We spoke to Mysha Dewar-McClelland from WAVAW about being a community partner at DOXA this year. One of the reasons WAVAW supports DOXA is because the film festival showcases stories and messages that aren't necessarily mainstream news, and need to be told. Here is more of what Mysha had to say:
To buy tickets to "BAS! Beyond the Red Light" and "Sin By Silence" visit DOXA
This year, DOXA has several films that touch on gender. Says DOXA: For both men and women, navigating the complexities of gender and sex, power and control has become an increasingly bewildering process. From body issues to the role that porn and pills play in contemporary sexuality, to violence in the name of culture and religion, the forces that impact on this most deeply personal arena need open, frank, and above all, honest assessment. DOXA Documentary Film Festival is very proud to offer a selection of films that engage with these issues through intelligence, humour, and courage.
MALE DOMINATION is another film about gender:
A survey of modern sexism doesn’t quite do Patric Jean’s incendiary film justice. Approaching the titular subject from multiple angles, Jean constructs an enormous assemblage of different ideas, phenomena and interviews, all of which add up to a disturbing vision of contemporary culture. When many young women refuse to use the F-word to describe themselves, and Marc Lepine Day is unofficially celebrated by the Canadian forces, you know that something is deeply wrong. Just how wrong, and exactly how it got that way after the hard-fought battles of second wave feminism, is what Patric is engaged in explaining. It is something of a Herculean task. The reality may be that for a great many women, equality, respect and even common decency, have taken a huge step backwards.
Much more than straightforward assessment of gender disparity, Male Domination follows the tangled skeins of sex, power, suffering and profit to uncover what is at the heart of the increasing divide between men and women. The next time someone says, “I’m not a feminist,” invite them to see this film.
CHECK OUT THESE HELLO COOL WORLD COMMUNITY PARTNERED FILMS:
On February 28, 2006, members of the Iroquois Confederacy (the Haudenosaunee) set up a blockade on a highway near Caledonia, Ontario to prevent a housing development from going ahead on their traditional land. The ensuing confrontation made national headlines for months. However, while most Canadians have watched television news footage of First Nations “protesters” blocking roads and angry non-Aboriginal people who want to get on with business as usual, few ever get the perspective of the First Nations. And even less well known is the perspective of women and in this particular situation, the crucial role of the women of the Six Nations community — the traditional source of power in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
In 2007, filmmaker Michelle Derosier released her dramatic film Seeking Bimaadiziiwin, a fictionalized but realistic depiction of the struggles of First Nations youth dealing with depression, suicide and racism. After auditioning hundreds of young people, Michelle assembled a stunning cast of first-time actors from around Northwestern Ontario. After working with the young “actors” on the film, Derosier decided she wanted to work with them further; this time to make a documentary about their real lives. That is how she came to make The Healing Lens, a film about the healing power of art and culture, and the resiliency of First Nations youth.
[NOTE: for the past four years we have been working with Chee Mamuk Aboriginal Program to make short films in collaboration with youth in communities in BC through a workshop called "Star in Your Own Stories." View these short films at YouthHaveThePower.com.]
In BAS! Beyond the Red Light, 13 young girls who were sold and then rescued from Mumbai’s infamous network of gated brothels, confront the inner and outer perils of life and reveal their very personal story inside the big business of child trafficking.
Julie Bridgham’s film was shot over three of the most tumultuous years in Nepalese history. King Gyanendra’s decision to dissolve parliament and seize power was met with fierce opposition, and as the country was riven by civil war, ordinary families were caught in between.When a woman named Devi Sunuwar spoke out about government brutality, the army kidnapped her daughter Marin, in lieu of Devi herself. For more than three years, Devi tries to discover her daughter’s fate.
An adorable yet precocious 9-year-old Priscilla, tells her single-father, Jesse, “I am going to become a rapper and fulfill your dreams of succeeding in the music business.” Moved by Priscilla’s undeniable passion and impressed with her natural talent, he begins to teach her all he knows about rapping.
Denis Delestrac's "PAX AMERICANA & The Weaponization of Space" is a MUST SEE. (Even if it scares you.) As if there weren’t enough weapons here on earth, space has become the newest arena for countries around the globe to launch their struggle for supremacy. The film is packed full of some truly startling facts — everything from the “Rods of God” (space weapons that can launch from orbit) to the fact that fifty cents of every American tax dollar goes towards military spending. Exec produced by Mark Achbar, and featuring other alumni from The Corporation. Co-writer Harold Crooks, and narrator Mikela Jay will be at the screening.
We are also excited to be supporting our own LACE campaign camera-woman and cohort Melissa James' and Kate Kroll's film No Fun City! Here at Hello Cool World we are always ready to fight for the right to party!!
David Ng is a Hello Cool World veteran with experience going back a decade. David first worked with us when he was just 14 years old as a participant in the youth advisory group for the sexual health education program Condomania. Now an accomplished videographer passionate about the issues of gender and power, he is currently on sabbatical in South Africa while he pursues a Masters in Gender Studies with a focus on international development.
David Ng is a Hello Cool World veteran with experience going back a decade. David first worked with us when he was just 14 years old as a participant in the youth advisory group for the sexual health education program Condomania. Now an accomplished videographer passionate about the issues of gender and power, he is currently on sabbatical in South Africa while he pursues a Masters in Gender Studies with a focus on international development.
