WPIRG

Winter/Spring 2012:

 

Marx Reloaded

Wednesday, February 8^th 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

The global economic and financial crisis triggered the deepest global recession in 70 years and prompted the US government to spend more than 1 trillion dollars in order to rescue its banking system from collapse. Today the full implications of the crisis in Europe and around the world still remain unclear. Nevertheless, should we accept the crisis as an unfortunate side-effect of the free market? Or is there another explanation as to why it happened and its likely effects on our society, our economy and our whole way of life?

Today a new generation of philosophers, artists and political activists are returning to Marx’s ideas in order to try to make sense of the crisis and to consider whether a world without or beyond capitalism is possible. Is the severity of the ongoing recession a sign that the capitalist system’s days are numbered? Ironically, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, could it be that communism might provide the solution to the growing economic and environmental challenges facing the planet?

Written and directed by Jason Barker – himself an experienced writer, lecturer, translator and doctor of philosophy – MARX RELOADED comprises interviews with leading thinkers on Marxism, including those at the forefront of a popular revival in Marxist and communist ideas. The film also includes interviews with leading skeptics of this revival as well as light-hearted animation sequences which follow Marx’s adventures through the matrix of his own ideas.

Interviews with leading experts include: Norbert Bolz, Micha Brumlik, John Gray, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Nina Power, Jacques Rancière, Peter Sloterdijk, Alberto Toscano, Slavoj Zizek.

Occupation 101

Wednesday, March 14^th 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict — ‘Occupation 101′ presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets. The film covers a wide range of topics — which include — the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880′s, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.

Cultures of Resistance

Wednesday, April 11^th 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, acclaimed filmmaker Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, traveling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change. From Iran, where graffiti and rap became tools in fighting government repression, moving on to Brazil, where musicians reach out to slum kids and transform guns into guitars, and ending in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, where photography, music, and film have given a voice to those rarely heard, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.

Wiebo’s War

Wednesday, May 9^th 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

WIEBO’S WAR tells the story of a Christian Community, at war with the oil and gas industry. Wiebo Ludwig is the prime suspect in a series of pipeline bombings. The bombings echo a campaign of sabotage he waged against the gas industry 10 years ago … barricading roads, blowing up wells, and culminating in the unsolved death of a 16-year-old girl on his family’s farm.

The Ludwig family live in northern Alberta, in the heart of Canada’s oilpatch. They came 25 years ago, wanting to live more closely according to their Christian beliefs, according to scripture. They built their community in the wilderness with their own hands, not knowing that it lay on top of one of the largest undeveloped fields of natural gas on the continent. Other people take whatever buyout is on offer, and make an accommodation with the oil and gas industry. Wiebo and his family – after years of trying to deal with the industry, politicians and the media – went to war.

The community is self-sufficient in food and energy, but isolated. Apart from Wiebo and his wife Mamie, there are 5 married couples, seven unmarried adults, and 38 grandchildren, many entering their teenaged years. They are security conscious, aware that they are being watched, open to the outside world, but guarded. And they believe that those who don’t share their beliefs, like filmmaker David York, are living in terrible darkness.

If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Wednesday, June 13^th 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front– a group the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.” For years, the ELF—operating in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership—had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of destroying the environment: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge at Vail, Colorado. With the arrest of Daniel and thirteen others, the government had cracked what was probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the group responsible for the very first ELF arsons in this country.

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of this ELF cell, by focusing on the transformation and radicalization of one of its members. Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.

Drawing from striking archival footage — much of it never before seen — and intimate interviews with ELF members, and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them, IF A TREE FALLS explores the tumultuous period from 1995 until early 2001 when environmentalists were clashing with timber companies and law enforcement, and the word “terrorism” had not yet been altered by 9/11.

Fall 2011:

 

The Coca-Cola Case

Wednesday, October 5^{th :} 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

Colombia is the trade union murder capital of the world. Since 2002, more than 470 workers’ leaders have been brutally killed, usually by paramilitaries hired by private companies intent on crushing the unions. Among these unscrupulous corporate brands is the poster boy for American business: Coca-Cola.

Talk to Martin Gil: His brother Isidro was killed at point-blank range while working at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Carepa, because he was part of a union bargaining unit. Like most violent crimes committed against Colombian union leaders, Gil’s murder went unpunished. However, U.S. lawyers Daniel Kovalik and Terry Collingsworth, as well as activist Ray Rogers, stepped in and launched an ambitious crusade against the behemoth Coca-Cola. In an incredible three-year saga, filmmakers Germán Gutiérrez and Carmen Garcia follow these heroes in a legal game of cat and mouse.

From Bogotá to New York, Guatemala to Atlanta, Washington to Canada, The Coca-Cola Case maintains the suspense of a hard-fought struggle. The lawyers filed several cases at the U.S. federal court against Cola-Cola for murder, abduction and torture committed in Colombia and Guatemala. Thanks to activist Ray Rogers, they also attacked the brand image of the Atlanta-based giant, with the devastating campaign Stop Killer Coke!, causing dozens of U.S. colleges and universities to boycott the drink. Still the company would not give up. After five years of haggling, will the lawyers get justice? In the end, they reach a settlement of sorts, but what will the victims choose – cash, or power and integrity?

Budrus

Wednesday, October 19^th: 7-9pm @Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

Ayed Morrar, an unlikely community organizer, unites Palestinians from all political factions and Israelis to save his village from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Victory seems improbable until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines.
 Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, BUDRUS shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat yet remain virtually unknown to the world. The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor Control Room, co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, director of Encounter Point).


While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. Ayed succeeded in doing what many people believe to be impossible: he united local Palestinian political factions, including Fatah and Hamas; he brought women to the heart of the struggle by encouraging his daughter Iltezam’s leadership; and he welcomed hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory for the first time and join this nonviolent effort.
Budrus includes diverse voices from the Palestinian leaders of the movement and their Israeli allies to an Israeli military spokesman, Doron Spielman, and Yasmine Levy, the Israeli border police officer stationed in the village at that time. While many documentaries about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict either romanticize the notion of peace, or dwell entirely on the suffering of victims to the conflict, this film focuses on the success of a Palestinian-led nonviolent movement.

You Never Bike Alone

Wednesday, November 2^nd: 7-9pm @ University of Waterloo TBA

Cyclists are building critical mass in Vancouver, Canada, and changing the face of the city. 
YOU NEVER BIKE ALONE charts the development of critical mass rides in Vancouver from the protest rides across the historic Lions Gate Bridge in the early to mid-Nineties, through the “No Fun City” years of the late 1990s and early 2000s, where cyclists were routinely arrested for riding together, up to giant Critical Mass rides of more recent years. Vancouver has become renowned for its big Critical Mass bike rides, and particularly the party spirit that attracts all types of cyclists.


Along the way, YOU NEVER BIKE ALONE strips down for the Wholesome Undie (an underwear ride protesting the Molson Indy race) and throws caution to the wind for the World Naked Bike Ride, a ride founded in Vancouver by a Critical Mass regular.  We catch up with the local “freak” bike collective (who make art bikes from recycled machines) and look at how cyclists are sharing the “velo love” through buildathons, street theatre, and rides.



Drawing on footage shot over the last decade, YOU NEVER BIKE ALONE asks whether cycle activists are succeeding in their goals. Through interviews with motorists “stuck in traffic,” cyclists of all backgrounds, and local politicians, some of whom ride on the Mass themselves, it asks whether Critical Mass and similarly styled rides are winning hearts and minds.

Crude Sacrifice

Wednesday, November 16^th: 7-9pm @ University of Waterloo TBA

Crude Sacrifice takes a look at how one northern community, Fort Chipewyan is affected by the exploitation of Canada’s rich Tar Sands development, and how Canada is dealing with their concerns. The health of the land and the people living near the world’s largest construction project is discussed by leading scientists and the Aboriginal Peoples. Although this town is located near the earth’s second largest fresh water delta, they can no longer drink the water, or eat the fish and other game food which sustained them for thousands of years.

500 Years Later

Wednesday, November 30^th: 7-9pm @ Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

Until Lions tell their tale, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter- African proverb Crime, poor education, poverty, self-hatred, prison system, broken homes plague people of African descent globally – Why?

Filmed in over twenty countries and on five continents, 500 Years Later is a compelling journey, infused with the spirit and music of liberation, that chronicles the struggle of a people from enslavement who continue to fight for the most essential human right – freedom. 500 Years Later is an epic multi-award winning documentary directed by Owen ‘Alik Shahadah’.

Better This World

Wednesday, December 14^th:7-9pm @Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen Street South)

How did two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas wind up arrested on terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican National Convention? Better This World follows the journey of David McKay (22) and Bradley Crowder (23) from political neophytes to accused domestic terrorists with a particular focus on the relationship they develop with a radical activist mentor in the six months leading up to their arrests. A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal, Better This World goes to the heart of the War on Terror and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in post-9/11 America.