Film Categories: Politics + Policy

  • Devotion

    “Devotion: a story about Ogawa Productions” is an 82-minute documentary of an important Japanese post-war documentary collective that made significant films of social struggle and village life. This investigative documentary situates the revolutionary lifestyle and films of Ogawa Productions within the framework of the global student movement of the New Left in the mid-’60s and the emerging documentary movement in Japan. In-depth stories from the collective members who contributed to this unique film making process are examined from a variety of perspectives and understandings. OSHIMA Nagisa, HARA Kazuo and HANEDA Sumiko, well-known film directors, present their personal recollections of this…

  • Byron Chief-Moon: Grey Horse Rider

    Byron Chief-Moon is a multi-talented actor, stuntman, dancer, choreographer, playwright, founder of the Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association, and member of the Blackfoot Confederacy, member of the Blood Band. Through his art and his life, Chief-Moon’s story is one of cultural survival. Themes of his dance creations begin with his people’s traditional stories, his attachment with the land and his community, as well as the inner conflict he faces in existing within the Aboriginal culture and the wider community. He is ensuring the preservation of his native language through its incorporation in his work. As well, he’s firm in his…

  • Dear Guy

    “Dear Guy” dramatizes an inward and sometime romantically sentimental meditation on the relevance, remembrance and acculturation of Guy Debord’s life and works. The layered histrionics of the film engender reconsiderations of identification, moral responsibility, nostalgia and the potential of art in contemporary society. Excerpts from Debord’s memoir and fictional epistolary monologues are combined with an eclectic assortment of appropriated materials, invented leitmotifs, lecture performances, hybrid forms of the essay film, documentary and edutainment formats. “Dear Guy” drifts through a labyrinth-like montage structure that frustrates passive viewing while inviting contemplation. “DEAR GUY is an energetic response and thoughtful companion piece to…

  • Tide Marks

    Ten years after the triumph over Apartheid in South Africa, four former activists deal with the consequences of their dedication to human dignity with humour, frustration and hope. In this poignant and educational documentary, filmmaker Sarah Abbott presents issues that have been largely ignored by mainstream media, as its focus on the brutalities of apartheid shifted to the successes of transforming a nation. “Tide Marks” is an evocative collection of interviews, memories, observational footage, found photographs and South African music that re-visits apartheid history and looks at aspects of its present-day aftermath. Abbott’s intimate engagement with Cape Town residents reveals…

  • America the Beautiful

    A dark satire of the history of the United States…in under 8 minutes.

  • Purple Lipstick

    Purple is the colour of a fresh bruise. Haley’s latest videopoem, “Purple Lipstick” confronts the insidious nature of domestic violence through compelling juxtapositions. A disembodied female voice employs vivid language, absurdist against a backdrop of banality, images of “normal” family life. Numb in her isolation and still in her nurse’s uniform, a wife and mother prepares dinner. The inherent terror of her homelife is invoked with excruciating tension. Its brutality can only be alluded to.

  • Dying for the Pleasure

    “Dying for the Pleasure” is the result of a poem-as-script strategy. It is a darkly humorous, kaleidoscopic trip down Memory Lane, the audience witness to a woman’s anxiety surrounding the loss of our humanity after we “crawl inside,” to become enveloped, shielded, and cut off from others by a body of steel. Director: Katrin Bowen Writer, Producer: Heather Haley

  • Social Conflict Management

    A helpful narrator teaches three queer youth how to deal with difficult social situations they might encounter out in the big wide world they are about to enter. Learning has never been so fun!

  • I Just Wanted To Be Somebody

    What do the religious right and the gay liberation movement have in common? Both were fortified by the efforts of one woman – Anita Bryant. Part document and part poem, “I Just Wanted To Be Somebody” brings us back to the late 1970s and reflects on Bryant’s life and the impact she had. The film is comprised of news footage, commercials and Bryant’s own home movies.

  • King of the Jews

    “King of the Jews” is a film about fear and transcendence. Utilizing Hollywood movies, 1950s educational films, personal home movies and religious films spanning the history of cinema, the filmmaker depicts his childhood fear of Jesus Christ. These childhood recollections are a point of departure for larger issues, including the roots of Christian anti-Semitism and the need for forgiveness and healing.