The annual Red Deer Justice Film Festival is again lining up a series of poignant, thought-provoking screenings for Jan. 17-19.
Screenings, many of which will include talks with special guest speakers, will be held in the Margaret Parsons Centre at Red Deer College, beginning with War in the Mind on Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.
War in the Mind is about the impact of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which may affect up to 15% of soldiers by some estimates. According to the Festival’s synopsis, the soldiers who speak out in this film are doing so because they want us to understand what they endure. “They also want to reach out to others who are suffering in silence, and may feel the only way of ending their pain is ending their lives.”
Senator and L. General (Retired) Roméo Dallaire plays a major role in this film. He has spoken about how he suffered from PTSD and had attempted suicide.
The Healthcare Movie follows at 8:15 p.m. It’s the story of how the health care systems in Canada and the United States evolved to be so different, when at one point they were essentially the same. “Most people under the age of 50, in both countries, are not aware of the intensity of the political struggle that led to the universal medical care system in Canada. Nor are they aware of the public relations campaigns, still active today, that have been prevalent in the United States since the early 1900s to dissuade the public from supporting national health care.”
The films set for Jan. 18 include SPOIL – The Fight to Save the Great Bear Rainforest (6 p.m.) and Payback (7:30 p.m.)
Highlights for Jan. 19 include Brooks – The City of 100 Hellos which gives audiences a rare glimpse into the lives of many of the new immigrants, refugees and temporary foreign workers that have moved to Brooks. It also explores the challenges they face and looks at how residents of Brooks feel about the new immigration.
About 10 years ago XL Foods Lakeside Packers Inc. starting bringing over and employing about 2,000 workers from across the world.
“The new immigrants have physically changed this traditional cattle ranching city. Schools teaching English as a second language have been popping up across town as well as different multicultural churches, a mosque and ethnic stores. It is now believed that over 100 languages are spoken in Brooks.”
Screening time is 11 a.m.
Sarabah, to be shown at 1 p.m., follows rapper/singer/activist Sister Fa who is a hero to young women in Senegal and an “unstoppable force for social change.”
A childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she decided to tackle the issue by starting a grassroots campaign ‘Education Without Excision.’
“But until 2010 there’s one place she had never brought her message – back home to her own village of Thionck Essyl, where she fears rejection.”
The film follows Sister Fa on this journey.
Also featured on Jan. 19 are The Fourth World which takes viewers inside slums on three continents to meet individuals caught up in the largest people migration in the history of the world, and The Harvest.
“Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labour as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive.”
The Harvest follows these three individuals as they travel from Texas onion fields to Michigan’s apple orchards and Florida’s tomato fields to “follow the harvest.”
For more information about the Festival and a complete schedule, check out www.justicefilmfestival.ca.
editor@reddeerexpress.com
