Film Group Nov 25, 2021

Series Thirteen – Systemic Racism

The films can be screened via the streaming sites listed with each film

Zoom discussions of each film will take place on: Thursdays: Sept 30, Oct 28 and Nov 25 at 4pm

Hosted by John LeBlanc

Series Thirteen: As a result of the US Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, the reality of racism in North America could no longer be ignored, but early attempts to come to terms with racism, such as in the 60s and 70s Sidney Poitier films, narrowly defined it as the product of deranged individuals.  The recent Black Lives Matter protests, locating racism within society’s structures and institutions, such as the police, have forced us to confront the racism in the very nature of our cultures and national identity.  These three films invite us to examine how the very founding of our nations and their ongoing development is grounded in racism, requiring a major self-confrontation and transformation in order to move beyond the paralysis that racism fosters.  I Am Not Your Negro has the victims of racism explain its nature.  Double Happiness and Beans provide a Canadian context (Asian-Canadian and Indigenous-Canadian, respectively) for the damaging impact of racism.     

Nov 25 – Beans (2021) – directed by Tracey Deer fictionalizes the director’s personal experience as a 12 year old during the 1990 Kanehsatake / Kahnawake crisis, a defining moment in Canada’s relationship with its Indigenous peoples.  This crisis, developing out of the ongoing appropriation of Indigenous land in the Montreal / St Lawrence River region and resulting blockade revealed the racist nature at the heart of the Canadian settler project and its governing institutions.  Deer’s return to this pivotal moment assists us in dealing with Canada’s past and moving forward into a more inclusive Canadian future.  This film is playing at VanCity Theatre Sept 10-16: info at viff.org.  Streaming options TBA.  Suggested additional viewing: Alanis Obomsawin’s four documentary films dealing with the crisis: 1)Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, 2)Rocks at Whiskey Trench, 3)My Name is Kahentiiosta, and 4)Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man.  All four can be streamed through the UBC Library Catalogue.  

To join the group, please email john.leblanc @ ubc.ca