SOLD OUT!

Barbara Jackman, a Canadian lawyer specializing in immigration and refugee law, introduces tonight’s film, Illégal, a psychological thriller with a social commentary background.

The film revolves around Tania, a fictitious 39 year-old Russian woman who has been living illegally in Belgium for some ten years with her 14 year-old son. Although the authorities refused her application for asylum, she manages to find a job and send her son to school. One day, a police check leads to her arrest.  She is placed in a detention center while her young son manages to escape and takes refuge at a friend’s home.

Ms. received her undergraduate degree from the University of Windsor in 1972, her LL.B. from the University of Toronto in 1976, and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1978. She has been described as being one of Canada’s most effective advocates for immigration and refugee rights.

Alexis MacDonald, Director of External Relations for the Stephen Lewis Foundation introduces tonight’s film, Life, Above All, the stunning adaptation of Allan Stratton’s best-selling 2004 novel Chanda’s Secrets.

Shortlisted for this year’s Academy Awards® as South Africa’s official entry, Life Above All tells the story of an African family torn apart by the AIDS pandemic.

Khomotso Manyaka plays ‘Chanda’, a young girl in a small, AIDS-ravaged South African township who struggles to maintain a façade of normal life amidst utter instability: her stepfather is an alcoholic, her newborn sister has recently died, and her mother has become afflicted with the AIDS virus. When Chanda’s mother’s illness becomes openly apparent, the community turns against the family, interpreting it as a form of retribution for their sins.

To purchase tickets for tonight’s screening of Life, Above All phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

The First Grader, which screens tonight at 8 PM at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, will be introduced by Dickson Eyoh, Associate Professor, Political Science and African Studies at the University of Toronto. Professor Eyoh is an expert in the politics and economy of Sub-Saharan Africa.  He has co-edited several books, including Decentralization and The Politics of Urban Development in West Africa (2007); Ethnicity and Democracy in Africa (2004); and the Encyclopedia of 20th Century African History (2003).

The First Grader was inspired by the true story of Kimani Nganga Maruge, a farmer in Western Kenya who led the way in the fight for universal free education in that country. Maruge become the oldest person on record to start primary school when he enrolled in Kapkenduywa primary school, in Eldoret, at the age of 84. A veteran of the Mau Mau independence movement, Maruge never had the opportunity to go to school when he was younger.

Due to overwhelming demand The First Grader has moved to a larger cinema within the TIFF Bell Lightbox complex. Please check with the Box Office or attendants for the new location.

To purchase tickets for tonight’s screening of The First Grader phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

The First Grader is co-presented with The Institute for Contemporary Culture.

Francisco Rico-Martinez, Co-Director of FCJ Refugee Centre will introduce tonight’s film — Familia. Shot in Peru and co-directed by Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits, Familia is an intimate portrait of a family trying to stay together in the midst of great difficulty.

Born in El Salvador, Francisco came to Canada in 1990 with Loly, his wife (pictured above), and their two children.

Formally trained as a lawyer and economist, Francisco has been committed to issues of social justice for as long as he can remember; starting with work in human rights in El Salvador, then solidarity work in Europe, and now work in the field of Refugee Rights in Canada.

He is past president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, and has been recognized for his work with the William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award of the City of Toronto and the YMCA Peace Medallion.

To purchase tickets for tonight’s screening of Familia phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.

Familia is co-presented with Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival.

Novelist Kim Echlin is the special guest at tonight’s screening of Enemies Of The People, an award-winning documentary that follows Cambodian investigative journalist Thet Sambath as he embarks on a decade-long journey to seek out and confront those responsible for his family’s death under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Echlin’s third novel, The Disappeared, is also set against the backdrop of Cambodia’s killing fields. In the novel, a Canadian woman falls in love with a young Cambodian refugee. After the fall of Pol Pot, her lover abandons her and returns home in search of his lost family. She follows him to Cambodia and into the genocidal horrors of the killing fields and its terrible aftermath.

Echlin says she was inspired to write the novel after a chance meeting with a woman in a Phnom Penh market. “She kind of moved in very close and after chatting a little bit she said to me, ‘I lost my whole family during Pol Pot’ and I didn’t know what to say. So I just said, ‘I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?’ and she said, ‘No, I just want you to know.’”

Kim Echlin will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening.

To purchase tickets for tonight’s screening of Enemies Of The People phone 416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433. Tickets can also be purchased, in person, at TIFF Bell Lightbox Box Office, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto.