filmgabriola.comThought-provoking films to stimulate community discussion... This year's theme is INSPIRING PEOPLE contact by email or
phone (250) 247 8350 |
Gabriola
Film Festival 2011
Community Hall, South Rd., Gabriola Island, B.C. Movie lists for Film Festivals 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Admission at the door - prices as listed below Please bring your own water community group display tables hot beverages in the afternoon only sweet & savoury treats
FRIDAY Jan. 28th ... doors open at 6:45 pm 7:30 PM... $8 A few short films will precede this feature
Saint Misbehavin’ journeys from the clubs of New York City’s Greenwich Village, to the hills of California, to the Himalayan Mountains to reveal the life of Wavy Gravy. The film blends Wavy’s own words with magical stories from an extraordinary array of fellow travellers. In Saint Misbehavin’, we see Wavy as MUCH more than the tie-dyed clown that the world knows from the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. Audiences will come to know the activist, the optimist, and the healer who reaches beyond political, economic and cultural divides in his commitment to social change and the alleviation of human suffering. Satirist Paul Krasner describes Wavy as “The illegitimate son of Harpo Marx and Mother Theresa, conceived one starry night on a spiritual whoopie cushion” to which Wavy has replied, “Some people tell me I’m a saint, I tell them I’m Saint Misbehavin’.” This rowdy film took 10 years in the making. Director Michelle Esrick eventually was given access to delightful archival footage from the 60s and 70s that had been “in the vault”. This allows us to see a bus tour from Europe to India in which the American hippies provided food and other help to the poor in their travels. It is said that throughout history there is a great tradition of holy fools. In following the dictates of the heart, Wavy Gravy is the real thing, the sacred clown, believing in positive change and calling out the best in himself and others to produce great works of mercy and compassion. He sums up the mission of his life in a short and poignant phrase: “Put your good where it does the most.” From the director: “All I know is, to be around Wavy is to see the best part of ourselves, to feel hopeful, to feel inspired to be just a little more loving, forgiving and helpful in the world we live in, and to have fun doing it. It is my honour to introduce the real Wavy Gravy to the world. Personally, I think we need the “fool” now more than ever!” From Stephen Holden of the NY Times: “Saint Misbehavin’ ” is an unabashed love letter to the world that defies the cynicism of our age" Director: Michelle Esrick SATURDAY Jan. 29 Doors open at 12 NOON ... $7
Leave Them Laughing...
Carla Zilbersmith is a Canadian Californian performer, teacher, red-headed hottie, and soon to be ex-human being. In Leave them Laughing we hear songs about life, and quips about death, from the wheelchair of a woman who vows to exit the stage with a smile on her beautiful face. Once a nationally-known performer of ballads, skits and self-parody, Carla was diagnosed in 2007 with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and given less than 4 years to live. She will leave a teen-aged son, a few fans and students who adore her, and this 90-minute pre-mortem retrospective of a life lived fully, but far too fast. On stage in actual and dramatized flashbacks to her giddy days as a comedienne and chanteuse, and on camera in the unashamed current reality of her condition, Leave Them Laughing tells Carla’s own glad, sad story in her own voice through diary entries, interviews and skits, and travels that demonstrate the ferocity of her intention to suck the last molecules of pleasure from her life. “A journalist asked me what I wanted to do before I died,” Carla says, “and I quite naturally answered: Johnny Depp.” Leave Them Laughing offers a unique and compelling vehicle to engage an audience about a subject that few dare to face like Carla. Facing her own extinction with wit, wisdom, courage, music and love, as her physical body weakens, she has the words Out of Order tattooed on her feet! The Oscar-winning director was drawn to Carla after reading a joke of hers about dying. Intrigued, he found Carla on you-tube and discovered her blog that chronicled her devastating illness. Several hours later he phoned her and by the end of the conversation, they both knew they were on the same wave length. The result is a movie that has the potential to help us find better and more humane ways of dying ... and living. Winner of many audience awards at film festivals. From a 24 year old: “The movie is a true inspiration. I now cherish everything I took for granted an hour ago.” Director: John Zaritsky 2009 ... 90 minutes
2:30 - 2:45 brief discussion of the movie 2:45 - 3:15 break, peruse display tables 3: 15 PM Admission by donation A few short films will precede this feature
Professor Norman Cornett: This documentary is a tribute to Dr. Norman Cornett, a popular Religious Studies professor who taught at McGill University in Montreal for 15 years until he was dismissed in 2007. If we are lucky, every person has that one teacher or professor who blasts open the doors to a greater world, inspires their students and helps them think for themselves. For thousands of McGill students, that honour belongs to Professor Norman Cornett, who won the respect of hundreds of students for his unconventional approach to teaching. He did not lecture, which educator George Leonard describes as “the best way to get information from teacher’s notebook to student’s notebook without touching the student’s mind.” Instead, Dr. Norman Cornett took an alternate route, arriving soundly at its proper destination – the MINDS of his students. And staying there. Thus, instead of the traditional "Knowledge given, knowledge received, knowledge regurgitated" system of post-secondary education, Cornett used what he called "dialogic sessions" to get his students to think critically about various subjects. Cornett wanted his students to become engaged in a complex dance with their own identities. In employing media as varied as contemporary dance, short story, musical performance, documentary film, and political cartoons, Professor Cornett showed his students not only that they were capable of formulating educated opinions about contemporary issues but also, more importantly, that their opinions mattered. Director: Alanis Obomsawin 2009 ... 80 min.
4:40 - 5:00 ... mingle amongst ourselves 5:00 - 6:45 ... dinner break
SATURDAY NIGHT... doors open at 6:45 pm 7:30 PM ... suggested donation $6
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is an EPIC tale of a 3rd generation American midwest farmer. Seen as a pariah in his community for his quirky eccentricities, farmer John Peterson has been called many things: a devil worshipper, an inspiration, and a philosopher of the soil. With the death of his father during the late 60s, a teenaged John takes over the traditional family farm, slowly turning it into an experiment of art and agriculture, making it a haven for hippies, radicals and artists. As he deals with crises faced by other farmers, John’s “differentness” adds extra stress to his life, which makes the movie a chilling study of prejudice and intolerance in rural America. Yet John continues to maintain a powerful connection to the earth. The Real Dirt on Farmer John is an inspiring tale of his tenacity, navigating through the joys and curses of farm life. Director Taggart Siegel made the film by shooting farmer John Peterson over 25 years of their evolving friendship, using multiple media, from 8 mm home movies shot on the farm in the 50s and 60s, to modern video. He succeeds in capturing farmer John’s humorous, heartbreaking and spirited life with raw drama and intimacy. The audience will be moved and inspired by Farmer John’s courage to powerfully commit to what he believes in. From Roger Ebert: “This is a loving, moving, inspiring, quirky documentary...visionaries like Peterson are finding a way back to the land.” From Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune: “full of curious triumphs and outlandish redemptions. ...effectively links the political and artistic rebellions of the '6o's to the ecological movements of today...” Director: Taggart Siegel 2005 ... 83 minutes
For more information 250 247 8350
|
