June Chua

'They're People Not Terrorists' photo campaign challenges prejudices behind U.S. travel ban

rabble staff — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 19:38:47 +0000

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Photographer Adam Zivo's work may be familiar to those aware of his project #LOVEISLOVEISLOVE, which he launched after the Orlando nightclub shooting. It featured tender, happy portraits of LGTBQ couples.

The Toronto-based photographer is now launching, on Friday, a new project in the wake of the U.S. travel ban that targets people from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Toronto photographer Adam Zivo is launching a new project to counter hate and prejudice in the wake of the U.S. travel ban that targets people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

'Rise' series documents frontlines of Indigenous movements

rabble staff — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 15:11:52 +0000

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Rise is a fantastic new series by VICE and APTN that covers a resurgent Indigenous cultural urgency, filmed expertly by Toronto's Christopher Yapp and executive directed by the talented, award-winning Ontario filmmaker Michelle Latimer.

I was able to preview two episodes of the eight-part series (which debuts January 27 on VICELAND): "Apache Stronghold" (Arizona) and "Red Power" (North Dakota). If the rest of the series is just as powerful -- in storytelling, educational components and underlining human stakes -- I would highly recommend watching this series.

Rise is a fantastic new series that covers a resurgent Indigenous cultural urgency, filmed by Toronto's Christopher Yapp and executive directed by award-winning filmmaker Michelle Latimer.

Palestinian filmmaker facing deportation from Norway after officials claim he is not a director

rabble staff — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:39:21 +0000

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Norwegian film organizations and unions have banded together in an international call for help from groups outside the country to put pressure on their government. At issue is the case of a Palestinian filmmaker, Mohamed Jabaly, who could be deported Dec. 30.

"I was supposed to be sent away today [Dec. 21] but my lawyer asked for more time to get my documents ready, thank God to the local police they understood," Jabaly told rabble.ca in a Skype interview.

"The problem is I don't have a bachelor's in film. I have one in IT but I am a filmmaker!"

Norwegian film organizations and unions have banded together in an international call for help in the case of a Palestinian filmmaker, Mohamed Jabaly, who could be deported Dec. 30.

Instagram project chronicles search for missing and murdered Indigenous women

rabble staff — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 13:58:02 +0000

Thursday, November 10, 2016

There's another story to the tragic saga of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) and it's coming to light through an Instagram project created by the National Film Board (NFB).

What Brings Us Here -- a project by writer and filmmaker Katherena Vermette and producer Alicia Smith -- profiles volunteers of the Drag the Red and Bear Clan Patrol of Winnipeg. These grassroots movements patrol neighbourhoods and search the banks and waterways of the Red River in response to the many missing in their communities.

There's another story to the tragic saga of missing and murdered Indigenous women and it's coming to light through an Instagram project created by the National Film Board.

Rise Up: A new board game in which all play as one

rabble staff — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:05:49 +0000

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Most board games pit players against each other but a new kind of board game seeks to subvert that narrative, requiring players to unite and play against the game itself.

"We are providing an alternative to games like Monopoly and Risk," Brian Van Slyke told rabble in a Skype interview from Chicago. Van Slyke is one member of a five-person collective, The Toolbox for Education and Social Action (TESA), which launched more than five years ago.

Rise Up is their latest invention.

Most board games pit players against each other but a new kind of board game seeks to subvert that narrative, requiring players to unite and play against the game itself.

Mad Room: Black artist lays bare struggle with depression, anxiety

rabble staff — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 12:38:03 +0000

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Tangled Art Gallery in Toronto is opening its first-ever installation, featuring the work of local artist Gloria Swain and focusing on her experience as a Black woman in the mental health system.

The gallery is supported by Tangled Art + Disability which sponsors disability arts across the country. Tangled Art Gallery just opened in the spring this year and bills itself as the first in the country dedicated to showcasing disability arts.

The inaugural season launches September 22 with Artist in Residence Swain.

Tangled Art Gallery in Toronto is opening its first-ever installation, featuring the work of local artist Gloria Swain and focusing on her experience as a Black woman in the mental health system.

Giants of Africa basketball documentary flows with feeling and fast play

rabble staff — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 13:29:31 +0000

Friday, August 26, 2016

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Giants of Africa is a sports documentary all right, but it's a very human one that you won't forget. Why? The faces. The heartbreaking faces of the boys and young men from Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan and Rwanda will be seared into your memory.

Giants of Africa is a sports documentary all right, but it's a very human one that you won't forget. Why? The heartbreaking faces of its basketball players will be seared into your memory.

EXTRACTION! Ad Astra's comic book journalism tackles mining justice

rabble staff — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 19:47:37 +0000

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

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It's an old "analog" idea that's gaining new credibility in the digital age: comic book journalism. Ad Astra Comix is breathing new life into the genre as it prepares for its second publication, EXTRACTION! which examines what the company calls "the criminal activities of mining companies" in North America.

Ad Astra Comix is breathing new life into the genre as it prepares for its second publication, EXTRACTION! which examines "the criminal activities of mining companies" in North America.

Poetic documentary 'Koneline' brings B.C. mining into focus

rabble staff — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 01:32:14 +0000

Friday, April 22, 2016

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Canada's Nettie Wild has never shied away from tough topics -- from the Zapatista movement in Mexico (A Place Called Chiapas) to delving into the darkness of addiction in FIX: The Story of an Addicted City, the director has combed the social justice landscape.

Koneline focuses on the "golden triangle" of land in northwest B.C. where copper and gold mining companies are busy drilling into prime territory where local people hunt and fish.

Badke dance brings Palestinian experience to the stage

rabble staff — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 21:40:01 +0000

Monday, February 8, 2016

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Hildegard De Vuyst recalls the first time a hybrid dance performance based on a traditional Palestinian/Arab dance called dabke was performed back in 2009. It occurred after a four-week workshop with 11 Palestinian performers.

"We did it outdoors in the town of Birzeit and near the mosque. It was lovely," the Brussels-based choreographer/dramaturge recalls. "And from that workshop, we have performed and altered it over the years."

Badke, a hybrid dance performance based on a traditional Palestinian dance, has its Canadian premiere in Toronto from Feb. 17 to 20 at the Fleck Dance Theatre.

Arabian Nights film trilogy examines economic surrealism

rabble staff — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 14:04:06 +0000

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

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The stories we tell are often a reflection of how we survive as humans and that idea is no more evident than in Arabian Nights, the sprawling six-hour, three-part epic by Portugal's Miguel Gomes.

The stories we tell are often a reflection of how we survive as humans and that idea is no more evident than in Arabian Nights, the sprawling epic on austerity by Portugal's Miguel Gomes.

Chinatown streetball game takes centre court in 9-Man documentary

rabble staff — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 01:53:01 +0000

Monday, December 21, 2015

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Chow fun and cha siu bao aren't just names for Chinese dishes (fried noodles and pork bun, FYI), they are also names for moves in a unique streetball game played within Chinese communities in North America.

With strict rules as to player membership and unique manoeuvres, 9-man is a volleyball game like no other.

Chow fun and cha siu bao aren't just names for Chinese dishes, they are also names of moves in a unique streetball game played in Chinese communities across North America.

Film 'Defenders of the Dawn' highlights environmental rights battles

rabble staff — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 21:02:01 +0000

Thursday, October 22, 2015

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It's remarkable to learn all the information that the Canadian documentary Defenders of the Dawn manages to insert into its 45-minute length.

The Canadian documentary Defenders of the Dawn examines the fight in the Maritimes for environmental rights, situated within the perspective of the world stage.

The Hemsbach Protocol turns artistic lens on refugee crisis

rabble staff — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 19:28:34 +0000

Friday, October 2, 2015

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The surge of refugees heading to Germany is relentless. Now from my perch in Berlin, I'm awestruck by the Germany I'm experiencing -- watching waves of volunteers pitch in to help.

Toronto-based artist Darren O'Donnell spoke to rabble.ca about his summer stay at a refugee holding centre in Hemsbach, Germany and how the art project informed his ideas of migration and integration.

Calgary artist explores public space, cultural interactions

rabble staff — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 17:09:12 +0000

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

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It seems fitting, for this story, that two Calgarians, both former immigrants to Canada, should accidentally meet in Berlin, the ultimate city of intersections: bringing together cultures, ideas and urban muckraking.

Artist Hye-Seung Jung's work on the dynamics of culture and public space spans Canada, Europe and Asia, bringing together cultures, ideas and urban muckraking.