CitizenShift is proud to announce that The Human Rights Doc Fest 2010 will begin next Friday, July 23! For more information regarding JHR and to view last years submissions please visit the CitizenShift Human Rights Doc Fest Dossier. Below you’ll find details regarding the festival hours, ticket, and contact information.
When: July 23 and 24, @ 6pm, July 25 @ 1pm
Where: The National Film Board, Toronto Mediatheque
@ 150 John Street (at Richmond St. W, Osgoode Subway Station)
The Oka Crisis…20 years later…nothing has changed!Twenty years ago this July 11, the people of Kanehsatake and Kahnawake rose up in defense of their ancestral lands, facing off against government officials, the police, and the Canadian Army. Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) communities have been on the forefront of ongoing resistance to colonialism in Canada.
TRANSPORTATION will leave from Parc-Émilie Gamelin, corner Berri and Maisonneuve, at 8:30AM. To reserve a place on the buses please contact immediately (438) 288-4081, or visit the website. The Indigenous Solidarity Committee-Montreal will also facilitate car-share. If you plan on taking a car and have room, or if you looking for a space, please contact taylor.frances.lewis@gmail.com.
People’s Commission has published two new videos that dramatize home visits by CSIS agents. The videos were made in response to recent visits to the homes of activists. Not only do the videos feature the very activists who were targeted, they also show viewers how they can respond if they themselves hear a knock at the door. The People’s Commission has issued a community advisory in response to these visits and offer community workshops about citizen rights regarding the Canadian ‘national security agenda’.
Pull Focus Films, a non-profit film school in downtown Vancouver, is opening it’s doors to visitors as they announce their summer courses beginning in June. The school has a particular mandate; to partner aspiring filmmakers with community organizations that are looking for film content! For more information about the event and the courses they offer, click here.
This July will mark 20 years since the people of Kanehsatake and Kahnawake faced off against the army, the police and the Canadian government, marking a crucial point in the history of Indigenous resistance to colonialism. On Wednesday May 12th, five speakers from different Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) communities will come together to reflect on the events in 1990 and how they have affected on-going struggles for justice. The event, starting at 7pm, will be at De Sève Cinéma (1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest), Concordia University, Montreal.
For more information you can:
email indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com
go to the event Facebook page
or call (514) 848-7583
If you are not yet acquainted with the events of Oka 1990, check out the CitizenShift dossier on filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. She was behind the scenes in Kanehsatake, where she completed a feature length film about the crisis: Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance
um…maybe you miss these one off, one day events that are happening around the globe, like earth day or turn off the lights night. Maybe you don’t have a UN Calendar on your desktop. Maybe you are too busy with work and or kids. Well, here is a beautiful blog about keeping your home garbage free, all year long! Say No to Trash is a project by a young family trying to use the least amount of waste, and they document it all in detail: there are recipes with no trash, celebrating with no trash, diapers with no trash. If changing your habits around the house makes you nervous, Say No to Trash has helped clear the way, so you can work for mother earth, one step at a time.
This Monday April 26th, at the Ottawa Public Library, is the premiere of the documentary Ghosts, winner of the prix du publique at the Montreal Human Rights Film Festival. The screening, sponsored by Amnesty International and nowar-paix, will be at 7pm, followed by a panel discussion, including one of the films participants.
Ghosts tells the story of three Arab-Canadian men; detained and tortured for months and years in Syria and Egypt. An internal inquiry into their cases reveals that the Canadian government was complicit in their detention and torture. The camera team follows the lives and cases of the men for a year and a half as they fight to leave the horror of torture behind them. This is a powerful and intimate documentary about the fragile balance between democracy, human rights and national security fears.
To mark the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in Canada (40 years since the birth of Earth Day), CitizenShift brings back some classics from our archives.
-This article entitled: The Ethics of Eating, published in the Montreal Gazette back in 2008, talks about making food choices.
- This podcast is an overview of the Copenhagen Climate Change conference put together by Thea Whitman from the Canadian Youth Delegation - the final in their excellent podcast series from the summit.
- And this video piece entitled Sprawl by Tamar Kozlov featuring David Suzuki at a conference held by C-Vert, an environmental program for youth.
Hugh Mcguire, who was interviewed for a CitizenShift podcast back in 2007, shares some of his thoughts on Social Media Marketing. He nails it home eloquently… and in only ten slides.
I took the time this past March 22nd, World Water Day, to look through CitizenShift’s Water Dossier. Here I found information about the larger issues that the world is facing in regards to water. One thing I found missing: Information on how we can use less water at home, in the city, like actual techniques. Does anyone have a way to use the least amount of water while washing dishes? or how one might collect the excess water from your shower? This could get personal. Send us your ideas, even a video demonstration.
This video shows just some of the potential of an urban rooftop.
Andrea is a Communication Studies student at Concordia University in Montreal. She has a background in photography and visual arts, and is interested in web-media as a tool for social change.
Currently living in Somoto, Madriz, Nicaragua. I work with children victims of child labour or at risk in the nearby town of Totogalpa, mainly helping out with photography workshops. I also participate in the development and promotion of sustainable community tourism.
Montrealer in her mid-twenties.
Freelance journalist and photographer,
with an interest in human rights and sustainable living.
Has a cheerful disposition.
Genevieve is a second year Communications Studies student at Concordia University. She is interested in graphic design, photography and fashion. Genevieve also enjoys creating social media and riding the slopes whenever she gets the chance.
Tynesha is CITIZENShift's summer intern from Concordia University's Communication department (Mtl., QC). Brimming with interests, she states "I enjoy school, I sing in a choir and I am also involved in community radio and volunteer work with youth. In the future, I look forward to developing a company that merges my three great passions in sound, community engagement, and music."
David Widgington was the event coordinator for the Citizen Media Rendez-vous 2010 (http://citizen-media.ca). He is a mobile journalist (MoJo) who is well-versed in community radio, video and print and web-based media practices. He has a particular interest these days with diaspora communities returning to Southern Sudan since the end of the war. He is script-writing a documentary project on the subject. (http://southsudaninfo.net).
