Beirut! Not Enough Death to Go Round

Meeting Soraida will overturn any preconceived notions you may have about Palestine. In her neighbourhood, the women do not all wear veils, the men do not rattle off empty political slogans, the young people do not strap bombs to their belts, and the children play together like children everywhere. Despite the burden of curfews and checkpoints, life goes on in Ramallah. Taking us into the daily existence of Soraida, her family and neighbours, the film compels us to ask fundamental questions. How can the Palestinians preserve their humanity while living under the Occupation? How can they avoid being consumed by hate and anger, caught up in the cycle of victim and victimizer? How can they resist the omnipresent "culture of death" without evading the painful issue of suicide bombing? Grappling with these issues will give us a new perspective on Palestine. Just as Soraida, who goes up to the roof of her building to fly a kite, can see her beloved land from above, free and unshackled. In French with English subtitles.

Soorgul and Amir were two of many Afghan children sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the civil wars that broke out on both sides of the border left the children stranded. They were meant to be in Tajikistan only temporarily, to attend school. Instead, they became stranded there, unable to leave the country until Canada accepted them as refugees. It took 16 years before they could return home. In The Sweetest Embrace Soorgul and Amir return to their country in search of their families. They travel in NGO vehicles (until it becomes too dangerous), then local vans - and finally, when rock-strewn roads become completely impassable, finish their journey on foot through some of Afghanistan's highest mountains. But when their paths diverge, their futures become filled with unexpected and unpredictable turns as they seek to find resolution in their lives. The Sweetest Embrace tells an intimate story set against one of the world's most harsh and yet beautiful landscapes, in a land where life has been shaped by war and hardship but where spirit remains resilient.

In 1999, a life-altering journey to Baghdad changed the focus of Canadian artist Deryk Houston's work. His canvas would be the Earth. His inspiration would be peace. Unable to remain an outside observer of the crisis in Iraq, Deryk travelled to witness first-hand the impact of international sanctions on the Iraqi people. Deprived of basic medicine, adequate food and clean water, UNICEF has estimated that a half-million children under the age of five have died as a result of war and the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations in 1991. Compelled to speak out, the artist embarked upon a unique nature art project designed to call attention to the situation of the children of Iraq. Using rocks, gravel and hay, Deryk began to create large-scale art installations in the image of a mother and child against diverse landscapes around the world. With footage from Deryk's travels to Baghdad and Scotland, this documentary follows the artist as he works with his young son Sam to compose the largest and most challenging of his works: a permanent mother-and-child sanctuary located in the Peace River country of northeastern British Columbia.