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Win Tickets to VIFF!

Enter now to win tickets to a Tyee-sponsored screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Allison Bauman 29 Sep 2009TheTyee.ca

Allison Bauman is The Tyee's advertising director.
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The Vancouver International Film Festival is back with more than 370 stellar films. Want to attend? The Tyee is please to offer you and a friend the chance to see one of two sponsored screenings.

'Reporter' -- Monday, Oct. 5, 1:30 p.m., Pacific Cinémathéque

Standing in stark contrast to the blithering nonsense of much of ET-style infotainment are the old-fashioned investigative journalists -- men and women who rely on a unique synthesis of persistence, guile, courage, curiosity and very thick skins to break the news. One such increasingly rare creature is New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Kristof's columns have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, convinced Bill Gates to significantly increase his charitable donations, introduced the world to places like Darfur and arguably changed the tide of history.

Filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar trailed after Kristof when he took off, along with two contestants from the "Win a Trip With Nick Kristof Contest," to pay a visit to rebel warlord General Nkunda in the middle of the Congolese jungle. This trip may have had the contest winners wishing they'd rethought their travel plans, but what it also reveals is the dangerously high price paid when reporting on world events. In recent years, the number of journalists killed in the line of duty has skyrocketed. But never has the ability to translate complex facts half a world away into meaningful, impactful stories been as necessary or as urgent.

'H2Oil' -- Sunday, Oct. 11, 6:30 p.m., Empire Granville 7

Whether it's the Niger Delta (Sweet Crude), the Amazon rainforest (Crude) or Northern Alberta, (H2Oil), the story of oil remains the same. But in Canada, the tar sands development has created an environmental nightmare on a gargantuan scale. Giant tailing ponds (visible from space) contain approximately 1.8 billion litres of toxic runoff, a carcinogenic soup thick with heavy metals, arsenic and naphthalenic acids. Downstream on the Athabasca River in Fort Chipewyan, clusters of rare cancers in the local population indicate that the level of toxicity in the land, air and water is reaching dangerous levels. We understand on one level that our dependence on oil is near suicidal, but how much do we know -- or do -- about what is happening in our own country? Shannon Walsh's stunning documentary demonstrates that oil and water are not only mutually incompatible, but that we eventually have to choose one over the other. How much damage will we let happen in the meantime?

How to Enter

Send an e-mail to [email protected] with subject line "VIFF" before 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 2.

Please put your name and phone number in the e-mail, as well; we will contact the winner by both phone and e-mail to ensure expedient ticket pick-up.

Entrants will also be signed up for our free weekly e-newsletter. The Tyee never rents, sells or shares its information and you are welcome to opt out at any time. For more info read our privacy policy.

Look for the Vancouver International Film Festival's ad on our site for a second chance to win tickets. [Tyee]

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