The Free Thinking Film Festival starts later this week

October 29, 2013 — xanthippa

Just a reminder to all Ottawans and to all who plan to drive in for the Free Thinking Film Festival – it starts this Thursday, 31st of October 2013, and runs until Sunday, November 3rd.

Here is the complete schedule:

 

OPENING NIGHT
Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013
7:00 PM
Main Auditorium
Collision! Free Speech and Religion

Watch the Trailer
18 Minutes, United States 2013
Free to Choose Network

 buy tickets

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
^

Friday, November 1, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
An Evening with Barbara Kay buy tickets
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

^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
11:00 AM
Broken Soldiers
Watch the Trailer
49 minutes, 2012 Canada
Clerisy Entertainment		 buy tickets

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.
^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
12:15 PM
Atlas Shrugged, Part II
Watch the Trailer
111 minutes, 2012 United States
Atlas 2 Productions		 buy tickets
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.
^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
12:30 PM

Sponsored by the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation		 The Ambassador
Watch the Trailer
93 Minutes, 2011, Sweden
Film i Vast		 buy tickets
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

^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
2:30 PM
The Red Chapel Powerful as God: The Children’s Aid Society of Ontario
Watch the Trailer
75 minutes, 2011 Canada
blakout.ca		 buy tickets
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
^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
4:00 PM
Fracknation
Watch the Trailer
77 Minutes, 2013, United States
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer		 buy tickets
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
^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Room 156
4:30 PM
The Sheik and I

Watch the Trailer
104 minutes, United States, 2012
Reinventing the wheel

 buy tickets
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

^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
5:30 PM
Rodney Ramsey: Quebec Language Lunacy
Watch the Trailer		 buy tickets
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.

^

Saturday November 2, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
Hacked! When Cyber Spies Attack
Watch the Trailer
44 Minutes, 2013, Australia, ABC		 buy tickets
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

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
11:00 AM
Jedwabne, a Polish TV Documentary on the Holocaust

2 Parts, 60 minutes and 57 minutes

 buy tickets
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.

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
12:00 PM
An Unlikely Obsession: The True Story of Winston Churchill & The Jews

67 minutes, 2012, Canada, Melbar Entertainment Group

 buy tickets
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.

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
1:30 PM
Orchestra of Exiles
Watch the Trailer
85 Minutes, 2012, United States
Aronson Films		 buy tickets
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.
^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
1:30 PM
Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives
Watch the Trailer
54 minutes, 2013, United States, Free to Choose Network		 buy tickets
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.

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
3:00 PM
Transcending Fear: The Story of Gao Zhisheng
Watch the Trailer
72 minutes, 2013, Taiwan, Wenjing Ma		 buy tickets
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.
^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
3:15 PM
Elizabeth Nickson

Eco-Fascists
 How Radical Conservationists Are Destroying Our Natural Heritage

buy tickets
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

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Room 156
4:30 PM
SARS: Coverup and Aftermath
Watch the Trailer

51 Minutes, Canada, 2013
Diana Dai

 buy tickets
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.

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
4:45 PM
Jihad in America: The Grand Deception
Watch the Trailer

70 Minutes, United States, 2012
The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation

 buy tickets
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.

^

Sunday, November 3, 2013
Main Auditorium
7:00 PM
Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean
Watch the Trailer

40 Minutes, United States, 2010
Jenglo Productions

 buy tickets
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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Free Thinking Film Festival 2013

September 4, 2013 — xanthippa

From the Free Thinking Film Society:

4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013

Brings Films on Freedom & Free Speech to Ottawa Ottawa, Canada

On October 31st, 2013, The Free Thinking Film Society will kick off its 4th annual Film Festival to celebrate liberty, freedom and democracy.  The 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2014 will feature four major events, two book launches, and over 20 films & events, between October 31st – November 3rd 2013 at Library and Archives Canada. There will also be a Free Thinking Alley where attendees can buy books and DVDs, and enjoy food & drink.

“This year we pay particular attention to free speech,” says Free Thinking Film President Fred Litwin. “Get ready for four days of challenging films and discussions with absolutely no political correctness.”

The Festival will feature four major events:  On October 31st, the Festival will open with the film “Collision:  Free Speech and Religion” followed by a panel discussion with Danish Human Rights lawyer Jacob Mchangama.  On November 1st, the Festival will present an evening with noted Canadian journalist Barbara Kay. On Saturday, November 2nd, the topic will be China Cyber-Spying, first with a film and then a panel discussion, and the Festival will end on November 3rd with a very special evening on how Muslims, Jews & Christians work together in Uganda on a coffee coop. The head of the Ugandan Jewish community will be on hand for Q&A and coffee will be served.

Other films include “Powerful as God,” about abuse of power by the Children’s Aid Societies of Ontario; “Fracknation,” presents the truth about fracking; “The Ambassador”, a dark comedy that exposes the business of selling diplomatic titles, “Jihad in America: Grand Deception” about the Muslim Brotherhood in the US; “Transcending Fear: The Story Of Gao Zhisheng” about a Christian lawyer who challenges the Communist Party in China; “Changing Lives” a documentary about the impact of economic freedom; “The Sheik and I”, about an independent film maker who tests the boundaries of free speech in the United Arab Emirates; “Broken Soldier”, a Canadian film on how our veterans struggle with PTSD and homelessness; and many other films and speakers.

In addition, two authors will be in Ottawa to launch their books.  Barbara Kay, columnist for the National Post will host an evening dedicated to her book, “Acknowledgements”, and Elizabeth Nickson will present her book, “Eco-Fascists:  How Radical Conservationists are Destroying Our Natural Heritage”.

Festival passes are available for $80 and can be purchased either online or at the following retailers – Compact Music (785 Bank, 206 Bank), and online here. Tickets will also be available at the door at the event.  Day passes will also be available for sale.

The complete list of events can be seen at www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca

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Free Thinking Film Society’s final event of 2012

November 27, 2012 — xanthippa

From the Free Thinking Film Society:

Don’t Miss This Important Book Launch!

David Solway’s “The Boxthorn Tree”

December 6, 2012, 7 PM
David Solway’s launch of his new Freedom Press book “The Boxthorn Tree”
Ottawa Public Library
Main Branch – Metcalfe & Laurier
Main Auditorium
FREE ADMISSION

“David Solway’s high-octane writing snaps, crackles, and pops with savage but disciplined indignation.”
Barbara Kay, National Post columnist

National officials, press barons, journalists, Internetians, “Human Rights” agencies, public intellectuals and a growing segment of the vox populi are tapping increasingly into the poisoned aquifer of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist feeling. Yet what is perhaps even more disconcerting is the comparable attitude of many in the Jewish community today, mainly of the Left, who have made common cause with their enemies, defamers and traducers. There is not much question that what we are observing is a pathology of the first magnitude, what the Talmudic sages called sin’at akhim, or brotherly hatred, an element of Jewish life sufficiently pronounced to merit a name of its own. This book redresses the cowardly rise of Jewish self-hatred.

About the Author

David Solway’s work has appeared in journals and magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly; The Sewanee Review; PN Review (U.K.); Descant; Partisan Review; liberté; International Journal of Applied Semiotics; Policy Options: Institute on Research in Public Policy; and Journal of Modern Greek Studies. He is currently a regular contributor to FrontPage Magazine, Pajamas Media and Academic Questions in the U.S.

Reviews

“In The Boxthorne Tree, David Solway has assembled a veritable fusillade of inquiring, incisive, and supremely intelligent observations about the current state of play in the Middle East. He offers a salubrious alternative to the usual anti-Israeli static emanating from the mainstream media and its enablers in academia in prose that is as scintillating as it is well informed. This will be essential reading for anyone interested in what is actually happening in that perennially troubled hot spot.“
Roger Kimball, author, Tenured Radicals, editor & publisher, The New Criterion

“David Solway’s incisive, erudite essays on Israel, the Jews, and the difficult world they have to confront make for arresting, indispensable reading. For me each Solway essay in this subject area is an event requiring, and rewarding, one’s full attention.”
P. David Hornik, columnist, FrontPage Magazine

“David Solway’s high-octane writing snaps, crackles, and pops with savage but disciplined indignation. An omnivorous researcher, rooting out polemical truffles from ancient religious texts, eminent historians, presidential speeches, imams’ sermons, academic treatises, today’s newspapers, and yesterday’s blog posts with unflagging curiosity and a knack for artful synthesis, Solway’s intellectual and rhetorical command of today’s most pressing issues have no equal.”
Barbara Kay, National Post columnist

“An accomplished poet, whose elegant prose reflects that exacting craft, David Solway is the most sublime, vanishingly rare of non-fiction writers-a conscientious, inquisitive Truth-teller. With his gimlet eye, which eschews all cultural relativist pandering, Solway boldly disentangles the predicament of Israel, and Jews in general, from the web of falsehoods woven by jihadists of all ilks, abetted by their distressingly uninformed infidel allies on the Left-including, sadly, Jewish Leftists.”
Andrew Bostom, author, Sharia versus Freedom: The Legacy of Islamic Totalitarianism

“Reading David Solway is as great a pleasure as listening to Oscar Petersen jamming up on his piano. Author, essayist, poet, polemicist, raconteur, Solway without failing strikes just about always the right note, pulls the right chord, and delivers the knock-out punch exquisitely. Solway is peerless at his best, and his best is the norm with him as he tears down false messiahs selling cheap goods dolled up as the latest cure for whatever ails man in his endless search for some illusive utopia.”
Salim Mansur, author, Delectable Lie: A Liberal Repudiation of Multiculturalism

Please join me for this important book launch.

Cheers,

Fred Litwin

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Bruce Bawer has written a great review of the festival!  Click here to read his review on FrontPageMagazine.

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Mark Your Calendars Now!


The 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival will take place between October 31st and November 3rd, 2013 in Ottawa at the Library & Archives Canada.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more details our films/events in 2013.

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The Free Thinking Film Festival starts tonight!

November 1, 2012 — xanthippa

For all of you in the Ottawa area, the thied annual Free Thinking Film Festiva starts tonight – and, as an added bonus, one of my paintings (Aisha) is going to be auctioned off as part of the festivities!

From the organizers:

Tonight…..

Losing Our Sons/Muslim Brotherhood in Canada!

November 1, 2012
The 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2012 Starts Tonight!

We’ve got an incredible first evening planned for the Festival. Tickets will be available at the door, so please make it to the Library & Archives Canada tonight!

Losing Our Sons
November 1st, 2012, 7 PM
Library & Archives Canada
395 Wellington

Admission: $20 or with Festival Pass (you can buy an individual ticket or a Festival Pass at the door). Private reception to follow the Q&A with Marc Lebuis.

Right after the film, please join us for an exclusive presentation by Marc Lebuis – the proprietor of Le Point De Bascule Canada blog – on the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada.

Point de bascule, or the tipping point, is a Montreal-based French language webmagazine. It is dedicated to explore and expose Islamist activities in our midst, and I invite everybody to check out his site.

Losing Our Sons Trailer HD
Losing Our Sons Trailer HD

A searing true story from America’s heartland, Losing Our Sons tells of two American families whose lives intersected through a shattering act of violence. Melvin Bledsoe, a small business owner in Memphis, watched with pride as his son Carlos went to Tennessee State University in Nashville to better his life through education. Daris Long, an ex-Marine, felt honored that his son, Andy, chose to follow in his footsteps by joining the military. But when Carlos Bledsoe murdered Andy Long in Little Rock, Arkansas, both fathers are forced to confront a new kind of American nightmare. As Melvin traced the trail that led Carlos from Nashville to Yemen and then to Little Rock, Daris confronted an American government that seems to be in denial about what happened to his son. This powerful documentary provides a moment of clarity for people who care about their families and their country’s future.

“Heartbreaking and infuriating … an anguished wake-up call.”
Jeff Jacoby, Columnist, Boston Globe

“Riveting, powerful, educational and a must see for every American”
Brigitte Gabriel, Founder President of ACT! For America

*************************************************
We made the Ottawa Citizen!

Click here to read their preview of the Festival.

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Get set for one of the most important Canadian Premieres in a long time. Death By China will be our feature presentation on Friday night at the 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2012.

Death by China Documentary Film – Official Trailer
Death by China Documentary Film – Official Trailer
Death By China
November 2nd, 2012, 7 PM
Library & Archives Canada
395 Wellington

Speaker: Greg Autry, co-author of “Death By China”. Private reception to follow Q&A.

Admission: $20 or with Festival Pass. Tickets available online (see our website) or at the door.

Death by China is a new film based on the book by Peter Navarro and Greg Autry which challenges the dominant paradigm of a “Chinese Miracle” – the one featuring a modernizing, progressive Chinese state heading toward political reform and driving global economic growth with its new found embrace of capitalism and freedom. Tearing this delusion away, Death by China documents the myriad ways that a powerful, wealthy, and corrupt Chinese Communist Party emboldened by a growing nationalistic frenzy is becoming the biggest threat to global peace, prosperity, and health since Nazi Germany.

“A truly life-changing, mouth-dropping documentary film…Peter Navarro’s ‘Death by China’ grabs you by the throat and never lets go.”
-Francesca McCaffery, Blackbook Magazine

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We’ve added Atlas Shrugged, Part One!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Room 156
3:00 PM

Atlas Shrugged, Part One

Watch the Trailer
97 minutes, Strike Productions, 2011

Ayn Rand’s timeless novel of rational self-interest comes to life for a new millennium.”. The year is 2016, and America is on the verge of economic disaster. The greatest citizens are being targeted, and dark forces are working to bring about America’s final days. Our only hope for salvation lies with Dagny Taggart and Henry Rearden, rugged individualists whose bold ideas may have the power to spark a revolution and reclaim to the American Dream.

3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival!!!

We’ve got an amazing Festival this year!

The Festival will feature four major events: On November 1st, the Festival will open with “Losing Our Sons”, a poignant tale of two fathers who have lost their sons – one through terrorism, and one through indoctrination. On November 2nd, the Festival features the Canadian premiere of “Death by China”, a film about the increasingly destructive economic trade practices of a rapidly rising China with author Greg Autry in attendance. On Saturday, November 3rd, Producer Michael King will be on hand to introduce the film, “The Rescuers” about diplomats who saved Jews during the Holocaust, and the Festival will end with a tribute to Raoul Wallenberg – a celebration of his 100th birthday in association with B’nai Brith Canada.

Other films include “The Invisible Men,” about the plight of gay Palestinians; “Windfall,” about the pitfalls of wind power; “Freedom’s Fury,” a look at the “blood in the water” water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary at the Olympics in 1956; “Their Eyes Were Dry,” a film about the massacre of teenagers in Ma’alot in Israel by Palestinian terrorists in 1974; “Occupy Unmasked,” a hard look at the Occupy movement; “21 Brothers,” a Canadian film about World War I; “The Red Chapel,” a comedy that exposes North Korea’s totalitarian system; “Putin’s Kiss”, a documentary on the brutality of the Putin regime; “Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny,” examines why Winston Churchill’s legacy continues to be relevant in the 21st Century; “Why Is It Hate?,” Martin Gladstone’s film on why Queers Against Israeli Apartheid bring a message of hate to Toronto’s Gay Pride; and many, many other films.

In addition, four authors will be in Ottawa to launch their books. Bruce Bawer, the acclaimed American author, will read from his new book, “The Victims Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind;” Pierre Desrochers will present on two of his books: “The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet”, and “The False Crises of Rachel Carson: Silent Spring at 50”; Arpad Szoczi will present his book, “Timisoara – The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution,” and Tuvia Tenenbom will be here to talk about his book, “I Sleep In Hitler’s Room.”

Trailer – 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Society 2012
Trailer – 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Society 2012

The complete list of events can be seen at http://www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca

Festival passes are available for $75 and can be purchased either online or at the following retailers – Compact Music (785 Bank, 190 Bank), Collected Works (1242 Wellington), and Ottawa Festivals (47 William Street). Day passes will also be available for sale.

Some Amazing Speakers Coming to Ottawa for the Festival!

Martin Gladstone, Producer of “Why Is It Hate”, a documentary about how Queers Against Israeli Apartheid bring a message of hate to Toronto Gay Pride.

Greg Autry, Author of the book, “Death By China” will be here to talk about his new documentary of the same name. CANADIAN PREMIERE.

Michael King, Producer of the film “The Rescuers” in which historian Martin Gilbert teams up with a survivor of the Rwandan genocide to interview diplomats who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

Pierre Desrochers, Professor at the University of Toronto, will be presenting on his two new books: “The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000 mile Diet” and “Silent Spring at 60: The False Crises of Rachel Carson”.

Bruce Bawer, acclaimed American Author, will be in Ottawa to launch his new book: “The Victim’s Revolution: The Rise of Identity Politics and the Closing of the Liberal Mind.”

David Matas, attorney for the B’nai Brith and Human Rights Activist, will be presenting the latest research on the fate of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg – the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary.

Clayton Garrett, Producer of 21 Brothers, a Canadian film about life in the trenches during WW1. Shot in Kingston, Ontario.

Marc Lebuis, author of the website pointdebasculecanada.ca will be in Ottawa to present on the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada.

Tuvia Tenenbom will be here to present his book, “I Sleep in Hitler’s Room.”

Arpad Szoszi will be here to discuss his new book on the Romanian Revolution.

Free Mobile Applications!

By the way, we now have an Android application and an iPhone application. Just click here to download our Android application (it’s free).

You can click here to get our free iPhone application.

Sincerely,

Frederick Litwin
Free Thinking Film Society

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The 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival

September 25, 2012 — xanthippa

A treat for those of you either living in Ottawa, or planning a visit here during the festival.  This is the official announcement, which I received via email today:

September 25, 2012
3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival!!!

We’ve got an amazing Festival this year!

The Festival will feature four major events:  On November 1st, the Festival will open with “Losing Our Sons”, a poignant tale of two fathers who have lost their sons – one through terrorism, and one through indoctrination.  On November 2nd, the Festival features the Canadian premiere of “Death by China”, a film about the increasingly destructive economic trade practices of a rapidly rising China with author Greg Autry in attendance.  On Saturday, November 3rd, Producer Michael King will be on hand to introduce the film, “The Rescuers” about diplomats who saved Jews during the Holocaust, and the Festival will end with a tribute to Raoul Wallenberg – a celebration of his 100th birthday in association with B’nai Brith Canada.Other films include “The Invisible Men,” about the plight of gay Palestinians; “Windfall,” about the pitfalls of wind power; “Freedom’s Fury,” a look at the “blood in the water” water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary at the Olympics in 1956; “Their Eyes Were Dry,” a film about the massacre of teenagers in Ma’alot in Israel by Palestinian terrorists in 1974; “Occupy Unmasked,” a hard look at the Occupy movement; “21 Brothers,” a Canadian film about World War I; “The Red Chapel,” a comedy that exposes North Korea’s totalitarian system; “Putin’s Kiss”, a documentary on the brutality of the Putin regime; “Winston Churchill:  Walking With Destiny,” examines why Winston Churchill’s legacy continues to be relevant in the 21st Century; “Why Is It Hate?,” Martin Gladstone’s film on why Queers Against Israeli Apartheid bring a message of hate to Toronto’s Gay Pride; and many, many other films.

In addition, three authors will be in Ottawa to launch their books.  Bruce Bawer, the acclaimed American author, will read from his new book, “The Victims Revolution:  The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind;” Pierre Desrochers will present on two of his books:  “The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet”, and “The False Crises of Rachel Carson:  Silent Spring at 50”, and Arpad Szoczi will present his book, “Timisoara – The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution.”

Trailer - 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Society 2012
Trailer – 3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Society 2012

The complete list of events can be seen at www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca

Festival passes are available for $75 and can be purchased either online or at the following retailers – Compact Music (785 Bank, 190 Bank), Collected Works (1242 Wellington), and Ottawa Festivals (47 William Street).  Day passes will also be available for sale.

Some Amazing Speakers Coming to Ottawa for the Festival! 

  • Martin Gladstone, Producer of “Why Is It Hate”, a documentary about how Queers Against Israeli Apartheid bring a message of hate to Toronto Gay Pride.
  • Yariv Mozer, Director of “The Invisible Men”, a documentary about the plight of gay Palestinians who have run away from their families and are hiding in Israel.  CANADIAN PREMIERE.
  • Greg Autry, Author of the book, “Death By China” will be here to talk about his new documentary of the same name.  CANADIAN PREMIERE.
  • Michael King, Producer of the film “The Rescuers” in which historian Martin Gilbert teams up with a survivor of the Rwandan genocide to interview diplomats who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
  • Pierre Desrochers, Professor at the University of Toronto, will be presenting on his two new books:  “The Locavore’s Dilemma:  In Praise of the 10,000 mile Diet” and “Silent Spring at 60:  The False Crises of Rachel Carson”.
  • Bruce Bawer, acclaimed American Author, will be in Ottawa to launch his new book:  “The Victim’s Revolution:  The Rise of Identity Politics and the Closing of the Liberal Mind.”
  • David Matas, attorney for the B’nai Brith and Human Rights Activist, will be presenting the latest research on the fate of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg – the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary.
  • Clayton Garrett, Producer of 21 Brothers, a Canadian film about life in the trenches during WW1.  Shot in Kingston, Ontario.
  • Marc Lebuis, author of the website pointdebasculecanada.ca will be in Ottawa to present on the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada.

 
Major announcement on the Festival next week!

We’ve got yet another book launch for the Festival which we will announce next week.  Stay tuned…this one is going to be a ton of fun.

 
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
The Great Canadian Debates

Our friends at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute are holding some debates that you should probably attend:

The Great Canadian Debates, a series of four provocative debates exploring some of the most compelling issues to Canadians. Each debate will be presented at the Canadian War Museum and will feature well-known personalities and a moderator. Audience members are invited to get involved by posing questions during a Q&A session and voting for the winning argument. Following the debate, the evening also includes private access to the War Musem’s special exhibit.

We’ll have a table at their next debate which is on October 4th on the CBC.  Come visit us, please!

 

Free Mobile Applications!


By the way, we now have an Android application and an iPhone application. Just click here to download our Android application (it’s free).

You can click here to get our free iPhone application.

Sincerely,
Frederick Litwin
Free Thinking Film Society

P.S.  I plan to donate at least one of my paintings, ‘Aisha’ (inspired by the fate of Aisha Ibrahim Dhuhulow), to be auctioned off during the festival.

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3rd Annual Free Thinking Film Festival: November 1-4, 2012

September 3, 2012 — xanthippa

 

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Irish Filmmaker Nicky Larkin tells the truth about Israel…

June 17, 2012 — xanthippa

UPDATE:  Here are my thoughts on the movie – it sucks!

Brought to you by the Free Thinking Film Society.

Ottawa:  18th of June, 2012, 7 pm, Library & Archives Canada

Montreal:  19th of June, 2012, 7 pm, Chabad of the Town, 4054 rue Jean-Talon Ouest

Toronto:  20th of June, 2012, 7:30 pm, 15 Hove Street * Toronto

For more information on the Montreal and Toronto events, please contact chershon@bnaibrith.ca

About the movie:

‘Irish filmmaker Nicky Larkin went to Israel to make the standard “Israel is Evil” documentary, but had a change of heart once he started filming. Here’s your chance to meet Nicky in person, see his documentary and hear why he changed his mind about Israel.

“Israel is a refuge — but a refuge under siege, a refuge where rockets rain death from the skies. And as I made the effort to empathise, to look at the world through their eyes. I began a new intellectual journey. One that would not be welcome back home.

The problem began when I resolved to come back with a film that showed both sides of the coin. Actually there are many more than two. Which is why my film is called Forty Shades of Grey. But only one side was wanted back in Dublin. My peers expected me to come back with an attack on Israel. No grey areas were acceptable.’

Here is what Vlad Tepes has to say about Nicky Larkin:

‘Here’s a film maker who has chosen to walk a lonely path in Ireland’s artist community, due to his awakening to the truth behind the Arabs’ conflict with Israel, which speaks greatly of his courage and moral compass. He’s been confronted with a reality that runs counter to the one carefully prepared for him by his peers and society at large.

Nicky Larkin not only challenges himself, but his countrymen as well, by sharing this completely different Irish perspective on the conflict. It’s a perspective rarely discussed in Ireland, let alone mulled over, which speaks greatly of the vice-grip hold anti-Israel forces have on that society. Larkin’s efforts offer a ray of hope that rational and reasonable debate on the conflict is indeed possible in Ireland, lets hope that his colleagues take up the challenge.’

There will be a Q&A with the filmmaker following the screening:  it promises to be a very interesting evening!

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Europe’s Last Dictator

April 24, 2012 — xanthippa

From the Free Thinking Film Society:

You won’t want to miss our event this week – the Canadian premiere of the film, “Europe’s Last Dictator”.

April 25, 2012, 7:00 PM
Library & Archives Canada
395 Wellington
Admission $15 ($10 for students).Tickets available at the door or at selected retailers (Compact Music, 190 Bank, 785 Bank; Collected Works, 1242 Wellington; Ottawa Festivals, 47 William)

Irina is the sister of imprisoned Belarusian presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov. Through her eyes this doc charts the violent crackdown that followed the 2010 rigged elections and its dreadful aftermath. Powerful, award-winning photography captures Orwellian images of brute force used against unarmed men and women. We see the state-sponsored torture, murder and kidnap that defines Belarus today. A rare glimpse into Europe’s most repressive state.

“We formed a group to lead negotiations with the government, but the troops were called”, Iryna Khalip, journalist and wife of presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, says over the phone. “My husband was badly beaten, we’re on the way to the hospital.” Suddenly her voice becomes raised with panic. “Looks like we’re being arrested. We’re on the ground…They’re hitting my face!” She screams and then the phone cuts out. This episode is part of Lukashenko’s promise to “wring the necks” of all those who joined the opposition during the elections.

Iryna Khalip and Andrei Sannikov were imprisoned after this arrest. Irina Bogdanova, Andrei’s sister, has lived in England for 18 years. The other side of Europe, she has turned her house into a refugee camp for all those who have escaped Lukashenko’s violent crackdown that night. A crackdown that it appears Lukashenko may have premeditated. Staggering images of the protest show riot police beating their shields in unison, and bloodied, disorientated protestors. “There was no resistance, people were not armed. It’s just despicable what happened.” Police charged the crowds with their batons striking the defenseless protestors repeatedly. “Human beings don’t behave like that, animals don’t behave like that”, Irina says, her voice tremulous with emotion.

Hundreds of others like Sannikov, including the other presidential candidate Alexander Neklayev, were also brutally beaten and imprisoned that night. With virtually the entire opposition behind bars, it fell to family members to campaign for their release. So Irina and Eva, the daugther of Alexander Neklayev, have now taken to the road to meet world leaders in an attempt to secure the release of their loved ones. While they lobby world politicians to put pressure on Belarus their relatives are brutally tortured. “If I think about how he is doing I just fall apart.” In fact, as Lukashenko’s popularity wains his violence against the opposition has increased.

From Irina’s defiant perpective this doc gets right inside the prison that Lukashenko has turned Belarus into, exposing the true extent of the crisis. “People are so isolated in terms of information in Belarus, especially now that 10 million people live in jail”. As the opposition continues to languish in custody, how long will the people of Belarus have to wait before they are set free?
I hope to see everybody at this important event.  David Kilgour will be on hand to say a few words as well as Ivonka J. Survilla President , Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile.On May 28th, we’ll be showing a film, “When China Met Africa” which we will follow with a panel discussion on China in Canada with Terry Glavin, David Kilgour, David Harris and Scott Simon.

And, on June 18th, we will be bringing in Irish Filmmaker Nicky Larkin to show his new film on the Middle East, “Forty Shades of Grey.”

Sincerely,
Frederick Litwin
Free Thinking Film Society
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