Thank you for your curiosity about past Fireside films and panels! Here you can learn more about the issues, activists and filmmakers, and acts of solidarity you can take today to increase their impact. If you missed a screening, viewing/rental info is also below. Documentaries are a labour of love, and you help fund new groundbreaking projects by paying few dollars to watch past films!
February 2024
Tell Them ‘The Tree They Had Planted Has Now Grown’ by Ajay Raina
Caught between India, Pakistan and China, Kashmir has had a violent past. These three powerful nations have used Kashmir as a playground for their own cravings for power and land, typically ignoring that Kashmir is its own territory with its own people.January 2024
Merchants of Doubt by Robert Kenner
Science dictates much of what we consider to be true or false. We trust scientists to use the scientific method to determine the impact of countless things, such as drinking red wine, wearing a seatbelt, or lead poisoning. This process is invaluable, given that verifying a lot of this information could potentially be lethal to ourselves.
Merchants of Doubt takes a closer look at how misinformation about scientific studies is often spread and popularized. These tactics have been used multiple times, including the impact of tobacco and the current climate crisis. Typically, scientists who cast doubt on scientific results are gathered by private corporations and conservative think-tanks. From there, the authority of these scientists is then used as justification for not believing in scientific results, even though plenty of evidence exists proving that smoking negatively impacts health and the climate is being heavily altered by human activity.
This ducomentary helps us understand how the information we come across is shaped by corporations. The impact of these tactics has already led to countless people denying the impacts of climate change, smoking, and many other activities.
November 2023
5 Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat
Winner of the Sundance Film Festival, 5 Broken Cameras is shot by Palestinian farmer, Emad Burnat, during the late 2000s. The documentary is structured around the destruction of the five cameras he owned over the span of five years.His initial intention with the first camera had been to record the birth of his youngest son, but Burnat instead ends up recording a whole lot more. From Israeli military destroying his village to the growing Palestinian protests, this documentary captures a community facing dislocation and death.
Overall, 5 Broken Cameras offers a personal look at the violence that the Israeli military inflicted and continues to inflict upon Palestinian civilians. Understanding the conflict as both a historical and current issue is increasingly important, given the ongoing genocide of Palestinian civilians.
With hope, 5 Broken Cameras and other films like it can give us further insight into the very real effects of this genocide and apartheid.
January 2022
A virtual conversation with Khaled Barakat, Palestinian activist and writer.
Instead of our usual film screening, I will host a discussion with Khaled Barakat, Palestinian activist and writer. Khaled was recently in Madrid for the launch of a new Palestinian initiative, the Alternative Palestinian Path, or Masar Badil.
Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian writer and activist. His writing in Arabic and English is widely published in Al-Akhbar, Al-Adab, Electronic Intifada and many other publications. He coordinates the Follow-Up Committee for the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil).
We will discuss a new, liberated future for Palestine, and a Palestinian vision of justice and equality. Find out more about why Palestinians are moving beyond the two-state narrative and what you can do to get involved in the movement for justice in Palestine. Bring your thoughts and questions to the discussion!
November 2021
This month was a double-feature:
The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical
This 
documentary is about my hero and mentor, COPE co-founder Harry Rankin. Our panellists were Vancouver COPE City Councillor Jean Swanson, and director Teresa Alfeld. Read more about Harry Rankin’s legacy here.
Gaza Fights for Freedom by The Empire Files and Abby Martin
In honour of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I presented an encore screening of this powerful documentary. Our panellists were Hanna Kawas (Chairperson of the Canada Palestine Association) and founding member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Sid Shniad.
September 2021
La Fin de l’Immigration? / The End of Immigration? by Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy
The event featured a land acknowledgment by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) elder and activist Mary Point; and a post-screening Q&A and discussion with directors Marie Boti, Malcolm Guy and the newly-elected Chair of Migrante Canada, Danilo De Leon.
“The one-hour documentary, The End of Immigration?, uncovers a trend which is having a profound impact on the society in which we live, where there will be citizens with full rights, and ‘rent-a-workers’ with few or none. By comparing the situation of these temporary workers with that of their own parents who arrived in Canada as unskilled workers in the last century, the filmmakers uncover a hidden world that’s as close as the MacDonald’s on the corner. And they ask the crucial question: is this the kind of society we want to build?”
Solidarity Actions
- Support Multi-Monde Productions and check out more of their excellent projects — 2021 marks their 30th year of distributing ground-breaking political films!
- Learn more about Migrante Canada and support their campaigns.
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Watch The End of Immigration? on Vimeo
August 2021
Gaza Fights for Freedom by The Empire Files and Abby Martin
“This collaboration shows you Gaza’s protest movement like you’ve never seen before. Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018.”
Solidarity Actions
- Support the work and campaigns of the Canada Palestine Association, Independent Jewish Voices and Vote for Palestine.
- Learn more about The Empire Files and Abby Martin — please consider contributing financially to their critical work by joining EF’s Patreon or visiting their online store.
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Watch Gaza Fights for Freedom (free on Youtube) or support Abby by buying it on Vimeo
July 2021
Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Cuba’s incredible literacy campaign
This was an encore presentation from this past April, courtesy of the Canadian Network on Cuba, featuring speakers, films and music. Highlights of the night included:
- Luisa Yara Campos Gallardo, director of the Cuban Literacy Museum
- Catherine Murphy, documentary filmmaker and director of Maestra
- Screening of the Maestras Volontarias short
- Cuban hiphop group Obsesión
- Information about the Ernesto Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade
Solidarity Actions
- Learn about and help the fight to end the cruel blockade against Cuba. I’ve written about Cuba many times on my blog.
- Visit the oral history site Literacy Project Films
- Buy Catherine Murphy’s film Maestra
