|
|
May 18, 2007
A mix of hope and despair
DOXA films focus on problems at home and in the Middle East.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
The DOXA Documentary Film Festival takes place May 22-27 and the
Jewish Independent reviewed four films with an Israeli or Jewish
connection. They deal with a range of issues, from children's health
to Arab-Israeli co-operation, and are, for the most part, educational
and entertaining.
Ubiquitous pollution
It's the stuff of comic books: a regular, perhaps somewhat evil,
guy falls into toxic waste and morphs into the villain Green Slop,
or something along those lines. But the real-life toxic soup that
is our body is no laughing matter. In fact, it's pretty damn scary.
According to Toxic Trespass, Canadian babies are born with
up to 287 industrial chemicals in their blood. In the documentary,
director (and parent) Barri Cohen investigates the connections between
industrial chemicals, environmental degradation and childhood illness.
She confronts polluters, researchers who see no conclusive link
between environmental poisoning and childhood disease and the government
officials whose job, she feels, it is to protect us. She also meets
with families whose lives have been changed forever by serious childhood
illness.
Toxic Trespass focuses on Windsor and Sarnia, two Ontario
cities that border the United States, where petrochemical and auto
plants work around the clock and thousands of diesel-spewing trucks
pass every day. While the apparent effects of pollution may be more
prominent in these areas, Cohen believes that all of us should be
concerned about the state of our air, water and overall environmental
quality.
The film notes that childhood cancers are on the rise, along with
asthma and neurological diseases. Even if industry is operating
within legal limits, what if those limits are wrong? asks Cohen.
In her view, too little is being done with regard to examining the
effect that toxic emissions and chemicals have on our health. Even
if we don't live near a factory, limiting our exposure to hazardous
materials seems impossible, given that everything – including
kitchen and hair-care products, food, toys and furniture –
is rife with chemicals: stain repellents, flame retardents, pesticides,
etc.
Toxic Trespass is short on answers, but full of questions
– questions we should be asking more often and more forcefully.
When Toxic Trespass screens Wednesday, May 23, 7 p.m., at
Pacific Cinémathèque, Cohen will be in attendance
and a discussion will follow. Tickets are $10.
Helping black youth
Imagine being stopped by the police three times in one day –
just because of the color of your skin. Imagine spending your days
working tirelessly to help (often unappreciative) at-risk youth,
yet being treated as a criminal – again, just because of the
color of your skin. How would you wake up and face each day?
Brian Henry volunteers with the youth agency HOOD-LINC. In EMPz
4 Life, a documentary by Allan King, Henry is seen chauffeuring,
feeding, advising and advocating for young blacks from Toronto's
suburbs who are in danger of becoming involved (or more involved)
in illegal activities that could land them in prison - or dead.
One youth, for example, survived a drive-by shooting that took out
his family's front window.
"They are trying to kill you," Henry warns the teen, adding,
"Did you see your mother's face?" before explaining that
violence never ends well.
Henry is tough on his charges, but dogged on their behalf, trying
to keep them in school. He knows from personal experience what can
happen when such kids are permitted to go astray, having been imprisoned
when he was 18 years old. This is why he is so fearful when the
police randomly stop any black person in the neighborhood after
a criminal incident – he feels that his past will be held against
him, despite his clean record since and his incredible volunteer
work. This is also what really disheartens him – that he and
the youth can do everything right, but they'll always be treated
poorly because they're black.
Henry has some support, though. There are others who are also trying
to help these youth. One of them is mathematician and writer John
Mighton, whose math classes not only teach numeracy, but build self-confidence.
It is the reaction of the youth to an A+ exam mark or a correct
quiz answer that is the most inspirational part of this documentary,
which can be a bit slow at times.
EMPz 4 Life plays Thursday, May 24, 1 p.m., at Vancouver
International Film Centre. Tickets are $8. While this film has been
classified for all ages, parental guidance is suggested.
Illegal workers' lives
"Thousands of Palestinians from the occupied territories are
employed in building the Israeli city, Modi'in.
"In recent years, since Israel began imposing severe restrictions
on the entry of Palestinians to Israel, employment of most of these
workers has become illegal. With no sources of livelihood in the
Palestinian territories, they endanger themselves by infiltrating
Israel and live hiding in the hills overlooking the city, subject
to the constant pursuit of the security forces."
This is the introduction to 9 Star Hotel, which then follows
a group of these workers through a few days of their harsh existence.
Filming with a hand-held camera, Israeli director Ido Haar captures
an intimate – if sometimes dizzying – view of these Palestinians;
their living conditions, their friendships and their determination
to survive. For example, while they sleep in ramshackle, coffin-like
beds built into the hillsides, they adorn them with cozy pillows
and stay up at night talking about their families, checking cellphone
messages and discussing various issues.
While interesting and important to learn something about the lives
of these people who must make the exhausting and dangerous –
because they must avoid security – journey from the territories
into Israel to find employment, 9 Star Hotel would have had
more impact had it been shorter. Many scenes are repetitive and
many shots are held too long. For example, even if the beautiful
scenery juxtaposes artistically with the horrible situation of these
workers or emphasizes the parallels between the rocky terrain and
their difficult lives, we don't need more than one or two panoramic
views of it to get the point.
9 Star Hotel was chosen best documentary in the Wolgin Competition
of the 2006 Jerusalem International Film Festival. It is in Arabic
with English subtitles. It screens on Saturday, May 26, 7 p.m.,
at the Vancouver International Film Centre. Tickets are $10.
Learning peace at Galil
Talk about tackling issues head on. The Galil School has no fear.
Two hundred children aged six to 14 (Muslims, Jews and Christians)
study at Galil, the first bilingual Jewish-Arabic school in Israel.
Each class is half Jewish and half Arabic and has two teachers,
teaching in both Hebrew and Arabic. No subject is taboo and students
are encouraged to openly discuss events, such as the formation of
the state of Israel, from both the Israeli and the Palestinian perspective.
Galil: A School With No Walls, directed by Avi Hershkovitz and
Sharon Hammou, focuses on a fifth grade classroom at Galil. The
children argue about regular kid stuff like who's playing fairly
in a soccer game, as well as contentious issues, such as 13 Arab
protesters being killed by Israeli police in 2000.
The documentary also explores the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by
showing candid discussions among the school's staff and between
the parents who send their kids to Galil.
The school seems a remarkable place. It offers hope for an eventual
cessation of hostilities, especially now that a junior high school
has been approved by Israel's Ministry of Education. Upon graduation,
these children will have known each other for 12 years and the theory
is that good friends will make poor enemies. As everyone interviewed
in the film admits, it may be just a drop in the bucket ... but
it's a start.
Galil is in Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. It
screens on Sunday, May 27, 4 p.m., at Pacific Cinémathèque.
Tickets are $8.
For more information about these and other DOXA films, call 604-646-3200
or visit www.doxafestival.ca.
^TOP
|
|
