KDocs Will Be Screening Fresh Films this February

Annual documentary festival brings new content and structure in 2017

Some of the most topical issues of the year will be studied through documentary and dialogue at this February’s KDocs festival, running in Vancity Theatre from the 16th to the 19th.

As it has since it began, the festival will focus heavily on social justice, covering climate change, First Nations struggles, industrialization, police brutality, refugees, and learning disabilities, among other similar subjects.

Several changes are being made to the way KDocs operates this year. KPU students and alumni will be moderating all of the event’s panel discussions, there will be opening night and closing night gala receptions with snacks and sips, and twice as many films are being shown—five of them Canadian. Other exciting additions include an open concession where beer, wine, soda, and theatre snacks will be available, a greater number of filmmakers being expected to present, and later start times for all four days of the event.

“We’ve also had five of the films rated so that high-school aged students can attend,” says Janice Morris, KDocs festival director.

“Every year, it gets bigger and better, and not just because there are more days and more films. It’s because every year we make more connections. We are working with more organizations,” says Morris. “Our goal is to keep growing so that we can have more exhibitors actually at the event. That’s really the goal of KDocs.”

The opening night will begin with a reception, before leading into Racing Extinction, a film about biodiversity loss. Afterwards, UBC Professor, Ecologist and Economist William Rees will make a keynote address, and following that the evening ends with How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change—the title of which is largely self-explanatory—around 10:30pm.

The second day will start and end earlier, with two films about First Nations Canadians—The Pass System and After the Last River—and the subsequent panel discussions in the early afternoon. Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s own Elder-in-Residence, Leykeyten, will be on that panel, alongside The Pass System Director Alex Williams and Keynote Speaker Lisa Monchalin, a KPU criminology professor. Beginning at 4:45pm is We Call Them Intruders, a movie about Canadian gold mining in foreign countries, followed by a keynote address from the co-directors and panel discussion with them, Mining Justice Advocate Andre Vasquez, First Nations Water Activist Kanahus Manuel, and Chair of Environmental Protection Paul Richard. The 17th will end with Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, a commentary on the effects of technology on society.

Films screened on Feb. 18 will generally cover cop culture and brutality and refugee and immigrant stories. Do Not Resist, After Spring, Migrant Dreams, and Sonita are set to hit the big screen between 12:00pm and 9:00pm, with keynote addresses and panel discussions for all but Sonita. After Do Not Resist, a member of Vancouver Cop Watch, an ex-Vancouver police officer, a KPU criminology professor, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Vancouver will speak on a panel.

Something special to the KPU community is being planned for the closing night with two films about autism being screened. Life, Animated will be on at 3:00pm followed by Wizard Mode at 5:15pm, with keynote and panel discussions from film stars and directors, the executive director of Inclusion BC, and members of KPU’s Bodies of Film Club, Emma Sawatzky and Katie Miller.

“We did have the discussion around showing either Wizard Mode or Life Animated because they both deal with autism,” says Morris. “We knew we wanted Wizard Mode because the star of that film is from Burnaby, and we wanted them to be there and thought, ‘This is very local, so even better.’ But then we didn’t want to leave out Life Animated because it’s such a great film. And so we thought, why can’t we show both?”

“We don’t want to close ourselves off to repetition because the fact that we asked why we can’t show them both led to designing what’s turning out to be a really great closing night,” says Morris.