“So then, for the first time, I wondered about love and wondered if I would find strength to give love, and to take it: to accept my nakedness as sacred, and to hold sacred the nakedness of another. For without love, pleasure’s inventions are soon exhausted. There must be a soul within the body you are holding, a soul which you are striving to meet, a soul which is striving to meet yours.”
James Baldwin, “Just Above My Head” James Baldwin, 1979.
John Chau was an American Christian zealot, most likely affected by the Messiah Complex. This 26 year old man in his twenties was, pardon the expression, “hellbent” on heading to the North Sentinel Island, an Indian possession, to bring the word of “his” saviour to the heathen and dangerous hunters and gatherers populating the island. Fueled by his evangelical beliefs and his student days at Oral Roberts University he plans and trains for his holy mission.
Through his parents, friends and missionary guidance agencies and armed with a waterproof Bible he lands on the island waving his Bible in the name of Jesus Christ and promptly has an arrow pierce his bible as a warning. He regrouped and heading back to the beach Chau was never seen again. But his trip journal and his diaries were open to the filmmakers.
John Chau was one of the thousands of Christian missionaries meeting their demise attempting to save the souls of the heathen and primitive full well knowing the Indian government prohibits any visits to the island. As one former missionary remarks the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island are no more primitive than those trying to save their souls. The Happy Christian brings deadly diseases and over the past century and some were kidnapped by missionaries so why would the Bible thumpers ever be permitted to destroy their society. Just look to the well meaning if not fanatical Christian army that imprisoned aboriginal children in residential schools in Canada tearing apart families and attempting to eradicate “primitive” aboriginal cultures. Yes who are the savages?
A story of zeal, stupidity, cultural and religious imperialism? Well back at Oral Roberts University they have a new martyr to champion to whip up the fervor of the next John Chau? Donations accepted!
Theatrical release in Canada will be October 20.
“The Mission” was directed by Amanda McBaine and Amanda McBaine .
RKS 2023 Film Rating: 90/100.
“Whoever is born in New York is ill-equipped to deal with any other city: all other cities seem at best, a mistake, and, at worst, a fraud. No other city is so spitefully incoherent. Whereas other cities flaunt their history-their presumed glory-in vividly placed monuments, squares, parks, plaques, and boulevards, such history as New York has been unable entirely to obliterate is to be found, mainly, in the backwaters of Wall Street, in the goat tracks of Old and West Broadway, in and around Washington Square, and, for the relentless searcher, in grimly inaccessible regions of the Bronx.”
James Baldwin, “Just Above My Head”, 1979
“Failure to Protect”, although dealing with California’s Child Protective Services (CPS), has wider implications than simply Californian juvenile protection. It may apply to many jurisdictions in Europe and North America.
The doc follows five parents throughout the state of California as they fight through the child protection regime in California to reunite with their state abducted children.
Best not to take sides by becoming emotionally involved with their battles. Better to walk away with why the child protective regime does not work well. As an ex-social worker in the child protective regime states there are certainly valid instances where for the protection of children they be removed from parental custody and placed in foster care but there are so many flaws in the system that it is “totally ineffective”. It is a system that confuses poverty with child neglect and abuse with young newly minted graduates trained as social workers having no idea of the reality about family life. Its governmental funding rewards child abduction as opposed to reducing the causes that may lead to state child abduction. And as one lawyer involved with CPS says the child welfare protection regime is set in a legal framework and unless you understand the rules you will be chewed up and spat out in Netanyahuesque fashion!
The CPS hotline, a quasi “Crime Stoppers” reporting line, receives approximately 220,000 calls a year. 30% of the calls result in a police and/or a social worker visit and children can be whisked off in a police car within an hour of arriving. Under California law a child can be abducted by the state if there is a negligent parent or guardian who failed to protect their child from serious harm. Note the subjective terms in italics that must be established and the social worker of today often takes the word of a child as true. Many social workers today work backwards by assuming guilt then work backwards by finding “evidence” to justify their assumption of guilt instead of assembling evidence to establish guilt or innocence.
An accused in an American criminal proceeding has constitutional rights, will not be subject to hearsay evidence and is presumed innocent unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. A parent in a child welfare state abduction may have hearsay evidence applied against them, has no constitutional rights as a parent and often with the child’s story taken as the gospel truth even if there are defiance pediatric mental health issues, such as Obsessive Defiance Disorder the parent is guilty.
Listen to aggrieved parents, social workers, former social workers, judges, support services for parents of state abducted children and the children themselves and come to your decision if child welfare laws are protective of children the way in which they are applied. Note the disproportionate number of black and brown parents in the CPS system.
“Failure to Protect” was directed and produced by Jeremy Pilon-Berlin.
Opening on digital platforms on 17October2023. You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/451205389
RKS 2023 Film Rating 78/100.
It was Crazy Horse that said, “I see a time of 7 generations when all the colours of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and the whole earth will become one circle again.”
Eagle Vision and APTN’s factual series 7TH GEN returns for season two with ten new episodes featuring some of the most inspiring young Indigenous leaders from across the country. The series returns for season two on APTN in English on Friday, October 13th at 8 pm (PST/ET) and on Monday, October 9th at 8:30 pm (PST/ET) and again on Tuesday, October 10th at 7:30 am (PST/ET) in Cree.
EPISODE 1: Layten Byhette from Buffalo River Dene Nation and Fond du Lac First Nations is a drag queen revelling in live drag performances that include comedy. His two-spirit constitution was grudgingly accepted by family and the indigenous community but not his drag queen obsession which caused shame amongst many until it was clear after his appearance on Canada’s Drag Queen he could be a success in life. But in this rise to possible fame he is rooted to both the indigenous and queer community. He has created a clothing line and hopes to represent queer and indigenous talent so he has not been co-opted out of the indigenous community in his search for fame.
EPISODE 2: Natasha Kanapé Fontaine an Innu from Pessamit now living in Montreal is an internationally recognized poet, actress, visual artist and performer promoting indigenous and environmental rights. The discovery of her artistic self was basically a voyage of discovery as to her familial and cultural past very much influenced by growing up partially with her grandparents. As a child she moved to Baie Comeau in Quebec and experienced aboriginal directed racism. If her poetry can cause a connection to indigenous culture so they can understand the Inuit connection to nature she has partially accomplished her mission.
EPISODE 3: Mihskakwan James Harper from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has a master’s degree in engineering and is a recognized expert in renewable energy and how indigenous beliefs and traditions can lead the way towards clean and renewable energy. He is also a staunch proponent of supporting indigenous youth on the path to clean and renewable energy. While urban raised in Edmonton and Winnipeg frequent trips to his Sturgeon Lake family ensured he never lost a deep appreciation to indigenous culture and practices particularly never take more than you need from the earth and take it with humbleness and thankfulness. To all youth he believes that as for him and all youth there will always be a supporter to get you through.
A very welcome series that builds on APTN’s recent series “Yukon Harvest”. Yes no one can escape from their history but to continually dwell on residential schools, horrific conditions in “reservations”, drug and alcohol abuse and colonization loses its impact in depressive negativity. “7th Gen” brings to the screen hope and celebration for indigenous culture.
Excuse the personal example but I lost my dog of 15 years in mid July and suffering terrible grief I was stuck on those last moments and weeks of his life driving the grief deeper. There were many happy moments with my Dylan and I see him staring at me and telling me, “Don’t you dare dwell on the last days of my life. We had a fantastic life together so think about that in my honour!”. Do you think the six generations would want the 7th Generation and Canadians to dwell on nothing but misery?
Watch the trailer here if you want a flavour for the “7th Gen” series https://vimeo.com/eaglevisioncentral/review/863332960/4e5b900f29
Languedoc wines years ago had a very poor reputation as cheap rotgut for the Parisian working class. Yes, apparently it was even blended with wine from the French colony Algeria. Fast forward to today where modernization and agricultural improvements have wiped out Languedoc’s reputation as the land of rotgut. Prices are generally affordable. Quality is there.
We try a Domaine de Fabrègues a blend of Cinsault (50%), Mourvedre (40%) and Carignan (10%).
Aroma: Hints of a lighter red wine with high toned red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate.
Palate: The cherry and raspberry motor on. A light red with low tannins and a surprisingly long finish. It may be light but not flinty. Well assembled.
Personality: I am no mega blaster. Surely you folks require a light gem like yours truly. At this price Penniless Pensioners you can afford me.
Food Match: Ham and cheese on a fresh baguette from my favourite bakery in the 7th arrondissement just off Pont De L’Alma. Sold out by 10 a.m. I was last there in October 2019 so I can’t remember the name of the boulangerie.
Cellarbility: Will not improve with age but can sail into the end of 2024.
Price: $ 15.95 CDN.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100. Decanter World Wine Awards 92.
(Domaine de Fabrègues 2019 L’Oreé, AOP Languedoc, Domaine de Fabrègues, Aspiran, France, 750 mL, 13%).
Do you like vampire movies? That alone should fuel your desire to watch “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” which is Montreal director Ariane Louis-Seize’s first feature length film and pardon the pun but a “bloody” good one!
Sasha (Sara Montpetit) is a 68-year-old teen vampire living with her vampire family but she has one problem. She has no desire to hunt and kill her human victims! Her mother and father visit vampire specialists who find somehow Sasha’s brain has not developed in a killer fashion. So a viewer is flooded with a huge wall of absurdity with a vampire that drinks blood from baggies stored in the refrigerator by her cousin Denise and the rest of the family.
While Denise focuses on young men for her dinner late developer Sasha just can’t do the same. She then meets suicidal teen Paul (Felix Antoine Bénard) bullied and miserable by the high school crowd. He is willing to give his life to Sasha suicidal that he is. At this point the vampire genre gives way to a classic coming of age film. Sasha and Paul are on the fringes of a milieu they should be comfortable with. Much of the film is death focused but it takes a twist to a love of life and as a teen, even a 68-year-old one, can find a comfortable character niche. After all what is wrong with a vampire seeking consenting suicidal persons for their dinner?
Both Montpetit and Bénard have a convincing cloud of alienation and hope swirling about them and in this (please forgive me director!) Guillermo Del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) and Tim Burtonesque “Bettlejuice”) fashion deliver at times haunting perfection.
Theatrical release is on October 13th! A Monty Python streak in the film in my mind. Love that “Men in Black” final scene!
RKS 2023 Film 89/100.
“I didn’t want nine toes, I wanted all ten, and I had fucking well had no eyes for Korea. I didn’t see what right I would have to be there, what right anybody had to send my black ass there. I don’t think anybody can really hate his country, I don’t think that is possible; but you can certainly despise the road your country travels, and the people they elect to lead them on that road. If I had been a white man, I would have been ashamed, really, to send a black man to fight for me. But shame is individual, not collective, and, collectively speaking, white people have no shame. They have the shortest memories of any people of the world-which explains, no doubt, why they have no shame.”
James Baldwin, “Just Above My Head”, 1979
Citizen Minutes is a collection of Canadian short documentaries highlighting ordinary Canadians doing extraordinary things “to make their communities better places” at least according to Hot Docs. The series of shorts will be playing in select Canadian cities.
“Mind Check 1-2 1-2” is a short documentary in which hip hopper Ian Keteku known as AK or Akitone sings and speaks live about mental health primarily to youth as according to Youth Mental Health Canada 70% of mental health problems have their onset during youth and adolescence and Canada’s youth suicide rate is the third highest in the industrialized world. AK has the creds to vocalize about mental health suffering from severe anxiety himself.
“Mind Check 1-2 1-2” is just over 9 minutes and is directed and written by Keteku.
Each screening of these collection of docs will be free and followed by an audience Q&A “with the goal of inspiring collaborative dialogue about civic engagement and the many forms it can take” according to Hot Docs.
Theatrical dates in Canada are;
October 16th – Rio Theatre, Vancouver, BC, 6:30 pm – Host Angela Steritt
October 25th – Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Toronto, ON, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Ismaila Alfa and a special guest performance by Akitone.
November 9th – Calgary Central Library, Calgary, AB, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Angela Knight
November 27th – Cinema Du Musée – Montreal, QC, 6:30 pm – CBC Daybreak Host Sean Henry
November 27th – Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Preston Mulligan and a special guest performance by comedian Janelle Niles.
Citizen Minutes is a collection of Canadian short documentaries highlighting ordinary Canadians doing extraordinary things “to make their communities better places” at least according to Hot Docs. The series of shorts will be playing in select Canadian cities.
“Do You Hear What I Hear” is a short documentary in which writer and director Cat Mills profiles a couple of Toronto women who hear all to well the noise surrounding Torontonians. Modified muffler monster vehicles you can hear 7 kilometres away. Ambulances, police cars and fire trucks. Politicians acknowledge the problem but do nothing about it. By-law officers can capture noise offenders but must call police to take action which means nothing but finger pointing for why offenders are rarely punished.
Take my word for it Toronto fire trucks blasting away actually make me lose my hearing for a few seconds after they rush away all six of them to rescue one person who has just had a heart attack along with two police cars and an ambulance.
“Do You Hear What I Hear” is just over 8 minutes and is directed and written by Cat Mills.
Each screening of these collection of docs will be free and followed by an audience Q&A “with the goal of inspiring collaborative dialogue about civic engagement and the many forms it can take” according to Hot Docs.
Theatrical dates in Canada are;
October 16th – Rio Theatre, Vancouver, BC, 6:30 pm – Host Angela Steritt
October 25th – Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Toronto, ON, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Ismaila Alfa and a special guest performance by Akitone.
November 9th – Calgary Central Library, Calgary, AB, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Angela Knight
November 27th – Cinema Du Musée – Montreal, QC, 6:30 pm – CBC Daybreak Host Sean Henry
November 27th – Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS, 6:30 pm – CBC Host Preston Mulligan and a special guest performance by comedian Janelle Niles.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity