National Canadian Film Day 2019
Posted on: October 27, 2019
April 17th, 2019
As part of National Canadian Film Day the Cloverdale Common in partnership with Arts Etobicoke and REEL Canada screened to 2 free films for the public. National Canadian Film Day is an annual event encouraging all Canadians to celebrate the incredible achievements of our nation’s filmmakers. The Common was transformed into a movie theatre with 40 community members coming out to watch the films.
The first film screened was Kayak to Klemtu directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins:
When a prominent Kitasoo/Xai’Xais activist passes away, his 14-year-old niece Ella (Blaney) embarks on a kayak journey to take his ashes home to Klemtu. It’s a race against the clock as Ella tries to make it back in time to give a speech protesting a proposed pipeline that would cross Indigenous land. Ella is joined by her aunt, cousin and grumpy uncle (Cardinal), as the four paddle with all their might through the Inside Passage and past the shores of the Great Bear Rainforest. Join this family on the adventure of a lifetime that reflects on the importance of protecting our lands for future generations. Winner of the 2017 imagineNATIVE Audience Choice Award.
The second film screened Anthropocene: The Human Epoch was from directors Edward Burtynsky, Nicholas de Pencier.
In 2016, scientists declared that the Earth has entered a new geological era, one that is entirely the consequence of humanity’s abuse of the planet. This documentary goes around the world illustrating the variety of ways that humanity has affected its environment. In Kenya, authorities set fire to mounds of elephant tusks to protest the illegal ivory trade, resulting in a devastating display of the impact of poaching. In Russia and Germany, mining operations transform the land into an otherworldly wasteland. The unfathomable scale of the images created by these moments are equal parts beautiful and disturbing. Following Manufactured Landscapes and Watermark, photographer Edward Burtynsky and filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier conclude their award-winning trilogy with an urgent message to all the citizens of the world to see the consequences of our actions, before it’s too late.