A Major Announcement from the Free Thinking Film Festival 2013

Terry Glavin to Present on the Crisis in Syria at the
4th Annual Free Thinking Festival

October 30, 2013, Ottawa

The Free Thinking Film Society is proud to announce that award-winning Ottawa

Citizen columnist Terry Glavin will be presenting on the crisis in Syria at the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival in Ottawa.

Glavin's presentation will be on Saturday, November 2nd at 2:15 PM in the Main Auditorium of the Library & Archives Canada.

Earlie this month, Glavin spent two weeks visiting the various Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.  A 4-part series on the Syrian exodus and what it means for the region, for the world and for Syria’s future, will be running this week in the Ottawa Citizen.

Terry Glavin is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee, is the author of six books, and the co-author of four, traversing subjects from anthropology to natural history.  He has won more than a dozen writing awards, including the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, and is now a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen.

The Free Thinking Film Society was established in 2007 in Ottawa to celebrate the efforts of risk-taking documentarians whose work espouses the values of limited, democratic government, free market economies, equality of opportunity rather than equality of result, and the dignity of the individual, all underscored by a healthy and patriotic respect for Western culture and traditions.

The 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival starts on October 31st and runs through November 3rd at the Libary & Archives Canada.  Tickets to see Terry Glavin, and all films and events can be purchases at the door.  Tickets start at $12 and a Festival Pass (to see everything) is just $80.  For further information, please visit our website www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca

An Evening with Barbara Kay in Ottawa

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013

Friday, November 1st, 7:00 PM
Library & Archives Canada
395 Wellington, Ottawa

Admission:  $20 or with Festival Pass.

 

Columnist at the National Post, Barbara Kay is a true Canadian treasure. In this event, Ms. Kay will read from her new book, Acknowledgements, discuss her work with Free Thinking Films President Fred Litwin, and then answer questions from the audience, followed by a private reception.

Ms. Kay is a weekly columnist for National Post and a frequent contributor to the Post’s opinion blog, Full Comment. Her writings have also appeared in conservative U.S. online opinion sites Front Page Magazine and Pajamas Media, and in print magazines such as Canadian Observer, Dorchester Review and Cité libre. In 2009 Barbara was the National Association of Men’s recipient of its award of excellence “for promoting gender fairness in the media.” She is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. In 2012 Barbara received the Diamond Jubilee Medal for "excellence in journalism. Barbara is a regular guest on many Canadian radio talk shows, from the Maritimes to B.C., as well as more recently on Sunmedia TV.

Barbara is the co-author, with Aruna Papp, of Unworthy Creature: A Punjabi Daughter’s Memoir of Honour, Shame and Love.

"Barbara Kay’s writing is brisk and clear. She thinks for herself. She bravely resists the turn of the moment, and the preoccupations of the politically correct..."
     Rex Murphy, columnist, National Post

"There’s one group, the best of a bad lot, columnists I call the cream of the crap… Then there are a few like Barbara Kay, who is good when compared to good writers, not bad ones. She started punditry at an age when some people retire from it. Perhaps that's why she isn’t one of those writers about whom you feel they’ve written more books than they’ve read. She is a chippy polemicist, but only tells readers who may disagree with her that they’re wrong, not that they’re small and stupid. Most writers know how to assert; some know how to demonstrate; but only the Barbara Kays of columnists have the capacity to persuade."
    George Jonas, columnist, National Post


For more information, please visit our website.

Great coverage of the Free Thinking Film Festival in the Epoch Times

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/329157-ottawas-annual-free-thinking-film-festival/

Collision! Free Speech and Religion

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 OPENING NIGHT Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 7:00 PM Main Auditorium, Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa Admission:  $20 or with Festival Pass.  Reception after film, panel discussion and Q&A.
		Collision! Free Speech and Religion  Watch the Trailer 18 Minutes, United States 2013 Free to Choose Network
	This new documentary, written and presented by Danish Human Rights Lawyer Jacob Mchangama, focuses on one of the defining issues of our time; the global battle of values over the relationship between free speech and religious sensitivities. Recent years have seen increasing demands that free speech should be limited to respect religious feelings. In a globalized world this conflict has become explosive as cartoons published in Denmark and videos uploaded in America have led to violent riots from Cairo to Karachi. The outcome of this battle, says Mchangama, will have profound consequences for the ability of people everywhere to freely express themselves and follow their beliefs.  Followed by a panel discussion with Jacob Mchangama and others. "Jacob Mchangama and the Free To Choose Network have pulled off an amazing feat: they have produced a cool and measured documentary on a subject of great controversy. “Collision” is a poignant defense of free speech, and has a remarkable ability to find the seam between the right to free speech, and the sensibilities of religious believers. A remarkable voice, a presence on camera that is at once soothing and committed to the freedom of ideas."     Fouad Ajami, Senior Fellow     The Hoover Institute

SARS: Cover Up and Aftermath!

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 Sunday, November 3, 2013 Room 156, 4:30 PM  Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa
		SARS: Coverup and Aftermath  Watch the Trailer 51 Minutes, Canada, 2013 Diana Dai
	This is an extraordinary and insightful human drama during and after the crisis; it tells the stories of the Chinese government’s cover up and forgotten SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) survivors who are suffering greatly from the horrific after-effects due to aggressive steroids treatment and their continuing fight for their rights in China; and at the same time, how their fight for their rights are pushing Chinese society forward. Speaker: Producer Diana Dai.  For more information, please visit our website.

The Grand Deception: Jihad in America

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 Sunday, November 3, 2013, 4:45 PM Main Auditorium, Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa
		Jihad in America: The Grand Deception  Watch the Trailer 70 Minutes, United States, 2012 The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation
	Jihad in America exposes the history and secret structure of the underlying and subversive menace behind the public mask - the Muslim Brotherhood in America.This investigative documentary exposes how Muslim Brotherhood-linked leaders rose to prominence in the United States, and how they exploit American values under the cover of religion for their ulterior political agenda. For more information, please visit www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca

An Evening with Barbara Kay in Ottawa

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 Friday, November 1st, 2013, 7:00 PM Library & Archives Canada 395 Wellington, Ottawa Admission:  $20 (Students $10), or with Festival Pass.  Free reception after Q&A. Columnist at the National Post, Barbara Kay is a true Canadian treasure. In this event, Ms. Kay will read from her new book, Acknowledgements, discuss her work with Free Thinking Films President Fred Litwin, and then answer questions from the audience, followed by a private reception. Ms. Kay is a weekly columnist for National Post and a frequent contributor to the Post’s opinion blog, Full Comment. Her writings have also appeared in conservative U.S. online opinion sites Front Page Magazine and Pajamas Media, and in print magazines such as Canadian Observer, Dorchester Review and Cité libre. In 2009 Barbara was the National Association of Men’s recipient of its award of excellence “for promoting gender fairness in the media.” She is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. In 2012 Barbara received the Diamond Jubilee Medal for "excellence in journalism. Barbara is a regular guest on many Canadian radio talk shows, from the Maritimes to B.C., as well as more recently on Sunmedia TV. Barbara is the co-author, with Aruna Papp, of Unworthy Creature: A Punjabi Daughter’s Memoir of Honour, Shame and Love. "Barbara Kay’s writing is brisk and clear. She thinks for herself. She bravely resists the turn of the moment, and the preoccupations of the politically correct..."      Rex Murphy, columnist, National Post "There’s one group, the best of a bad lot, columnists I call the cream of the crap… Then there are a few like Barbara Kay, who is good when compared to good writers, not bad ones. She started punditry at an age when some people retire from it. Perhaps that's why she isn’t one of those writers about whom you feel they’ve written more books than they’ve read. She is a chippy polemicist, but only tells readers who may disagree with her that they’re wrong, not that they’re small and stupid. Most writers know how to assert; some know how to demonstrate; but only the Barbara Kays of columnists have the capacity to persuade."     George Jonas, columnist, National Post  For more information, please visit our website.

Quebec Language Lunacy!

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 Saturday November 2, 2013 Main Auditorium, Library & Archives Canada, 5:30 PM
		Rodney Ramsey: Quebec Language Lunacy   Watch the Trailer
	Comedian Rodney Ramsey from Montreal will present his homemade videos that make fun of the Quebec language laws. Don't miss these great videos and his live comedy. Rodney Ramsey is a Montreal native who is gaining much notoriety on the stand-up comedy scene. As an underground comedy promoter, with the ability to take over stages as a comedian or actor, Rodney is a triple threat who is quickly gaining notice. After months of notoriously heckling comics at comedy shows, Rodney decided to perform at open mics, then began opening on weekends at various clubs across the country a short time later. Feeling trapped in the mainstream comedy clubs and eager to experiment on stage with alternative material, in 2004 Rodney created the Drunken Show. The first show was a hit and went on to be Montreal's premiere underground comedy show with a large cult following. Rodney then went on to co-create the Dead Comics Society, a Sketch comedy group that got rave reviews at both the Toronto and Montreal sketch festivals. Shortly after, Rodney Ramsey represented Montreal in the Just for Laughs home grown competition, premiering on City TV's in House comics. Rodney went on to host Montreal's Bad Boys of Comedy show two years in a row, which was well received in the African-Canadian community. Rodney Ramsey also performed on The Debaters airing on CBC radio and broadcast across Canada. Now living in Toronto, Rodney was recently published in The Star newspaper for winning the best Obama joke contest. Rodney's hard-work ethic and ultra magnetic stage presence make for a great comedian to watch now and in the years to come. For more details, please visit our website.

The Sheik and I

Part of the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013   Saturday November 2, 2013, 4:30 PM Room 156, Library & Archives Canada 395 Wellington, Ottawa
		The Sheik and I   Watch the Trailer 104 minutes, United States, 2012 Reinventing the wheel
	Commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial of the United Arab Emirates to make a film on the theme of "art as a subversive act," independent filmmaker Caveh Zahedi goes overboard. Told that he can do whatever he wants except make fun of the Sheik, who rules the country and finances the Biennial, Zahedi decides to do just that. He turns his camera on the Biennial itself and gleefully presses every culturally sensitive button he can find. But his court jester antics fails to amuse. Zahedi's film is banned for blasphemy and he is threatened with a fatwa.  "Whether mocking the Muslim world or indicting Western attitudes toward that world — perhaps a little of both — “The Sheik and I” argues vociferously that it’s always better to offend than to bore."      The New York Times, Dec. 2012 "At once preposterous and profound, the film proposes elemental questions about freedom of speech and artistic ethics."      Wall Street Journal, Dec. 2012 You can buy tickets for the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film 2013 at Compact Music (785 Bank, 206 Bank) or online at ticketweb.ca.  Tickets will also be available at the door.

Trailer for the 4th Annual Free Thinking Film Festival 2013 in Ottawa!

For more information, please visit our website at www.freethinkingfilmfest.ca