It will be a full day with lots of variety at Powell River Film Festival on Saturday, February 18 at Evergreen Theatre.
The morning begins powerfully at 10 am with Lea Pool’s Pink Ribbons, Inc., a provocative National Film Board production mounting an eloquent and alarming argument that the massive pink-ribbon campaign against breast cancer has become tainted by a malignant breed of corporate opportunism. Pool balances scenes of pink-hued rallies with scathing interviews by knowledgeable experts as well as people who know how to spin their company line.
Pool emphasizes that even as corporations continue to contribute to the possible causes of cancer, they are making public relations hay with pink products and pink promotions, creating a “pink-washed” distraction from what are probably the environmental causes of breast cancer. This film is a must-see for all.
At lunch break people are encouraged to stay the whole day and enjoy a selection of wraps and muffins for purchase from Breakwater Books and Coffee.
A change of pace will happen in the afternoon with the world premier of Animal Blessings, by local filmmaker Claudia Medina, who celebrates the agrarian culture of northern Italy, at a time when animals and land were regarded as givers of life.
This will be followed by To Make a Farm, directed by Steve Suderman, the story of several young people who have decided to put their money where their mouths are, turning their environmental idealism from theory into practice as they set out to establish their own local-supply food sources using sustainable means. The film is an inspiring example with its subjects living testaments to the validity of Mahatma Gandhi’s dictum, “Be the change you want to see.” This film is presented with Skookum Food Provisioners.
Leaving the farm, 40 Days at Base Camp, directed by Dianne Whelan, transports us to the foot of Mount Everest at about 5,400 metres. Since its first ‘conquest,’ 5,000 people have made the summit of the Holy Mother. Thousands more arrive at base camp every year, where at that elevation, the body is actually dying. With only 50 per cent of the oxygen of sea level, base camp is at the bottom of the Khumbu glacier, so visitors are waking, eating and sleeping on ice, 24 hours a day.
The documentary centres around several characters in this elite yet rag-tag community, from hard core mountaineers to recreational hikers with the big bucks it takes to fulfill their dream. Or die trying. Whelan brings a photographer’s eye and a storyteller’s ear to this inhuman environment and returns with a revealing look at the men and women who take on mountains and the impact they have made on this environment. She also exposes the impacts of climate change and the potential consequences of the retreating glaciers.
To end the day, Cloudburst is a genuine crowd-pleaser with laughs, tears and gorgeous Maritime scenery. Most of all, Thom Fitzgerald’s film has a radiant performance by Olympia Dukakis as Stella, a foul-mouthed, boisterous, obstreperous 80-year-old lesbian, comfortably ensconced in rural life with her long-time partner Dot (Brenda Fricker).
Determined to gain recognition of their relationship, Stella and Dot take off from their home base of Maine for Nova Scotia, planning to elope. What follows are road movie hijinks, powerful emotional reversals and multiple belly laughs, most of them courtesy of the creatively profane Stella.
Cloudburst is an endearing comedy under the shadow of its tragic, real-life villains: old age and a society that still refuses to fully acknowledge gay rights in long-term couples, especially when family barges in. With a light touch and a strong sense of humanity, Fitzgerald has fashioned a tale of love on the run.
Evening reception is catered by Save-On-Foods at 7 pm, music by Ceilish Trad Band, and the film begins at 8 pm. Tickets and passes are on sale now at Breakwater Books and Coffee, Armitage Mens Wear and online. For more information interested readers can visit the festival's website or call the festival’s new number at 604.485.6056.
