Arts & Culture

“You Will Not Kill Our Imagination”: Palestinian writer Saeed Teebi’s book launch at Western University 

“The greatest battleground in any war is always that of story,” reads Palestinian writer Saeed Teebi from his memoir You Will Not Kill Our Imagination at his book launch at Western University’s Conron Hall on November 10th. “In my view, Israel’s greatest accomplishment is that, even decades after its colonial inception, its story has remained in the foreground, while the stories of the Palestinian natives to the land continue to exist in relative obscurity. Of course, the obscurity of the Palestinian story is a manufactured one, a whole cloth tailored to fit snug over the minds of Western audiences. It…

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Adventure and Inspiration: The Hunter & Co Londonlicious Experience

Londonlicious has returned for its winter edition, taking place from January 16 to February 8 with over 40 London and area restaurants participating in the nonprofit-run food festival. Londonlicious inspires restaurants to introduce new menus that highlight produce from local farms across Southwestern Ontario.  Antler River Media had the pleasure of sitting down at one of those restaurants Hunter & Co, to hear from Chef de cuisine Anthony Abdullah and front of house manager Renee Vecchio about their perspective of the festival  “It’s been a positive experience,” says Abdullah. It’s helped expose our brand to people that wouldn’t regularly know…

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“We call it bougie peasant food”: Bicycle Café’s Londonlicious menu

From January 16 to February 8, more than 40 London restaurants are participating in the winter edition of Londonlicious, a food festival inspiring restaurants to come up with new menus that highlight produce from local farms across Southwestern Ontario. One of the participants is Dutch-inspired restaurant, Bicycle Café. Alicia Berkelmans, executive chef at Bicycle Café, sees Londonlicious as an opportunity to apply much of her farm-to-table mentality. “I’m the granddaughter of Dutch farmers — I also had a farm myself [for a] short period of time and grow a lot of my own food and cook a lot of things…

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“Grounding: States of Gender”: Persian calligraphy documents memoir of womanhood in Iran 

“What are the ways in which gender — our gender as women — has actually conditioned our life?” asked Iranian artist Gita Hashemi, introducing her performance Grounding: States of Gender at Western University’s John Labatt Visual Arts Centre on January 8. Curated by Soheila Esfahani, the exhibit will be displayed at the artLAB Gallery until January 29.  Grounding features Persian calligraphy in red and black ink that tells the story of a woman in Tehran named Zahra. The swaying script is written on twenty-two scrolls that cover the gallery walls, circling audiences from all sides. Live-streamed footage of Hashemi writing…

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In conversation with Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugas on Venezuela’s political unrest

Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugas directorial feature It Would Be Night in Caracas had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film, based on a book of the same name, takes place in Venezuela during a time of massive political unrest following the heightened tensions between the government and its political opponents. The film follows Adelaida (played by Natalia Reyes) as she struggles with the loss of her mother, only to find her home has been seized by a corrupt militia. As she takes refuge in a nearby apartment, she needs to survive and…

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A Tribe Called Love sets the stage for more Somali-Canadian stories

Mohamed Ahmed’s A Tribe Called Love is a heartwarming and heartbreaking Romeo & Juliet story for the Somali diaspora. Although not flawless, the directorial debut from Ahmed is full of nostalgia, strong shot work, and a transparent look at how tribalism affects modern communities far from home. Set amongst the Somali community in Toronto, the film follows Farah both as a child (played by Ahmed Ibrahim) and adult (played by Dalmar Abuzeid) as he tries to pursue a romantic relationship with in with Halima (played by Older Feaven Abera), a fellow Somali but from a different tribe than his own. …

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“Food Chain Labour”: CLIFF and Justice for Migrant Workers joint film screening depicts worker struggles

From November 5 to November 8, an audience passionate about great movies and workers’ rights had the chance to watch six curated short films based on the theme “food chain labour”. These selections were made possible due to a collaboration between Justice for Migrant Workers and the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLIFF).  Among the selected films, three were documentaries that show the struggles, challenges, and organizing victories of workers in various sectors. Working for Freedom documents the experiences of a woman in prison labour at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, A Tarea is set in the Galician estuaries in Spain…

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18 to 35 co-creator talks filming in London and bringing diverse comedies to Canadian TVs

The Reel Asian International Film Festival returns for its 29th year, bringing Asian filmmakers and enthusiasts together to celebrate the stories that exist both in the Asian-Canadian diaspora and the many countries from which they hail. Although the festival usually focuses on the big screen, there’s plenty of room to celebrate the achievements of Asian-Canadian creatives on the small screen as well. One such creative is Rahul Chaturvedi, director and co-creator of Bell Fibe TV1’s 18 to 35, a workplace sitcom following Misha Patel (played by Natalia Gracious) a young Indian-Canadian woman as she struggles to run a youth hostel…

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Forest City Youth Film Festival showcases Southwestern Ontario’s best young filmmakers

The 7th annual Forest City Youth Film Festival (FCYFF) was held at the Wolf Performance Hall on Tuesday, showcasing talented storytelling by young filmmakers across Southwestern Ontario secondary schools. Nineteen short films and 5 feature film pitches were screened to an audience of over 120, including parents, filmmakers and industry professionals. For each of the five categories, films had the chance to win prize money, with $300 going to the winners and $200 to each runner up. FCYFF’s youth co-hosts and H.B. Beal Secondary school students Finn Brady and Kalista Langford led the crowd through each of the categories with…

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“Cinema knows no borders”: Opening night at the Forest City Film Festival

The opening ceremonies of the 10th annual Forest City Film Festival (FCFF) were held Friday evening. The ceremony saw more than 200 attendees gather to celebrate film, music and the festival’s 10 year milestone. “Cinema knows no borders — and neither do we,” said festival director Dorothy Downs in a letter to festival-goers. “Each festival year is a celebration of how our stories connect to the world, and how the world connects to us.” The opening ceremony, held at the Wolf Performance Hall, celebrated London’s role as UNESCO City of Music. It presented a collection of 16 music videos, recognizing…

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