The 2009 DOXA Documentary Film Festival runs from May 22 to May 31 at two main venues: Pacific Cinematheque (PC) and Vancity Theatre (VC). The opening and closing night films play at Empire Granville 7. There are more than 70 films to see, all of which have something real to say. Here are my picks for you to choose from:

The Sixties (plays 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27 @ PC)
Run, do not walk, to these gems! In Black Panther, you’ll see Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver talk on film and hear Bobby Seale give the Panthers’ 10-point plan, amid great music and brilliant chanting by Panther women on the frontlines.

The next Newsreel film, San Francisco State: On Strike, gives us a glimpse of some of the struggles that these working-class students went through (scary shots of police brutality, and guns drawn on unarmed black students packed in a hallway) to get the first Ethnic Studies department in the U.S.A. Oddly, but importantly in terms of the police response, their campus was located in a white suburb.

In contrast to these activist-made films, the 2009 film, Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968, uses slick production and tries to give us both sides of a story that has been covered up ever since it occurred. The Orangeburg Massacre involved at least nine police (of 150 heavily armed "law enforcement officers") killing three and wounding at least 28 unarmed students on the night of February 8, 1968 on South Carolina State's all-Black campus. No public investigation has ever been held.

Shots in the Dark (plays 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 23 @ PC)
It took 2.5 minutes before my heart sank and tears welled up. Not much later, the wailing began. This is a powerful, well-made film that touches you on many levels. As a parent, I know how hard it is to resist the medical establishment’s pressure to vaccinate your child. This film will expose their claims but does so in a way that simply can't be argued with: there is no scientific evidence either way. The film shows real people that know that there is a problem. I believe these parents because I know firsthand that we just know what is going on with our children.

Thankfully, my child has not suffered from any serious illness (and no, she has not been vaccinated), but the one time she did have a major body reaction, I knew exactly what it was from. I didn’t need science to prove it. But just as in the film, her mom had a vested interest in denying my knowledge and tried to use (or not use, as the case may be) science to discredit me. That, in a nutshell, is what has been happening since 1929 with the pharmaceutical industry and vaccinations. The only study done for one vaccine was in 1929 on nine people dying from meningitis; because they died from meningitis shortly afterward, they continue to claim that the vaccine and its toxic preservatives (mercury) and activators (aluminum) are safe. Right.

This film speaks to parents, of course, but really it is relevant for everyone since it also includes the flu vaccine and others targeted at adults (Hep B). It literally exposes documented risk (that many doctors aren’t even aware of) and it can empower all of us to make health decisions that will promote and protect our own and our children's health.

Here are the News (plays 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27 @ PC)
Edith Josie is an amazing human being and this film does well to document many of the incredible achievements and talents of this woman.

You may know of her name from reading her syndicated column or hearing or seeing her on CBC. Chances of you meeting her in her home town of Old Crow in Gwitchin Territory are slim since it’s just about as far north as you can get on this continent.

What I found most interesting is how she has retained her culture, which she constantly shares with anyone. The colonizing forces have not spared her territory or people, but despite them (she is very religious, speaks fluent English, and obviously wrote in English), she has remained so strong in her culture that many of her children and grandchildren thrive in it.

There are many lessons in this film, beyond the beauty of this woman.

My Mother's Farm (plays 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 @ PC)
This is a raw work from a rightfully proud daughter. Her mother, Tale Kalna, is a legend in Latvia for so many good reasons: singlehandedly maintaining a farm for decades after being taken from her family’s land, agitating for change on so many levels (her work for better buses and slower cars spoke to me), and being a political parent through it all.

The footage is a mix of her daughter’s and archival, so I got a much better sense of the politics of Latvia and the era of the Soviet Union in general.

For me, the most powerful message is that anyone can speak up and make change. Of course, civilization has stagnated beyond the era depicted so bureaucrats and politicians don’t listen or act as easily as they did in the film, but much of her work easily translates to a world without civilization. Indeed, much of her work on the farm was accomplished without fossil fuels.

Tale Kalna lives on in many ways in her country and this film will bring her inspiration to many of us living beyond Latvia.

…and music (plays noon on Sunday, May 24 @ PC)
This film will excite many parents: imagine a school curriculum based on music! Think French immersion with a serious twist—learning based on reality and hands-on experience. The players are wonderful to watch as they learn and teach this universal language, while graduates impress current students with the skills that they attained in everyday school life.

But this is still a school. The bell may be Mozart, but the ratio of students to teachers still is too high. Without a doubt, the edge of this institution is much softer, but even the excellent teaching on screen (respectfully asking for self and peer evaluation) didn’t quite convince me that school is the best place for a child.

But if school was mandatory, this is the school I'd choose for me or my child...ah, music!

A Dream for Kabul (plays noon on Saturday, May 23 @ PC)
Despite the context (9/11), this is an intriguing film on many levels. The destruction of Afghanistan is contrasted with the World Trade Center and Second World War Tokyo very respectfully, dramatically and convincingly.

This is primarily the story of a father, whose son perished on September 11th, 2001. Through his grief and pilgrimage to recover as much of his son’s life as he could (he was living in Japan and went to New York City as soon as he could), he begins to refill his empty, aching heart by looking behind the tragedy of his son’s death to find his own future.

And it seems to be a future of hope and magic as he travels to Kabul to learn from and connect with the children there. One scene of a young boy (Ihsanullah) telling the story of how shrapnel entered his body (and continues to leave, piece by piece) is filled with a clear understanding of how absolutely wrong this is. And if you don't already know, the U.S. has just start bombing again and the Canadian government is debating the deployment of a squadron CF-18 fighter bombers there (You can send a letter to all federal party leaders by clicking here).

The scenes of his interactions with children in the U.S.A. and Japan, as well as the Afghan kids, reach deep and seem to be a way for this traditional Japanese father to make amends for healing his relationship with his son. Indeed, he makes it clear that the children are what keeps him, and his project, alive.

For more information about these and the other 65-plus films, visit http://www.doxafestival.ca/.

Enjoy all that you can!

Dave Olsen is a Vancouver environmental and cycling activist.

The Georgia Straight will feature more coverage of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in its forthcoming edition, which will be distributed on Thursday (May 21).