VANCOUVER—Activate your mind at the 12th annual World Community Film Festival at Langara College, February 15-17.
B.C’.s largest social justice film festival kicks off on Friday (Feb. 15th) at 5pm with an opening lecture by noted sustainability researcher Michael Lewis, “Strengthening Resilience Close to Home.” The lecture is followed by a superb opening night double bill that features the Vancouver premieres of two inspiring films about activism: Maestra and Bidder 70. Maestra is the story of “the most important literacy experience in the Americas” as told by the Cuban women who lived it; Bidder 70is a timely, intelligent, and entertaining film that demonstrates how one person can actually change the world.
The Saturday and Sunday daytime program includes films on food and farming, indigenous issues, sustainability, activism, and the cost of oil. Saturday night’s film, Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth, is a poignant and powerful exploration of the end of the Mayan calendar through the views and visions of six young Maya.
“The goal of our festival is to educate and inspire our audience through the medium of documentary film,” says festival coordinator Erin Mullan. “The problems confronting society and the planet can seem overwhelming. These films show how people here at home and around the globe are tackling these issues and our hope is to motivate our audience to take action themselves.”
The festival, presented by CoDevelopment Canada, features over 40 social justice and environmental documentaries that go to the heart of the issues confronting communities here and around the world. It also hosts a Social Justice Bazaar where filmgoers can purchase fairly traded goods and connect with activist organizations. The focus of the festival is to motivate audiences to action through awareness of issues both local and global.
The festival is produced by CoDevelopment Canada and the World Community Development Education Society, and co-sponsored by Langara College. For more details on the evening films, click here. For labour-themed films, click here. For the full festival schedule, film descriptions and ticket information go to: www.codev.org/film-festival//.
