2017 FestivalKDocsFF 2017
POSTER
Over 1200 people were in attendance throughout the four-day festival!
KDocs held its third annual official documentary film festival on February 16-19, 2017, at the Vancouver International Film Centre/Vancity Theatre.
Courtesy of Kwantlen’s Coast Capital Library, you can read a bibliographic listing of additional resources.
OUR FILMS 2017 Films
In the shadow of a De Beers diamond mine, the remote community of Attawapiskat lurches from crisis to crisis, as their homeland transforms into a modern frontier. Filmed over five years, After the Last River is a point of view (POV) documentary that follows Attawapiskat’s journey from obscurity and into the international spotlight during the protests of Idle No More. Filmmaker Victoria Lean connects personal stories from the First Nation to entwined mining industry agendas and government policies, painting a complex portrait of a territory that is a imperiled homeland to some and a profitable new frontier for others.
Close to 80,000 Syrian refugees live in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, the second-largest such camp in the world. Fifty-eight percent of its inhabitants are children. After Spring immerses us in the rhythms of the camp, the role of the aid workers, and the daily lives of two families as they contemplate an uncertain future. All aspects of refugee camp life are explored, including medical assistance, the self-sustaining economy of its urban center, and even pizza making. But it all arcs on bringing purpose and education to the children uprooted from their homes, often termed the ‘lost generation.’ Executive produced by Jon Stewart, this is a fascinating journey through the camp’s physical and human landscapes.
Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, Do Not Resist—the directorial debut of Detropia cinematographer Craig Atkinson—offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action—from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of ‘righteous violence’ to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments—before exploring where technology could lead the field next.
In How to Let Go of the World and Love All The Things Climate Can’t Change, Oscar Nominated director Josh Fox (Gasland) continues in his deeply personal style, investigating climate change—the greatest threat our world has ever known. Traveling to 12 countries on 6 continents, the film acknowledges that it may be too late to stop some of the worst consequences and asks, what is it that climate change can’t destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away?
From Academy Award winning director Roger Ross Williams, Life, Animated is the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films. This emotional coming-of-age story follows Owen as he graduates to adulthood and takes his first steps toward independence. The subject of his father Ron Suskind’s New York Times bestseller, Owen was a thriving three year old who suddenly and inexplicably went silent—and for years after remained unable to connect with other people or to convey his thoughts, feelings or desires. Over time, through repeated viewings of Disney classics like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, Owen found useful tools to help him to understand complex social cues and to re-connect with the world around him.
Society depends on the Internet for nearly everything but rarely do we step back and recognize its endless intricacies and unsettling omnipotence. From the brilliant mind of Werner Herzog comes a playful yet chilling examination of our rapidly interconnecting lives. Herzog captures interviews with a treasure trove of strange and beguiling individuals—from Internet pioneers to victims of wireless radiation—whose anecdotes and reflections weave together a complex portrait of our brave new world. The Internet may be, as Herzog states, ‘one of the biggest revolutions we as humans are experiencing,’ but he tempers this enthusiasm with tragic stories from victims of online harassment and Internet addiction, wrestling with profound questions about the future of the Internet—and humanity. Is this digitally dominated age humankind’s salvation or a high-speed pipeline to our demise?
A powerful feature documentary by multiple award-winning director Min Sook Lee and Emmy award-winning producer Lisa Valencia-Svensson, tells the undertold story of migrant agricultural workers struggling against Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) that treats foreign workers as modern-day indentured labourers. Under the rules of Canada’s migrant labour program, low wage migrants are tied to one employer. Migrant Dreams exposes the underbelly of the Canadian government labour program that has built a system designed to empower brokers and growers to exploit, dehumanize and deceive migrant workers who have virtually no access to support or information in their own language. Workers willing to pay exorbitant fees to work at minimum wage jobs packing the fruits and vegetables we eat in our homes. Migrant workers who deserve basic labour and human rights.
After the Northwest Resistance of 1885, three Canadian officials put forward a proposal for a system of racial segregation—whites from First Nations—to their Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, who enthusiastically approves, declaring: ‘…it is in the highest degree desirable to adopt it.’ From then on, and for over 60 years, permits to leave reserve would only be issued at the pleasure of an Indian Agent. From day one, the Canadian government knew this segregationist pass system had no legal basis. The system kept First Nations parents from their children in residential schools, from visiting relatives, from access to towns and cities, and from enjoying the basic freedom of mobility that every settler Canadian took for granted. The Pass System is a result of a five year investigation involving extensive, pan-Canadian archival research and elders’ oral history testimony, revealing a system that appears to be much more widespread than previously thought. Cree, Saulteaux, Dene, Ojibwe and Blackfoot Elders from Treaty areas 4, 6 & 7 tell stories of living under and resisting the system.
From Academy Award-winning director, Louie Psihoyos and the team behind The Cove, this groundbreaking documentary examines biodiversity loss, its effect on humanity, and the solutions that inspire hope for a more sustainable future. Joined by new innovators, this groundbreaking documentary brings a voice to the thousands of species teetering on the very edge of life. This highly charged, impassioned collective of activists is out to expose the two major threats to endangered wild species across the globe. Scientists predict that the human footprint on the planet may cause the loss of half of the world’s species by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history, following the fifth great extinction which took out the dinosaurs.
If 18-year old Sonita had a say in things, Michael Jackson would be her father and Rihanna her mother. She captures her dream of being a famous rapper in her scrapbook. For the time being, her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. There, Sonita, a refugee from Afghanistan, gets counseling for the traumas she has suffered and guidance in shaping her future. Her family has a very different future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. What’s more, women aren’t allowed to sing in Iran. How can Sonita still succeed in making her dreams come true? Director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami ends up personally involved in answering that question, reigniting the discussion as to how documentary makers should relate to their subjects. This is just one of the many unexpected twists in an exciting journey replete with the setbacks and successes of a young women looking for her own path.
This century’s global scramble for metals and minerals has led hundreds of Canadian mining corporations to Africa in search of the next big mine find. In Africa, some of the world’s poorest communities sit right beside mines that generate billions of dollars in profit each year. Many of these mines are financed, in part, by ordinary people paying taxes, putting away savings, making RRSP contributions and paying into pension plans in Canada. But who gets rich off Canadian mines? We Call Them Intruders [takes viewers] on a journey to the sites of Canadian-owned mines in Tanzania and Zambia. Set against a backdrop of local sights and sounds, we speak with government officials, community members, industry and corporate representatives, mine workers, independent experts, and non-profit organizations. We find that the situation is more complicated than we first imagined.
In the game of pinball, there is no greater reward than Wizard Mode—a hidden level that is only unlocked when a player completes a series of lightning-speed challenges. Robert Emilio Gagno has dedicated most of his life to mastering Wizard Mode, and is now one of the top pinball players in the world. He also happens to have autism. As a young boy, his parents realized they could give him a quarter and he would play on a pinball machine for hours. Refusing to believe their son was locked into a limited future, his parents supported him as he practiced non-stop, developing an exceptional talent for the game. But now Robert’s real challenge lies outside the game on his journey to shed his youth and gain independence. Wizard Mode, Salazar Film’s first feature documentary, is a candid personal perspective on autism through the life of one of the world’s greatest pinball players.
2017 FILMSWant to watch panel talks and more content?
WORD ON THE STREET
KDocsFF does something very well that few film festivals attempt…
They facilitate a meaningful connection between filmmakers, leading scholars and the public to discuss some of the most pressing issues of the day, that extends far beyond the festival itself. It’s a vital and essential cultural event, and I can’t wait to return!”
Alex WilliamsDirector, The Pass System and Special Guest and Panelist, KDocsFF 2017
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