For the Love of Singing

For the Love of Singing is a new Peterborough ensemble with dynamic young choir director Clara Hilts.

Carpe Diem

Over the biggest hydro-carbon site ever known to humankind ...

Wasteland

Art and the human spirit in a sprawling Rio landfill.

Budrus

The feature film Budrus is an award-winning documentary aimed at spreading a message that peace can bring change, even in a war-torn land.

Special Guest: Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
Presented by Kawartha World Issues Centre

Guest Speaker: Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, peace activist and author of the best-selling book I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey (Random House Canada, 2010) will speak on "Making the Change on the Road to Peace and Dignity."

Sponsored by KWIC World Issues Café Discussion Series.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish

Despite the tragic death of his three daughters two days before the 2009 ceasefire, Dr. Abuelaish continues to be an important figure in Israeli- Palestinian relations, believing that health is an engine for the journey to peace.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, MD, MPH is a Palestinian medical doctor who was born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp. He received post-secondary education in Israel, Europe, and Harvard in the USA, and is the winner of the 2010 Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award and nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Abuelaish is Associate Professor of Medicine at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

Moe Clark

Métis sound artist Moe Clark fuses a unique understanding of performance narrative with traditions of circle singing and spoken word. She works in dance, film, and storytelling to emphasize the power of healing and transformation and the continuum of the oral tradition. Her debut spoken word album is Circle of She: Story & Song (2008).

Moe Clark on MySpace

Truth Is...

A performer who combines thunderclap rhythm with a distinctive voice that blends ecstasy and despair. The passion of Truth is. . . is only surpassed by her desire to explore and express the truth itself. She has appeared at numerous spoken words slams and “When Sisters Speak” concerts and headlined several conferences focused on social equity and youth motivation.

Truth Is on MySpace

Nathanaël Larochette

Nathanaël Larochette of Ottawa has been a mainspring in spreading the power and wonders of spoken word among the city’s youth. A director of Ottawa's Capital Poetry Collective, he has performed on the same bill with Shane Koyczan, Diana Krall, and Raffi.

Nathaneël Larochette on MySpace

Amai Kuda

Amai Kuda – the name means "mother to the will of the creator" in the Southern African language Shona – is a singer/songwriter, community activist, and the mother of a young child. Through her life and art, Amai is a vehicle for creation and for change – dedicated both to the decolonization of African peoples and indigenous solidarity.

Amai Kuda on MySpace

Dub Trinity

Members of Peterborough's own Dub Trinity, a high-spirited, reggae/ska band that brings social consciousness to packed dance floors, will be on hand to back up the poets. Their music is a magical blending of the styles of Burning Spear, Woody Guthrie, and Linton Kwesi Johnson (among others), with a dash of afrobeat and picket-line solidarity.

Dub Trinity online

Andree Cazabon

Gemini nominee and inspirational speaker Andrée recently completed her fifth film, 3rd World Canada, on the plight of children living on First Nations reserves. Andrée's films have been seen by over 1 million viewers on CBC-Newsworld, Radio-Canada, and CBC Television. Her films have also been prominently featured at festivals, including the Vancouver, Sudbury, Toronto Blue Light, and Yorkton Film Festivals. In 2006, her documentary Wards of the Crown received “Best Social-Political Documentary” at the Golden Sheaf Awards. Andrée's work in her community as an advocate for youth did not go unnoticed by the media either. Her work has been featured on Canada AM, the Vicky Gabreau Show, and CTV. With Andrée’s busy life she also finds time to volunteer with Youth-at-Risk and Youth in Foster care projects. Champion for the Senators Foundation and the Max Keeping Foundation, she has helped raise over $360,000 for youth in care.

Maya Gallus

Maya Gallus, former waitress and Gemini award-winning director “dines out and dishes the dirt with waitresses, restaurant owners, and maitre d's about the demands of the job” in her latest feature length documentary Dish: Women Waitressing and the Art of Service. Gallus is no stranger to filmmaking. She is credited with titles such as Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality. Maya directed, wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary Elizabeth Smart: On The Side of the Angels, nominated for Best Direction at the Gemini Awards. The film won three Golden Sheaf Awards at the Yorkton Film Festival, including Best Production of the Festival, Best Arts Documentary and Best Editing, plus Best Narration at the Atlantic Film Festival. Maya won a Gemini for Best Direction for Girl Inside. Maya Gallus was co-creative producer and co-director, with Justine Pimlott, on Punch Like A Girl. As well she has directed and written several biographies for CBC’s Life & Times, including Full Circle: The Untold Story of the Dionne Quintuplets.

Reena Kukreja

Reena Kukreja defines herself as a feminist activist and as an independent documentary film-maker. Over the last 21 years, she has worked with grassroots organizations and international multilateral and bi-lateral donor agencies such as the UNDP, ILO, DANIDA and non-governmental organizations to conduct research and produce documentaries on women’s issues, child labor and other development related themes. Reena holds a degree in Master of Arts in Film and Communication from India. At present, she divides time between India and Canada doing research, filmmaking and teaching at the Department of Gender Studies and Film & Media at Queens University, Canada. She also guest lectures twice a year at the Centre for Conflict and Peace, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Her research focuses on development, gender issues and migration in South Asia with special emphasis on the impact of globalization and new technologies on the rural poor. Her recent work, the documentary Delhi Bound For Work, offers an intimate look at the lives of rural women migrating to work as live-in domestic workers in urban centers of India.

Brenda Longfellow

Brenda Longfellow is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and film professor at York University in Toronto. Her productions include Our Marilyn (1987), an experimental documentary on Canadian swimmer Marilyn Bell; the feature-length drama Gerda (1992); A Balkan Journey/Fragments From The Other Side of War (1996); the Genie Award-winning documentary Shadow Maker: Gwendolyn MacEwen, Poet (1998); Tina in Mexico (2002), a feature documentary on the silent film star and avant-garde photographer Tina Modotti, which won Best Arts Program at the Yorkton Film Festival, Bronze at the Columbus Film Festival, and a Golden Rose at the Montreux Television Festival. She directed Weather Report (2008) a television documentary which explores the effects of climate change on communities around the world. She has recently embarked upon a series of musical shorts exploring the complex weave of delusion, dream, and willful complicity by the oil industry in Northern Alberta.

Summer Love

A documentary filmmaker, director and the creator of Deltatime Productions, Summer gained a foothold in film as a documentary researcher and producer. Her unconventional style helped secure her place as Canada’s “it” girl for fresh, edgy pop culture as she went on to produce several short documentaries showcasing up-and-coming Canadian fashion designers and musicians – a series that was broadcast internationally on the German public television station, WDR. Seven years in the making, Summer’s first feature documentary, Sounds Like a Revolution, marries her commitment to social justice and passion for music and politics. This pro-active and energizing film documents the rise of a new wave of protest music in America. Launched theatrically to critical acclaim (4 stars out of 5! NOW magazine) during the G-20 Summit in Toronto, Canada Spring 2010, Love’s film received extensive coverage across the mainstream media from MTV and Entertainment Tonight to the Globe and Mail, National Post and the CBC. Among other projects, Summer is working on a documentary feature on the controversial life and legacy of Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Player, Preacher and Pimp.

Ron Mann

Ron Mann, a graduate of the University of Toronto, has been making films since his early twenties. His award-winning documentaries focus primarily on alternative and dissent culture. Ron does most of his work through his company Sphinx Productions, while also running a film distribution company on the side called FilmsWeLike. Mann has also put together the archives for many prominent Canadian figures and companies. Cinefest Sudbury recently honoured him in their Tribute Canadiana section at the festival. Twise (1991), Dream Tower (1994) (about Rochdale College, an experimental living environment that came to symbolize the best and the worst of the 60s ); Grass (1999) , Go Further (2003) (about Woody Harrelson as he takes to the open road on his Simple Organic Living Tour), and Tales of The Rat Fink, are just some of his titles, and he has been producing similar films since the early 80’s. Ron Mann is ...one of the most cinematic and enjoyable documentary filmmakers that has ever served the medium" - Ain't It Cool!

Jane Michener

Jane Michener started her career in Prague producing short films with local artists. After returning to Toronto in 1999, Jane started Petersburg Films with Director Jay Fields. Since then, she’s produced several internationally award winning short films. Her most recent short, DeSASTRe, premiered at Toronto’s International Film Festival, was screened to critical acclaim at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival, broadcast across the nation on CBC’s Canadian Reflections series and garnered her a Genie nomination. Jane’s documentary career started with a serendipitous encounter with Sounds Like a Revolution’s director Summer Preney. Together they created Deltatime Productions and embarked on an adventure of a lifetime. In addition to Sounds Like a Revolution, Jane is currently producing a 35mm short film in partnership with Bravo television. Her first dramatic feature is now in development.

Thomas A Stewart (TAS) Photography Exhibition: The Happiness/Resilience Project & Photo Voice Project

Location: The Spill, 414 George Street Peterborough
Ph: 748-6167

TAS Happiness/Resilience Project

What can we do to help ourselves be happy through life's ups and downs? What keeps us resilient, optimistic, makes us smile, and helps us believe in ourselves as loveable and capable in this world?

This project features photographs about happiness and resilience taken by the grade 11 photography students at Thomas A Stewart Secondary School.

Students have considered “happiness” as emotional, social, spiritual and physical. They consider “resilience" as the positive capacity of people to cope with stress and adversity: getting what we need from within, from family, from community and our environment.

PhotoVoice Project

Youth throughout the county and city of Peterborough were provided with a camera and trained about how to tell a story through photos. Their stories and photos were presented at an all candidates meeting to make sure that prospective candidates in the municipal election were aware of “youth concerns in our area.” This Health Unit initiative was undertaken to explore the concerns and issues of local youth from a number of different perspectives as part of the United Nations declaration of 2010, the International Year of Youth.

Artist: Eric Mckibbon

Location: Black Honey, 221 Hunter Street, Peterborough
Ph: 750-0014

Eric Mckibbon is a local chef/photographer who travels the world cooking for hungry folks. He had the pleasure to work in a Bordeaux winery for the last three years during grape picking season and between meals he was left to wander the vineyards with camera in-hand. In this series of photos Eric captures the simple beauty of France’s classic and fairy tale-like landscapes. He uses film with no digital postproduction. Bon appétit,

Artist: Ray McGirl

Location: Natas Café, 376 George Street North Peterborough
Ph: 745-2233

Ray McGirl states, "In this culture most, if not all, artists begin by emulating and initiating previous generations whom they admire. Then begins the slow journey to explore, develop and "incarnate" or integrate themselves into the art form while finding their own "voice" or dialect, reflecting their essence/awareness both directly and indirectly. That's the journey I've been on."

Artist: Nancy Carter

Location: Green Eyewear Optical, 374 George Street Peterborough
Ph: 775-3937

Nancy Carter, a Peterborough encaustic collage artist explores memory, letting go, loss and the fragments of our attachments through combining found objects, text, bones, wings, figure drawings and rusted metal fragments reclaimed and transformed into a unique visual language. With an intimacy inherent to encaustic, exploring themes of attachment: home, romance, family, memory and loss. Fragments of the material world illustrate our attachments through memory, habits and proximity. What binds us to another when we reach out to connect.

Artist: Esther Simmonds–MacAdam

Location: Showplace, 290 George Street Peterborough
Ph: 742-7089

Esther Simmonds-MacAdam creates unorthodox depictions of men and masculinity. She paints men in private, reflective moments with the aim of eliciting a similar moment from her viewer. Esther is concerned with challenging cultural notions of what it means to be masculine (i.e.: aggressive, powerful, dominant, in control, threatening) by offering alternative images of men. Her paintings make visible their softer side: moments of vulnerability, uncertainty, and introspection. Colour, composition and context are all considered to achieve this. Pink and red dominate her work, marking the male bodies she depicts as warm, alive and feminine. She places the spectator in close proximity to the subject in order to create a feeling of intimacy. Writing, dancing, or deep in thought, her men do not confront the viewer or invite the gaze. The viewer is accountable to no one and free to let their thoughts roam...

Artist: Peter Kingstone

Location: Showplace (downstairs), 290 George Street Peterborough
Ph: 742-7089

Sex workers . . . sharing family stories . . . about grandmothers.

Society tends to see sex workers as destitute, drug-addicted, amoral, disease-infected and lower class. Their real voices are seldom heard. They are most likely to come to our attention when they enter the court system, or if well-meaning community or church groups attempt to save them from the perceived perils of sex work.

In this film the talked-about get a chance to talk, those who have been voiceless get a voice, and they talk about themselves and their grandmothers; not about their work. In turn the filmmaker uses these narratives to construct a picture of his own grandmother.

Artist: Stephen Lyons, presented by ARTSPACE

Location: Artspace (Main Gallery), 378 Alymer Street North Peterborough
Ph: 748-3883

Stephen Lyons uses the fixed point of a live-feed video camera pointed at sculptures made of salvaged materials to recreate archival images as a way to destabilize our trust in the visual.

Artist: Micky Renders

Location: Artspace (Mud Room), 378 Alymer Street North Peterborough
Ph: 748-3883

Micky Renders Artist Statement: As life takes on a faster and faster pace, I am taken by the impermanence of so many things. So much of what we experience is fleeting that it may as well be an illusion. These photo based works are expressions of the ethereal quality of light, energy, illusion and perhaps life itself.

Artist: Leslie Menagh

Location: Showplace, 290 George Street Peterborough
Ph: 742-7089

The interior landscape: Giving voice to the intimate knowledge of men:

Participants are invited to co-create a transparent mixed media banner responding to the themes presented in the film Steam for Life, Friday January 28, 5:00-6:20 p.m.

Leslie Menagh is an artist and recent graduate from NSCAD University. She recently moved to Peterborough. She creates interdisciplinary wonders that engage and entertain by turning the table on the artist/viewer/participant. Preceding the film festival, Ms. Menagh will lay the foundation for the work by interviewing people who identify as male about their internal dialogue. These scribed interviews will be a point of departure for exploring and validating men's interior landscape, personal feelings and opinions; thereby allowing them to be valid and relevant, ones that inevitably reflect parts of ourselves.