Fourth Multicultural Film Festival Report

The Multicultural Cinema Club is happy to publish the results of this event which took place at Kitchener City Hall from June 16th to June 22nd, 2008.

Our sincere thanks to all the supporters and sponsors who helped make this happen: Martin de Groot (WRAC), Trudy Beaulne (SPC), Kieran Bonner (UW), Ken Nakamura (GRFF), Gary Kirkham (L&FT), Andrew Kohl (producer), and Joseph Chan (WFAC) who introduced the films to the audience and conducted the discussions after each screening.

Our thanks also to the many volunteers who helped us in a variety of ways: Lee Evans, Roxanne Dhanpaul, Rosemarie Dhanpaul, Evelena Matlock Corley, Cortez Corley, and JoAnn Verley.

The event was organized by MCC's Azam Fouk Aladeh and Margaret O'Shea Bonner, and was sponsored by the City of Kitchener, Waterloo Regional Arts Council, the Social Planning Council, CKWR Radio, CTV, Grand River Film Festival, and the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema.

The following is a breakdown of attendance at the festival:

• Total number of people who attended the event: 234
• Average number of people who attended daily: 34
• Average number of people who stayed for discussion: 20
• Average time of discussion: 20 Min
• Number of movies screened: 7

We were pleased to screen award winning films that reflected many cultures from around the world, and with the discussions they generated. The films were: Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas); The Wind That Shakes the Barley; This is England; Silk; Rendition; Charlie Wilson's War; and Love in the Time of Cholera.

The next film festival in October 2008 will look at *Native Cinema in Canada*. All our events are free and open to the public.

The Multicultural Cinema Club was created by director Azam Fouk Aladeh in December 2006, and he continues to be its driving force, MCC recently received a grant from the Trillium foundation to develop a film-making program in the community, and we are now in the process of buying HD equipment which will be available to the community for this purpose. We are establishing a membership list and bylaws to regulate this process. We have also just finished shooting a documentary about homeless youth in KW, and we will have a public screening of this when it is completed. If you would like to know more about us, please email us at film-making@theworkingcentre.org or contact Azam at (519)743-1151 ext. 146.

Azam Fouk Aladeh & Margaret O'Shea Bonner

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