The 10th annual Agassiz Social Justice Film Festival is returning to the United Church on Thursday, Nov. 2 and Friday, Nov. 3.
The annual screenings celebrate culture and focus on social change, with educational films shining a light on everything from refugee crises to the Sixties Scoop.
This year, the theme is “women who’ve made a difference” and Amnesty International is a sponsor for one of the films.
“We usually try to deal with topics that we feel that people in our privileged society should be aware of and have more knowledge about,” said organizer Betty Rajotte.
“It’s just a way of exposing [social justice organizations] and giving them a chance to expose their concerns.”
On Nov. 2 the festival will screen the Peruvian documentary Daughter of the Lake, an Amnesty International-sponsored story about a community in the Andes where a gold mine is extracting the town’s water supply along with its gold.
A young woman named Nelida Ayay Chilon shares a spiritual bond with the water and works with her community to save it. The film grapples with questions about resources, spirituality and the true cost of water.
The Friday, Nov. 3 screening is Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. The documentary is a biographical portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maathai, who established an environmental movement to empower women in African communities to conserve their environment and improve livelihoods.
Both films are an inspiring look at the lives of extraordinary women from around the world who have fought for their homes and people. The films are followed by coffee and time for discussion. Both screenings start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.