Film festivals set for next week
TV shows may come and go, but some films live on forever. Others, that really should be seen, may never reach their intended audience.
Perhaps that’s one reason groups put together film festivals. Next week, southern Alberta’s film fans may have to choose between two such events.
The 31st annual Lethbridge International Film Festival will run March 18-23 while the Fort Macleod
Justice Film Festival will play March 18-19. Co-ordination, anyone?
Each will feature no-charge documentaries on such timely topics as climate change, threats to the family farm and human suffering under totalitarian regimes.
Audience members will be invited to remain for a discussion period after each screening.
Former Canadian TV host Avi Lewis was the director of the opening film — “This Changes Everything,” based on the book by Naomi Klein — in the library’s Theatre Gallery on Friday, 7 p.m.
Daily presentations continue March 19 at 7 with “Grazers: A Co-operative Story” about farmers trying to compete with the corporate marketplace; March 20 with a visit to “Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World” where First Nations people still try to protect their land and seas; and March 21 with “Welcome to Leith,” a Sundance Festival entry telling how a white supremacist attempts to take over an American town.
A Cannes selection, “Coming Home” will follow March 22, showing the tragedy of the Cultural Revolution’s punishment of Chinese intellectuals in the 1970s. Directed by Jon Stewart, “Rose Water” — the final presentation, on March 23 — is based on the story of a journalist jailed in Iran.
More details are online at Facebook.com/LIFF.ca
Compressed into two days, the Fort Macleod festival will open at 5 p.m. Friday in the Empress Theatre with “Alive Inside,” an insight into how music may stir people living with dementia. Then at 7 p.m., “Human Harvest” reveals the illegal “organ harvest” industry in China.
“Family Farm,” at 11 a.m. next Saturday, will show how some Canadian producers can still overcome economic hurdles and succeed. Then at 1 p.m., a visit to “Antarctic Edge” documents the impacts of global warming on a now endangered penguin species.
Then it’s off to San Francisco at 3 p.m. for “Racing to Zero,” offering alternatives to the mountains of garbage growing around the world. “Imminent Danger,” at 5 p.m., examines the American “war on terror” and how it threatens political debate and democracy itself.
The festival will wrap at 7 p.m. with “Most Likely to Succeed,” outlining how some school systems are still based on 1893 beliefs, immune to more recent understandings.
For more details, call the Empress at 553-4404.
Much closer to home, let’s think about cougars — the four-footed variety. Is it still ethical to hunt them for sport? That’s one of the questions at the heart of “Of Least Concern,” the season’s final main-stage drama in University Theatre.
Written and directed by University of Lethbridge professor Ron Chambers — he’s penned about 15 now — it’s designed as an interactive experience where audience members offer their own views. That’s something that won’t work with films, he notes.
“It’s a comedy, I think,” he adds, although it opens the whole question of Canadians’ responsibility to safeguard their natural environment.
The show runs from Tuesday through next Saturday with tickets available through the U of L box office, 329-2616.
And here’s a salute to another U of L achiever, veteran sociology professor Reg Bibby. He’ll be host at the next “PUBlic Professor” event at city hall, on Thursday no less.
The beer might not be green that evening — admission is free — but the topic should prompt lively discussion: the future of the nation’s Christian churches in a time when some Canadians are saying “organized religion” is a relic from the past. Here’s a hint: Bibby’s recent research suggests the Catholics — Irish or just Irish for the day — may enjoy a healthy future! Discussion starts about 7 p.m.
A few more shout-outs: Avison Young, a commercial estate services firm very active in Lethbridge, and its national network have been recognized — for the fifth consecutive year — as a “gold standard” winner among “Canada’s Best Managed Companies” form 2015.
Edmonton-based Covenant Health, owners of the St. Michael’s health care centre and St. Therese Villa in Lethbridge, has become the only Canadian organization recognized by the Ethisphere Institute. The American agency has cited Covenant as one of the world’s “most ethical companies.”
And congratulations to the folks at Connect On Farm, a local firm specializing in nutrition programs for livestock — particularly hogs and poultry — that rely less on antibiotics. After a successful launch, they’re now starting their third year in business.
And here’s a handful of reminders for events over the next week:
On Monday, the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra presents its “Stars of Tomorrow” concert featuring violinist Isabella D’Eloize Perron, at 8 p.m. in Southminster Church.
On Wednesday, U of L religious studies prof John Harding will host a no-charge screening of the film “Princess Mononoke,” described as “an ecological fable” told through animation. Complete with wolf gods and demon boars, it’s set for 7 p.m. in the downtown library’s Theatre Gallery.
And next Saturday, the Lethbridge Skating Club stages its annual “Musicals on Ice, at both 1 and 6 p.m. at the Nicholas Sheran Ice Centre.
Then at 7 p.m., take your pick: the Lethbridge Community Band, silver edition, will offer “Music from Down Under” in the Western Bank Lounge at the Enmax Centre, while at 7:30 the university’s Faculty, Artists and Friends series will present a selection of Latin music along with the premiere of “Unmeasured Prelude for Alto Saxophone” a student composition by
Drew Smith Erfle.