One Little Piggy – PIG BUSINESS (2009) by Tracy-Louise Ward

We all know the nursery rhyme, one little piggy went to market, but I bet this time he’s wishing he had stayed at home. It is no great surprise that pig business is big business, given that it is one of the most popular meats on the shelves. The popularity of it, however, is not the problem. Ward’s beef (excuse the pun) is with the lengths gone to in order to feed the world’s insatiable appetite for pig-meat.

As part of its monthly DocSpot event, the Barbican will next month be hosting a special screening of Pig Business followed by a Q&A with Zac Goldsmith, director of The Ecologist magazine…

…A shocking exposé of how gruesome methods of factory farming are increasingly inflicting hidden long-term damage on public health and the environment.

I’ve yet to see the whole film, but from what I’ve read this isn’t one to be taken lightly. Nor is it about converting the entire planet to vegetarianism. It is plainly and simply about the reality of what it takes to get a sausage on your plate for 7p. And as such, this is by no means a film exclusively for vegetarians. Isn’t it about time we ALL know the true cost of cheap meat, not just the people who don’t eat it?

Click here to find out more about the screening (8pm, 27th May 2009 at the Barbican).

Down Under (The 15th London Australian Film Festival, 12-22 March 2009) featuring SALUTE by Matt Norman, LIONEL by Eddie Martin & IN MY FATHER’S COUNTRY by Tom Murray.

 

Image courtesy of the Metro.

Strewth, not another film festival!! Well this time its the turn of the Aussies, as tomorrow sees the opening of the London Australian Film Festival at the Barbican in London.

You will be pleased to hear that the festival will be offering not one, not two, but a crowd-pleasing three documentaries: Salute, (2008) Lionel (2008) and In My Father’s Country (2008).

Salute, directed by Matt Norman has already won two awards. In an image that reverberated around the world, three men stand on the winner’s podium at the 1968 Olympics, two raise their black gloved hands in a power salute, the third, Australian silver medallist Peter Norman wears a badge supporting the Olympic Project For Human Rights. Interspersed with archive footage and interviews, this award-winning documentary explores the phenomenal impact of that one act on Norman’s life, from his expulsion from Australian sport to his enduring friendship with the men who call him ‘Brother’. 

Courtesy of Time Out Sydney

Lionel, directed by Eddie Martin, will be introduced by Richard Brennan on March 16th. On February 26th, 1968, a 19 year old Aboriginal boxer named Lionel Rose defeated Fighting Harada in Japan after an impressive fifteen rounds to become World Bantamweight Champion and an instant national hero. Through the use of abundant pristine archive material and interviews with Lionel and those close to him, Eddie Martin’s dazzling doc chronicles the unprecedented impact of Rose’s victory, on a successful and respected Aborigine, on interracial relationships and on the socio-political situation of Australia at the time. 

Courtesy of the Melbourne Film Festival

 

And finally, Tom Murray‘s In My Father’s Country completes the trio: The focal point of this stunning documentary is the initiation ceremony of a young boy of the Dhuruputjpi community in Northern Australia. In preparation for this rite of passage the elders try to instil the wisdom of their ancestors into the next generation; a generation that has to deal with a world that is changing and at odds with their own way of life. Tom Murray’s unique film allows you to witness and experience an exotic, almost forgotten world; one whose existence grows every day more precarious. 

Courtesy of the Melbourne Film Festival

 

 

 

 

Click here to find out more about the 15th London Australian Film Festival.