Everyday Activist - THIRD ACTion Film Festival 2019

Posted on Thursday, June 06, 2019 at 12:00 PM

THIRD ACTion Film Festival 2019

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

This weekend, the Glenbow Museum hosts the THIRD ACTion Film Festival featuring films from directors all over the world about aging. I managed to watch a few which were available online and on Kanopy free with your Calgary Public Library card.

Beyond Housing, funded by Story Hive, is Calgary made film, which forms part of Dr. Victoria Burns’ research. The other two producers are her colleagues at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. Having spoken with the director, this short will be followed by feature film hopefully within the coming year.

Another wonderful Canadian film was Just a Gaggle, profiling two women within a Toronto section of the social activist group, “The Raging Grannies”. I absolutely love their hats and their concern over Doug Ford’s policies.

Across the pond in the UK, Chasing the Sublime keeps me motivated to stay in shape. Director, Amanda Blugrass, captures the beauty as well as the risk of swimming in cold, open water. The 2018 Banff Mountain Film Festival had a couple of short films about elderly outdoor athletes that I covered in my review of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour 2018/19: Red Program Part 1.

I reviewed Late Afternoon as part of the recent Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2019, though I preferred Franck Dion’s, National Film Board short, The Head Vanishes, which made the long list for the Oscars few years ago. Both films employed water imagery to convey the emotional effects of dementia on the mother and daughter characters.

Forever, Chinatown and Nine to Ninety were both American films, featuring multiple generations centered in California. The similarities ended there. Frank Wong’s exquisitely detailed dioramas to honor his fading memories take the viewers back to a Chinatown that no longer exists. My mind was blown at his knowledge of chemical compounds he used to express his innermost thoughts and feelings reflected in his art. Turns out he was always a creative man, working in prop departments in Hollywood. Nine to Ninety talks about the challenge of taking care of aging parents, especially when siblings live on opposite sides of the country. I’m not sure if it’s included in the festival, but Kanopy had a short follow up film with Phyllis’ older granddaughter talking to her parents about their wishes. While the conversations can be difficult, planning relieves stress.

The festival touches on many important issues surrounding aging. If you’ve enjoyed this small selection, they have many more films available that have been featured at other festivals. A special thank you goes out to CalgaryMovies.com, because I never would have known about it had I not visited the site. As we all know, a festival can’t survive without its sponsors and of course an audience. Enjoy the weekend and for more information check: http://thirdactionfilmfest.ca.

Beyond Housing: https://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/3601
Chasing the Sublime: https://vimeo.com/292071219
Forever, Chinatown: https://www.foreverchinatown.com/ (available on Kanopy, free with your Calgary Public Library Card)
Just a Gaggle: https://vimeo.com/311060061
Nine to Ninety: http://www.ninetoninetymovie.com/ (available on Kanopy, free with your Calgary Public Library Card)

The THIRD ACTion Film Festival 2019 runs from June 07-09, 2019 at various times, screening at the Glenbow Museum Theatre in Calgary, Alberta.