant Afro Beat soundtrack and steeped in lush imagery of the Rwandan countryside (complete with some playfully suggestive scenes of men fiercely canoeing up a river), Sacred Water is a joyful ode to one of the things that makes us most fundamentally human: our ability to experience physical pleasure. You’ll be hard-pressed not to leave the theatre with a smile on your face after this one. -PP

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SUNDAY MAY 7 SUNDAY MAY 14

5:45 PM VANCITY 12:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

SUNDAY MAY 7 MONDAY MAY 8

6:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 12:30 PM ANNEX

For Dear Life

The Caretakers

When James Pollard is given a terminal cancer diagnosis, he sets about orchestrating his own death. Like any good theatre producer, he researches options into different modes of burial, and the best means and methodologies of preserving his body after death. This may sound slightly morbid, but the practicality, and often surprising amounts of humour, with which James contends with his situation allows for an openness and freedom in dealing with death.

In 2014, activists, ranging from new Canadians to First Nations people, ascended Burnaby Mountain to make a camp on the future route of the proposed pipeline. They were willing to do whatever it took to prevent the project from going forward; a critical necessity in their eyes, if the earth was to be preserved for future generations. David Goldberg captures the intense conviction that was a central part of the Burnaby Mountain protest. The grit and tenacity of local activists is on full display as they face down the RCMP on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people. The Caretakers provides ample food for thought as we near our provincial election in which the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion has become once more a hot-button issue. -CP

Carmen Pollard, Canada, 2017, 74 mins

David Goldberg, Canada, 2017, 39 mins

Carmen Pollard (James’ cousin) has a firm grasp on the story, afforded by her close relationship with her cousin. As friends and family get involved, the film paints a portrait of James’ life in its totality. His relationships with kids, his second wife (whom he met and married after receiving his diagnosis), and his own parents are reframed with the looming reality of the coming end. Filmed over the course of three years, For Dear Life becomes a shared project, capturing moments, both big and small, on James’ journey. Made with elegance and precision that speaks to Carmen Pollard’s skill as an editor, as well as a director, this supremely emotional film walks the delicate line between grief and acceptance. Death is only part of the narrative, life in all its variegated shades of light and dark is the far bigger story. -DW PRECEDED BY

For My Mother

Manny Mahal, Canada, 2017, 18 mins

Manny retraces his mother’s footsteps, talking about her life as an adventurer, a parent, and a rabid Canucks fan. -DW NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

PRECEDED BY

Water Warriors

Michael Premo, US, 2016, 20 mins

The hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of natural gas deposits has become one of the most preeminent issues in the argument between natural resource profits versus environmental preservation. Some see it as a means of providing jobs, while others see it as an enormous risk to human and environmental health, including soil and water. Such was the case in rural New Brunswick when Texas-based oil and gas giant SWN Resources came knocking. French and English residents, along with members of local First Nations communities, banded together to protect their aquifers from contamination caused by fracking, forming a movement that will surely inspire environmentally minded audience members. -CP THE MAY 8 SCREENING IS PART OF THE RATED Y SERIES. MORE ON PAGE 26. BOTH SCREENINGS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A FILMMAKER Q+A. NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

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DOXAFESTIVAL.CA

SUNDAY MAY 7 SATURDAY MAY 13

7:00 PM ANNEX 2:45 PM CINEMATHEQUE

SUNDAY MAY 7

8:15 PM VANCITY

The Dazzling Light of Sunset

Brûle la mer (Burn the Sea)

Wildly hilarious and illuminating stories from a village in Georgia are portrayed through the lens of the only news station in town. Determined local journalist Dariko reports on events such as the capture of a rare species of owl, and an absurd children’s beauty pageant. “Don’t laugh,” Dariko tells the man who caught the owl. “This is a serious interview.”

The opening shot in Brûle la mer of roiling storm-tossed seas moving in perpetual motion sets the tone for the cinepoem to come. Elegantly constructed, the film employs the age-old device of someone telling you a story. In this case, the narrative is that of young Tunisian refugees (some 25,000) including Maki and his two brothers, who fled their country after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. They journey towards Europe across the North African Mediterranean, in pursuit of a better life, but the streets of Paris offer little welcome to the harragas. “You gradually learn that borders are not only for crossing seas and entering countries…They are everywhere, in faces sometimes,” says Maki in an interview with his co-director. -DW

Salome Jashi, Georgia/Germany, 2016, 73 mins

The town of Tsalenjikha (population 8,900) is sometimes a little short on material to cover. But Dariko, with her dour cameraman Jashi in tow, films everything from a boisterous wedding party to a church mass. The news is aired once a week, and is primarily popular for its death announcements.

Director Salome Jashi plays with the idea of perception in this enlightening film about contemporary Georgian life. The town folk in the interviews, as well as the journalists themselves, are acutely aware of how they are perceived. This often results in delicately painful conversations about just what aspects of the community, and its inhabitants, should be displayed, and what content is best left out. -AP REGARD NEUF PRIZE, BEST FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH VISIONS DU RÉEL 2016

Nathalie Nambot and Maki Berchache, France/Tunisia, 2014, 75 mins

In this rich feast of a film, co-directors Nambot and Berchache alternate the volume between hushed and rowdy as successfully as they themselves process intense color images on 16- and 8mm stock… A film about the constant battle against inertia comes alive with action and love. The subtext is that the real villain is a capitalism retaining the disparity of colonial rule.

Even if Maki and his brothers lived simple lives in Tunisia and were unable to send money to the family, they could at least retain some of the dignity that France strips away day by day. The sea is a double umbilical cord: half connects child to nurturing biological mother; the remainder, like a third rail that zaps body and spirit, links up to a foster one. -FILMMAKER MAGAZINE THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

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SUNDAY MAY 7

8:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

2:30 PM ANNEX

PACmen

Dolores

Political junkies will enjoy this light-hearted look into the political campaign of Dr. Ben Carson, who briefly polled ahead of Donald Trump in 2015, and sought to define himself as the anti-establishment candidate who appealed to “real people.” How times have changed.

Examining this head-scratching disaster of a campaign is a brief but welcome diversion from the unlikely success of another bizarre American political campaign. As the question of how one of these men actually succeeded simmers under the surface throughout the film, Trump remains the elephant in the room.

The 1960s in the United States was a decade so chock-full of powerful names leading the Civil Rights Movement that you could be forgiven for missing a few. Except when the one you missed has been variably described by her admirers and detractors as an unorthodox icon, a volatile individual, and an indefatigable one-woman force. Dolores Huerta may just be the most vocal activist you’ve never heard of.

While she’s one of the most important social justice advocates of the 20th century, her name has largely been overshadowed in the history books by the men who stood by her side. Along with Cesar Chavez, Huerta was responsible for organizing minority farm workers all across California and founding the United Farm Workers Union, an organization that made labour history.

Luke Walker, Australia/US, 2017, 83 mins

PACmen focuses on two super PACs that persuaded Carson to run for the Republican nomination, and then teamed up to bolster outside funding for the retired neurosurgeon. The film is an all-access look at the campaign trail, and is just as much about the army of staff and low-level volunteers, as it is about the high-flying fundraisers. Both the businessmen and passionate rank and file believe Carson has been chosen by God, and the film is full of prayer vigils and call-in shows asking Jesus to lift any witchcraft or curses being used by their enemies. The supporters then struggle with the question of why God turned his back on them — did they do something wrong?

Carson continues to be a newsmaker — he originally declined to join Trump’s cabinet, citing his lack of political experience, apparently the same kind of experience he did not think was necessary in order to run for Presidential office. In his first remarks to HUD staff, he referred to enslaved Africans as ‘immigrants’ to the United States. As a surgeon, Ben Carson attributed all of his achievements to the will of God. With Carson as a politician, one might well ask what was God thinking? -KR PART OF TRUMPED! NOW WHAT?, CURATED BY DAVID BEERS. READ MORE ON PAGE 28.

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MONDAY MAY 8

DOXAFESTIVAL.CA

Peter Bratt, US, 2017, 95 mins

Raised in a small town in California, Huerta felt her calling towards social justice early in life, and made enormous sacrifices in order to pursue it. An icon of the Chicano movement, she began her career lobbying for the rights of Latinos in the state senate at the tender age of 25. Dolores was a feminist trailblazer, making room for women — and especially women of colour — to participate actively in social justice organizing.

Replete with archival footage from some of the UFW’s first strikes and marches, this film features interviews with many notable faces, including Senator Robert Kennedy. Dolores paints a vibrant portrait of a woman of immense dedication, determination and strength, tirelessly driven by her conviction that poor, immigrant, racialized communities deserve the same basic respect as anyone else. Peter Bratt’s film portrait is a long-awaited and well deserved tribute to Huerta’s monumental achievements. -PP

MONDAY MAY 8

6:45 PM ANNEX

MONDAY MAY 8

7:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Far Away Lands

Burning Out

Have you ever looked out onto Howe Sound and wondered about the container ships at anchor there? What happens on these floating prisons? How do people make their lives at sea? Félix Lamarche’s elegant and poignant film takes us aboard one such cargo ship in a film that is at once monumental and intimate. Cinematographer Samuel de Chavigny’s dramatic seascapes and the massive machines of the ship make for stunning visuals on an oceanic scale — this is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen. Equally striking are the interior lives of the crew whose stories illuminate both the allure of life at sea and the grim financial realities that lead people to this extreme career.

For two years, Belgian director Jérôme le Maire followed the members of a surgical unit at one of Paris’ biggest hospitals. The result is gripping and infuriating, tragic and ridiculous. It’s like ER meets The Office, as directed by D. A. Pennebaker.

Félix Lamarche, Canada, 2016, 98 mins

Split between men from the Netherlands and the Philippines, the daily life for the crew reflects lives of routine and separation. As we hear the dreams they hope the sea will make reality, and the real lives they have left behind at home, the romance of the sea gives way to the isolation and dislocation of life far away from families and imagined futures. Just when the film threatens to slip into melancholy, Lamarche offers us moments of irony and humour to lighten the mood. The unadulterated kitsch of songs like Baccara’s Ay Ay Sailor help lift the spirits of the crew, and the film. Perhaps this is how one survives adrift in a floating prison, where even the birds are trapped! -JC AUDIENCE SPONSOR

Jérôme le Maire, Belgium/France/Switzerland, 2016, 85 mins

The film is a hospital soap opera in the ER vein — with the requisite surgeries, and life-saving heroics, as well as some major drama. As tensions rise due to limited resources, staff members are pushed to the breaking point, and take out their frustrations on one another. In one particularly poignant scene, a black nurse simply refuses to work with one surgeon whose arrogance and anger betray his racism.

The dramatic scenes of medical action are intercut, The Officestyle, with farcical and interminable management meetings where the representatives of front line workers try and impress upon administrators the need for radical changes — only to be pawned off on outside consultants whose audit shows just how much harder everyone could be working if they introduced “efficiencies.” You don’t need to be a health care worker to recognize this particular species of MBA ‘rightsizer.’ Anyone who has the Kafkaesque experience of deciphering the jargon of management consultants only to find it means layoffs and cuts will find Burning Out all too familiar.

Le Maire’s access is total, and the frank depiction of the job and its impact on the people doing it is unblinking. But for all its observational specificity, the story is sadly not unique. Bookending the film with a beautiful aerial shot of Paris, le Maire reminds us that this is just one unit at one hospital in one overworked healthcare system in one affluent and enlightened country. Canada is also full of health care professionals in similar stages of burning out. -JC THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

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MONDAY MAY 8 SUNDAY MAY 14

7:00 PM MOV 4:45 PM VANCITY

MONDAY MAY 8 THURSDAY MAY 11

9:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 3:00 PM ANNEX

COMMODITY CITY

Brasilia: Life After Design Bart Simpson, Canada, 2017, 78 mins

Bart Simpson’s film Brasilia: Life After Design is stylishly crafted, with a dark and spiky soundtrack, but the song that kept reverberating through my head as I watched the film was Jonathan Richman’s tribute to monolithic corporate architecture, “Lonely Financial Zone.” Part ode, part critique, Simpson’s thoughtful film, like Jonathan’s quirky paean to wandering the city at night, takes the viewer on a sweetly surreal and slightly melancholic tour of a strange and monumental cityscape. The camera pans across sweeping urban vistas, peers through archways and down the long central axis, capturing images of random city dwellers spaced like birds on a wire around the perimeter of the enormous spaces between buildings.

As the Federal capital, Brasilia was conceived as a utopian project and constructed in a period from 1956 to 1960 on a previously uninhabited site at the geographic centre of the country. It was to be an entirely new capital, and nothing less than the basis for a new civilization, without any of the messy colonial baggage of the previous capital, Rio de Janeiro. Architect Oscar Niemeyer and urban planner Lucio Costa crafted their utopian vision based on modernist principles and organized Brasilia to function as they believed a “rational” city ought to. Many decades later, it’s fascinating to see how the city’s population navigates the constraints that the designers imposed in their obsessive quest for order. Outside the city centre, residents make do — eating, shopping, putting up temporary structures, stopping to talk to each other on the street, and generally carrying on with the messy business of being human, demonstrating as Niemeyer himself states in the film, that “life is more important than architecture.” -AW THE MAY 8 SCREENING WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION WITH DIRECTOR BART SIMPSON AND CRITIC AND CURATOR TREVOR BODDY. NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

Stuff: Shorts Program Whether it’s basket making in Northern Quebec, or selling plastic toys in urban China, this collection of short films calls attention to our increasingly complex and contradictory relationship with our stuff.

Digital Immigrants

Dennis Stauffer and Norbert Kottmann, Germany/Switzerland, 2016, 21 mins

Charming footage of senior citizens learning to navigate computers for the first time is juxtaposed with 80s vintage television clips, when personal computers were first popularized. Despite rapid changes in technology, finding one’s place in the digital age is no easy feat. -SC

Commodity City

Jessica Kingdon, US/China, 2017, 11 mins

China’s Yiwu Market is one of the largest shopping complexes in the world. Visually arresting, this ethnographic essay film blurs the boundary between consumer goods and the humans who sell them. -SC

Fixed!

Cat Mills, Canada, 2017, 14 mins

Repair cafes are popping up around the world as a community-based antidote to throwaway culture. In Fixed! we get a glimpse inside Canada’s first repair cafe in Toronto, where a team of dedicated volunteers are helping their neighbours, one fix at a time. -SC

My Father’s Tools

Heather Condo, Canada, 2017, 7 mins

From chopping wood in the forest to hand-weaving bark in the studio, Steven Jerome, a Mi’gmaq man from Gesgapegiag, Quebec, honours his ancestors and future generations by demonstrating the delicate art of basket making. -SC

MAY 8 SCREENING PRESENTED WITH: TRANSPORTATION PARTNER

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TUESDAY MAY 9

12:30 PM ANNEX

TUESDAY MAY 9 SATURDAY MAY 13

3:00 PM ANNEX 6:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Fattitude

Let There Be Light

“What do you know about fat people, what do you think you know?”

Many physicists and scientists believe the only hope for future life on Earth is fusion. This is the story of the most complex machine ever invented, the hydrogen fusion energy facility, currently being built out of a million pieces in southern France. ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), a public project funded by a coalition of countries, will either solve our energy problems or be the most expensive failure in history.

Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman, US, 2016, 88 mins

A primer on one of the most widespread prejudices, directors Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman’s sharp treatise tackles the subject from a multiplicity of different perspectives including race, class, and gender. Fat stereotypes start early, as a cavalcade of clips reveal — from Disney films to Scooby Doo, Miss Piggy to Jabba the Hut, fat has traditionally been presented as monstrous and terrifying. Writer and activist Lindy West (author of Shrill) notes, “Those are your choices, sex pig or squid witch. Why can’t I just be a lady?”

While larger people often have only a few options available in the roles they are assigned in film and media (either they are the funny sidekick or the super-sized villain), far worse is simply being invisible. As one interviewee remarks in science fiction scenarios of the future, there are no fat people at all.

Featuring interviews and analyses from a broad range of writers, academics, activists, and artists, Fattitude assails a complex tangle of cultural and social constructs — everything from economic status to the politics of being seen. Larger people are expected to strive actively for thinness, as the only acceptable way to exist. One interviewee calls this “performing cultural compliance.” The film is much more than a polemic, it is a call to action, and a reminder of the power of collective action and inclusion. Taking up space and demanding change can be fierce — and often incredibly fun! -DW

Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko, Canada, 2017, 101 mins

Progress has slowed due to political considerations as well as scientific challenges. Meanwhile, funding has also dwindled. A couple of small private companies are trying to use outsider creative thinking to achieve the goal of fusion. Will their lack of bureaucracy and streamlined operations allow them to succeed while ITER lags? Will this be a story of the triumph of the little guy? Is fusion a scam or a pipe dream? American journalist Charles Seife offers some essential historical context, sketching out the big picture examination of fusion, including the concept of a fusion conman!

Let There Be Light explains the complex science needed to make this theoretical process become a reality. Science, history, politics, and visionary personalities combine with panache to achieve just the right ‘planetarium’ feel without getting cheesy. Archival footage and animation are also employed to great visual (and often hilarious) effect.

Buckle up for a journey beyond the frontiers of science and technology with some sexy sub-particles. The stakes couldn’t get any higher. -KR

THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE RATED Y SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 26.

NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. OPEN TO YOUTH UNDER 18.

VISIT DOXAFESTIVAL.CA FOR CLASSIFICATION RATING.

#DOXA2017

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TUESDAY MAY 9 WEDNESDAY MAY 10

6:30 PM VANCITY 3:15 PM ANNEX

TUESDAY MAY 9

7:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

YOU’RE ALREADY IN THE BAND

City Voices: Shorts Program A kaleidoscopic portrait of people and their city — from the West End to the Downtown Eastside.

You’re Already in the Band (You Just Don’t Know It Yet) Sandra Ignagni, Canada, 2017, 12 mins

The Carnival Band describe themselves as a roving band of tricksters, troublemakers, and rabble-rousers, with the occasional real musician thrown in the mix. -DW

Srorrim

Wayne Wapeemukwa, Canada, 2017, 15 mins

Through the creation of fantasy versions of themselves, a diverse group of residents reinvent their lives. -DW

Through the Trenches Marina Dodis, Canada, 2015, 4 mins

Poet Henry Doyle narrates his life as a working artist and poet in the Downtown Eastside. -DW

Water on Sand

Nathalie Attallah, Canada, 2017, 7 mins

A mother and son retrace their memories of the Lebanese Diaspora in Vancouver with water and sand. -DW

The Third Movement Josephine Anderson, Canada, 2017, 11 mins

A transgender woman named Sara Davis Buechner teaches piano to different students in the heart of Vancouver’s West End, and remembers her own career as a concert pianist. -DW

This Place, Here

Mackenzie Reid Rostad, Canada, 2017, 7 mins

All aboard the Skytrain for a surreal trip across the city! -DW

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Ada for Mayor Pau Faus, Spain, 2016, 86 mins

When the economic crisis struck Europe with full force in 2012, Spain was one of the continent’s hardest-hit nations. From astronomical unemployment rates to massive youth exodus, the country suffered terribly under the weight of its debt. One of the most painful situations to emerge from the crisis was the collapse of Spain’s housing market.

With accountability tossed to the wind, homeowners found themselves unable to pay their mortgage debt, confronted with foreclosures and evictions that had life-altering consequences. In Barcelona, as in many other cities across Spain, housing rights activists were on the frontlines of the battle, and at their helm was Ada Colau, a fiery and passionate social justice advocate, who, three years later, would become the mayor of Barcelona.

Ada For Mayor is the incredible story of Colau’s journey from radical grassroots activist to principled politician. It is also the story of a movement that triumphed against all odds: the leftist Guanyem party, created by and for the citizens of Barcelona, committed to defending their rights against all affronts. Through rousing behind-the-doors political footage spliced with intimate video diaries, we come to know the charismatic Ada in all her many manifestations, and also bear witness to the challenges that she and Guanyem inevitably face as they swim up a stream clogged with power politics and self-interested politicians. From the inherent difficulties of consensus-based decisionmaking to the personal struggle Ada faces attempting to mould herself into a new role without compromising her values, we witness what is possible when passion, conviction, and dedication merge. Ada For Mayor is an inspirational rallying cry for a new kind of populist politics — one that is truly about the people. -PP PART OF TRUMPED! NOW WHAT?, CURATED BY DAVID BEERS. READ MORE ON PAGE 28.

SCREENING SPONSOR

TUESDAY MAY 9

8:45 PM VANCITY

WEDNESDAY MAY 10

7:00 PM VANCITY

A Moon of Nickel and Ice

Quest

The Russian-Siberian city of Norilsk is a city of extremes. Notorious for its freezing cold temperatures (it’s located in a continuous permafrost zone in the Arctic Circle) and its toxic pollution caused by nickel refineries (the city alone produces 20% of the world’s nickel), Norilsk is the thing dystopian sci-fi novels are made of. “Here it feels like living on the moon,” says a 17-year-old novelist who describes life in Norilsk as an “endless tunnel.” As if that weren’t harsh enough, the city is also home to a very grim secret. Described as a prison city, it remains closed off to most of the rest of the world even today. Prisoners of the Soviet Gulag originally built Norilsk in 1938 when more than 650,000 prisoners were sent north to work in forced labour camps, resulting in at least 250,000 deaths. Slave labour has long been outlawed, but throughout the city there are no historical sites or memorials that acknowledge its brutal beginnings.

In North Philadelphia, the Raineys are a regular African-American family who stay strong and loving despite ongoing adversity. Jonathan Olshefski’s powerful documentary follows Christopher and Christine’a, their teenage daughter Patricia (PJ), and Christine’a’s older son William over a ten-year period. Christine’a is the family rock who says, “As a mom, all you can do is roll with the punches and deal with it.” Dealing with it means supporting her son’s recovery from brain cancer, and helping to raise her grandchild. It also means the heartbreak of living in a neighborhood where people aren’t surprised when a child is shot, even if they are still outraged.

François Jacob, Canada, 2016, 110 mins

French-Canadian filmmaker François Jacob captures life in contemporary Norilsk with a roaming camera, depicting the city and its residents with care and curiosity. A former prisoner/labourer, an impassioned dramaturge, and a group of frisky teenagers are some of the residents who call the place home. In their own way, each resident is motivated by the desire to unearth the past to ensure that it’s not erased from the collective memory. A mix of black and white archival footage and a minimalist piano score softens the industrial-strength grimness. Social gatherings also help to ward off isolation and offer a place of refuge. Whether it’s singing karaoke, taking an icy moonlight swim, or braving an arctic storm to see a local play, life in Norilsk can be harsh, but as one burly miner puts it: “You could be low on money, but never on friendship.”-SC

Jonathan Olshefski, US, 2017, 105 mins

The Raineys describe their neighborhood as ‘tough,’ and in this environment, even this stable, happy, and industrious family have to work unbelievably hard just to survive. The grittiness of the area comes across, but so does its vibrancy and life. Christopher runs a recording studio where he offers opportunities to local youth. Over the years, he has witnessed talent ruined by violence and drugs, but he doesn’t believe in giving up. Olshefski’s intimacy with the family is profound, and the film gains strength through an accumulation of detail of daily life: Christine’a combing and braiding the hair of her husband and daughter, Christopher delivering newspapers and fixing the roof, the family walking and talking with neighbours on their street. Along the way, Christopher and Christine’a encounter unexpected evolutions in their children’s lives. The spectacular power of Quest comes from its complete lack of sentimentality. Its unflinching honesty reflects how the Raineys themselves are unapologetically candid, and relentlessly courageous. This is a family with a deep bond of love and faith, and this timely film has a lot to teach us. -KR

#DOXA2017

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WEDNESDAY MAY 10

9:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

WEDNESDAY MAY 10

9:00 PM SFU

TURTLES ARE ALWAYS HOME

Transference: Shorts Program From Qatar to Quebec, Serbia to Ohio, this collection of films exposes sites of personal and emotional history. A variety of film and video techniques push the formal and narrative boundaries of cinema. -SC

Andrew Keegan Is Moving Justine Harbonnier, Canada, 2016, 11 mins

The oldest house in Griffintown, has been displaced by a luxury condo development. Clever framing and off-camera conversations help retrace the house-without-a-home. -SC

Turtles Are Always Home Rawane Nassif, Lebanon/Canada, 2017, 12 mins

Qatar’s pastel-hued buildings form the backdrop for this enigmatic film essay. The only signs of life are captured as reflections in windows and on water. -SC

Strange Vision of Seeing Things Ryan Ferko, Canada, 2016, 14 mins

Images of urban construction and destruction are set against an unnerving soundscape. The result is a fractured travelogue that offers a revised history of the Balkan War. -SC

Domus

Rhayne Vermette, Canada, 2017, 15 mins

Rhayne Vermette utilizes her desk to craft a surrealist portrait of Italian architect Carlo Mollino, highlighting the intersection of cinema and architecture. -SC

Scrapbook

Mike Hoolboom, Canada, 2015, 18 mins

Avant-garde artist Mike Hoolboom revisits archival footage taken inside a “development centre” in the 1960s, where youth were given cameras. -SC MEDIA SPONSOR

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Chats perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat) Chris Marker, France, 2004, 58 mins

A more fitting film for our electoral moment is hard to imagine than Chris Marker’s Chats perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat). The film has the serendipitous timing that is the hallmark of great art: it is always relevant, and au courant — sometimes painfully so.

Marker’s last film, made at the very beginning of the new Millennium, takes as its leaping off point, the appearance of mysterious yellow felines gracing the walls, the streets, even the Metro stations of Paris.

Possessed of a manic grin that is equal parts Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire and Miyazaki’s Totoro, it is both weirdly thrilling, and truth be told, a bit unsettling. “Someone was risking his neck at night, just to have a smile floating over the city,” muses the filmmaker. But what does this kitty want, what is he trying to tell us? Camera in hand, Marker takes to the streets, filming protests of every stripe, searching for a sign, or a clearer indication of what is going on. As the people march and shout, carrying on about elections, wars, political scandals, and the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the cat floats over the proceedings, a silent witness to the ongoing calamitous chaos. Saul Bellow’s quote that described humans as “the not-yet-stabilized animal” seems particularly apropos here. If you need a gentle reminder that the past is never really over, it’s not even past, the French election that featured the rise of the far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen seems to have come round again. We need help from cats, and occasionally they are magnanimous enough to grant some measure of their coolness. In the end, that is precisely what happens. “La poésie est dans la rue” (“Poetry is in the street”), and so are the cats! -DW THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

THURSDAY MAY 11

5:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

THURSDAY MAY 11

7:00 PM VANCITY

Le Tombeau d’Alexandre (The Last Bolshevik)

Pornocracy: The New Sex Multinationals

“It all began in Brussels’ Film Library (‘Cinémathèque Royale’) when my friend Jacques Ledoux, the flamboyant conservator, received a package of brand new prints from Moscow. In it, classics like Eisenstein, connoisseurs’ choice like Barnet, and one totally unknown: Schastye (Happiness) by A.I. Medvedkin. Ledoux hadn’t ordered it, he didn’t even know the man’s name. Apparently, one hidden hand had thrown that bottle to the sea of Cinémathèques, hoping for a welcoming creek.” –CHRIS MARKER

The dirtiest thing in director Ovidie’s investigation of the global porn business, is not the sex, but the money.

So begins Chris Marker’s expansive, nay, insanely encompassing portrait of his friend and colleague, Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedkin.

The film’s opening scene begins with Medvedkin assailing the screen and stating: “Chris, you lazy bastard, why don’t you ever write to me, send me a letter, even that short…” So begins this epistolary film, composed of six different letters, each corresponding to a period of Medvedkin’s life and work. As Marker notes in his affectionate and often painfully funny film, Medvedkin was largely unknown, carefully omitted from the history of Soviet Cinema. This despite the fact that he was involved in some of the most radical of film experiments including the Kinopoezd, a moving film studio, carried about on a train car, complete with labs, editing stations, and cameras. Films were shot, edited, and screened within the space of a day. But the work created didn’t go over well with the Party leaders, and was shelved almost immediately, never to be seen again. From the October Revolution through to Perestroika, Medvedkin’s life itself often resembled a Russian novel. (Something Gogol might have penned in a particularly mordant mood.) But Marker’s humour and obvious love for his friend buoys the proceedings.

Much of the profit generated by “tube sites” comes from the povertylevel wages paid to an amateur workforce. For video sites like My Dirty Hobby in Germany, 78 percent of the profit goes to the company, and the actual performers collect the remainder, upon which they must pay taxes. Economically depressed nations like Romania, Columbia, and increasingly China provide the majority of performers. This corporate machine is built on the backs of young women, who are asked to participate in more extreme acts. Performers often take drugs that are designed for women in childbirth in order to accommodate the physical demands of the job.

Chris Marker, France, 1993, 116 mins

The film is Marker’s post-mortem answer (and tribute): “Dear Alexander Ivanovich, I couldn’t tell you then all I wanted to. Now I can.

And all I have to say about you and Russia will be much more than this little space embraces, but let’s go...” -DW

Ovidie, France, 2017, 77 mins

The numbers are staggering. When German porn emperor Fabian Thylmann took over Pornhub, he stated that it brought in 16 million users per day. With more than 450 million people using the site per month, the profits swelled to $40 million per month. At the height of his empire, Thylmann owned some 35 different companies.

It got even nastier when a political campaign in California encouraged voters to repeal Measure B, a law that would require mandatory use of condoms for all vaginal and anal sex scenes in pornographic films. The threat was that it would drive away jobs. When Thylmann was arrested for tax evasion, a Canadian company took over. Stories of blackmail and intimidation of any performer who spoke out about new the parent company began to spread. As the filmmaker states: “The bigger they become, the more they can get away with … with a little bit of cynicism and lot of lube.” -DW THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

#DOXA2017

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THURSDAY MAY 11

7:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

THURSDAY MAY 11

Elsewhere

78/52

It starts with a pulse. A single beat of sound. From a generic Montreal subway platform to the most far-flung parts of the planet, Elsewhere explores the human passion for movement and the undeniable siren song of travel. This is a film that is felt, as much as witnessed, pushed along by a propulsive soundtrack and zippy animation. Unseen people talk about the need for change, discovery and challenge. “Travelling is really getting into uncertainty,” one man offers up.

Who can forget that scene in Psycho? The infamous shower sequence in Hitchcock’s masterpiece has been seared in the heads of moviegoers for generations. Alexandre O. Philippe’s 78/52 seeks to understand just what made that scene so legendary, deconstructing it to explore what each stab of the knife meant for cinema and culture. Philippe keeps things lively with the help of horror luminaries Eli Roth, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Guillermo del Toro, who cheerfully set about dissecting everything from editing to the composition of the fake blood. Psycho’s original nude stand-in for the shower scene, Marli Renfro, offers a particularly compelling account of what it was like to be on that hotel set nearly sixty years ago.

Ouananiche, Canada, 2016, 66 mins

As the narrative moves in new and unaccustomed fashion, charting its own course through the tangled highways of blood vessels and neural pathways, a peculiar emotional space begins to open. During travel, you are essentially untethered from regular time —unmoored and free.

Inside this interstitial space, an almost trance-like state descends, like the expanse of sky and clouds underneath the wings of an airplane.

Filmed in chiaroscuro shades of black and white, with the occasional pop of acid bright colour, Elsewhere is polyphonic exploration that is expansive and intimate in equal measure. Trippy! Sure - but also oddly affecting, as the onscreen momentum, abstract image and animation evolve into a moving exploration of value and meaning in human life.

“It’s really difficult to balance our lives on a thin line,” says one final interviewee, as footprints in the sand lead off towards an unknown destination. -DW THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE TRANSMISSIONS: EXPANDED CINEMA SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE AN ARTIST TALK. READ MORE ON PAGE 27.

Alexandre O. Philippe, US, 2017, 91 mins

Whether or not they knew it, Hitchcock and his collaborators created a pivotal point in the cultural and cinematic landscapes of North America. Philippe’s documentary argues that Janet Leigh’s violent onscreen death marks the transition point between “Old” and “New” Hollywood, and is representative of the dramatic cultural shifts of the 1960s. In a style that recalls Rodney Ascher’s Room 237, swift editing, intriguing anecdotes, and a celebratory atmosphere keep things from getting too ‘inside baseball.’ Philippe leaves no stone unturned in his analysis, and even devoted Hitchcock followers might learn a new thing or two about one of the landmark scenes in the director’s legendary career. A special treat for cinephiles, gorehounds, and film scholars, 78/52 is sure to delight anyone who still gets a little nervous when they hear a strange sound in the shower. Thanks to Mr. Hitchock, that is essentially everyone in the known universe. -CP AUDIENCE SPONSOR

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DOXAFESTIVAL.CA

THURSDAY MAY 11

9:15 PM VANCITY

Tokyo Idols

Kyoko Miyake, UK/Canada, 2017, 88 mins

With its saccharine vocal tracks and armies of young women in whacky outfits, it is easy to think of J-Pop idols as just another weird subculture.

But idols are big business in Japan, reportedly worth more than a billion dollars per year. At the centre of this maelstrom of hysterical cuteness and rainbow-coloured froth are some pretty basic human emotions — namely loneliness and sadness. Director Miyake follows a number of different idols and the men (and women) who worship them — from handshake events to stadium concerts. At the heart of her film, there is a deep and fundamental ambivalence at work. Even as her camera captures an arena full of grown men weeping like babies over a soppy ballad, Miyake does not shy away from the creepy factor. As one man says, idol events are the only place where he does not have to worry about “social rank and obligation,” and where he can finally “experience joy and release.” -DW Currently, there are approximately 10,000 teenage girls in Japan who market themselves as ‘idols’. This eye-opening documentary looks at the idol industry — with its seemingly endless supply of squeaky, cutesy, Manga-styled schoolgirl pop stars — and its principle consumers, predominantly adult males… Director Miyake introduces us to other idols, each younger than the last. And with each, she unpeels the onion skin to reveal a queasier realm of fandom… But while it’s tempting to assume a dubious sexual motivation in the fans’ obsession, this is not always the case. Commentators point to the pressure of Japan’s longrunning recession and a culture which finds infantilization comforting and freeing. The fans’ ‘relationship’ with the object of their adoration is viewed as a low stress alternative to the hard work of a real girlfriend.

- SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

FRIDAY MAY 12

5:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without a Cat) Parts 1&2 Chris Marker, France, 1977, 180 mins (90 mins each) SCENES OF THE THIRD WORLD WAR 1967–1977

Some think the third World War will be set off by a nuclear missile. For me, that’s the way it will end. In the meantime, the figures of an intricate game are developing, a game whose decoding will give historians of the future — if they are still around — a very hard time. A weird game. Its rules change as the match evolves. To start with, the superpowers’ rivalry transforms itself not only into a Holy Alliance of the Rich against the Poor, but also into a selective co-elimination of Revolutionary Vanguards, wherever bombs would endanger sources of raw materials. As well as into the manipulation of these vanguards to pursue goals that are not their own.

During the last ten years, some groups of forces (often more instinctive than organized) have been trying to play the game themselves - even if they knocked over the pieces. Wherever they tried, they failed. Nevertheless, it’s been their being that has the most profoundly transformed politics in our time. This film intends to show some of the steps of this transformation.

-CHRIS MARKER

Here is Chris Marker’s magnum opus in all its ferocious intelligence and scale. Originally released in 1977, and reedited in 1996, the rise and fall of the Left is ostensibly Marker’s subject, the great political revolutions of the 60s and 70s, totemic figures like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, composed like a heaving orchestra of archival material, demonstrations, occupations, and blood in the streets. A generation of filmmakers from Adam Curtis (HyperNormalization), to Patricio Guzman (Nostalgia for the Light), to Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) have Marker to thank for fashioning a different means of constructing narrative — febrile, alive, and fired with a deep, almost precognizant kind of curiosity. More relevant than it was even forty years earlier, this tour-de-force work is a guide, seemingly torn from the current moment, made up of the folly and greatness of the human experiment.

Or as Marker says, summing up centuries of human struggle, history “always seems to have more imagination than we do.” -DW THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

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FRIDAY MAY 12

7:00 PM ANNEX

Katyusha: Rocket Launchers, Folk Songs and Ethnographic Refrains Kandis Friesen, Canada, 2016, 37 mins

A video installation and performance work, where a live narration blends with a live-mixed video and audio track, we bring you, Katyusha: Rocket Launchers, Folk Songs, and Ethnographic Refrains. A Russian folk song from the Soviet Era, written in 1938, about a young girl named Katyusha, whose lover has left for war, became a hit at the onset of WWII. Subsequently adapted by different people, the song traveled across languages and borders, transforming for each time and place that needed it. So begins Kandis Freisen’s exploration of personal and public myth making, set to the mesmerizing minor scale of Katyusha’s lost melody. -SC Katyusha draws on reworked, found, and archival moving image, photo, and sound. From triumphant teenaged theft at a suburban Winnipeg Sam The Record Man, to Anna German’s turbulent childhood across Central Asia and Poland, to the Mennonite choirs that refused to be quiet during the harsh silence of the Stalin era, Katyusha looks at the function of song in ethno-nationalism, imperialism, and resistance; violence, pop culture, faith, and love. The piece focuses on the role of song as cultural form, following the Soviet war-time hit song Katyusha, the rocket launcher that subsequently took on its name, and the tragic life of the secretly Mennonite Soviet pop star Anna German, who recorded an immensely popular version of the song in 1962. -KANDIS FRIESEN PRECEDED BY

Everything Turns...

Aaron Zeghers, Canada, 2016, 13 mins

A shorthand study of the mythology of numbers from 1 to 12, where scientific tradition is adopted, and then eschewed for rumours, legends and defunct theories from across the ages. Just like Hans Richter nearly 100 years ago, we discover that everything turns, everything revolves and everything feels the deep score of time. -SC THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE TRANSMISSIONS: EXPANDED CINEMA SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE LIVE PERFORMANCES. MORE ON PAGE 27.

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FRIDAY MAY 12

7:00 PM VANCITY

Island Earth

Cyrus Sutton, US, 2016, 61 mins

Like the beautiful Hawaiian archipelago where the film is set, Cyrus Sutton’s Island Earth is a complex mix; at once hopeful and celebratory, but interwoven with notes of hardship and despair. The film examines our complicated relationship with farming and food production, through the lens of present-day Hawaiian society. While Hawaii currently imports between 80%–90% of their food, the agricultural systems of early Polynesian societies are a fascinating (and timely) model for the development, or reclamation of sustainable agricultural practices.

In contrast, modern-day commercial agriculture has become an enormously complex global system, fraught with profound economic, environmental, and logistical challenges. This is particularly true for Hawaii, where the lush climate and long growing season meant that the islands have been subjected to successive waves of colonial and corporate money seeking to exploit the region’s ability to produce massive amounts of food. The sugar and pineapple barons have largely come and gone now; succeeded by the agro-chemical and bio-tech companies.

The film examines how former plantation fields are now used for open air field-testing of restricted-use pesticides. A diverse group of islanders, academics, and activists are trying to find a way forward.

They want to be able to feed their own people on a finite land base, as earlier islanders did. They want the agro-chemical companies to stop spraying massive amounts of chemicals on the fields next door to their homes and schools. And, like all of us, they simply need to find a way to eat, work, and raise the next generation, while fighting for a better world. As one of the film’s subjects points out, on an island, you have nowhere to run. -AW THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

FRIDAY MAY 12 SATURDAY MAY 13

8:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE 12:00 PM CINEMATHEQUE

Unrest

Jennifer Brea, US, 2017, 97 mins

On her way to attaining a Harvard PhD, and in a loving relationship with her fiancé Omar Wasow, Jennifer Brea looked like she was on the verge of a happy and fulfilled life. But fate had other plans. When Jennifer started experiencing strange physical symptoms, including a fatigue so profound, she could not even make it across her living room floor, she began to document her situation. A diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (still commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), opens up an entirely new world. From her bed, Jennifer uses her computer and social media to make contact with fellow sufferers in order to search for answers. The stories are heartbreaking — young people confined to a life that resembles a living death, failed relationships, and vanished dreams and ambitions. Long misunderstood by the medical system, and often perceived to be a psychological issue, the commonality of symptoms shared by people who have been diagnosed with M.E. indicates that there is something else at work.

Made with unflinching honesty, Unrest is as much a memoir of Jennifer and Omar’s life together, as it is a medical mystery. -DW Unrest doesn’t build toward any great epiphany or offer a singular way forward for people like Brea, though it finds some modicum of hope in its portrait of the 2016 Millions Missing protest, which pushed for greater recognition and support for M.E. patients worldwide. However, the movie delivers a striking degree of emotional authenticity with its home footage, allowing it to become more about its central couple’s resilience than the hardships that tests their bond. By capturing the ongoing romance in her life, Unrest manages to end on a triumphant note — even as it acknowledges that, for Brea and others like her, the battle continues with no end in sight. -INDIEWIRE

FRIDAY MAY 12

9:00 PM VANCITY

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin Jennifer M. Kroot, US, 2017, 92 mins

The title of the film really says it all! As a veritable open book, American writer Armistead Maupin virtually created the idea of an ‘out’ gay writer. However, despite his honesty, there are a few chapters of Armistead’s life that remain little known. Until now!

In Jennifer M. Kroot’s warm and deeply affectionate film, Maupin tells his story in his own words. Friends and colleagues including Neil Gaiman, Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen and Amy Tan weigh in, but Armistead needs little help. A natural born raconteur, he talks about his first sexual experience, and then bursts into the torchy standard, “Is That All There Is?” It wasn’t until he finally accepted his sexuality and came out that his writing career blossomed. The film is a treasure trove of archival material, which parallels Maupin’s own story with that of San Francisco’s role in the history of LGBT rights. The ground-breaking work Tales of the City is remembered by Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney who portrayed iconic characters Anna Madrigal and Mary Ann Singleton in the PBS adaptation. Maupin’s former coworkers from the SF Chronicle also remind us just how radical it was to even read stories about transgender folk or same-sex couples anywhere in 1976, let alone in a daily ‘family’ newspaper. Heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, Kroot’s film does Armistead’s legacy justice. -JB MEDIA PARTNER

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SATURDAY MAY 13

12:00 PM VANCITY

SATURDAY MAY 13

2:45 PM VANCITY

Freelancer on the Front Lines

You Are on Indian Land

Journalism is many things, the majority of which have nothing to do with writing. As a journalist, researching, tweeting, emailing, budgeting, pitching, re-pitching and mourning rejected pitches take up the bulk of your time. Jesse Rosenfeld, a freelance Canadian journalist based in the Middle East, knows this routine well. So well, he can do it under sniper fire. Rosenfeld is a 28-year-old veteran of Middle Eastern news coverage. From Egypt’s post-Arab Spring elections, to Israel’s “Apartheid Road,” to Turkey’s sprawling Syrian refugee camps, Rosenfeld moves swiftly between countries and areas of conflict as stories surface. Freelancer on the Front Lines tells the story of how news stories are told.

On December 18, 1968, members of the Akwesasne Mohawk community blockaded the international bridge near Cornwall, Ontario.

The intent was to bring public attention to treaty violations by the Canadian government. A young Mohawk chief named Mike Mitchell narrates throughout, explaining that things got off to a rocky start when no one remembered to bring scotch tape to post notices of the blockade. As the day unfolds, the local RCMP detachment arrives, discussion takes place, and the lines are drawn.

Santiago Bertolino, Canada, 2016, 98 mins

In Cairo, we see Al Jazeera journalists in a cage — denied their freedom for speaking truth to power. Rosenfeld knows he’s far from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. Being jailed is one concern, the other he attempts to solve by factoring a bullet-proof vest into his trip budget. As a freelancer, Rosenfeld isn’t assigned stories. Half his time is spent persuading editors to back him, persuading fixers to take him into the front lines, and persuading his parents that he is, in fact, safe and sound after standing next to a truck in Turkey with dead bodies hogtied to its bumper. But in the end, the risk and the tedium are all worth it for Rosenfeld. His work sheds light on Western policy implications in the Middle East. More than just informing his readers of disturbing events, Rosenfeld hopes to evoke real change through his writing. And while he waits for that change, there’s always another front line to chase, and with each new front line, a certain undeniable thrill. -AB THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell, Canada, 1969, 36 mins

Visceral, immediate, and possessed of direct-cinema aesthetic and power, the film places you in the heat of the moment. As the cops manhandle women in kerchiefs, and the camera is jostled in the action, Mike Mitchell describes the scene, “People shouted in Mohawk, ‘Don’t get mad! Don’t fight back!’” The people practice passive resistance, and try to make their point about the lawlessness of the Canadian government, while little kids take up an impromptu rendition of “We Shall Overcome.” One of the most poignant and powerful works to come out of the Challenge for Change and the Indian Film Crew (IFC), You Are on Indian Land was originally attributed to director Mort Ransen, but in the previous year, with Ransen’s urging, credit was given to Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell. -DW PRECEDED BY

ôtênaw

Conor McNally, Canada, 2017, 40 mins

Drawing on the tradition of oral storytelling, ôtênaw is a philosophical and creative treatment of land rights, territory, history and culture. As Dr. Dwayne Donald leads a walking tour of amiskwaciwâskahikan (now the city of Edmonton), talking about the history of the land and the people who lived there, the layers of human habitation slowly reveal themselves. A powerful example of 4th Cinema, Conor McNally’s film incorporates archival photos, animation, and 16mm footage into a palimpsest of human existence, scored with language and memory. -DW THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

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DOXAFESTIVAL.CA

SATURDAY MAY 13

4:30 PM CINEMATHEQUE

L’Héritage de la chouette (The Owl’s Legacy) Chris Marker, France, 1989, 80mins

The legendary 13-part series, commissioned by Arte and the Onassis Foundation (that kept Marker’s work unavailable for twenty years), alights at DOXA in its first three episodes: SYMPOSIUM or Accepted Ideas, OLYMPISM or Imaginary Greece, DEMOCRACY or The City of Dreams. Interviews were filmed in Tbilisi, Athens, Paris, Berkeley, and Tokyo. The cast of characters is equally expansive with composers, filmmakers, philosophers, and friends including Iannis Xenakis, Michel Serres, Cornelius Castoriadis, George Steiner, Oswyn Murray, Michel Jobert, and Elia Kazan. But what is most startling are the ideas examined. Whether it is the Nazi appropriation of Ancient Greek gods and ideology, perverted from their origins to fit the Third Reich, or George Steiner stating that “the Greek civilization enhanced the whole human race,” but describing Socrates as “a royal pain in the ass.”

Passions run high as the assembled minds debate and drink, talking about the foundational concepts of Western culture. Every interview is attended, perhaps witnessed by the enigmatic gaze of a different owl, Minerva’s bird that looms large in the background. What is most curious, as with a great deal of Marker’s work, is the timeliness of his ideas and their respective focus. In Episode 3: DEMOCRACY or the City of Dreams, Cornelius Castoriadis argues that the modern concept of democracy and that of Ancient Greece bear little resemblance to each other. Or as Oswyn Murray states, “There are no democracies, only oligarchies.” As John Winkler talks about the continuity between the Athenian and the American idea of ‘the political bluff,’ and the peculiar fascination with the personal, private, even sexual lives of political leaders, he relates it back to a concept in ancient Greece called the dokimasia, a McCarthy-like process that was launched by one’s political enemies. Angélique Ionatos theorizes that Ancient Greece must have been “a very violent, and also very vulgar place with kicking and fighting. But this makes them more human, it fleshes them out.” Looking again at L’Héritage de la chouette (The Owl’s Legacy), in this, our current fraught moment, there is much to be learned. Or as Castoriadis says at the series’ end: “What should I think?” -DW

SATURDAY MAY 13

5:00 PM VANCITY

Ambulance

Mohamed Jabaly, Norway, 2016, 78 mins

In July of 2014, Israeli ground forces moved into Gaza in an escalation of the war with Hamas. Without preamble, Ambulance opens on a community in panic. A bomb has just fallen, turning the home of filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly’s neighbour into a pile of rubble. So begins a close-up view of war that barely gives us time to catch our breath, let alone consider the broader context. Sometimes film has no more vital function than to bear witness.

Ambulance is a visceral experience. Faced with an urgent moral crisis, Jabaly is compelled to help his people and document Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” from the ground. Against the protests of his family, he joins an ambulance crew — speeding towards the worst of the devastation, even when every instinct is telling him to run the other way. With a handheld camera, he documents the terrifying aftermath of missile attacks, careening trips through the streets of Gaza, as the city literally falls around them, and the frantic efforts to save lives at hospitals that lack even the most basic equipment. The pragmatic courage and gallows humour of ambulance driver Abu Marzouq propels the film, taking Jabaly and his camera directly into danger, and giving us a view of war that is almost too close to the action.

Jabaly’s unflinching view of the chaos of war comments on the Israeli occupation and the conflict in Gaza, but ultimately its power is even more basic. Human vulnerability, courage, and resilience transcend politics and remind us exactly what is at stake when the technology of war meets the fragility of life. The resolve of those working amid the danger is humbling. In this ground-level view of the conflict, answers are hard to find, but the human crisis is undeniable. -JC THIS SCREENING IS PART OF THE JUSTICE FORUM SERIES AND WILL INCLUDE A POST-FILM DISCUSSION. READ MORE ON PAGE 24.

THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.

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More Great Film Festivals Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth FILM FESTIVAL

April 2–8, 2017 | r2rfestival.org R2R is a week-long celebration of diverse, inspiring and entertaining films for youth ages 6-19 and their families. Programs include live-action, animated and documentary films from around the world with filmmaker guests in attendance, hands-on workshops, a Youth Media Conference, and a showcase of films made by youth.

Don’t miss Sunday Fun Day! Come early for a pancake breakfast, and spend the day watching and making animation. R2R is sure to delight, move and amaze audiences of all ages.

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival August 10–20, 2017 | queerfilmfestival.ca The Vancouver Queer Film Festival is the largest queer arts event in Western Canada and Vancouver’s second largest film festival. The Festival screens films that highlight the tremendous diversity of queer, trans and two-spirit stories from around the globe.

Hosting a variety of performances, workshops, panels and parties featuring visiting and local artists, the Festival creates a uniquely queer community space where artists and audiences can celebrate and explore together. 2017’s Festival will take place in various venues throughout Vancouver.

Vancouver Latin American Film Festival August 24–September 3, 2017 | vlaff.org I’m more kick-ass than beautiful, and I’m very beautiful. - MARÍA FELIX Come join us for our “Quinceañera” as we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. With Cuba as the guest country and films from over 17 countries in 11 different languages (always with English subtitles), this is a birthday celebration you won’t want to miss. Have a great time at DOXA and see you all on August 24th!

Vancouver Jewish Film Festival November 2–12, 2017 | vjff.org The Vancouver Jewish Film Centre will present its 29th Annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival November 2—12 with an engaging mix of narrative and documentary films to amuse, educate and provoke conversation. The Jewish Film Centre screens films monthly at various venues around Vancouver. We present films that showcase the diversity of Jewish culture, heritage and identity. We foster community consultation, multiculturalism and inclusiveness.

Rendez-Vous French Film Festival February 2018 | rendez-vousvancouver.com Visions Ouest Productions offers a variety of events & activities throughout the year.

The 24th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois et francophone, in February 2018, recognizes the success of Canadian and Francophonie Internationale cinema, celebrating the diversity and talent of our artists. The Rendez-Vous French Festival, Beaux Jeudis Serie and the School Matinees provide ideal opportunities to foster the link with the francophone community via the presentation of top quality films.

Just Film Festival TBA March/April 2018 | justfilm.ca The Just Film Festival brings the pursuit of justice to the big screen. We feature social justice and environmental documentaries that go to the heart of issues confronting communities here and around the planet. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and find dates and film descriptions on our website.

Three different types of financing.

Three different funds.

All from one source.

The Rogers Group of Funds offers support to Canadian independent producers with three different types of funding: Rogers Telefund offers loans to Canadian independent producers; Rogers Documentary Fund, Canada’s premier source of funding for documentary films and Rogers Cable Network Fund, an equity investor in Canadian programs with a first play on a Canadian cable channel. Three different types of financing. Three different funds. All from one source – Rogers.

For more information contact Robin Mirsky, Executive Director, at (416) 935-2526.

Application deadlines for the Rogers Documentary Fund are Wednesday, April 19 and Wednesday, August 16, 2017.

Application deadlines for the Rogers Cable Network Fund are Wednesday, June 21 and Wednesday, October 4, 2017.

www.rogersgroupoffunds.com