Monday, 15 January, 5:30-7:00 PM
FOREIGN FILM IN FOCUS
Malcolm Guy and Eylem Kaftan's BLEDI, THIS IS OUR HOME(Canada/Documentary/2006/53 minutes/Video/v.o. French, s.t. Eng)
Co-director Malcolm Guy will attend the screening
Fleeing their war-torn homeland, forty thousand Algerians come to Montreal, Quebec in the 1990's. Many are refused refugee status and are not allowed to study or work normally. Years go by, children are born and Canada becomes home. Then comes 911. Deportations begin. The "non-status Algerians" decide to fight to stay in Canada. Bledi, This is Our Home follows some of the key actors in a roller-coaster of direct actions, lobbying efforts, victories and setbacks. For the first time in Canadian history, the tradition of sanctuary is violated when Mohamed Cherfi is dragged out of a Quebec City church... then tossed in a U.S. jail. Dramatic and personal, Bledi, This is Our Home raises crucial questions about Canada's refugee policies and its
treatment of Muslims and Arabs.
Profile of Filmmakers
Malcolm Guy is a Montreal-based director/producer of documentaries and fiction films and is President and co-founder of Productions Multi-Monde. In 2004, he directed two feature-length documentaries, Rebel Music Americas (avec Marie Boti) and Turbulent Waters (with Michelle Smith). He has also directed Pressure Point: Inside the Montreal Blockade (1999) (co-directed with Magnus Isacsson and Anna Paskal - Best documentary, L'Association québecoise des critiques de cinéma), The Suit War en 1997 et La montagne d'or (avec William Ging Wee Dere) en 1993. Malcolm has produced Cherry Fruitbread (2003)(audience prize, Best Canadian short film, Festival des films du monde), When Strangers Reunite (1999), Modern Heroes Modern Slaves (1997) (Best documentary, Canadian Association of Journalists), and the feature film L'Oreille d'un sourd (1996). Malcolm is also active in the independent film community and sits on a number of Boards of Directors.
Eylem Kaftan was born in Turkey. Eylem completed a Masters degree in
Cinema at York University in 2002, where she worked as a teaching assistant and wrote her thesis on the identity crisis in post-1980 Turkish cinema. Her first documentary, Faultlines, investigates the aftermath of the earthquake which hit Turkey in 1999. It won Best Short Film and the Jury Prize at the Planet Indie Film Festival in Toronto. Eylem then wrote and directed Vendetta Song (2005) produced with DLI Productions in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. This gripping hour long documentary about her personal journey into the honor-killing of her aunt in a small Kurdish village in Turkey was broadcast on Vision TV and Télé-Québec and has received several awards including CIDA Prize for Best Canadian Documentary on International Development at Hot Docs; the Quebec Film Critics Association Award for Best Medium Length Documentary; Best Documentary, Calgary International festival; and Best Documentary, Female Eye Film Festival. Eylem has contributed to several Canadian documentaries on social and political issues ranging from immigration and women's rights to mental illness and culture shock. Eylem is presently working on her new documentary on Kurdish youth.
For more information on BLEDI visit http://www.pmm.qc.ca/bledi/en/home.html
Held Mondays to Saturdays at Mag:net Café Katipunan, Cinekatipunan screenings start at 5:30 PM. While the film screenings are free, viewers are encouraged to make voluntary contributions for the honoraria of the filmmakers. Cinekatipunan programs precede Mag:net Café's nightly holding of Live Performances by well-known and emerging bands and musicians. Mag:net Café is located along Katipunan Avenue (fronting Miriam and Ateneo) in Quezon City. For more inquiries please call 9293191 or email magnetcafekatips@ yahoo.com.ph
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