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My Vancouver International Film Festival Reviews: Two extraordinary films that centred Black artists

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2 years ago

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BY SELINA MCCALLUM

The Vancouver International Film Festival wrapped up this past Sunday and it was a great success. I viewed two beautiful films that centred Black artist.

The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art & Times Of David Hammons

Directed by Judd Tully and Harold Crooks

The Melt Goes on Forever: The Art & Times Of David Hammons had its North American premiere at VIFF. It was a brilliant film that introduced me to an artist that I am now inspired by.

This documentary perfectly combines interviews, archival footage, music and animation to bring to life the story of David Hammons, an African-American artist in New York, who’s art was firmly rooted in the questioning of dominant culture and exposing racial injustice.

Directors Judd Tully and Harold Crooks always wanted to work on a film together. They were coming up with documentary film ideas when they landed on the art of David Hammons.

“We landed on David Hammons as being this amazing artist. Also, an artist, at least at the time, was unknown outside of this very elite small art world. And our idea was to bring him to a larger audience, because we both felt that he was such a powerful kind of outsider, insider artist who was so present about many social issues and dealing with them from the very beginning of his practice, which goes back to when he was a young man in Los Angeles, in the mid 60s and in the Watts rebellion. And so, we very much wanted to create this sort of historic landscape from that time to moving to New York,” said Tully.

One of Hammons’s art pieces that stood out was a chandelier replacing a basketball net. He also used bottle caps to cover an entire phone poll. Last but not least, he used cut hair from Black barber shops around New York and used the hair in his projects as well.

Tully says he is most proud of the beautiful music that is in the film.

“One of the things that I’m most pleased about with the film is the music is composed by Ramachandra Borcar and what he was able to do, and the musicians he was able to bring in, I think greatly augmented the effect of the film and in terms of moving along when you have a lot of people talking,” said Tully.

The co-director says the art world started to wake up during the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020.

“I’m involved in the art market, not buying and selling, not as an art dealer, but as a journalist covering things like auctions, art fairs and art exhibitions. The art world, until fairly recently, was something like approaching a South African apartheid. It was a White only world, from top to bottom artists, art dealers, museum curators, museum directors, and then all of a sudden, it was as if someone flicked on a switch and said, “Oh, my goodness, we have to bring in this other part of our world.” And that’s been going on actually, during the time that we made the film. And so your question about the message behind the film is that, it’s just waking up the artwork.” said Tully.

Check out www.themeltfilm.com to learn more about the film and where you can watch it.

Music Pictures: New Orleans

Directed by Ben Chase

Music Pictures: New Orleans is a beautifully done film that is compelling and sounds even better because of the four New Orleans superstars featured in the film.

Music Pictures gives us four legacy portraits of New Orleans music figures Irma Thomas, Little Freddie King, Ellis Marsalis, and The Tremé Brass Band. In their 80s, these local masters continue their practice, for the love of the music, in the city that made them who they are.

The film had its Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival last week. Earlier this year it had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Ben Chase is the Director, Screenwriter, Editor and Producer of the film. He says that this story is inspirational because the musicians choose to continue to make music despite hardships.

“It’s a story about these beautiful people that are still doing their thing. To me, watching the subjects of the film practice their craft in their 80s, when they don’t need to be doing it, when they’ve already had enough recognition in their town, they’ve already had enough struggles in their life, but they do it because they love it. That’s inspirational. I think that could be inspirational to anyone, whether they are Canadian, or otherwise,” said Chase.

Sadly, one of the artists featured in the film, Ellis Marsalis, passed away in 2020 from Covid at 85.

In the film, we see all four musicians perform. Living-legend Little Freddie King, one of the last original bluesmen, is still performing live at age 81. Grammy-winner Irma Thomas, who is also known as “The Soul Queen of New Orleans,” and has performed with James Brown, sings gracefully in the film. Benny Jones Sr., of the Tremé Brass Band also gives a stunning performance.

Chase shares how and why he selected the four talented New Orleans musicians.

“I can see this project as both a music recording project and a documentary film. I was doing some work with this record label in New York, that just did these kinds of vinyl compilations called New Vale records. I had just moved down to New Orleans and I said, “Listen, there’s some incredible musicians here that are not being recorded really too much at this stage in their careers, but and also haven’t quite gotten the recognition outside of New Orleans that they deserve,”” said Chase.

Music Pictures takes the audience on a journey through New Orleans as it shows the history of the city, the energy on the streets, and the passion of the musicians. The musicians also share vulnerable stories that help the audience feel closer to them. Chase hopes that after people watch the film, they will feel intrigued to search up each artist and listen to their music.

“It’s a difficult moment for music because everything’s online, and it becomes ephemeral. So, things kind of have less gravity than they did back in those days. And that’s why I think we have a lot to learn from those musicians who came up in that era. And to go through what those artists had to go through as Black musicians in the South in the 60s and 70s. This documentary is not going to change the trajectory of anything, but hopefully, when people watch it, they’re going to look up all the artist’s records and dig into it,” said Chase.

Check out www.musicpictures.co to learn more about the film and where you can watch it.

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Selina is a recent Digital Journalism and Communication, Media and Film Graduate from the University of Windsor. While in university, she served as the Arts and Culture Writer for The Lance, as well as a writer, interviewing selected individuals for Street Voices Magazine. Her passions include: creative writing, film, and photography. Over the last four months, Selina has collaborated on a documentary exploring sex trafficking and the horrific elements that harbour the untold truths of human trafficking in Windsor/Detroit. She is a: hard working, responsible and caring individual who continues to seek new challenges.

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Urban Alliance on Race Relations celebrates and highlights Racial Justice Award recipients

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December 19, 2024

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BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been almost 40 years since the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) has been at the forefront of: promoting tolerance, social justice, racial equity and fairness. Since it was formed in 1975, they have celebrated and recognized changemakers in the fight for racial justice in diverse sectors such as: health, labour, government, education, arts, media, environment, and justice.

On Saturday, December 7th, 2024, there was a great turnout at the 2024 Racial Justice Awards Night held at The Estate Banquet & Event Centre in Scarborough. In attendance were many community supporters, civic officials, long-time racial justice warriors, and individuals from diverse ethnic groups.

UARR is grateful for all the sponsors of the Racial Justice Awards Night Celebration. It notes in its email to its supporters on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024, the importance of its sponsors including:

  • United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of Canada, UFCW, Local 175
  • The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 353
  • Unite Here! Local 75
  • Toronto & York Region Labour Council
  • Canadian Labour Congress
  • The Coalitions of Black Trade Union (CBTUL)

“Your sponsorship plays a vital role in shining a light on individuals and organizations driving equity, justice, and change in our communities. This celebration is more than an event, it’s a movement. Thanks to your support, we’re: honoring changemakers, amplifying unheard voices, and funding initiatives that break down systemic barriers.”

The categories and names of the awards and recipients were:

Racial Justice in Arts: Hannia Cheng

She is an artist and cultural worker who co-founded Unit 270, a DIY gallery and multi-purpose grassroots community hub in Chinatown Centre.

Racial Justice in Labour: Vanessa Story

She is the founder of the Black Youth York Region and co-founder of the York Communities for Public Education coalition.

Racial Justice in Education: Shannon Simpson

She is Senior Director of Indigenous Initiatives at the University of Toronto.

Racial Justice in Environment: Dr. Ingrid Waldron

She is a Professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global and Peace and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University.

Urban Alliance of Race Relations Agent of Change Award: Kirk Mark

He is the Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Consultant at KIRK Mark & Associates.

Racial Justice in Media: Amanda Parris

She is an award-winning writer, tv host and producer, and former host of CBC Arts Exhibitionist.

Racial Justice in Health: Camille Orridge

She is former CEO of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (TCLHIN).

Racial Justice in Government: Amira Elghawaby

She is a journalist and human rights advocate who was appointed in January 2023 as Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia.

Racial Justice in Justice: South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALC0)

This legal clinic supports low-income South Asian people in Canada.

The funds raised from the Awards night will be going toward the work of the Diversity Youth Fellowship Program. This innovative and creative program is directly involved in enabling racialized youth to get paid experience working in municipal governments and at various public policy making organizations across Canada.

The performers at the event included: Katheen Zaragosa (a Filipino music performer), Rithika Jeristus & Maya Jeristus (Bharatanatyam dancers) and Yasmin Said (spoken word artist)

UARR is looking forward to its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2025 and shared five of its strategic priorities for the next 10 years including:

  • Employment and economic opportunity: The goal is to foster inclusive workspaces and economic opportunities.
  • Education: The goal is to promote racial equity in education and research.
  • Communication: The goal is to expand public awareness and reach to amplify our stories.
  • Community engagement and outreach: The goal is building community capacity and convening towards change.
  • Truth and reconciliation-relationship building and supporting calls to action. The goal is to strengthen our solidarity and action towards truth and reconciliation.

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What is it about those short videos that keep us captivated? Oh! Yes! Our short attention span

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2 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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BY KAHA GEDI

As our attention spans decrease, short form videos are becoming more popular. From TikTok, to YouTube Shorts, to Instagram Reels, these “snack sized” videos have positive qualities alongside the bad. Mainly we want to know what makes them so effective, and why are they becoming the go-to choice for both viewers and marketers? In this article, I will be discussing how these videos have received such popularity worldwide.

First, we need to understand what counts as and what is short-form content. According to blog.hubspot.com, “Short-form videos are videos that are less than 60 seconds long.” However, some marketers and content creators agree that short-form videos can be up to 3 minutes. “They are videos that deliver information in a ‘digestible’ format so that viewers can quickly watch and save content if they’re in a hurry or enjoy it.” Now, I’ll talk about the main reasons why these videos are so popular.

First, our attention spans have gone down exponentially. Dr Gloria Mark has written a book called “Attention Span,” and she says her research indicates people’s attention spans have been shrinking over the last 20 years. According to the same article Dr. Mark said that “Back in 2004, we found the average attention span on any screen to be two and a half minutes on average. Throughout the years, it became shorter. So, around 2012, we found it to be 75 seconds. Then in the last five, six years, we found it to average about 47 seconds.” So, it’s notable that our attention spans started out longer but then decreased over time.

Secondly, these videos have become cheaper and easier to make. Unlike long-form videos, which require extensive: planning, editing, and storytelling, short-form videos are simpler. To the point where they can even be shot on a smartphone. For example, DuoLingo, the app that helps learn new languages, went viral on TikTok a long time ago by posting funny, low-budget videos that resonate with millions. Like a video of a DuoLingo plus being: tossed down the stairs, sitting outside on a rainy day, or being soaked by the shower with the title “When you ignore my notifications.”

Lastly, they provide valuable information in a short amount of time, and they are easily accessible. According to a recent Adobe Survey, two in five Americans use TikTok as a search engine, and nearly one in 10 Gen Zeers are more likely to rely on TikTok than Google as a search engine. This isn’t always reliable for real news because anyone can claim to be an expert, and you wouldn’t know if they’re telling the truth. So, even though they give valuable information in a short time, they can also give misinformation or mislead you.

Short-form videos have changed how we watch and learn things. They fit our short attention spans, are easy to make, and share information quickly. Even though they’re fun and helpful, they can also spread false information or leave out important details. Even with these problems, short-form videos are here to stay, so we should use them in proportion, but also enjoy the benefits.

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Dr. Edward McInnis on the Importance of Preventive Care in Family Medicine

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2 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Preventive care is a cornerstone of modern healthcare, emphasizing the importance of addressing potential health concerns before they escalate into severe conditions. By focusing on proactive measures such as regular screenings, vaccinations, and lifestyle counseling, preventive care offers individuals and communities the opportunity to achieve long-term wellness.

Below, Edward McInnis highlights the transformative potential of prevention in reducing healthcare disparities, alleviating systemic challenges, and ensuring that every individual has the tools and access needed to lead a healthier life.

Understanding Preventive Care in Family Medicine

Preventive care in family medicine focuses on proactive measures to maintain health and prevent illness before it occurs. This approach emphasizes regular health evaluations, screenings, and interventions that identify potential issues early, reducing the likelihood of severe complications. Preventive care fosters long-term well-being by addressing risk factors and promoting healthier lifestyles while minimizing the burden of chronic diseases.

The philosophy behind preventive care aligns with the idea that staying healthy is more effective and less costly than treating illnesses after they arise. Early detection of conditions such as hypertension or high cholesterol allows patients and physicians to manage these issues effectively, preventing them from escalating into more severe health problems. Beyond individual benefits, this care model contributes to healthier communities by reducing the overall demand for healthcare systems.

Benefits of Preventive Care for Individuals and Communities

Preventive care profoundly impacts individuals and the broader community by addressing potential health concerns before they evolve into severe conditions. Early detection through routine screenings can significantly lower the risk of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. This improves individual health outcomes and reduces the emotional and financial toll of managing advanced diseases.

Communities prioritizing preventive care experience a ripple effect of healthier populations and reduced strain on healthcare resources. When more people engage in regular check-ups and adopt healthier habits, the prevalence of preventable conditions drops, creating a collective benefit. Individuals who invest in their health through preventive measures often enjoy longer, more active lives, positively influencing families, workplaces, and society.

The economic advantages of preventive care are undeniable, as early intervention typically costs far less than treating advanced illnesses. Vaccination programs, such as those targeting seasonal flu or childhood diseases, can drastically curb outbreaks, saving lives and reducing medical expenses. These benefits demonstrate how preventive care is a cornerstone of sustainable and effective healthcare systems.

Core Preventive Services in Family Medicine

Family medicine emphasizes various preventive services designed to address health needs across all stages of life. Regular health screenings, such as blood pressure and cholesterol checks, are critical in identifying silent health risks. These assessments provide actionable insights that allow individuals to make timely adjustments to their lifestyles or begin treatment when necessary.

Vaccinations are another cornerstone of preventive care, protecting individuals and communities from infectious diseases. From childhood immunizations to seasonal flu shots, these interventions safeguard personal health and prevent the spread of illnesses within larger populations. Counseling services, including guidance on nutrition, exercise, and stress management, empower patients to take an active role in their long-term well-being.

The Role of Family Physicians in Prevention

Family physicians play a pivotal role in fostering preventive care through their ability to build lasting, trust-based relationships with patients. These relationships enable them to understand not just medical histories but also lifestyle factors, family dynamics, and social determinants of health. This comprehensive knowledge allows physicians to craft personalized preventive strategies that resonate with each patient’s unique circumstances, ensuring a more practical approach to maintaining health.

Beyond individual care, family physicians act as educators, equipping patients with the knowledge to make informed health decisions. Whether discussing the significance of regular screenings or addressing misconceptions about vaccines, their guidance helps patients take ownership of their health.

The continuity of care provided by family physicians also ensures that preventive measures are consistently monitored and adjusted as needed, fostering long-term well-being. Their ability to provide holistic and deeply personalized care sets the foundation for healthier patients and communities.

Challenges in Accessing Preventive Care

Despite its proven benefits, accessing preventive care remains challenging for many individuals and communities. Financial barriers, such as lack of insurance coverage or high out-of-pocket costs, often deter people from seeking preventive services. Additionally, limited awareness about the importance of early detection and health promotion means that some individuals may only prioritize preventive care once a health issue becomes severe.

Geographical disparities also play a significant role in limiting access. Rural and underserved areas frequently face shortages of healthcare providers, making it difficult for residents to receive consistent preventive services. In such regions, innovative approaches like mobile health clinics and telemedicine have emerged as solutions to bridge the gap. Expanding these efforts could help overcome logistical obstacles and ensure that preventive care reaches those most in need.

Cultural factors and mistrust of the healthcare system can further complicate access to preventive services. Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach that includes community engagement, culturally sensitive care, and efforts to build trust between healthcare providers and patients. Strengthening health literacy and facilitating dialogue between healthcare institutions and the communities they serve are also critical steps in overcoming these barriers.

Promoting and Advancing Preventive Care

Advancing preventive care depends on raising awareness and fostering a culture that values proactive health management. Educational campaigns, workplace wellness programs, and school-based health initiatives encourage people to adopt preventive practices. These efforts create an environment where individuals feel empowered to prioritize their well-being, leading to healthier lifestyles and earlier intervention.

The integration of technology is revolutionizing how preventive care is delivered. Wearable devices that track physical activity, heart rate, and sleep patterns provide individuals with real-time data about their health, prompting timely action when irregularities arise. Similarly, data analytics and predictive tools enable healthcare providers to identify at-risk populations and deliver targeted interventions, improving outcomes on a broader scale.

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