Global Film Festival Nanaimo will screen 46 films, and offer several workshops. Return to Film Schedule Return to Main Menu
Note:Film classifications are included where known. Viewers should use their own discretion with films thatare not classified.
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Opening NIght- Friday, February 16 ~ Refreshments will be available in the theatre lobby |
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film info |
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FRI |
15 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Premiere of the film produced by Susan Burron, the 2006 Rights and Democracy Nanaimo student film award recipient. Susan Burron's short documentary entitled "Measuring Equality" examines Premier Gordon Campbell's "new era" of social spending cuts, including the elimination of the Ministry of Women's Equality, the mass lay-offs of HEU employees, and cuts to core funding of women's centre's across the province. The film also explores the concept of equality for Canadian women in 2007, in light of claims by provincial and federal government that equality has been achieved between the genders. |
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FRI |
80 min, 2006 back to schedule |
With over $100 Billion in annual revenues and 70000 employees in Iraq alone, the private military industry is booming, yet few civilians know anything about it. Shadow Company, a groundbreaking feature-length documentary, takes you deep inside this secret world that is changing the face of modern warfare. What are we really risking by allowing profit-motivated corporations into the business of war? See Shadow Company and decide for yourself. |
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Saturday February 17 |
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SAT |
29 min, 2006 back to schedule |
Grandmothers: The unsung heroes of Africa is a moving half-hour film highlighting the crucial role grandmothers play not only in caring for AIDS orphans, but also in holding their families and communities together. Through intimate portraits of four African grandmothers — Salome, Catarina, Karmela and Matilda — the film invites the world to listen to their stories and take action. |
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SAT |
52 min, 2004 back to schedule |
Featuring world renowned scientist Dr. Charles Keeling, The Venus Theory is an invaluable tool for clearly explaining the science behind global warming. This film explores the possibility of the Earth's temperature one day equaling the temperature on the planet Venus. Leading scientists from around the world clearly explain the science behind climate change. Also outlined are projections of our atmosphere's warming in the coming century, and what consequences this holds for our planet, various species, and humankind. Special Jury Award, Best Documentary: 21st International TV Science Programme Festival |
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SAT |
8 min, 2004 back to schedule |
The British Honours system originated in the 14th century and is a series of different awards given for exceptional achievement or service. The Order of the British Empire or OBE is one of these awards Benjamin Zephaniah is a Jamaican born British poet, writer and musician. He is best known for his works for children and also his vociferous left of centre approach to political and social issues. When the Queen and British Prime Minister Tony Blair added him to the Honours list to be awarded an OBE for services to the Arts, Zephaniah's response was "Me? OBE me? Up yours." I thought "No way, Mr. Blair. No way, Mrs. Queen." |
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SAT |
14 min, 2006 Canada back to schedule |
Pax Chingawale pedals his bicycle over 20 km per day, visiting his neighbours from house to house. His travels take him to twenty villages in southern Malawi to battle AIDS at the grassroots. Pax works with traditional healers who are influential at the local level yet often contribute unwittingly to the spread of the disease. He bikes around in search of the abandoned and the ill while monitoring the progress of those whose lives are being saved by ARVs (Anti Retro-Virals), a life extending drug treatment. Pax is not a doctor or nurse. He's an HIV-positive retired government auditor who volunteers with Canada's Dignitas International, helping to create a model for making ARV drugs accessible to the world's most vulnerable, those who live far from hospitals and any formal medical care. |
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SAT |
80 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Favela Rising documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela united. A favela is a Brazilian squatter settlement. Haunted by the murders of family and friends, Anderson Sa, a former drug-trafficker, turns to music to rally his community to oppose the violent oppression of the drug armies and corrupt police. Just as Anderson's grassroots Afro Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement. Favela Rising celebrates the strength of the human spirit to assert itself in the face of human rights violations, social injustice, and unexpected adversity. Gritty and inspiring. Numerous awards including: Film of the Year, International Documentary Association; Best Emerging Documentary Filmmaker, Tribeca Film Festival |
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SAT |
22 min, 2005 back to schedule |
This film takes you on a guided tour through the heart of America's heroin capital. Sponsored by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU), The Drug War Reality Tour transports busloads of tourists to the battlefield of America's own domestic Drug War, showing them every aspect of the drug game, from where the dope arrives to where it is sold and used. Throughout the tour, street-wise KWRU members break down facts about the narco-culture and how forces like police complicity and corporate investment are aiding and using the drug epidemic to drive Kensington's people out of their own neighborhood in order to make room for new urban development. |
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SAT |
54 min, 2005 back to schedule |
The Four Seasons Mosaic unveils a remarkable and bold musical endeavour, the reinvention of Antonio Vivaldi's beloved masterpiece, The Four Seasons, for our global village. Filmed in Nunavut, India, China, and Toronto, the documentary explores how different world cultures have responded to the seasons through music, and asks the question, "What if they all came together?" This film explores how four different world cultures respond to the seasons through music. "An absolute joy to watch and hear" (The Globe and Mail.) 2005 Gemini nominations for Best Performing Arts Program, Best Photography and Best Editing |
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SAT |
60 min, 2005 back to schedule |
This 'must-see' film reveals that we may have grossly underestimated the speed at which our climate is changing. In the three days following 9/11 when the entire US airline fleet had been grounded, a climate scientist, Dr. David Travis, noticed how blue the sky was. The absence of vapour trails and the cloud cover they produce was immediate and dramatic. Travis found that the temperature worldwide had increased by an astonishing one degree Celsius during that short period. It appears that warming from greenhouse gases has been offset by the strong cooling effect of what scientists are calling 'global dimming'. Thus, our climate may be more sensitive to the greenhouse effect than previously believed. This film describes impacts that have already occurred globally and suggests what may lie ahead unless we take action. |
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SAT |
32 min, 1989 Canada back to schedule Eva Manly will be in attendance for any
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... a few questions is a docu-drama featuring the story of Leonor Leon, a Chilean refugee, who because of her ability to speak both English and French is making a successful transition to life in Canada. ... a few questions, exposes the viewer to a little of Leonor's experience of police surveillance and interrogation and the changes this brings to her life in Canada. |
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LUNCH BREAK 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch and Bazaar in the Cafeteria, Building 300 |
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SAT |
94 min, 2005 back to schedule |
How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? Based on the findings of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the filmmakers masterfully blend personal testimony, history and archival footage to tell the story of escalating violence in this Andean nation. Fear of terror undermined their democracy, making Peru a virtual dictatorship where official corruption replaced the rule of law. Attacks by Shining Path insurgents provoked a military occupation of the countryside. Military justice replaced civil authority and widespread abuses by the Peruvian Army went unpunished. Nearly 70,000 civilians eventually died. State of Fear tells the complex story of violent revolution, repression, and efforts to bring about reconciliation in Peru. |
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SAT |
50 min, 2005 back to schedule |
*A Black History Month Feature* |
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SAT |
23 min, 2005 back to schedule |
This photo-documentary report exposes the ugly underbelly of what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers. In Lagos, while there is a legitimate robust market and an ability to repair and refurbish old electronic equipment, of the estimated 500 40-foot containers of imports shipped to Lagos each month, as much as 75% is 'junk.' Consequently, this hazardous e-waste is being discarded and routinely burned in what environmentalists call yet "another cyber-age nightmare now landing on the shores of developing countries." |
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SAT |
24 min, 2005 Canada back to schedule |
The natural world speaks for itself, revealing the beauty and diversity of a temperate rainforest environment that both relies upon and continues the cycle of rain. Shot over the course of a year in the Walbran Valley on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. |
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SAT |
52 min, 2005 back to schedule |
This France-Canada co-production goes behind the scenes of the huge tobacco industry, whose economic power has been expanding for five decades at the expense of public health. A gripping investigation covering three continents, Nadia Collot's film exposes the vast conspiracy of a criminally negligent industry that conquers new markets through corruption and manipulation. With its diverse viewpoints, shocking interviews and riveting images, The Tobacco Conspiracy deftly defines the issues in a complex situation where private interests and the public good collide. Enlightening and engrossing, this documentary is a hard-hitting critique of an industry gone mad. The next target for marketing: young Africans. |
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SAT |
52 min, 2006 back to schedule |
One quarter of the world's population has no access to clean drinking water. Many governments lack either the resources or the will to provide this essential commodity to their citizens. In recent years, a number of powerful companies have spotted this crisis and seen a business opportunity. In thousands of cities and towns throughout the world, often with the involvement of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, these corporations have attempted to privatize the water supply. Dead in the Water investigates the results of these efforts at privatization in several key locations, and chronicles what many see as the first in a wave of battles in the years to come. |
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SAT |
72 min, 2006 back to schedule |
Art, activism and disability are the starting point for what unfolds as a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals. Director Bonnie Sherr Klein has been a pioneer of women's cinema. This film marks Klein's return to a career interrupted by a catastrophic stroke in 1987. She now turns the lens on the world of disability culture and the transformative power of art. Joining Klein are artists with diverse (dis)abilities; humourist David Roche, poet and scholar Catherine Frazee, dancer and impresario Geoff McMurchy, sculptor and writer Persimmon Blackbridge. As we get to know each of these remarkable people driven by a passion for art and transformation, the everyday complexities and unexpected richness of life with a disability are exposed. |
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SAT |
86 min, 2006 back to schedule |
Michael Franti, world-renowned musician and human rights worker, travels to Iraq, Palestine and Israel to explore the human cost of war with a group of friends, some video cameras and his guitar. A compelling soundtrack, visual and musical montages and Franti's intimate commentary make this film appeal to a multi-generational audience. This is an opportunity to hear the voices of everyday people living, creating and surviving under the harsh conditions of war and occupation. With its guerrilla style footage captured in active war zones, the documentary is unlike the many academic and politically driven pieces provided by the mainstream media. I Know I'm Not Alone is an antidote to despair. |
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SAT |
33 min, 2006 back to schedule |
*A Black History Month Feature* |
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SAT |
48 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Frankensteer is a disturbing documentary that reveals how the ordinary cow has been turned into an antibiotic-dependent, hormone-laced, potential carrier of toxic bacteria, all in the name of cheaper food. This benign, grazing herbivore has undergone a transformation in how it's raised, fed and slaughtered. Consumers, by and large, are totally unaware of the dangers lurking in their beef. According to Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition, "When you bring a package of hamburger home from a supermarket, you have to treat it as toxic material." Recent changes in inspection rules have shifted the responsibility for food safety from government inspectors to the workers who do the slaughtering and packing. |
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SAT |
80 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars tells the story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians who came together to form a band while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea. Forced from their homes in Sierra Leone, the members of the band represent the thousands of untold stories that exist amongst the survivors of the Sierra Leonean civil war. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is an inspiring story of survival and rebirth in the wake of the horrors of war and a triumphant testament to the power of music. |
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SAT |
53 min, 2005 back to schedule |
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, Cuba lost over half of its oil imports and survived. During the difficult "Special Period", Cuba was undergoing a transition from a highly industrial society to a sustainable one, from large farms or plantations and reliance on fossil fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers, to small organic farms and urban gardens. Cuba became a living example of how a country can successfully traverse what we all will have to deal with sooner or later, the reduction and loss of finite fossil fuel resources. It's a story of their dedication to independence and triumph over adversity, and a story of cooperation and hope. www.communitysolutions.org. |
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SAT |
90 min, 2005 Canada back to schedule |
In this documentary, crop and animal farmers in Quebec, the Canadian West, the US Northeast and France offer solutions to the social and environmental scourges of factory farming. Driven by the forces of globalization, rampant agribusiness is harming the environment and threatening the survival of farms. The proliferation of GMO crops is a further threat to biodiversity as well as to farmers' autonomy. In Europe as well as North America, a current of resistance, bringing together farmers and consumers, insists that it is possible, indeed imperative, to grow food differently. The Fight for True Farming is a film of grim lucidity but also irrepressible hope. |
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47 min, 2005 Canada back to schedule Followed by Q&A with the Director |
"Money as Debt" is a colourful and engaging animation by well-known Gabriola artist Paul Grignon. This short feature has been hailed by monetary reformers around the world as the clearest explanation of our debt-money system ever produced. With humour and in broad and understandable terms, the movie illustrates how our modern system evolved from the money supply being limited to gold to the money supply being limited only by our capacity to go into debt. |
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SAT |
72 min, 2006 Canada back to schedule |
Bombay Calling dives into a bustling world of late nights, long hours and hard partying to chronicle the rise of a new force in Indian society—the telemarketers. This new generation of call-centre employees works late into the night, trying to perfect their English and American accents, in order to sell to clients half a world away. For their efforts, they are paid more money than their parents ever dreamed of earning. Fast-paced, gritty and fun, the film is a compelling inside look at youth culture in India and the emerging and already conflicted middle-class. It’s quite a feat to get the audience to sympathize with telemarketers. Grand Jury Prize Best Documentary at the Indian Film Festival of LA |
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Join us for a delicious catered Mexican dinner at 5:30 in International Education Building (255) Advance tickets $13, available by calling 753-3371 and until 4 pm Saturday or until sold out at the information table at the festival |
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Saturday Night - February 17 Refreshments will be available in the theatre lobby before and during the intermission of this double bill |
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SAT |
70 min, 2006 back to schedule |
There is a wonderful renaissance in classical orchestral music today centered in Venezuela, where nearly 250,000 children and youth are participating in the Youth and Children's Orchestra System project. What began as a modest program to expose rural youth to music as a means of personal and social development has become an amazing phenomenon. Teaching musical harmony is also a means of educating people in human harmony, building community and spirit. This inspiring film weaves together impressive performances and interviews with renowned musicians such as Placido Domingo who reflect on the impact of this remarkable social project. Today the program is expanding to include youth with disabilities, including hearing impaired youth. Tocar Y Luchar is an inspirational story of courage, determination, ambition, and love showing us that only those who dream can achieve the impossible. |
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SAT |
90 min, 2005 back to schedule |
If this were a feature film, we would call it highly improbable. Three older men - a cardiologist, retired mortgage banker, and owner of a construction company - have designated themselves as the Knights of Malta and travel, at their own expense, to the remotest and most dangerous parts of the world in order to bring aid to those who need it most. Peddling neither politics nor God, they arrive before other aid groups are ready to take the risk - or after the others have fled. Despite bullets, bombs, and landmines we follow them to the beauty and horror of Afghanistan, Albania, Chechnya, Cambodia, Rwanda, and the southern Philippines. For excitement and inspiration this Mother Teresa/Indiana Jones act is hard to beat. By the producesr of Genghis Blues |
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Sunday - February 18 |
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SUN |
45 min, 2006 England back to schedule |
Brilliant British satirist Rob Newman untangles the convoluted history of oil and politics across the entire 20th century. All lighting and multi-media for this theatrical presentation is powered by eco-cyclists. |
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SUN |
31 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Humans are the most successful species on the planet but we are placing unprecedented demands on the planet's limited ecological resources. "We can choose to live on a depleted planet or we can choose to live on a rich, biologically diverse, more stable planet" proposes Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, co-creator of the Ecological Footprint. The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that measures human demand on the Earth. Wackernagel concludes on a hopeful note, showing how a new organization, Global Footprint Network, is partnering with government agencies, businesses, universities and NGOs to support the use of the Ecological Footprint accounting model to help turn this vision of a sustainable future into reality. |
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SUN |
52 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Traditional foods are at risk of disappearing forever, as a speed-obsessed world turns increasingly to fast foods. To counter this trend, there is an international gastro-economic movement known as Slow Food. Its aim is to protect traditional culture, the environment and biodiversity by encouraging regional food production. The movement is now active in 45 countries. Towns, like Orvieto, Italy have declared themselves to be "slow cities", free of fast food outlets, neon and noise. Beautifully photographed around the globe, Slow Food Revolution is a celebration of the sustainability, seasonality and quality of the earth's bounty |
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SUN |
78 min, 2004 Canada back to schedule |
A story of love, revolution, and betrayal, No More Tears Sister explores the price paid by revolutionary women in their dangerous pursuit of justice. Set during the violent ethnic conflict that has enveloped Sri Lanka over decades, the documentary recreates the courageous and vibrant life of renowned human rights activist, Dr. Rajani Thiranagama. Mother, anatomy professor, author and symbol of hope, Rajani was assassinated at the age of thirty-five. Fifteen years after Rajani's death, her charismatic older sister Nirmala, a former Tamil militant and political prisoner, journeys back to Sri Lanka. She has decided to break her long silence about Rajani's passionate life and her brutal slaying. Though set in Sri Lanka, Rajani's story has parallels in postcolonial societies around the world. |
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SUN |
75 min, 2006 back to schedule |
An estimated 4,500 illegal border-crossers venture into the treacherous Arizona desert every day. Most are men in search of work, but women and children are also seeking to reunite with their families. This influx of migrants and the attendant rising death toll have elicited complicated feelings about human rights, culture, class, labour and national security. Frustrated ranchers repair cut fences while humanitarian groups place water stations in the desert in an attempt to save lives. Political activists rally against anti-migrant ballot initiatives and try to counter rampant fear mongering. Farmers who depend on the illegal work force fear that they may lose their workers to a border patrol sweep. Crossing Arizona reveals the surprising political positions people take when immigration and border policy fails everyone. Screened at Sundance2005 |
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90 min, 2003 England back to schedule |
This 90 minute live DVD was recorded at Robert Newman's sell-out gigs at the Brighton Corn Exchange theatre, during the 2003 Paramount Comedy Festival. See Robert's critically acclaimed From Caliban to the Taliban set in its entirety. |
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60 min, 2004 back to schedule |
Life Running Out of Control offers a uniquely wide-ranging international perspective on the science and ethics of genetic engineering. This film carries us on an enlightening journey to India, Norway, and the forests of Colombia, offering inspiring images of resistance and hope amidst the pressing concerns about the science and ethics of GMOs, corporate control of our food, and the patenting of human, animal, and plant life. A must-see for those who are looking beyond the most immediate health and safety concerns, and seek to understand the wider implications of today's biotechnologies. Golden Lynx for Best Journalistic Achievement, Ökomedia Environmental Film Festival |
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LUNCH BREAK 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch and Bazaar in the Cafeteria, Building 300 |
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SUN |
87 min, 2006 USA back to schedule |
Jesus Camp follows a group of children to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire Summer Camp", where kids are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God's army and are schooled in how to take back America for Christ. The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. By the directors of the critically acclaimed The Boys of Baraka. |
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50 min, 2006 Ireland back to schedule |
'"Oil, Smoke & Mirrors" offers a sobering critique of our perceived recent history, of our present global circumstances, and of our shared future in light of imminent, under-reported and mis-represented energy production constraints. |
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75 min, 2006 Canada back to schedule |
Dawn Crey, Ramona Wilson, Daleen Kay Bosse – three of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past thirty years. This epic journey into the dark heart of Native women's experience takes us from Vancouver's skid row to the "Highway of Tears" in northern British Columbia, and on to Saskatoon, where murders of Native women remain unresolved. Along the road to honour the dead, acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh uncovers inspiring stories of strength, courage and resilience, as communities come together to stem the tide of violence. |
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54 min, 2006 Canada back to schedule |
Featuring haunting accounts from the front lines, Raised to Be Heroes introduces the latest generation of Israeli soldiers to selectively object to military operations undertaken by their country. After years of executing missions against the Palestinians, often involving violence and oppression, some soldiers now believe their country's actions are inhumane. They're confronted with an excruciating dilemma. Through a series of raw and emotional testimonies, a group of Refuseniks lay bare the moment that they finally, and courageously, drew the line. There are more than 1,600 Refuseniks in Israel and this number is growing. Many Israelis condemn them for failing their nation; however, they stand by their conscience in the hopes of ending the occupation. "The time I spent in jail was the most important time I served for my country, for my friends in my unit, for my family, for the security of Israel," says Major Chen Alon. |
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SUN |
75 min, 2006 back to schedule |
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald ("Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" and "Outfoxed") takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the 'reconstruction' of Iraq. Iraq For Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so. |
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SUN |
75 min, 2006 back to schedule |
Independent Intervention is an award-winning documentary about the importance of independent media in times of war and corporate control of the media. It contrasts the mass media's coverage of the invasion of Iraq with non-embedded independent investigative reporting and shows the brutal realities of war. As the major US networks remove human suffering from their presentation of war, Operation Iraqi Freedom is portrayed as a success for the spread of democracy and freedom. This film shows the absolutely critical role of the independent media, which, in a culture dominated by corporate wealth, gives us hope for democracy. |
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SUN |
62 min, 2006 USA back to schedule |
Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture. |
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95 min, 2005 Canada back to schedule |
Filmmaker German Gutiérrez got a call from Colombia informing him there had just been an assassination attempt on his older brother Oscar, a political activist hated by the establishment but adored by the disenfranchised. German Gutiérrez, recounts his quest to find the hired gunmen who tried to kill Oscar, and also to expose the roots of the violence that has taken hold of his native country. This beautifully filmed political documentary takes a courageous look at what Colombia has become, a lawless, neo-liberal Far West run by a corrupt middle class, where Americans are the puppet-masters pulling the strings while drug traffickers, guerrillas, and paramilitaries engage in all-out combat with each other as the 'war on drugs' rages on. |
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58 min, 2005 back to schedule |
Occupied Minds takes viewers on an emotional, intensely personal odyssey through one of the world's most volatile regions. The film follows Palestinian-American journalist, Jamal Dajani, and Israeli journalist, David Michaelis, as they travel together to Jerusalem, their mutual birthplace. The two journalists meet with a variety of people, including a Palestinian gunman, an Israeli soldier, an Israeli surgeon who lost his eyesight in a Palestinian suicide bombing, a Palestinian farmer whose pasture was divided by one of the walls being built around Israeli enclaves and an Israeli mother who lost her son in the conflict. As the filmmakers journey through these troubled lands, they struggle to find lasting solutions. |
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SUN |
Films related to this topic are: Robert Newman's History of Oil, Global Dimming, Oil, Smoke and Mirrors, The Venus Theory, The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, Ecological Footprint |
Join director Ernie Tomlinson to view an 8-minute teaser for Power House, a proposed series on energy alternatives for average homeowners. Then join the group discussion to explore the most recent energy options open to all of us and brainstorm ways of educating average folk to not just the need to make changes to our lifestyles, but the inherent opportunities in energy conservation. |
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SUN |
Films related to this topic are: Shadow Company, I Know I'm Not Alone, Robert Newman's History of Oil, Caliban to Taliban, Oil, Smoke and Mirrors, Iraq For Sale and Independent Intervention: Breaking Silence |
"Everything you wished our leaders knew about Afghanistan but were too stupid to ask." The workshop will provide a brief background to Afghanistan history and US involvement before 9/11; look at events since 9/11; examine the growing Canadian involvement in conflict. The workshop will then be open for discussion as to the action that Canada should take now. |
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78 min, 2004 back to schedule |
Narrated by Matt Damon. Featuring music by Pearl Jam, Woody Guthrie & Billy Bragg. In these turbulent times, Howard Zinn is inspiring a new generation. This acclaimed film looks at the amazing life of the renowned historian, activist and author. Following his early days as a shipyard labour organizer and bombardier in World War II, Zinn became an academic rebel and leader of civil disobedience in a time of institutionalized racism and war. His influential writings shine light on and bring voice to factory workers, immigrant laborers, African-Americans, Native-Americans and the working poor. Featuring rare archival materials, You Can't Be Neutral captures the essence of this extraordinary man who has been a catalyst for progressive change for more than 60 years. |
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SUN |
82 min, 2005 back to schedule |
*Sponsor: Nanaimo, Duncan & District Labour Council* The Devil's Miner is the story of 14-year-old Basilio Vargas and his 12-year-old brother Bernardino, who work in the dangerous Cerro Rico silver mines of Bolivia. Raised without a father and living in extreme poverty, the boys assume many adult responsibilities. The Vargas boys chew coca leaves to stave off hunger and keep their wits about them during their long hours in the mines, where they also present offerings to El Tío, the malevolent spirit of the mines. According to local legend, El Tío is a miner's only hope of salvation in this heavily Catholic region where the people believe that the spirit of God does not exist in the hellish underworld inside the mountain. A moving portrait of a world where children risk their lives daily in hopes of an eventual better life. Film Critics Award: Hot Docs Festival; Best Documentary: Chicago Int'l Film Festival |
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