2009
BLACK WAVE
Directed by Robert Cornellier
(Canada, 99 min., world premiere, Canadian Spectrum)
In the early hours of March 24th, 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil supertanker runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, a pristine area immensely rich in marine life. It discharges millions of gallons of crude oil – the black wave. Almost instantly, dramatic images of the accident crisscross the planet, marking the incident as the biggest environmental catastrophe in North American history. Exxon launches a spectacular cleanup opération paired with an unprecedented public relations campaign. But the damage is done and far too deep. For 20 years, marine biologist and activist Riki Ott and the fishermen of the little town of Cordova, Alaska have waged the longest legal battle in U.S. history against the world’s most powerful oil company – ExxonMobil. A five billion-dollar class-action suit involves 32,000 people. But the environmental, social and economic consequences of the black wave that have altered the lives of tens of thousands of people, reducing them to poverty and despair. Toward the end of their judicial saga, Riki Ott and the fishers of Cordova ask if corporate values have trumped human rights and community values in the United States today. And they look for ways to rebuild their lives. This is the legacy of the Exxon Valdez…
Related Links:
Screening Info:
- Sunday, May 3, 6:30pm, Bloor Cinema
- Monday, May 4, 4pm, Innis Town Hall
Talent Attending:
- Director Robert Cornellier
CAT LADIES
Directed by Christie Callan-Jones
(Canada, 58 min., world premiere, Canadian Spectrum)
CAT LADIES is a verité documentary that pierces the intimate world of the “cat lady” – women who give and seek love in their world with their cats. Four different women who have been slapped with the same label: “The Crazy Cat Lady”. Through intimate access with Diane, Margot, Sigi and Jenny, we create a sensitive and emotionally honest portrait of women whose lives and self-worth have become intractably linked to cats. Some of these women have only a few cats; others share their small homes with hundreds. They’ve created an alternative society for themselves that they share with their feline companions. But it’s not the number of cats they possess that defines them, but rather their struggle to find acceptance and value in a society that rejects them. These women are easily dismissed and yet deal with the issues that everyone faces to a degree – rejection, loss and loneliness.
Screening Info:
- Friday, May 1, 6:30pm, Cumberland Cinema
- Saturday, May 9, 9:45pm, Royal Cinema
Talent Attending:
- Director Christie Callan-Jones
JACKPOT
Directed by Alan Black
(Canada, 50 min., world premiere)
JACKPOT takes the viewer inside the sometimes strange, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, and always compelling world of hardcore Bingo players. With their cards laid out in front of them, and their hopes and dreams riding on the next number out of the machine, these passionate players have devoted an innumerable amount of money, time, and effort to the pursuit of a game that does not require skill but rather patience, determination, and a great deal of luck. As we peel away the layers, JACKPOT becomes about more than just the game of Bingo, but rather about the nature of luck, superstition, chance, and the need for people to feel like victory is possible…even if it is always just one number away.
Screening Info:
- Friday May 1, 10pm, Royal Cinema
- Sunday May 10, 6:30pm, Bloor Cinema
Talent Attending:
- Director Alan Black
THE TIGER NEXT DOOR
Directed by Camilla Calamandrei
(USA, 86 min., world premiere, World Showcase)
THE TIGER NEXT DOOR tells the story of Dennis Hill who has been breeding and selling tigers from his backyard in Flat Rock, Indiana for over 15 years. Hill’s dream is to make his fortune breeding stripeless white tigers — but at what cost to the animals, and at what risk to the community? Hill has lost his federal license to keep captive wild animals and the state of Indiana is threatening to shut him down. He has five days to bring his facilities up to code – or lose all of his animals for good. THE TIGER NEXT DOOR follows Hill over the days and months that follow, exploring his motives, his past, and the curious, ethically-murky world he’s created in his backyard. Reaching far beyond Hill’s compound, the film also illuminates the connection between breeders and the captive wild-animal ownership in the U.S. Experts estimate that there are now more tigers in private hands in the U.S. than there are roaming wild in the world (until just last week March 17, 2009, it was legal in British Columbia, to keep a tiger, lion, panther or any number of other large wild animals as a pet.) THE TIGER NEXT DOOR presents arguments for and against the keeping of wild animals and raises the question of the nature of the relationship we can have with wild animals when the wild is disappearing.
Related Links:
Screening Info:
- Friday, May 8, 10pm, Royal Cinema
- Sunday, May 10, 1:30pm, Bloor Cinema
Talent Attending:
- Director Camilla Calamandrei
WHEN WE WERE BOYS
Directed by Sarah Goodman
(Canada, 81 min., world premiere, Canadian Spectrum)
At an elite private boys’ school, students make and lose friends, create a pecking order, and begin their path to manhood. The adolescent culture of boys lies beneath the surface, an emotional world often unspoken to each other or to the adults around them. One moment, they seem like children, the next like the men they will become. WHEN WE WERE BOYS centers on the friendship of two boys in particular : Noah and Colin, best friends since grade school. Noah is the sincere, polite star of the choir; Colin is the charming troublemaker who makes the choirmaster’s life difficult. As adolescence kicks in, the differences between the two boys become magnified and they start to drift apart. Colin is more interested in his new friends, while Noah becomes the odd boy out. As Colin and Noah are on their way to becoming young men by re-defining who they are, their paths become more solitary, especially for Noah.
Screening Info:
- Friday, May 1, 9pm, Cumberland Cinema
- Sunday, May 10, 4pm, Bloor Cinema
Talent Attending:
- Director Sarah Goodman
