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Film festival tackles aspirations, tragedies, hopes and real struggles

Sexual slavery during the Second World War. The migrant crisis. The escapism of the Beatles and the dream of time travel. Those are all on the play list for this weekend’s Reel Stories
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Sexual slavery during the Second World War. The migrant crisis. The escapism of the Beatles and the dream of time travel.

Those are all on the play list for this weekend’s Reel Stories, the annual documentary festival that takes place every Winterfest weekend.

The festival opens Friday at 4 p.m. with The Apology, a National Film Board production which follows the journeys of three “comfort women”, women who were kidnapped and forced into servicing the Imperial Japanese Army.

“The director went to Ryerson and she happened upon this story when she was working on another project. She is a survivor of sexual abuse herself and she really latched onto this. It’s very powerful,” said Barrie Film Festival director Claudine Benoit.

The Apology is also on screen Sunday at 3 p.m.

Opening day also features The Eagle Huntress, the inspiring story of a 13-year-old Kazakh girl who aspires to reach the honoured traditional status that’s handed down from father to son.

“I think it’ll be extremely popular. We’re showing it Friday at 7 p.m. At the heart is a father-daughter story, but it’s also a nature film, cinematic and beautiful, filmed on the Mongolian steppe,” said Benoit.

“We did five days of screenings with schools and both teachers and students loved it. It’s narrated by Daisy Ridley, Rey in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Tower hits the big screen, followed by Fire At Sea at 4 p.m. and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years at 7 p.m.

Directed by Ron Howard, the Beatles film shares the story and the magic of the phenomenal band’s members as well as with their audiences as they performed 166 concerts in 90 cities in 15 countries.

“There’s previously unseen footage in this film, done with the blessing of Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr,” said Benoit, noting each year, Reel Stories features a musical film as it links with the Barrie Jazz Festival’s February Blues.

Tower is a look at a violent shooting.

Tower is very powerful. It’s a reconstruction of the sniper shooting (at the University of Texas) in 1966. It’s a combination of real footage and animation as it tells eye witness accounts,” said Benoit. “It was the first school shooting and it followed the eye witness stories and leaves you will a feeling it’s still very present with us.”

Fire At Sea is an Italian/French film that won the Golden Bear for Best Film at last year’s Berlin Film Festival and has been nominated for an Oscar.

“It’s about the migrant crisis, people from the Middle East and Africa who are trying to escape tyranny. This little island is the first port of call as they travel (to freedom),” said Benoit.

“There’s no narration or commentary. It focuses on island life through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy, Samuele, as well as those trying to escape and those trying to help them.”

Sunday’s line-up opens with The Eagle Huntress at 12:30 p.m., followed by The Apology at 3 p.m.

At 6 p.m., How to Build a Time Machine shares the aspirations and inspirations of two men who each set out to build a time machine.

“One is animator who was inspired by H.G. Well’s story and he’s painstakingly recreating the (1960 movie) prop. It’s been something he’s doing out of enjoyment.

“The other is about a gentleman who lost his father as a child and after reading The Time Machine, he wanted to be a real physicist. Think about how sci fi inspires real life. It’ll be a great film for a Sunday.”

The festival wraps up with My Scientology Movie Sunday at 8 p.m.

A BBC journalist teams up with a documentary director and an award-winning producer to create a film that answers questions many people have about Scientology.

“It’s very humorous,” said Benoit, although it tackles getting answers from the Scientology church authorities.

There is no pass for the three-day festival.

Tickets, which are $10 per film, can be purchased online at barriefilmfestival.ca or at The Uptown.

Line-up recap:

Friday:

4 p.m.: The Apology

7 p.m.: The Eagle Huntress

Saturday:

1:30 p.m.: Tower

4 p.m.: Fire at Sea

7 p.m.: The Beatles – Eight Days A Week

Sunday:

12:30 p.m.: The Eagle Huntress

3 p.m.: The Apology

6 p.m.: How to Build a Time Machine

8 p.m.: My Scientology Movie

 


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Laurie Watt

About the Author: Laurie Watt

A journalist with 35 years experience in newspapers, Laurie is also an active volunteer in Barrie.
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