Tony Wohlfarth
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Nan Goldin is a 69-year-old American artist. In 1964, she lost her sister Barbara to opioid addiction. Goldin founded a grassroots organization Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN).
The documentary film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) interweaves two narratives – Goldin’s art, and the campaign she led for compensation from the Sackler Family for the pain and suffering opioid addiction inflicted on Oxycontin’s 400,000 American victims and their families. The film takes audiences inside the campaign, recording their meetings and audacious events. Goldin’s painful personal journey is told from the moment she learned of Barbara’s death to the discovery of how she died.
I found the film deeply moving. How can a struggling artist take on Purdue Pharma and its founders, the Sackler family?
The Sackler Family earned millions when OxyContin became the painkiller proscribed by physicians and they turned their fortunes into named gifts to the world’s major art galleries. Goldin’s campaign resulted in positive change, including galleries removing the Sackler name from their institutions.
The film had its world premiere in August at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the coveted Golden Lion Award. It is screening at the ByTowne Cinema (325 Rideau) for four showings beginning December 16. The running time is 1h57m. See www.bytowne.ca
Laura Poitras
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was directed by Laura Poitras. Her 2014 film Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, won the Academy Award in 2015 for best documentary feature.
The 2022 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) screened a retrospective of her films including Risk (about Julian Assange), Terror Contagion, Flag Wars, and My Country, My Country. Poitras was interviewed on stage about her films and how she became a filmmaker. She also spoke about what it was like to be on the US terrorist watch list, and the threat the list poses to artistic freedom.
The War in Ukraine
On February 24, Russia began a war of aggression, targeting the civilian population of Ukraine. In Amsterdam, I met with the head of the Organization of Ukrainian Producers (OUP), a group of filmmakers from Kiev and vicinity. Igor is one of many Ukrainians living in exile. They continue to produce and distribute high-quality films about the war and I am honoured to share these stories with Canadian audiences in the hope they receive widespread distribution.
Mariupol is a city of 400,000 residents in Ukraine. The aerial bombardment by Russian forces destroyed a large part of the city, scattering its residents. The film Mariupol: Unlost Hope is based on the diary of Nadia Sukhorukova, one of its residents. It can be seen here: youtu.be/CuCtcAnu0AQ The running time is 52m. Directed by Max Lytvynov, the film is in Ukrainian with English subtitles.
National Arts Centre (1 Elgin)
This month, the NAC stages are alive with an abundance of festive music:
- December 16: The Good Lovelies;
- December 17: The Barenaked Ladies: Hometown Holidays;
- December 17: Molly Johnson;
- December 18: The Tenors;
- December 21-22: Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy with the NAC Orchestra: A Celtic Family Christmas;
- December 22: Kellylee Evans: Winter Song
Tickets and event information: nac-cna.ca
Holiday Lights
A free multimedia show with music opened on December 8 on Parliament Hill. It tells “the nocturnal odyssey of luminous sparks that awaken during the Canadian winter solstice” and which travel across Canada’s many landscapes.
The show runs on a continuous loop from 5:30 to 11 p.m. until January 8, 2023 (all days except Tuesdays and Wednesdays).
Come From Away
From December 27 to January 8, the NAC welcomes Broadway Across Canada’s production of Come From Away. The musical captures the warmth and hospitality when the residents of Gander, Newfoundland, welcomed thousands of visitors when commercial aviation was grounded by 9/11.
Tickets and showtimes: ottawa.broadway.com/shows/come-from-away/
What’s New from the NFB
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) adds new films – both documentaries and animation – to its website on a regular basis. This month, I discovered a 2021 documentary directed by Michelle Shephard, A Perfect Story, about her relationship reporting on a Somalian refugee. It’s available at : www.nfb.ca/film/perfect-story/
The Gladstone Theatre (910 Gladstone)
The music of ABBA comes to The Gladstone on December 17-18. To get on the waiting list for the sold-out shows: www.thegladstone.ca/sos-the-abba-experience/
Great Canadian Theatre Company (1227 Wellington West)
Tickets are now on sale for GCTC’s next play, As You Like It (January 17-29). It’s a “Radical Retelling” of Shakespeare’s play by playwright Cliff Cardinal, creator of Huff, Stitch, and CBC Special. See: www.gctc.ca/shows/ayli
Queen Street Fare
Ottawa’s own Peter Woods brings his jazz saxophone sounds to QSF on December 21. On (almost) New Year’s Eve (actually Friday, December 30), you can dance all night to a salsa party with Fiesta Cubana. The band, led by Cuban pianist Miguel de Armas, is renowned for its fiery and authentic Salsa, Merengue, and Cha cha cha music.
See queenstfare.ca/happening .
Out of Town
Diane Arbus was a celebrated American photographer whose black and white photographs revolutionized portraiture. A retrospective of her work is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street in Montreal until January 29: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/diane-arbus-photographs-1956-1971-1/
Tony Wohlfarth is an Ottawa-based freelance film and entertainment writer. He screened All the Beauty and The Bloodshed in Amsterdam, where Laura Poitras gave a masterclass on the art of film making.