In our previous blog titled GOOD VIBRATIONS ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY, we first took a glance back at those musicians who passed on during 2025 as well as some other notable musical moments that caught our attention, before I discussed the plans for a new pipeline from Alberta to the BC north coast. Before I comment further on those plans, I want to cast a look back at just a few of the cinematic experiences that impacted us the most over the last 12 months, as well as acknowledging some individuals involved in the art of film making who passed away, because films affect us in ways we don’t always understand and can focus our minds on issues and situations that warrant our attention.
In February, we watched a really enjoyable Japanese film titled Perfect Days…it was shown at Cannes in 2023 and competed for the Palme d’Or and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for Koji Yakusho. It was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, becoming the first film directed by a non-Japanese filmmaker (German Wim Wenders) to be nominated as the Japanese entry. It's about a man who lives a simple life but enjoys nature, music, literature, photography and seems happy and contented with all that he does or doesn't do...the style of the film takes inspiration from a certain Japanese style...the minimalist approach to storytelling...the focus on ordinary life...not unlike the Indian film we saw at the Lightbox in January, All We Imagine Is Light (which I talked about in a previous blog titled IMAGINE LIGHT)...he drives his van to work as a Tokyo toilet cleaner and plays cassettes whenever he is in the van...the soundtrack is eclectic, but good...The Animals, the Stones, Otis Redding, The Kinks, Van Morrison, the title track by Lou Reed...the final scene is a close up on his face-no dialogue, no movement-just a man reflecting on the gentle ache of existence...songs that really jumped out were the Velvet Underground song Pale Blue Eyes and Patti Smith's Redondo Beach...the soundtrack album got me thinking about what a perfect day would be and I must almost admit that most of my days are just that...I live a pretty basic life these days, or so it seems, taking enjoyment in many of life's simple pleasures...not unlike the character in the film...perhaps one of the secrets of living a happy life...I am satisfied with what I have...I do not have any desire to attain more...family and friends complete the circle...it brings to mind the Henry David Thoreau saying, "My greatest skill in life has been to want but little".
Finally had the opportunity to watch Till, which is the story about a 14 year old Chicago boy who goes alone to visit his cousins and other family in Mississippi in 1955 (still very much a part of the Jim Crow south). His Mom warned him before his departure to be extra cautious around white people...'stay woke', meaning be always alert to racial prejudice and discrimination. The term was first heard in a 1938 song titled the Scottsboro Boys, by African American folk singer/songwriter Lead Belly...telling black Americans to be aware of racially motivated threats and the potential dangers of white America. That 14 year old Emmet Till didn't understand the threat and was viciously murdered by two white men...his mother sought justice for her son but of course those charged were not convicted by an all-white jury...it is hard to understand such hate one person can feel towards another simply because of a different skin colour. Emmett's Mom Mamie continued to advocate for civil rights and her son's death is considered by some to be the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The term 'Woke' has come to mean well informed or aware...a progressive outlook on a host of issues including political ideology centred on social justice politics...being aware of injustice in all its forms...naturally the term is used in a negative capacity by the reactionary right (read the usual suspects like Trump, Orban, Poilievre, etc.) to try to diminish any social or political movement towards a more equitable, compassionate, kind, just and fair society.
Watched this interesting French film titled The Taste of Things...about a chef in the late 19th century and his cooking assistant (Juliette Binoche) who eventually becomes his wife...amazing scenes of the most extravagant meals that they made together...in any event, right at the end, after she had died...he had loved her very deeply...there was a flashback of them talking and him expressing his feelings for her and he said, "Happiness...is continuing to desire what we already have", a quote he said was from St. Augustin...it stopped me and I thought that if we appreciated what we already had, we would be resisting the economic forces that encourage over-consumption which puts such extreme stress upon the bounty that Mother Nature has provided us all...
I'm Still Here is the true story of a woman married to a former politician during the military dictatorship in Brazil in the early 1970's, who is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after her husband is 'disappeared' by the regime. It is exhilarating in its portrayal of human tenacity in the face of injustice, and is a cautionary tale on the ruthless excesses that such dictatorships can and do engage in. We are witnessing such excesses occurring within the borders of our southern neighbour. The film won many awards, including the 2024 Academy Award (a first for a Brazilian produced film) for Best International Film. Fernanda Torres, who played the Mother, gave an incredibly restrained, very subtle and nuanced performance, that really stays with you. She's persuasive and moving without ever being melodramatic and she won the well-deserved Best Actress Awards at both the Golden Globes and BAFTA.
In November, I was able to watch the documentary Coextinction made by two Canadian filmmakers who reside in the Gulf Islands between Vancouver and Victoria. The film centres on the environmental threat to orcas in the Pacific Ocean, caused in part by the simultaneous decline of Pacific salmon stocks (human built dams blocking the rivers that the salmon have used historically to spawn…as well the presence of open-net pen fish farms) that the orcas depend on for food and how their diminishing numbers affects First Nations fisheries, grizzly bears, and potentially the entire human race. As the filmmakers explain, “After a mother orca carries her dead calf for 17 days, two film makers spring into action, joining Indigenous leaders and scientists making a final attempt to save the last 74 Southern Resident orcas from extinction. Moving beyond a traditional wildlife documentary, Coextinction takes audiences deep into the oceans and forests of the Pacific Northwest to witness the complex systems of interconnectedness linking together ecosystem collapse, centuries of injustice against Indigenous peoples, and the frontlines of the world’s most pressing environmental threats. No species goes extinct in isolation.”
There are so many more films (Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, Saturday Night, Blue Rodeo: Lost Together, Born Hungry, A Complete Unknown, and No Other Land), and deceased actors and film makers (David Lynch, Gene Hackman, Ted Kotcheff, Peter Pearson, Terence Stamp, Graham Greene, Robert Redford, Dianne Keaton, Rob Reiner and Brigitte Bardot) that I want to talk about, but I must move on, so I’ll save those comments for the next blog.
So, here we are in the waning days of the year and the summer of a few months ago seems like a distant memory. Have we forgotten the massively destructive wildfires that burned from coast to coast covering much of the country in smoke that caused a burning sensation in our eyes and a shortness of breath (from the extreme heat as much as the smoke)? For many, it was life changing.
We continue to overheat the planet with the unrelenting burning of fossil fuels…the consequences are becoming more and more evident from, as David Suzuki said, ``increasing pollution, extreme weather events, floods, droughts, wildfires, crop failures, mass human migration, sea level rise, water shortages, species extinctions. This is the `climate crisis`…we must use energy wisely and efficiently, rapidly shift from fossil fuels to renewables…Canada can have nationwide zero emissions electricity by 2035. We can build a healthier, safer, sustainable future.``
The argument is that Canada needs energy sovereignty…pipelines to ship Alberta oil to other countries, especially in Asia, because we can no longer depend on a threatening and erratic United States. However, it is becoming more apparent that the security of all countries…all peoples is dependent upon us all to solve the climate crisis….stop the burning of carbon and therefore stop the growth of CO2 in the atmosphere…stop the heating of the atmosphere and the oceans…stop the melting of the ice fields and glaciers…stop the rising sea levels…stop the temperature rises in the tropics…create a climate safe future.
Canada deserves better…instead of ramping up pollution of our waters, our atmosphere, our land, we should be investing in nation building projects like those being built in countries around the world, instead of pipelines. As the David Suzuki Foundation stated, “you probably already know that renewables are the sustainable energy choice. They’re also the most affordable form of electricity in history…relying on a mix of wind, solar, energy storage, energy efficiency, interprovincial transmission and no fossil fuels, Canada could reach nationwide zero-emissions electricity while saving people money on their power bills”, all while respecting Indigenous rights and joining the energy revolution around the world.
That’s the Canada we should be building, as opposed to another decade trapped in ‘fossil fuel politics’.
In our next blog, we’ll take a look at whether there is any future for Alberta’s heavy oil from the tar sands, given what Trump is up to in the Caribbean.
Well, it is almost 2026, so let’s hope the New Year brings greater peace for us all and our earth, and let’s better look after what we have…let’s make climate progress possible. Hope you can have some Perfect Days.
Please check out our fundraising initiative the Paddle Project which allows us to continue our advocacy for Indigenous climate action: Our Paddles - Canoe Foundation
