Journey deep into the heart of Fierce Light and explore the rising movement of spiritual activism, and the dynamic personalities who are igniting its compassionate force all over the world.
Acclaimed filmmaker Velcrow Ripper takes an insightful and inspirational look at change motivated by love. Called "soul force" by Gandhi and "love in action" by Martin Luther King, spiritual activism's historical roots are examined and illustrated by interviews with spiritual luminaries Thich Nhat Hahn and Desmond Tutu, and with activists including Alice Walker, bell hooks, Ralph Nader and Joanna Macy. We join Ripper as he contemplates his place in the universe, his drive to make the world a better place, and the ways in which the two connect.
Fierce Light is a visually powerful and incredibly moving documentary, a spiritual experience in itself, about the impact and the necessity of spiritual action in today's world.
95 min....2008
"A marvelous film made with grace, heart and beauty." - Joanna Macy
SATURDAY Jan. 31
Doors open at 12 NOON ... $6 for whole afternoon
Browse the community tables, sign Amnesty International letters...participate
For decades the San Francisco Bay Area has been a hub for the recycling movement, even the garbage companies had recycling practices.
After the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, community, non-profit recycling centers appeared in schools, garages, and neighborhood centers-with the goal of bringing recycling to their cities.
Despite the lack of surviving community recycling centers (only 2), the Bay Area is still home to a unique community of recyclers who push the envelope of possibilities.
Featuring interviews with recycling pioneers and music by Rube Waddell, “The Recyclergy” is an entertaining examination of a fading subculture.
33 min...2006...USA
Director: Jeremy Kaller
1:40 PM: FEATURE
The US embargo against Cuba began in 1962 and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, imports of food into Cuba were cut by 80%, and oil by more than half.
The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Because Cuba was suddenly facing the massive reduction of fossil fuels, they were forced to rise to the occasion.
We will see how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. This "Special Period" of restructuring their society required a strong sense of community and brought forth the remarkable creativity of the Cuban people.
The founder of AC electricity, wireless technology, and the death ray... Nikola Tesla also tried to make our planet energy efficient and environmentally friendly. What a strange and eccentric man!
Actors and sets, combined with brilliant 3D animation... a splendid effort to inform about one of the world's most significant inventors.
15 min ... 2008... Canada
Director: Robert Holbrook
3:05 PM ... MOVIE # 2
Barrio de Paz
An inspiring story of a non-violent youth movement in Guayaquil, Ecuador as told by a woman who has been bringing together street gangs to provide services to the struggling community.
Nelsa Curbelo explains that gang members band together out of a need for unity, structure, and love when social fabric has been torn apart... and how this instinct toward oneness can be transformed into a power of service and love.
17 min ... 2007 ...USA
Global Oneness Project
www.globalonenessproject.org
3:25 - 3:45 PM: short break
3:45 PM ... MOVIE #3
JOE
Directed by Gabriolan Jill Haras, this bright and lively animated film tells the story of one of Vancouver's most beloved citizens. Using a colourful blend of music, poetry, cut-out and computer animation, we learn about Seraphim "Joe" Fortes.
For more than thirty years, Joe Fortes swam in English Bay. He was a self-appointed lifeguard at first, but he became so famous that the city of Vancouver finally rewarded him with a salary for doing what he loved best. He taught thousands of people to swim and saved over a hundred lives. Yet there were some who did not respect him because of his skin colour. Through his determination, kindness and love for children, Joe changed attitudes.
9 min ... 2002 ... Canada
Director: Jill Haras
3:55 PM ... MOVIE # 4
A Cree woman explores her heritage ... Cree-atively in a performance video.
Director: Carol Greyeyes
8 min...2007...Canada
4:05 ... MOVIE # 5
REVERSE
A man suffers a massive heart attack, and still desires to live life to the fullest.
Stars veteran Vancouver actor and drama teacher William B. Davis, well-known as The Cigarette Smoking Man in the TV series X-Files.
12 min....2008...Canada
Director: William B. Davis
4:20 ... MOVIE # 6
The Nettle Solution
Did you know that Napolean's armies wore uniforms spun from fibre of the nettle plant?
Tree hugger Gabriolan, David Boehm, and three fellow students enrolled in the “Activist Documentary Making Programme “ at G.I.F.T.S, the Gulf Island Film Training School, on Galiano, strike green gold in this compelling first video effort. The film reveals some of the many nutritional and therapeutic uses of the humble stinging nettle and wonders why we have not exploited more fully this plant’s extraordinary potential benefits to humanity.
9 min. 30 sec...2008...B.C.
Galiano Film School Team
4:30 ... MOVIE # 7
Knowing How to Nurture Ourselves
Stephan Fayan, director of a seed bank in Auroville, India, explains how preserving the diversity of seeds insures against the breakdown of large scale industrial agriculture.
Today, the supermarkets in the developed countries are full, but if unsustainable systems of agriculture collapse, will we know how to nurture ourselves?
4 min.... 2007...USA
Global Oneness Project
4:40 ... MOVIE # 8
An Invitation
A Quichua elder and Iachak (community leader and healer) in Ecuador, Don Alverto Taxo,
speaks of the ancient prophecy of the eagle and the condor meeting to bring a new harmony into the world.
He invites us all to trust the universal human intuition to bring greater harmony into our lives, and to seek after life's deeper meaning.
5 min.... 2007...USA
Global Oneness Project
5:00 - 7:00 PM: a spiced lentil rollup will be available for dinner
At the heart of this movie is a strongly held belief that access to fresh water should be a basic human right.
And as we realize that water is our most precious resource, Blue Gold is also a plea to recognize that we can no longer take it for granted.
Because there is a finite supply of fresh water. Whether it is used for agriculture, industry or basic survival, exponentially increasing demands for fresh water will mean that the wars of the future will be fought over water.
Blue Gold: World Water Wars takes us to several grassroots battles against corporate acquisition of water: from court cases to violent revolutions to U.N. conventions to revised constitutions to local protests at grade schools.
Directed by Sam Bozzo and executive produced by Mark Achbar (The Corporation), Blue Gold was co-written by Canadians Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, based on their book Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water.
No documentary about such a vast topic as Water can touch on everything.
Blue Gold makes a valiant attempt to inform, and inspire us to action.
