Film Series | Sundays 4 - 25 February

“I dream’d in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth, I dream’d that was the new city of Friends.”

• Walt Whitman

Join us each Sundays throughout February for free weekly film screenings and discussion featuring Canadian documentaries that relate to our current exhibitions and their themes of hospitality and home.

Curated by Crystal Mowry

Sunday 4 February      Where I Belong (Dir. Arinze Eze, 2007)

This documentary tells the story of a young man’s struggle to balance his African traditions and new Canadian home. Arinze Eze was born in Canada and raised in Nigeria. An engineer by trade, he returned to his birthplace after 20 years where he started a new career in the arts and fell in love with a Canadian woman. All is well until his parents come for a visit. How will they react to his new life?

Sunday 11 February    19 Days (Dir. Asha Siad & Roda Siad, 2016)

19 Days reveals the human side of the refugee resettlement process by following several refugee families entering Canada. During the 19-day timeline established by the federal government, refugees are assessed and assisted with everything from airport reception and orientation to referrals, documents, and counselling. A unique look at the global migration crisis and one particular stage of asylum, it lays plain the realities faced on the difficult road towards integration.

Sunday 18 February    People of the Kattawapiskak River (Dir. Alanis Obomsawin, 2012)

The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.

Sunday 25 February    The Grasslands Project - Val Marie Hotel (Dir. Scott Parker, 2016)

This short documentary from a series on life in the Southern prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan introduces us to Aline Laturnus, the woman who puts in long hours to keep the Val Marie hotel running.  Breakfast is at seven a.m., and some nights the bar doesn’t close until two. This hotel is more than just a business: it’s the hub of the community, and Aline knows that closing the establishment would deal this small town a major blow. We follow Aline as she prepares for a big night, and we learn about the importance of the hotel from the people of Val Marie.