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OPENING NIGHT
Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013
7:00 PM
Main Auditorium
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Collision! Free Speech and Religion
Watch the Trailer
18 Minutes, United States 2013
Free to Choose Network |
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This new documentary, written and presented by Danish Human Rights Lawyer Jacob Mchangama, focuses on one of the defining issues of our time; the global battle of values over the relationship between free speech and religious sensitivities. Recent years have seen increasing demands that free speech should be limited to respect religious feelings. In a globalized world this conflict has become explosive as cartoons published in Denmark and videos uploaded in America have led to violent riots from Cairo to Karachi. The outcome of this battle, says Mchangama, will have profound consequences for the ability of people everywhere to freely express themselves and follow their beliefs.
Followed by a panel discussion with Jacob Mchangama and others.
“Jacob Mchangama and the Free To Choose Network have pulled off an amazing feat: they have produced a cool and measured documentary on a subject of great controversy. “Collision” is a poignant defense of free speech, and has a remarkable ability to find the seam between the right to free speech, and the sensibilities of religious believers. A remarkable voice, a presence on camera that is at once soothing and committed to the freedom of ideas.”
Fouad Ajami, Senior Fellow
The Hoover Institute
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Friday, November 1, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
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An Evening with Barbara Kay |
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Columnist at the National Post, Barbara Kay is a true Canadian treasure. In this event, Ms. Kay will read from her new book, Acknowledgements, discuss her work with Free Thinking Films President Fred Litwin, and then answer questions from the audience, followed by a private reception.
Ms. Kay is a weekly columnist for National Post and a frequent contributor to the Post’s opinion blog, Full Comment. Her writings have also appeared in conservative U.S. online opinion sites Front Page Magazine and Pajamas Media, and in print magazines such as Canadian Observer, Dorchester Review and Cité libre. In 2009 Barbara was the National Association of Men’s recipient of its award of excellence “for promoting gender fairness in the media.” She is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. In 2012 Barbara received the Diamond Jubilee Medal for “excellence in journalism. Barbara is a regular guest on many Canadian radio talk shows, from the Maritimes to B.C., as well as more recently on Sunmedia TV.
Barbara is the co-author, with Aruna Papp, of Unworthy Creature: A Punjabi Daughter’s Memoir of Honour, Shame and Love.
“Barbara Kay’s writing is brisk and clear. She thinks for herself. She bravely resists the turn of the moment, and the preoccupations of the politically correct…”
Rex Murphy, columnist, National Post
“There’s one group, the best of a bad lot, columnists I call the cream of the crap… Then there are a few like Barbara Kay, who is good when compared to good writers, not bad ones. She started punditry at an age when some people retire from it. Perhaps that’s why she isn’t one of those writers about whom you feel they’ve written more books than they’ve read. She is a chippy polemicist, but only tells readers who may disagree with her that they’re wrong, not that they’re small and stupid. Most writers know how to assert; some know how to demonstrate; but only the Barbara Kays of columnists have the capacity to persuade.”
George Jonas, columnist, National Post
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
11:00 AM
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Broken Soldiers
Watch the Trailer
49 minutes, 2012 Canada
Clerisy Entertainment |
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Broken Soldiers is a one hour documentary that explores the plight of Canada’s injured and disabled military veterans. The film also highlights the struggle of those veterans challenged by PTSD and homelessness – injustices and misunderstandings that affect thousands of people across the country.
Winner of the Best Documentary at the Brantford Film Festival 2012.
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
12:15 PM
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Atlas Shrugged, Part II
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111 minutes, 2012 United States
Atlas 2 Productions |
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Part Two of Ayn Rand’s novel comes to the screen in this thrilling and powerful drama. The global economy is on the brink of collapse. Brilliant creators, from artists to industrialists, continue to mysteriously disappear. Dagny Taggart, VP of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered what may very well be the answer to a mounting energy crisis – a revolutionary motor that could seemingly power the World. But, the motor is dead… there is no one left to decipher its secret… and, someone is watching. It’s a race against the clock to find the inventor before the motor of the World is stopped for good.
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
12:30 PM
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Sponsored by the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation |
The Ambassador
Watch the Trailer
93 Minutes, 2011, Sweden
Film i Vast |
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A darkly comic, genre-bending film that exposes the controversial business of selling diplomatic titles that gives wealthy businessmen the opportunity to exploit the lucrative and limited resources of war torn, third world nations. Filmmaker provocateur Mads Brügger (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner for Red Chapel) uses humor in his jaw-dropping descent into one of the most dangerous places on the planet: the Central African Republic. From each absurdly terrifying and hilarious situation to the next, THE AMBASSADOR is a one-of-a-kind excursion from the man whom The Huffington Post calls “the most provocative filmmaker in the world.”
“a stunning, funny, and vital piece of guerilla cinema.”
New York Post
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
2:30 PM
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Powerful as God: The Children’s Aid Society of Ontario
Watch the Trailer
75 minutes, 2011 Canada
blakout.ca |
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A documentary that delves into society’s most controversial and secretive topics. The film navigates ‘truth’ by engaging twenty-six witnesses with diverse experiences into conversation. By facilitating a voice for individuals whose lives have been tragically affected, with observations and recommendations by experts who have worked directly with the agency (such as doctors, social workers and lawyers), the film reveals a child welfare system plagued by systemic and bureaucratic abuse that urgently requires public attention. Financed by tax dollars and wielding extraordinary power, CAS employees have been heard to describe their influence over children and families to be as powerful as god.
Speaker: Producer Esther Buckareff
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
4:00 PM
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Fracknation
Watch the Trailer
77 Minutes, 2013, United States
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer |
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Fracknation follows journalists Phelim McAleer as he faces gun threats, malicious 911 calls and bogus lawsuits when questioning green extremists for the truth about fracking. Fracking is going to make America one of the world’s leading energy producers but it has become the target of a concerted campaign by environmentalists who want it banned.
In Fracknation, McAleer travels across the USA and Europe to uncover the science suppressed by environmental activists and ignored by much of the media. He talks with scientists and ordinary Americans who live in fracking areas and who tell him the truth about the exaggerations and misrepresentations of anti-fracking activists.
“McAleer is an expert practitioner of cinematic jujitsu”.
New York Post
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
4:30 PM
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The Sheik and I
Watch the Trailer
104 minutes, United States, 2012
Reinventing the wheel |
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Commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial of the United Arab Emirates to make a film on the theme of “art as a subversive act,” independent filmmaker Caveh Zahedi goes overboard. Told that he can do whatever he wants except make fun of the Sheik, who rules the country and finances the Biennial, Zahedi decides to do just that. He turns his camera on the Biennial itself and gleefully presses every culturally sensitive button he can find. But his court jester antics fails to amuse. Zahedi’s film is banned for blasphemy and he is threatened with a fatwa.
“Whether mocking the Muslim world or indicting Western attitudes toward that world — perhaps a little of both — “The Sheik and I” argues vociferously that it’s always better to offend than to bore.”
The New York Times, Dec. 2012
“At once preposterous and profound, the film proposes elemental questions about freedom of speech and artistic ethics.”
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 2012
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
5:30 PM
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Rodney Ramsey: Quebec Language Lunacy
Watch the Trailer |
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Comedian Rodney Ramsey from Montreal will present his homemade videos that make fun of the Quebec language laws. Don’t miss these great videos and his live comedy.
Rodney Ramsey is a Montreal native who is gaining much notoriety on the stand-up comedy scene. As an underground comedy promoter, with the ability to take over stages as a comedian or actor, Rodney is a triple threat who is quickly gaining notice.
After months of notoriously heckling comics at comedy shows, Rodney decided to perform at open mics, then began opening on weekends at various clubs across the country a short time later. Feeling trapped in the mainstream comedy clubs and eager to experiment on stage with alternative material, in 2004 Rodney created the Drunken Show. The first show was a hit and went on to be Montreal’s premiere underground comedy show with a large cult following. Rodney then went on to co-create the Dead Comics Society, a Sketch comedy group that got rave reviews at both the Toronto and Montreal sketch festivals. Shortly after, Rodney Ramsey represented Montreal in the Just for Laughs home grown competition, premiering on City TV’s in House comics. Rodney went on to host Montreal’s Bad Boys of Comedy show two years in a row, which was well received in the African-Canadian community. Rodney Ramsey also performed on The Debaters airing on CBC radio and broadcast across Canada.
Now living in Toronto, Rodney was recently published in The Star newspaper for winning the best Obama joke contest. Rodney’s hard-work ethic and ultra magnetic stage presence make for a great comedian to watch now and in the years to come.
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Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
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Hacked! When Cyber Spies Attack
Watch the Trailer
44 Minutes, 2013, Australia, ABC |
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We will start off the evening with the Australian film, “Hacked! When Cyber Spies Attack” which investigates Chinese cyber spying into Australia. It’s a very well-done and up to date documentary.
After the film, please join us for an amazing panel on China Cyber Spying against Canada and other Western countries. Joining us on this panel are:
– Brian Shields – IT Auditor (2.5 yrs), and then Corporate Systems Security (16 yrs) with Nortel. Brian’s last 5 years were focused on finding APT (advanced persistent threat) intruders in the Nortel network.
– Richard Bejtlich, Chief Security Officer of Mandiant Corporation, one of the premiere cyber-security firms in the United States. Bejtlich has more than 15 years of experience in enterprise level intrusion detection and incident response working the US government and Fortune 100 companies. Mandiant Corporation is the firm that identified specifics on Chinese hacking into the United States.
– Dr. Rafal Rohozinski, CEO of The SecDev Group in Ottawa, Canada, which works on the crossroads of global security and development.
After the panel discussion and Q&A, we will also have a private reception. |
Back To Top
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
11:00 AM
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Jedwabne, a Polish TV Documentary on the Holocaust
2 Parts, 60 minutes and 57 minutes |
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A televised documentary on the World War II massacre of Jewish villagers by their Polish neighbors. Recent revelations about the 1941 massacre in Jedwabne and nearby communities in northeastern Poland have stunned Poland and devastated the national assumption, nurtured in the communist era, that Poles were always victims and never collaborators in Nazi-era atrocities. In the documentary, Arnold interviews witnesses, participants and survivors of the massacre of an estimated 1,600 Jews in Jedwabne and 800 in Radzilow and other nearby villages.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
12:00 PM
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An Unlikely Obsession: The True Story of Winston Churchill & The Jews
67 minutes, 2012, Canada, Melbar Entertainment Group |
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A powerful documentary film based on the acclaimed Churchill biographer Sir Martin Gilbert‘s book that examines a neglected aspect of one of world history’s most renown leaders; Winston Churchill’s relationship to Jews and Jewish issues. Drawing on a treasure trove of interviews featuring Churchill family members, Lord Conrad Black, Sir Martin Gilbert, Alan Dershowitz, The 11th Duke of Marlborough and others, Avrich shows how Churchill grew beyond the kind of friendship with individual British Jews to an unlikely obsession in becoming a supporter of Jewish causes—most notably being responsible for determining the future status of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. As a war leader and prime minister, this film examines the origins, implications, and results of Churchill’s commitment to Jews.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
1:30 PM
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Orchestra of Exiles
Watch the Trailer
85 Minutes, 2012, United States
Aronson Films |
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The thrilling story of how one man helped save Europe’s premiere Jewish musicians from obliteration by the Nazis. In the early 1930’s Hitler began firing Jewish musicians across Europe. Overcoming extraordinary obstacles, violinist Bronislaw Huberman moved these great musicians to Palestine and formed a symphony that would become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. With courage, resourcefulness and an entourage of allies including Arturo Toscanini and Albert Einstein, Huberman saved nearly 1000 Jews – and guaranteed the survival of Europe’s musical heritage.
“Richly researched and partly told by some of today’s top-flight musicians, ‘Orchestra of Exiles’ aspires to a level of primary research that other historical documentaries could take a page from.”
New York Times
Performance: Floralove Katz sings some songs of the Holocaust.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
1:30 PM
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Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives
Watch the Trailer
54 minutes, 2013, United States, Free to Choose Network |
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Each year, the Fraser Institute of Vancouver, Canada, releases its Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report (EFWR). This program is based on the findings of the 2012 report and reveals, in personal and dramatic terms, the impact of increased economic freedom on the lives of ordinary citizens across the globe.
Daesung Kim escaped from North Korea in 1997. Today he is a venture capitalist in Seoul, South Korea, who funds fellow North Korean refugees, giving them their start in business and putting them on a path to self-reliance.
Sylvia Banda is a Zambian entrepreneur who is playing a critical role in the development of rural Zambian farming. Working only with hand tools, and living in villages without electricity or plumbing, the farmers have found a reliable partner in Sylvia, who teaches them improved farming techniques. They, in turn, provide her with a supply of safe, hygienic food to sell. Farmers testify that they can now send their children to school because they’re no longer needed to assist on the farm.
John Hernandez is a bee farmer in Chile. Facing a drop in world honey demand, he transformed his business into selling queen bees to France. Because his Southern Hemisphere summer bees are available in January, he can double the capacity of European bee farmers. He now conducts a thriving international business.
Presented by Swedish author and commentator Johan Norberg, Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives features these stories of economic freedom in action in Zambia, South Korea, Slovakia and Chile.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
3:00 PM
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Transcending Fear: The Story of Gao Zhisheng
Watch the Trailer
72 minutes, 2013, Taiwan, Wenjing Ma |
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Gao Zhisgheng is a human rights attorney in China known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses. He has been disbarred and detained by the Chinese government several times, and severely tortured. He last disappeared in February 2009 and was unofficially detained until December 2011, when it was announced that he has now been imprisoned for three years. His commitment to defending his clients is influenced by his Christian beliefs and their tenets on morality and compassion.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
3:15 PM
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Elizabeth Nickson
Eco-Fascists
How Radical Conservationists Are Destroying Our Natural Heritage |
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Please join us for this important presentation by author Elizabeth Nickson. Forty million Americans have been driven from their lands and rural culture is being systematically crushed, even as wildlife, forests, and rangelands are dying. Nickson’s investigations into these events have revealed a shocking truth: rather than safeguarding our environment, radical conservationists are actually destroying our natural heritage. Nickson documents the destructive impact of the environmental movement detailing the extreme damage environmental radicals in local and national government agencies are doing to the land, the ecosystems, and the people.
“Elizabeth Nickson’s book, “Eco-Fascists: How Radical Conservationists Are Destroying Our Natural Heritage” is a superbly written account of the devastating political agenda of the environmentalist junta. A talented and experienced journalist, Ms. Nickson previously worked as European bureau chief of Life magazine, reporter for Time magazine and columnist with Canada’s National Post. Ms. Nickson’s ability to mix hard facts, intriguing ideas and personal stories in a straightforward and readable manner will attract many inquisitive minds. The book’s bombshell revelations alone will make it one of the year’s most talked-about releases.”
Washington Times, March 2013
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
4:30 PM
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SARS: Coverup and Aftermath
Watch the Trailer
51 Minutes, Canada, 2013
Diana Dai |
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This is an extraordinary and insightful human drama during and after the crisis; it tells the stories of the Chinese government’s cover up and forgotten SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) survivors who are suffering greatly from the horrific after-effects due to aggressive steroids treatment and their continuing fight for their rights in China; and at the same time, how their fight for their rights are pushing Chinese society forward.
Speaker: Producer Diana Dai.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
4:45 PM
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Jihad in America: The Grand Deception
Watch the Trailer
70 Minutes, United States, 2012
The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation |
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Jihad in America exposes the history and secret structure of the underlying and subversive menace behind the public mask – the Muslim Brotherhood in America.This investigative documentary exposes how Muslim Brotherhood-linked leaders rose to prominence in the United States, and how they exploit American values under the cover of religion for their ulterior political agenda.
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
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Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean
Watch the Trailer
40 Minutes, United States, 2010
Jenglo Productions |
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Please join us for a night of film, presentation, music, Q&A and coffee!
Living in the wake of the Idi Amin reign of terror and institutional discrimination, one Ugandan coffee farmer organized a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish neighbors to challenge historical, economic and environmental hurdles. He formed the ‘Delicious Peace Coffee Cooperative’ to enhance peaceful relationships and economic development. Partnering with a Fair Trade US distributor, the standard of living of the farmers is improving and their messages of peace and fair wages are spreading to coffee customers in North America.
Following this documentary, please join us in welcoming to Ottawa, J.J. Keki, the leader of the Abayudaya Jewish community from Uganda.
And, then please join us for some Ugandan coffee at a private reception. |
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