Vancouver International Film Festival
WORD WATCH
26 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30 , 2017
By Alan Samuel
Vancouver International Film Festival
No country is perfect . Not even Canada . Recent events have shed light on a truly ugly part of the Canadian past : The Residential School system . Leave it to a compassionate Canadian film producer and the vision of Elevation Pictures to shed light on this troubled discriminatory entrenched system . Relive some troubled times by taking in Indian Horse . Powerful performances and vivid imagery highlight this painful journey . Without doubt the toast of drama at this year ’ s Vancouver International Film Festival Indian Horse is brilliantly filmed with a take no prisoners attitude .
Despite the beauty of rural Ontario one can ’ t escape the tortured path taken by a young Aboriginal boy . Due to a family tragedy and literal abduction by some Canadian authority Saul is “ places ” in a residential school run by the church . Along with other children of Indian descent e child has his heritage and dignity stripped away from him . Even one in authority who allegedly cares for the children run up against a regimental system of brute force and Indoctrination designed to wipe out these kid ’ s self and turn them into puppet of the white man and their religious beliefs . Forget about charity . These kids are victimized and abused . Pure and simple . Sometimes the truth is not a pretty sight .
Against his harsh remote backdrop of living inside a bubble Sol develops a fondness for hockey . Against all odds the boy excels at the sport - so much so that it allows him to break free of his imprisonment - or does it ?
Full of unmistakable symbolism and an honest portrayal of discrimination Sol , faces both on and off the ice Indian Horse turns out to be an emotional experience that will likely bring tears to many an eye . This is one bit of Canadian history that must be exposed and Indian Horse does a better visualizing the pain and suffering better than any boring text book could ever achieve .
For more information on the Vancouver International Film Festival go to www . viff . org or call ( 604 ) 683-3456
Showtimes : Saturday . Sept . 30 6:30 pm . The Vancouver Playhouse Monday Oct . 2 1:45 pm . The International Village Theatre Auditorium 10
Indian Horse ( PG ) ***** Bad Influence !
Jericho Rosales : ‘ John Lloyd is a good person ’
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
Jericho Rosales came into the defense of his Star Magic brother John Lloyd Cruz against those who misinterpret the actor ’ s actions after being embroiled in a controversy recently . Jericho remarked that he is positive that the actor will overcome life ’ s difficulties .
“ What else can we say about that ? People make mistakes . People get pressured and you know , may mga buhay tayo di ba ? Siguro siyempre ang mga tao may image at may ano tayo kay John Lloyd , di ba ? Pero who ’ s to say na kahit sa amin nagkakamali di ba ? Nagkakamali din naman kaming lahat . It may be a difficult season for him right now but I know he ’ s going to rise above that . I ’ m sure everyone will learn from this . He will learn from whatever , ganyan ,” he said .
Knowing him on a personal level ,
Jericho remarked that John Lloyd has a good heart . He added that one should never judge a person by just one mistake .
“ Alam ko John Lloyd is a good person . He invites me to his birthday parties and ano ganyan . But I cannot judge one person because of one thing that happened . It ’ s not the end of his life , his career , whatever . This is just a season that okay let ’ s be honest sarap pag-usapan nito , sarap panoorin nito , whatever , and even kaming mga artista may reaksyon diyan . But if you actually sit down at the end of the day , come on man , lahat naman tayo nagkakamali . And I had my share when I was younger but now mas may wisdom ako . I ’ m a better person because of that ,” he stated . ( K . Cagape , push . com )
To be a slow-witted or mischievous student during Spanish times was to be in a great deal of pain .
Maestros and maestras literally had a free hand in meting out punishment : palms and buttocks were struck with ‘ palmeta ,’ a small wooden paddle , or with a ‘ suplina ,’ a light leather whip , and ears pulled until they sometimes bled . “ Moderate ” punishment included kneeling on beans , and standing in front of the class with arms crossed , each hand holding onto opposite earlobes .
Ooops ! It is a major irony of Western cultural history that the name of the Scottish-born theologian John Duns Scotus , one of the greatest of medieval thinkers , is now associated with the word ’ dunce ,’ a person who is stupid or slow to learn . Long after his death , during the humanist Renaissance of the 16th century , Scottish scholarscalled Dunses in memory of their master- formed the major opposition against the new “ leaning ” and were specifically opposed to the revival of classical text . In the consequence of their intransigence , ‘ dunce ’ came to mean first an adherent of backwardness and sophistry , and ultimately a blockhead or fool .
Sad Stats . An estimated 100 million of the world ’ s children ( 6-11 years of age ) are not attending school – 60 percent of them girls . One in four adults in the world – almost a billion people – cannot read or write , about 66 percent of them are women .
WORD WATCH
Dyslexia ( dis ’ lk see-a ) : a disturbance of the ability to read .
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