The 27th Annual One World Film Festival is back this September with a program packed with a range of thought-provoking Canadian and international documentaries, panel discussions, and Q&As with filmmakers that will inspire audiences to learn more take action on a range of global issues.
The 2016 festival, which takes place September 29th to October 1st at the Library and Archives Canada and October 2nd at SAW Gallery, features documentaries and talks on indigenous rights in Guatemala and Peru, the Syrian refugee crisis, justice for migrant workers in Canada, democratic participation in Senegal, the fight for racial justice in the United States, discrimination in the Dominican Republic, personal pilgrimages from North to South, and more.
Click here for the full festival schedule and see below the line-up of compelling documentaries screening in Ottawa from September 29th to October 2nd, 2016. Tickets are available now for advance purchase via Eventbrite.
After Spring | CANADIAN PREMIERE | September 30th
Directed by Ellen Martinez and Steph Ching | U.S., Jordan | 2016 | 102 min
Close to 80,000 Syrian refugees live in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, the second-largest such camp in the world. With After Spring, executive producer Jon Stewart and the filmmakers deliver a moving and urgent documentary that immerses us in the rhythms of the camp, the role of the aid workers, and the daily lives of families contemplating an uncertain future. Presented in partnership with Oxfam Canada.
Another Kind of Girl – 7 short documentaries by Syrian refugees | September 30th
In Jordan’s refugee camps and urban areas, Syrian girls are given the opportunity to record their own lives in a compelling way with the potential, not just to change the trajectories of their personal stories, but to inspire others and challenge our perspectives of refugees.
Another Kind of Girl by Khaldiya Jibawi | 2015 | 10 min
The Girl, Whose Shadow Reflects the Moon by Walaa Al Alawi | 2015 | 5 min
Dreams Without Borders by Muna Al Hariri | 2015 | 5 min
Children by Marah Al Hassan | 2015 | 5 min
The Silence of Nature by Bushra Al Masri | 2015 | 3 min
Barriers of Separation by Raghad Al Khatib | 2015 | 4 min
The Long Road by Rafif Al Fadel | 2015 | 4 min
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution | October 1st
Directed by Stanley Nelson | U.S. | 2015 | 115 min
Master documentarian Stanley Nelson provides an essential history and vibrant chronicle of the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. With its calls for freedom, equality, and an “immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people,” the Black Panthers birthed a new revolutionary culture in America that continues to resonate in the fight for racial justice in present-day America and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Citizens of Nowhere | October 1st
Directed by Nicolas-Alexandre Tremblay and Régis Coussot | Canada, Dominican Republic, Haiti | 2015 | 52 min
In 2013, a legal ruling rendered stateless a quarter million Dominicans of Haitian descent. Their story of being scapegoated and denied legal status is narrated by Haitian poet and playwright Jean-Claude Martineau, cutting to the heart of the human drama of migrants who have sacrificed everything in the hope of a better life.
Migrant Dreams | October 1st
Directed by Min Sook Lee | Canada | 2016 | 90 min
The dark side of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program is exposed this intimate character-driven portrait of resistance among migrant workers in Ontario. Lied to and threatened with deportation by agents and employers, a group of migrant agricultural workers exposes an ongoing exploitation of migrant labour that demands to be confronted. Presented in partnership with Inter Pares.
Nallua | October 2nd
Directed by Christian Mathieu Fournier | Canada | 2015 | 76 min
Nallua tells the story of two survivors of a tragedy suffered by a community of Inuit peoples in Canada’s Arctic in 1943. Their testimonies of loss and longed-for return to their ancestral lands speak to a collective legacy of searching for answers and a hopeful bridge between past and future.
Quitte le Pouvoir (Step Down) | October 1st
Directed by Aida Grovestins | Netherlands, Senegal | 2014 | 46 min
A collective of journalists and musicians from Dakar’s inner city form the ‘Y’en a marre’(‘Fed Up’) movement in opposition to Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade’s unconstitutional attempt at a third term in 2011 and successfully register and engage 300,000 new voters, inspiring youth in Senegal and across Africa to exercise their democratic rights.
Rigoberta Menchú: Daughter of the Maya | September 29th
Directed by Dawn Gifford Engle | U.S., Guatemala | 2016 | 61 min
The courage and tenacity of the indigenous Maya people of Guatemala shines through in director Dawn Gifford Engle’s beautiful, tragic, and ultimately triumphant story of how one woman, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, overcame poverty and violence to become a global defender of human rights. Presented in partnership with the Nobel Women’s Initiative.
Searching for Dragons | October 2nd
Directed by Dan Gainsford| Canada | 2015 | 72 min
An encounter with a stone dragon in the heart of Central America inspires Ottawa filmmaker Dan Gainsford to abandon a routine desk job and embark on a five-year pilgrimage from the Arctic to Panama. Recording his personal odyssey down unconventional paths, the filmmaker’s experimental approach reflects a process of self-discovery that questions the North American dream. A master class will follow the screening, providing attendees the opportunity to discuss and engage with Gainsford at the Ottawa premiere of his documentary. Register for this free presentation at oneworldfilmfestival.ca.
When Two Worlds Collide | September 29th
Directed by Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel | Peru | 2016 | 100 min
In this extraordinary exposé, awarded a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, directors Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel bring us to the frontlines of political and environmental struggles in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest—a clash between Peruvian government and economic elites bent on resource exploitation and indigenous peoples, led by courageous activists, fighting for their rights and the future of the Amazon. Presented in partnership with MiningWatch Canada.