Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog is Back: Reviewing the Script of a “Dog Saved My Life” With Nicole Kidman

Before the big cast BBQ tomorrow Nicole (yes we are on a first name basis) hosts a meeting with the cast. To relax the atmosphere Mr. Gordon Lightfoot gets his guitar out and sings “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald”. Bosco, Dylan the Westie and I are so pumped up!

Mr. Gordon Lightfoot then plays a tape of the theme song he has composed for the film called “Paco a Girl’s Best Friend”. It is a haunting song backed up by Inuit throat singers from Northern Canada. The attendees clap and holler and Nicole hides her tears well. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot is not known in Australia. But he will be known very soon. The song has been out for a couple of weeks and is rising like a bullet on the Billboard carts. “MR. GORDON LIGHTFOOT YOU HAVE A SMASH HIT! “

Nicole stands up and speaks, “Hello everyone. It is so good to see you all here. We are going to make the damn best movie ever. It better be just that as executive producer I am funding it. You out there are part of this exciting project so I am counting on you.

Yes, you have read the script through many times but let me give you my take on it. The film is called “A Dog Saved My Life” and I am the lead character Alice Springs. The co-lead is Reggie that marvelous dog sitting in a chair at the back of the room with his name on it. Reggie will be called Paco a rescue dog from the Dominican Republic. Reggie is a newcomer to acting although there are two Disney films “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” and “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog is Back”. Together these two movies are the biggest grossing movies ever. There is also a series “Reggie” on the ABC network in the United States that is syndicated in 33 countries including Australia.

Alice Springs is a rich Australian girl living in Melbourne. She has had three disastrous marriages including the last one where she was severely beaten by her deranged husband. No amount of money can fix her broken soul. So she comes to rough and tumble Darwin Australia to heal. Neither drugs, alcohol, yoga or mindfulness can fix her broken soul. Alice sinks into a deep depression which is so severe neither psychotherapy or anti-depressants can help. She overdoses on pills and survives. Medical intervention saves her but she feels this is really the end of her life.

One day while walking on the beach just over the road from where we sit now she is taking a moody walk with her head down until she sees Paco who she tries to shoo away but Paco stays close sensing danger and Paco is right as a huge saltwater crocodile starts slithering towards Alice who lets out a horrifying scream and starts to run but we Aussies know it is difficult to outrun those brutes  Paco jumps out and heads towards the croc. Imagine the bravery of a 20 pound dog defending Alice against this brute. It will be a fatal bloodbath for him but as a Habanese dog he is an incredible jumper and as the croc now sees a smaller meal he heads towards Paco who jumps high over the croc giving time for Alice to run to safety. A crowd gathers on the beach horrified by the scene. Paco realizes Alice has run to safety and takes one last leap over the croc whose massive jaws just nip his tail. Paco is cut and runs back to Alice to the roar of the crowd. Beach Rangers shoot the croc. Alice is somewhat of a spiritual being and believes in the Buddhist concept of auspicious connections namely that there are no coincidences in her life and that Paco has a role to play in her destiny.

Our special effects guru Martin Malivoire from Canada is here. He promises that he can create a realistic croc attack battle between Paco and the beast and this is a crucial part of the film. He must make it perfect as it might make or break the film.

Paco like Alice is a bit of a reject. He was beaten and abused in the Dominican Republic and we have built a set 15 miles from here to replicate Paco’s village in the Dominican Republic. There will be some 20 minutes shot about Paco’s past which will serve the purpose of establishing that Paco is an outsider like Alice due to his life experiences.

Paco refuses to be touched by Alice who is so shaken up she is escorted to her beach house by two Beach Rangers with Paco following behind. Paco follows her to the door of her house but despite her pleading he refuses to enter her house. There is a big scene with Alice pleading with Paco to come in as she sees a role for him in her future but she is unsure what it is. Paco refuses but he is tormented by his distrust of humans so still refuses to enter. This is an important scene for Russell Crowe who is Paco’s voice as Paco feels a connection and a tremendous amount of sympathy for Alice but through flashbacks, he recalls the abuses he suffered at the hands of humans. Paco feels that he needs a sign that he can trust Alice. Alice goes inside and brings back a bowl of water and some chopped steak and tells Paco just bark when you want to come in. Her actions of kindness may be the sign that Paco is looking for. Well at 4 in the morning he barks waking up Alice who opens the door and Paco jumps in and hides in a broom closet. For the next 10 days we see Alice trying to show Paco she is trustworthy and just like that one morning as the sun is rising he goes up to Alice’s room and jumps on her bed. Alice gestures for Paco to come for a cuddle but he growls at her. Russell again this a key scene as Paco wrestles with the idea of establishing a safe relationship with a human. Paco is on the edge of making a reconnection with humanity and is wrestling with suspicion and distrust rather like Alice.

The rest of the film is about Paco and Alice learning to trust each other. Alice finally makes a connection with a living being and devises a plan to introduce dog therapy in abused women’s centres. She opens 6 of these shelters in Australia. The therapy programme gets thumbs up from the Australian government. Alice finally finds a purpose in life and Paco learns to love Alice and trust humans again.

So there we have it mates. Let’s party at the barbie tomorrow and take a day off then start rehearsals the next day.”

I feel I have a great responsibility as an actor to portray an abused dog that learns to love and trust humans and to the abused women of Australia. And Nicole is so great I simply can’t disappoint her. A successful film will bring Bob and Fay lots of money but they already have so much so money is not the issue here. I also can’t let Martin Malivoire or Mr. Gordon Lightfoot down. “IT’S SO HARD TO BE AN ACTOR! I HAVE SO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY!”

“Mutantism on the March” : Chapter 122 The Mutant Surge in Popularity

Dr. Zodiac was in a joyous mood not only because the “cure liquid” for cancer was causing Earthlings to warm up to Zortixia. Many Earthlings said their countries owed a debt to Zortixia for providing a cure for cancer. Also he was delighted that Zenon Girov the Zodiac serial killer had been cured of his murderous ways. No more murders. After working for several months at a mutant street centre in Ville St. Laurent in Montreal headquartered at the derelict Motel Pierre on Laurentian Boulevard, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montreal. He was at the top of his class and along with some of his fellow students had formed “Legal Rights for Mental Patients” (LRMP). Bertie Foonbean had shown that the abolishment of these odious institutions was, for the moment, impossible. But one could at least take the step to safeguard the rights of patients in these institutions. Zenon was repaying humanity, in some small measure, for the suffering he had caused with his Zodiac killings in San Francisco.

The United Mutations were finally lighting up the scoreboard after years of being shutout. Their credibility was lifted by the many positive remarks Dr. Zodiac had made about them. There was talk of mutants forming political parties throughout the world.

Squid was immersed in the task of explaining to suspicious and paranoid Earthlings that there was a Zortixia. The first shipment of Zortixian “information pamphlets” was now being distributed throughout the world. The response was somewhat lukewarm as the pamphlets became best sellers in the science fiction category. Reviewers praised the imagination and creativity of whomever wrote these booklets. Well at least some recognition was preferable to total ignorance. One would have to persist. Look how long it took the United States to recognize the Peoples Undemocratic Republic of China! Was this reluctance justified with the fact that Zortixians had offered the world a cure for cancer?

Meanwhile the mayor of Montreal Jean Droolpoop, under intense scrutiny for his reckless spending for the 1976 Summer Olympics, was now hosting some international floral show at the cost of unrecoupable millions. The sweet smell of flowers could not disguise the stench of untreated Montreal sewage flowing into the St. Lawrence River. Montreal was dying a slow death along with its ignored infrastructure. He was beginning to sound and look crazed as he now was trying to bring a Grand Prix Racing Event to Montreal. Oh, what godly accomplishments he boasted with such moral bankruptcy. Would he never learn economic prostitution eventually catches up with its perpetuators and benefactors?

Droolpoop was fortunate to have escaped serious questioning at the provincial Woof Woof Commission hearing into Olympic spending. It earned that nickname as there was much barking but little or no biting. It was not really that difficult for Droolpoop as the provincial government of Quebec had given him a script to follow and he just had to act with an angelic smile and follow the script. The Quebec provincial government wanted to cover up the overspending as they had failed to exercise any oversight of Droolpoop. Yes they had been negligent! Just about anyone with a head screwed on tight concluded that Droolpoop was an economic criminal but the powers that be really did not want to do anything about it. “politiques normale”.

Golf and Your Mental Game: The Injured Hunter: Adding to Your Misery and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

There is the ancient tale of a hunter out with his tribe. An enemy tribe spots the hunter and his fellow hunters and zing he gets dinged by an enemy arrow. The injured hunter is in pain and he is trying to deal with that pain. But his mind wanders and he begins to chastise himself for wearing a bright and very visible headdress, for so carelessly being in open sight, for venturing out in the daylight making him an easier target and for being with a bunch of inexperienced hunters that he had to keep an eye on rather than scanning the vista for danger. So he is heaping more mental pain and anger onto his physical pain. Where does that take him? Deeper into misery and suffering.

Think of that story when your ball soars over the green onto a steep hill 20 feet from the green which slopes downward from your ball’s position. You have enough to face with a treacherous chip shot but you berate yourself for using the wrong club, for hitting the ball too far or for not using your usual brand of golf ball. You are thinking all these negative thoughts when your issue at hand is striking a delicate chip shot. You are flustered and your chip is too low and fast and rolls right off the green for a difficult uphill chip so you berate yourself again and so forth. And the negative energy builds and you add onto your distress by thinking that 9 you just scored has ruined your golf game so you start thinking about the back nine instead of your next shot off the tee.

Where did your behaviour and thought process leave you? You are an unhappy and possibly angry golfer because you added a series of negative thoughts when you should have accepted your errant shot and concentrated on “redeeming” yourself with your next shot. Misery compounding misery is not what the happy golfer needs. On to the next hole. That 9 sucks but there is no sense in letting that haunt you and ruining your day. The last thing you need is golfer’s post traumatic stress disorder.

“Mutantism on the March” : Chapter 121 Will a Zortixian Cure for Cancer Lure the Earthlings In?

Squid was not surprised at the choice made by the Zortixian Legislative Assembly about how to approach the Earthlings. They did a great job in quickly understanding Earthling psychology. Squid realized that the Earthlings used technology as a weapon of intimidation so that is why permitting a capture of a Zortixian spacecraft might cause a shift of power on Earth in the favour of any nation that could decipher Zortixian technology on a captured Zortixian spaceship.

The Zortixians thought of a way to worm into the hearts of Earthlings. Dr Zodiac was given several hundred vials of liquid that would cure Earthling cancer a disease unknown in Zortixia. It had taken the most brilliant group of Zortixian scientists a mere 18 days to concoct a cure and Dr. Zodiac under the guise of being a simple country doctor was going to Earth to create some goodwill!

How could a simple country doctor claim he had a cure for cancer? Dr. Zodiac was a laughingstock in the small New Jersey town of Westfield where he administered the liquid to terminally ill cancer patients that were up on their feet in days with no signs of cancer. Desperate people flocked to his office from all parts of the globe for the “cure”. Word spread throughout the world of the “cure”. Big Pharma promised him riches beyond belief for the ingredients of the “cure liquid”.

Dr. Zodiac made himself very clear when he spoke to the world media by saying, “Under no circumstances will I divulge the components of the “cure liquid” to any pharmaceutical company seeking to make a profit from it! Time and time again Big Pharma has shown its insatiable desire for profits over doing much of anything good for mankind. In the United States Big Pharma started taking off after it ensured cannabis was made illegal despite it being used for decades as a remedy for many ailments. Did you know according to United Nation’s research the drug Halium was sold in Colombia at a profit of 932%. These pill pushers have done their utmost to pervert medicine and the concept of healing. If they had their way nations would be drug saturated zombies. It is the good people of the planet Zortixia that have given Earthlings this cure. Thank the Zortixians for the cure not Big Pharma profit mongers. The Zortixians have assured me there is enough of the “cure liquid” for the entire planet. I will set up a “Zortixian Friendship Centre” where this “cure liquid” will be distributed throughout the world.

In no time at all he was beatified as a saint and declared a world hero by the United Nations. May 18th, the day Earth learnt about the “cure liquid”, was declared a world holiday by the United Nations.

The Earthlings were starting to ask who were these Zortixians? No such planet existed on any astronomical map. Zortixia was so distant from Earth it would be centuries before the Earthlings had developed the technology to travel so far into space. The Zortixians and mutants had toyed with the idea of withholding the “cure liquid” further until the United Nations admitted the mutants as members of the United Nations General Assembly but Dr. Zodiac’s view was there was already enough suffering on Earth to justify using this as a “blackmail” technique.

RKS Film: “Try Harder”: A Complex Stereotype Buster or Reinforcer or a Bit of Both?

“Try Harder” is an American documentary released in early December. It recounts the stories of a few students at Lowell High School in San Francisco, California. It is a rigorous academic school attracting a disproportionately high number of Asian American students nearly 70%.

It has such high standards some 150 American university admissions officers visit it each year.

While many of the students are suffering under the weight of parents obsessed with grades and having their children accepted by the top American universities the students have their own minds and face a struggle of balancing them with the ambitions of their parents that result in control and pressure creating even more stress for the students trying to compete for high marks and high SAT test scores. So these may be academic nerds but they are human beings trying to succeed and many are existing facing domineering “its for your own good parents”.

What is success? For most of the students who have no real idea of their passions and interest success is to be accepted into a top American university which in their mind means a secure future. Although they pursue academics the university application process is a life skill that consumes hours of work for the seniors featured in the film. Some students complete more than 30 applications. Quite frankly most of the parents in the documentary are driven by grades and having their children achieve high grades as that was what counted in Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. One Asian American student states that Lowell is “Tiger Mom Central”.

The students are in a pressure cooker where success is dependent on what university they are accepted into. Some end up cynical about all universities that reject on a seemingly dart board selection approach perhaps tinged by the stereotype that Asian American students are mindless academic machines.

This may cause the viewer to recall their high school experience which in my case was in Montreal in the 1970’s where there may have been 3 Asians in my high school. And at least for me I graduated from CEGEP in Quebec with a 97% average to an entrance scholarship into McGill University. I applied to three universities and was accepted by all three and the one I accepted was a top Canadian university. I do not recall the frenzy and obsession in my day of the university application process that one sees at Lowell. Quite frankly it is alarming.

So what has changed in the Canadian academic system since then? A huge influx of Asians? I see a hugely disproportionately high degree of Asians in the private school system here in Toronto. Is the myth of the Tiger mom true?  I am not sure but once had an experience with one whose behaviour obliterated the confidence of her child who ended up with an eating disorder. No doubt this poor overly driven child will be a “success” but at what price. And what is success? Is it really a matter of landing a job with lots of money?

The film let’s one delve into the heart and soul of Tiger Mom’s victims. No they are not some mindless jellyfish but humans with their own goals and aspirations juggling this with the unrelenting pressure of many of their parents. What has caused this academic obsession that I never experienced? I will let you draw your own conclusion but can try and say the obsessions of the parents are visited upon their children.

A complete picture is obtained by featuring not only students but school administrators, teachers and parents. The great struggle here is amongst parents and their children. Do these parents care about the desires and aspirations of their children or their own obsessive past where marks equalled economic success?

My take in a few words is that I pity the students in this film caught in a vice of parental desires and their own goals and ambitions. At what point does a parent try to control their children through their own insecurities break down and the visions of their children take over? When does parental guidance in effect turn into a type of bullying?

It is both a sad and inspiring story. Sad if your choice for university is not obtained. Inspiring if the students realise his/her wishes in face of so many pressure points.

One is also left with the question of the Lowell admission process that has its school at about 70% Asian Americans. Does not that foster stereotypes? Is it appropriate?

“Try Harder” was produced and directed by Debbie Lum. It may be showing in a theatre near you. If not it will be available on VOD as of December 24.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4WZ6nDz-3w

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog is Back and Living with Nicole Kidman

On our flight to Darwin, Australia we saw 6 Nicole Kidman movies and that lady can act. Bob says she has won an Academy Award. My favourite is “Eyes Wide Shut” I think it is called. She is good looker too! And I am going to be living with her for 4 months in Darwin!

We landed in Darwin and a limo was waiting to take us to our rented villa. It is a grand one with 6 rooms. It was once the home of the founder of Warrego Mines in Darwin. Nicole will not be there until a few days later.

After being in the air for 22 hours we are so tired we can hardly think. Bob and Fay summon up the last of their energy and take us for a walk in a beautiful neighbourhood which is close to a big beach. We head to the beach in the blazing sun. Bob loves the ocean so we go to the beach. Oh no there is a sign warning us of saltwater crocodiles and poisonous jellyfish! Although Dylan the Westie and I are tough I don’t think we could win a fight against these ferocious beasts.

It is blazing hot and thank goodness Dylan the Westie and I had Marine haircuts before we left.

So we head back to our villa and drink lots of water and are sound asleep by 6 p.m. and are woken up at 8 a.m. by the smell of bacon and coffee prepared for us by the day maid. There is fresh fruit galore. There are eggs and yogurt too. Dylan the Westie and I get our chicken kibble and drink lots of water. In this heat we dogs get very thirsty.

Somewhat groggy we start our routine. Shooting of the film starts in 6 days so every morning Bob or Fay reads me the script which I know by heart. We go for a late morning walk to the beach and we are all very nervous about being attacked by a crocodile or stepping on a poisonous jellyfish. We head back home for a lunch of grilled fish, green beans and salad. We dogs get a mall plate of green beans. YUM!! We love our meat but we love most veggies some raw and some cooked.

Nicole Kidman arrives in a couple of days from Los Angeles. Her husband Mr. Urban is not with her as he is on tour in Europe and may join us later. I am not a big fan of his music like I am with the music of Mr. Gordon Lightfoot.

Nicole was born in 1967 so is younger than Bob and Fay. She is smaller than she looks on the screen and as tired as she is she’s a good looker! She speaks softly and talks to us dogs like Bob and Fay do. She is a bit shy. She knows all about me. Almost everything. She calls me her little star!

We have some lunch with her which is grilled kangaroo and tender saltwater crocodile filets with a glass of Viognier from Australia for the humans. Bob has told us Australia is a huge wine producer. Dylan the Westie and I get a chunk of the crocodile and kangaroo. Like chicken we say! WE DOGS NOW LOVE CROCODILE AND KANGAROO MEAT! We are down under as they say and are having a ball. I am a bit nervous about my role in the upcoming movie but Nicole exudes confidence and professionalism and promises me that she has my back! What a lady! She is grand! She is so tired she excuses herself to “crash out”. She can speak with an Australian or American accent but as she is in Australia she is speaking with the Australian accent. It is a bit funny not at all like Canadian or British pronunciation.

Nicole is up early in the morning and she takes us for a walk to show us around. Its s a bit cooler in the morning so there a few people out for walks. Dylan the Westie and I are wearing our Hamilton Tiger Cats jerseys we received as a gift rom the mayor of Hamilton at the Grey Cup game.

Nicole sits us down and gives us a talk. She says see a crocodile stay away and run if you can. There are also poisonous snakes and spiders we must keep an eye out for. People do not recognize Nicole as she has no make up on and is wearing a big hat with sunglasses but they see us and ask Nicole about our Hamilton Tiger Cat jerseys.

Nicole tells us we have a special “Canadian BBQ” tomorrow. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot who has composed the title track for the film is coming and as well Martin Malivoire and his wife will be joining us. Martin is doing the special effects. Russel Crowe who will be doing my voice is coming. I can’t believe this is happening. Pinch me. I must be dreaming. Before bed I say my evening prayers and I see a vision of my first master Anwar who is in the land beyond. He says to me “Merde” and pats me on the head. Merde is a word in France that means shit but when said to an actor it means good luck!

Golf and Your Mental Game; Accepting Pain and Distress

In my own experience as a golfer and as a golf Marshall particularly I see a fair deal of pain and distress amongst golfers which eats away at concentration and ultimate joy of the game. I see now very clearly how pain and distress gnaws away at enjoyment. It can go so deep as to create self-loathing. As I say the last shot is in the past. If you can adopt that attitude that you can’t change that shot you are practicing acceptance. I am not sure if it will improve the technical in your game but hopefully it will improve your enjoyment of your golf game. You might want to call this “living in the moment”.

Pain and distress are part of life and they can’t be entirely removed or avoided. A person who can’t accept this will find themselves in more pain and suffering. Learning how to accept distress, anger and pain is not simply a golfing skill but a life skill.

Passage of the Day: Giving up the Idea That God is a Person

“You can hold on to the security of a concept of God as a person, a kindly old man in the sky who loves you, and you will get through your life just fine. You will feel loved all your life just fine. You will be loved all your life, and you will love God. And you will be safe. But there will be no spiritual growth. Or you can take the risk of letting go of all of that and go on a mystical path, not knowing where it will lead. I wasn’t giving up on God. I was giving up the notion of God as a person-even if she was now female to me-to allow the possibility for spiritual growth. It was one of the most important decisions of my spiritual life, perhaps the most important. “

Marsha M. Linehan “Building a Life Worth Living” 2020 Random House

“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 120 Should the Zortixians Make an Official Visit to Earth?

How were the Zortixians going to introduce themselves to Earthlings? Only a small percentage of Earthlings believed there was life on another planet. It had only been recently that Earthlings landed on that dump of a planet The Moon! The mutants were perhaps theoretically the best allies the Zortixians had to introduce Earthlings to Zortixians. However mutants were seen with distrust and suspicion by Earthling established institutions so would lack credibility. The poor mutants might be taken for raving lunatics and possibly be carted away to mental institutions.

The fact Zortixians had a humanoid body might be problematic. Weened on weird science fiction books and visual productions Earthlings had the impression non-Earthlings were little green aliens or bizarre creatures with enormous heads. If Zortixians visited Earth there was a danger they would be locked up and used in scientific experiments. Squid suggested perhaps the Zortixians should send a large fleet of ships to major Earthling cities and convince politicians and citizenry Zortixians did in fact exist. The Zortixian craft were like the Earthling DC-10’s and Earthlings were under the impression aliens flew about in flying saucers! Although the Zortixian Legislative Assembly and Zortixian pre-mayor Frizzy the Smicket Boy favoured this plan it was the great Zortixian scholar Muddle Fumble who dissuaded the Zortixians from their “rash plan”. He said in the halls of the Assembly, “The minute our fleet penetrates their atmosphere we will be perceived as an enemy of some sort and goodness knows our penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere could initiate a nuclear war. We really don’t want the responsibility for wiping out a planet we seek to establish diplomatic relationships with! Let’s assume we land unmolested what will happen to us. We might be treated shabbily as Earthling mutants are. If Earthlings start believing in us the powers to be might consider it as a form of insanity and imprison the believers in huge mental camps. Our crews have better things to do than being used as experiments by mad scientists! And if any of our ships are captured it is possible Earthlings will try and decipher our advanced technology and use it to conquer other countries. I think then there must be a sensible alternative and that is to let some friendly Earthlings agitate on our behalf for a few months to “soften up” the Earthlings and then we can talk about visiting Earth en masse. This is not to say we can’t visit in small groups so as not to overwhelm the Earthlings. We should establish an Earthling liaison committee. We can prepare booklets explaining our society and history so the Earthling community can learn about us. We keep it short and sweet with lots of pictures as most Earthlings have short attention spans. Let us not be too rash!”

RKS Films: “Courage”: Political Repression in Belarus

The opening 90 seconds of this 2021 documentary brilliantly depicts the courage of Belarusians demonstrating against the dictatorship of their President Lukashenko who first came to power in the 1994 election. In 1996 a referendum stripped away key powers from the Belarusian Parliament. All elections after that point have been seen as rigged by much of the world except, not surprisingly by Vladimir Putin’s Russia where democracy has been slipping away quickly. After 2001’s presidential election won by Lukashenko two key members of the opposition disappeared probably with great prejudice as they were never seen again.

Belarus was once part of the USSR until that empire collapsed and Lukashenko seems to have learnt the Stalinist playbook well!

Why the title “Courage”? Considering the disappearances, executions, beatings, torture, rapes and other gifts of the Lukashenko regime to the population of Belarus being a protestor is a dangerous if not deadly game. The security forces wade into the crowds beating them, spraying them with water cannons and tear gas. In some instances, live ammunition has been used. If you are arrested you could be beaten, raped, humiliated and sometimes executed.

We follow the lives of some actors from a fringe theatre group in Minsk. Their stories expose the extent of the repression where one says the country has moved from dictatorship to tyranny. They take it for granted they will be arrested. Some have already been arrested and beaten in prison. Some are on the verge of arming themselves for protection. We all know from history that too much repression and intimidation can result in civil war and Belarus seems very close to that point. Canada recently announced a third round of sanctions against Belarus and the United States is on the same page with Canada imposing sanctions on Belarus. Imagine a Belarusian “Mass Gathering Law”.

The members of this Free Theatre are on a blacklist with many plays being censored as “Satanism”. One says now is not the time for theatre in Belarus but instead they should directly challenge the regime.

The closing of the documentary is a scene from a play about the 1999 disappearance of Anatoliy Karsovsky a businessman who had assisted Belarusian democratic forces. Never seen again it would appear he was a victim of an execution.

Very haunting and absolutely perfect Belarusian music at the beginning and ending of the film. The film is both tragic and inspiring.

What we take for granted in Canada as our democratic right is a dream of the courageous in Belarus. You can see the trailer here for this 90-minute German/Belarusian film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7OIMQrjJAs

The film was written and directed by Aliaksei Paluyan and you can expect to see it on the festival circuit or your favourite “indie” cinema.