VisionTV’s Ageless Gardens has grown up since its debut two years ago. The stories look at how to be green. That is, we see how others grow their own foods, develop their well being and give back to the land. In turn, the ground returns its beauty in bounty to please our senses. This show is not about the food, but how we remain forever young.
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Programming Note: Encores of Season 2 episodes follows after each new Season 3 episode. Mondays at 9pm and 9:30pm ET. Please check online listing for local schedule.
VisionTV’s Ageless Gardens has grown up since its debut two years ago. The stories look at how to be green. That is, we see how others grow their own foods, develop their well being and give back to the land. In turn, the ground returns its beauty in bounty to please our senses. This show is not about the food, but how we remain forever young.
The coverage I offered when this program debuted is on twohungryblokes.com. Series two offered similar shorts mostly from the perspective of folks local to British Columbia and there were a few segments from beyond. They all showed us how important staying true to valued ideals are best and also revealed new ideas in how to harvest from the land without harming ecosystems.
Bullied not only brilliantly shows us how bullying behaviour developed over time, from the cave man days to where we’re at in the 21st Century with cyber-bullying (on any social media platform)–especially concerning the statistics revealed about Americans.
Bullying in any form is socially unacceptable, and the nerd/geek community is often the target because we continue to love stuff that other people have outgrown. Filmmaker Thomas Keith‘s documentary Bullied: You Are Not Alone examines the nature of the beast, and I feel it’s a must for every high school curriculum to show in Social Studies. It’s important for teachers to also encourage discussion so everyone can have an easier time in school instead of doing something they may regret later, like dropping out of society (and life). This subject really should be relabelled History, but I digress.
This work brilliantly shows us how bullying behaviour developed over time, and the range is from the cave man days to where we’re at in the 21st Century with cyber-bullying (on any social media platform). When looking at the statistics revealed about Americans, the numbers concerning those being harmed are terrible! Correcting this universal problem is not easy and in what makes this work special is that it shows us possible solutions to change this troubling aspect of society.
The stories we see here aren’t about those facing a challenging social life in school. There’s also workplace bullying and how people treat others when one may have a disability or other characteristic (like race) the other doesn’t like.
Krampus has been featured in many comic books or films since becoming mainstream…
By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
You better not pout when a different kind of supernatural force comes to town this holiday season. Some revellers may well encounter the Christmas Devil–aka Krampus! This name is a derivation of the Germanic word krampen (claw) and some may say he’s as old as time. This creature has changed over the years. In the old days of Germany, before the coming of Christianity, children feared the wild and woolly horned beast. Any child known to be misbehaving was whipped with a birch stick (or a swath of) by this monster. Some were even taken away to the underworld never to be seen again. The lucky who were “released” most likely promised to mend their ways.
In later years, he was known to visit villages with Saint Nicholas on Krampus Night (Krampusnacht; Dec 5th)! The good were rewarded by his friend and the bad found sticks of birch left in their shoe (it was a tradition to leave it out on this night). These days, a chance encounter from someone cosplaying as him doesn’t always provoke the same response.
BC-based Abbott has been making films about urgent social, political and environmental issues for 25 years, including co-directing the 2003 Sundance award-winning The Corporation. She’s also back at VIFF this year with The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, co-directed with Joel Bakan.
The Great Malaise by Catherine Lepage
In the voiceover for this animated short, a young woman attempts to describe herself, casting her life in the ideal light that society expects. The film’s imagery, however, tells a different story, poignantly illustrating the intense anxiety that comes with the quest for perfection and the pursuit of happiness. A film that’s both funny and moving, and above all, profoundly human.
By Ed Sum
