Events Guide: Regent Park Film Festival

What: Regent Park Film Festival Panel Discussion
When: Saturday, November 8, 1 pm
Where: Nelson Mandela Public School (440 Shuter Street)

The 6th annual Regent Park Film Festival kicked off yesterday, showing films from local talent, but also from international filmmakers (this year’s theme is “community cinema from distant lands”).

One of the big events on the festival’s final day (Saturday) will be a panel discussion which deals with the impact of major sports complexes (especially the Olympics) and how they affect the land and residents in-and-around them.

The discussion will be moderated by Shelley Wine, board member of the Artscape Wychwood Green Arts Barn Association, and will feature panelists; Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, a community activist who has published several books critiquing the Olympics and how it affects cities; Fathima-Hunsa Fahmy, a Luminato artist and Regent Park resident; Hodan Ahmed, a Somali-born interperator with many community organizations; Tyrone Maclean Wilson, Faculty Instructor for the Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre; and Lauren Feeney, co-director of the film Garlic and Watermelons.

The panel discussion will also feature several short films relating to the themes of relocation and urban growth:

A Prairie Story by Anne Koizumi (Calgary) a film showing the evolution of prairie landscape as it supports a rural town that expands and bloats, eventually transforming into an over-populated dystopic metropolis. animated with plastercine sculpted on glass and paper cut-outs.

Market Sentiments by Barbara Musil (Austria) tells of the real estate boom in Estonia and how it market pressure has affected it. This film was made with satellite photography and information from real estate registers of Estonia.

Under Construction by Zhenchen Liu (France) is about how more than 100,000 families were forced to leave their homes in Shanghai’s Old Town so the city could tear the neighborhood down for development.

A Day in the Life of Beijing Hutong by Abe Masahiko (Japan) is about a historic town being set for demolition to make way for the Beijing Olympics.

Garlic and Watermelons by Laureen Feeney and Cameron Hickey (New York) features a gypsy family who are forced to leave their home, which has been with them for generations, because the land has been slated to be used as a parking lot of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

For more information visit www.regentparkfilmfestival.com.