The World Community Film Festival is back and once again it’s live.
After a few years as a virtual festival during the pandemic, the festival, which brings outstanding documentaries from around the world to the Comox Valley, is going ahead as a hybrid event.
The festival takes place on Feb. 2–3 in downtown Courtenay. Friday and Saturday night screenings take place at the Sid Williams Theatre. Daytime screenings are at the Sid and Florence Filberg Centre’s Rotary Room. There is also a family venue downstairs at the Sid on Saturday afternoon, and a delicious local feast on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in the Upper Native Sons Hall.
As for the online portion, a few of this year’s daytime films will be viewable online from Feb. 15–18. Tickets and information will be available on Feb. 4.
For the past three decades, the festival has hosted films that offer compelling human stories, ask tough questions and cover a range of issues, from the environment to human rights to our changing cultural landscape.
World Community is a Comox Valley-based non-profit group that advocates for a greater awareness of the social, economic and environmental consequences of human activity at local and global levels. Part of its mandate is to sell fair-trade organic coffee, tea and other fair-trade products to support producers in other countries and provide support through proceeds for local organizations.
This year marks the 33rd year for the film fest. The slate includes the stunning A Crack in the Mountain on opening night and Common Ground for closing night, but there is much more, according to jury members.
Gord Darby recommends Deep Rising by filmmaker Matthieu Rytz.
“The film features stunning cinematography of the world’s deep oceans and highlights the ongoing battle between scientists who want to preserve these unique ecosystems and corporations who want to mine the seabed for minerals to power the future,” he said.
He also suggests the film Tsunami: 11th Relative.
One of Diane Cartwright’s personal picks was The Judge, about an ambitious, tough-minded female Palestinian lawyer who methodically proceeds toward her goal of becoming a judge in spite of opposition from her male counterparts and senior judges.
“We are permitted unfamiliar glimpses of Palestinian life and accompany her in her daily activities: interviewing and advising clients, attempting to provide justice, negotiating with male judges and enjoying warm family interactions,” Cartwright said.
She also found Dancing in A-Yard very moving, as did Janet Fairbanks, who also recommends Not Quite That, for which the filmmakers will be in attendance. The documentary follows Sarah, a queer Jewish mother who discovers she is at high risk for fatal breast or ovarian cancer.
“Discussions with supportive friends and family about the tough decision to have a preventative mastectomy brings us along in a heartwarming narrative,” Fairbanks said.
For longtime reporter Mike Chouinard, Breaking the News provides an all-too-rare look at the human side of the people who cover the news — in this case a group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists who forge their own path to tell the stories everyone else has been missing. He also recommends Long-Distance Swimmer about a competitive swimmer and her sister, also a swimmer, who flee their home in war-torn Syria but continue to fight for the rights of others to find refuge.
For more information about World Community and the film festival and links to purchase tickets, visit www.worldcommunity.ca
To see movie trailers, visit comoxvalleyrecord.com