Toronto Socialist Action Presents - Rebel Films

Friday, September 24 - 7 p.m. Plunder: The crime of our time   2009, 100 minutes. A documentary directed and written by veteran journalist Danny Schechter, a multiple Emmy award winner and former producer for ABC News and CNN. The film looks into how the economic crisis developed, from the mysterious collapse of Bear Stearns to the shadowy world of trillion-dollar hedge funds. Insiders tell the story. Plunder also shows how hastily arranged U.S. government bailouts did not revive the economy and may have lost billions. Commentary by Canadian Auto Workers' economist, and Globe and Mail columnist, Jim Stanford, will be followed by discussion.

Friday, October 1 - 7 p.m. Poor No More 2010, 53 minutes. Hosted by TV and film star Mary Walsh, Poor No More offers an engaging look at Canadians stuck in low paying jobs with no security and no future. It looks at the economic and anti-poverty policies of Ireland and Sweden. The film offers hope to those who have to work two jobs a day and to those who cannot find work. The film's executive producer David Langille, and Socialist Action federal secretary Barry Weisleder, will lead off an audience discussion of the documentary.

Friday, October 8 - 7 p.m. Petropolis: Aerial Perspective on the Alberta Tar Sands 2009, 43 minutes. This short, hallucinatory documentary by Greepeace, Canada, takes us on a helicopter flight over the vast area containing the world's second largest oil reserve that is being despoiled, possibly forever, to separate bitumen from sand. Also see NFB film “Watch Downstream”, 2009, 33 minutes.

Friday, October 15 - 7 p.m. Blood Coltan 2008, French, with English sub-titles, 51 minutes. The West’s demand for Coltan, used in mobile phones and computers, 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. Meet the powerful warlords who enslave local populations and the European businessmen who continue importing Coltan, in defiance of the UN. Guest speaker Steve Soloman will talk about the campaign to aid the people of Congo.

Friday, October 22 - 7 p.m. The Yes Men Fix the World 2009, 87 minutes. The prankster duo Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, posing as their industrious alter-egos, expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina, the faces behind the environmental disaster in Bhopal, and other shocking events.

Friday, October 29 - 7 p.m. Modern Times 1936, 87 min. Charlie Chaplin's last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, turns against the alienation of labour in modern society. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps lead his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital. When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades. Commentary by SA member Carol Bailey, followed by discussion.

Friday, November 5 - 7 p.m. South of the Border 2010, 78 min., is a film directed by Oliver Stone. Writer for the project Tariq Ali calls the documentary "a political road movie". The film has Stone and his crew travel from the Caribbean down the spine of the Andes in an attempt to explain the "phenomenon" of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and account for the continent's recent leftward tilt. It features Venezuela's Bolivarian movement and Latin America's political progress in the 21st century.

Each of the films in this series will be preceded by a brief introduction, and will be followed by a commentary, and an open floor discussion period.

OISE, 252 Bloor St. West, Room 2-212, Toronto, Canada at the St. George Subway Station Everyone welcome. $4 donation requested.

Please visit: www.socialistaction-canada.blogspot.com or call 416 – 535-8779.