Film
AN AFTERNOON OF FREE FILM SCREENINGS
Saturday October 31, 2pm – 5:30pm
Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, SFU Woodward’s, 149 W. Hastings
Free
2pm Part 1 Raising Sh*T: Bud Osborn Film Screenings
Bud Osborn was the poet laureate of the Downtown Eastside and a remarkable, articulate and passionate social activist who left a profound legacy of advocating for social justice- particularly for low-income people and those suffering from addiction. When he passed away last year, over 200 people attended a public memorial for him in the neighbourhood. Bud was involved in many film projects over the years – we look back at some of the work that he was featured in. This afternoon we celebrate and remember Bud and his amazing contribution to the neighbourhood.
For Bruce Eriksen (5min)
A group of film and video makers in the DTES formed the Lifeskills Collective in 2010 to make short videos reflecting the impact of Vancouver’s Olympics. Inspired by Clay Van Sant’s short film on William S. Burroughs, the Collective collaborated with Bud to produce a post-Olympic testimony to the ongoing struggles of the community.
Linda Gains (2014)
Local filmmaker Colin Askey created a film that animates one of Bud’s poems.
Keys to Kingdoms (1998)
A film-poem based on Bud Osborn’s famous poem about living in a run down DTES hotel. Directed by Nathaniel Geary.
Down Here (1997, 52:09 min)
Poet, political activist and former addict Bud Osborn tells his story of survival and how it has inspired his struggle to defend Canada’s most impoverished community where the worst epidemic of HIV/AIDS among drug users in the western world is occurring. Down Here is a sustained cry of pain and rebellion from those who are homeless, those who are being driven from their meager housing by gentrification – those most vulnerable among us. Bud: “…community is care – care for one another care for those least able to care for themselves, care for all, care in action…and there is no one to care, if you do not care and there is no one, no one at all to care – if I do not care…” Produced and directed by Veronica Alice.
4pm Part 2 Documentary Screening
Estate, A Reverie (2015, 83 min)
A spirited celebration of extraordinary everyday humanity. Filmed by director Andrea Luka Zimmerman over seven years, Estate, a Reverie reveals and celebrates the resilience of people who are overlooked by media representations and wider social responses. The film “documents the last days of a London, UK public housing estate and exhibits deep feelings of community and solidarity.” Interweaving intimate portraits with historical re-enactments, landscape and architectural studies and dramatized scenes, Estate, a Reverie asks how we might resist being framed exclusively through class, gender, ability or disability, and even through geography.