PEN Picks: Fiction meets fact as some of PEN Canada’s most celebrated writers—Vincent Lam, Camilla Gibb, Miriam Toews, and Linwood Barclay—present a documentary of their choice. Each author will discuss their personal interest in the film after the screening, and will participate in a Q&A with the audience.
Camilla Gibb is the author of four novels—Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, Sweetness in the Belly and The Beauty of Humanity Movement—has been the recipient of the Trillium Book Award, the City of Toronto Book Award and the CBC Canadian Literary Award, and has been short listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Camilla has a Ph.D. from Oxford University and has been writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta.
"Here, documentary played a direct role in the political future of a country as well as a being the starting point for what could arguably be called an industry of famine relief. " – Camilla Gibb on THE UNKNOWN FAMINE
THE UNKNOWN FAMINE
D: Ian Stuttard | UK | 1973 | 28 min | STC
Commissioned by Thames Television and featuring reporter Jonathan Dimbleby, The Unknown Famine was the first documentary to report on the horrific famine in Ethiopia to western audiences.
YE WONZ MAIBEL: DELUGE
D: Salem Mekuria | Ethiopia | 1996 | 61 min | STC
A powerful story about conflict and the road to reconciliation, Ye Wonz Maibel: Deluge follows a group of Ethiopian students who launched a revolution that resulted in a brutal military dictatorship.
Single Ticket: $15 ($12 for Bloor members)