THE WORLD Community Film Festival returns for its third year and brings back a movie made by a former resident.
“Something really neat about this year’s festival is that we are including an award-winning documentary, The Mountain Within, produced by someone from Terrace,” says Sarah Artis, one of the organizers of the festival.
“Gregory Rinaldi now lives in London, England, but was born and raised here. He was keen for us to show his film when he learned about the festival.”
The Mountain Within, on which Rinaldi was a cameraman, tells the story of seven disabled people who trekked up Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa at more than 19,000 feet (nearly 6,000 m).
The movie played here in 2008 in its first showing outside the United Kingdom to raise awareness about people with disabilities and to raise money for the local Special Olympics. In the meantime, it’s won several film awards, including Best Documentary at the Mountain Film Festival.
“Similar to last year, there’s going to be a great selection of fascinating films, many that have won awards,” says Artis.
“Some of the films cover issues we face in Northwest BC while others have a more global focus.”
For example, Water on the Table features Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians and her crusade to have water declared a human right and not a “profitable commodity.” The film won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award from Planet in Focus.
Kicking off the festival is The Dark Side of Chocolate, which looks at many people’s favourite sweet and whether it’s produced by children who have been trafficked. Big chocolate companies agreed to work toward eliminating child labour in the cocoa sector by 2008, but not much has changed.
Movies in the festival also examine issues such as the vanishing bee population, Americans who are fighting against companies who want to drill for natural gas within 200 feet of their homes, our relationship with dirt which “is very much alive,” chemicals in hygiene and household cleaners, a look at Hollywood’s treatment of North American natives and more.
The 12-film World Community Film Festival starts this Friday and runs through the weekend.
For more details, see City Scene.