Back-to-back weeks in Cinema Politica series
February 22, 2010
Cinema Politica presents
- Blood Coltan
7pm, Thursday, February 25
Room 216, Young building, Lansdowne campus - Girls Rock: Claim Your Voice
7pm, Wednesday, March 3
Room 216, Young building, Lansdowne campus
Blood Coltan
This hard-hitting film is co-presented by Camosun’s African Awareness Committee and Cinema Politica Victoria.
Coltan is an essential mineral in cell phones, computers and other electronics. The west’s demand for coltan is funding the killings in Congo. Under the close watch of rebel militias, children as young as ten work the mines hunting for this black gold. Blood Coltan exposes the web of powerful interests protecting this blood trade. Meet the powerful warlords who enslave the local population and the European businessmen who, in defiance of the UN, continue to import coltan.
Girls Rock
Proceeds to go PEERS, after this a special screening in conjunction with Loudspeaker, a festival of women in the arts.
At Rock 'n' Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that "it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about her dog Pipi. What happens to the girls as they are given a temporary reprieve from being sexualized, analyzed and pressured to conform is truly moving and revolutionary.
The public is welcome to attend and admission is by donation. Mark your calendar for two more films: Afghan Star on March 24—H2Oil on April 27. Cinema Politica is co-sponsored by Camosun’s School of Arts and Science, Students for a Democratic Society, and other student groups on campus. Contact English instructor Jeanne Iribarne at Iribarne@camosun.bc.ca for more info.
