Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the best cities to live in. Multiculturalism and inclusivity are some of the most defining features of the city. Yet recently there has been a strong push for rejuvenating the historic neighbourhoods of the city. One of the most visible neighbourhoods to undergo such rejuvenation is Chinatown. It was initially developed along Carrall and Pender Street by the Chinese labourers who first settled in the 1880’s. Once a site of small businesses owned by Chinese families, Chinatown was considered to be one of the poorest areas of Vancouver for many years.

However now Chinatown is being developed into an up-and-coming neighbourhood of the city. Newly opened fashion stores, trendy cafes and rising condos are a visible sign of Chinatown's gentrification. Gentrification is often associated with urban development that provides high-quality housing, increased employment and business opportunities. But besides these positive outcomes, gentrification also brings significant increases in rent and the unequal distribution of developmental benefits to the middle class. This often leads to the displacement of lower-income classes from areas of traditional residence.

This short video-documentary was created in hopes to represent a diversity of voices of Chinatown.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=Cgd4NuFY6gAFh5qv&v=ut3pf93X8ys&feature=youtu.be

Except from my #documentary interview about #SaveOldGrowth in #FairyCreek on #VancouverIsland

From The Last Stand #DocFilm

Before I head out for the day ->
Recommended #documentary film.

Between 1952 and 1960, Britain fought a vicious war in Kenya against the anticolonial Mau Mau movement. It was an exceptionally bloody conflict, with atrocities committed on both sides. For decades, many of the worst abuses by British colonial forces were kept hidden. Piecing together survivor testimonies and expert analysis from British and Kenyan historians, this film tells a complete and detailed story for the first time of how Britain was involved in systemic torture – including accounts of murders, rapes and forced castrations.

A Very British Way of Torture is a film by Ed McGown and produced by Rob Newman.

Document archive is courtesy of the UK National Archives.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K4sSGd2w_rk

My friend & one of my first #filmmaking mentors here(Victoria) was Jordan. He's married to one of my Filipino friend's cousins & is a solid human being. Jordan saved me from being scammed & manipulated by shady people in film industry here. He used to loan me gear for free to help support me when I was still in the film industry.

Bangkok Girl is a #DocumentaryFilm that was both produced and directed by Jordan Clark. It's a #LowBudgetFilm, having cost $10,000 to produce, and takes #SexTourism in #Bangkok as its subject.

Bangkok Girl is 43 minutes long and focuses on Pla (full name: Sirirat Rapsithorn), a #bargirl who is 19 years old and who guides Clark through the city. The #DocFilm explores Pla's background and how she came to be where she is. Pla began working as a bargirl at the age of 13, and, while she had managed to avoid being forced into #prostitution up until the point that the documentary was filmed, the film suggests that she will eventually be forcibly prostituted.

In November 2005, the film aired on "The Lens", a program on Canada's #CBC Television. Sweden's #SverigesTelevision also aired the film.

Watch it:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bfYhAgzOHdM

More info:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_Girl

Fellow #SaveOldGrowth forest defender, Sheena, made a short film. It includes the jingle dance circle with me & several other #environmental #landback #activists on the bridge between River & Landback resistance camps.

River & Landback camps were main strongholds at Fairy Creek blockade. River camp was the first resistance camp set up in 2020 & it ran for a year before final big raid. There are 2 very rough logging roads that lead up to untouched old growth forest tracts from these camps. River camp is also where people could go hike to see/visit with Grandmother & Grandfather cedars. After we were removed, industry started cutting more roads up into the untouched old growth tracts. Teal Jones logging company has since pulled out due to financial issues & everything is up in the air at this time. Temporary deferral was renewed this year for some tracts by this one particular area in the watershed. Still hoping for permanent protections as the elder trees are not included in this small deferral.

"My student documentary on the Fairy Creek/Ada'itsx old growth forest blockade something of a collage, made with many hands and hearts. While the blockade and movement has evolved and gone through many stages, the momentum remains and many still carry forth the activism in heart and deed."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m4OEGhjc02k

Got up early to draw hot bath for Mom.
I'm having morning tea & going to start watching the #documentary film, Where the Oilve Tree Weeps, now.

You can donate to view it. There is also a free option for folks who are financially strapped.

[ Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the #Palestinian people under #Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.

We follow, among others, Palestinian #journalist and #therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots #activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also witness Dr. Gabor Maté offer #TraumaHealing work to a group of women who were tortured in Israeli prisons.

Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.

This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty? ]

https://whereolivetreesweep.com/en-home/

Lisa Jackson and The National #Film Board - #NFB of #Canada have created a #documentary that redefines #Indigenous #knowledge and #teachings using the life and times of #Elder, #cosmology and #astronomy expert, Wilfred Buck.

“We are in the process of remaking an age-old song . . . signing, dreaming, praying, talking into existence once again the knowledge of our people,” said Wilfred Buck.

Moving between the earth and stars, past and present, this hybrid feature documentary follows the extraordinary life of Wilfred Buck, a charismatic and impertinent #Cree Elder who overcame a harrowing – yet all too familiar — history of displacement, racism and addiction by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge and ceremony.

Buck is humble, profound, funny, always real and a master #storyteller. Narration taken from his #autobiography, I Have Lived Four Lives, condenses the loss and desperate pain of his youth into powerful, Beat-like poetry.

https://rabble.ca/indigenous/wilfred-buck-and-the-revival-of-indigenous-knowledge/

Sunday morning, recommended #documentary film.

Before the formation of the Israel Defense Forces in 1948, there were three underground #Zionist #militias - The #Haganah, the #Irgun and the #Lehi.

They differed in tactics and beliefs, and at times fought with each other - but together they terrorised #Palestinian villages and executed attacks and #bombings against the #British to force them to give up control of the land.

They blew up hotels in #Jerusalem, embassies in #Europe and #assassinated a UN mediator.

After #Israel was officiated as a state - the three #terrorist militias would create the #IDF - and their leaders would go on to form Israel’s government, become #politicians, #ambassadors and #PrimeMinisters.

And their dark #history would be forgotten.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OCGtHMxNrXY

#FreePalestine
#Terrorism
#IsraelIsATerroristState
#IsraelWarCrimes
#RacistIsrael
#IsraelRogueState
#ArmsEmbargoOnIsrael
#USAFundsGenocide
#BoycottIsrael
#BDSMovement
#BoycottIsraeliApartheid
#StopGenocide
#ApartheidIsrael
#SanctionIsrael
#DocFilm
#Documentaries