Cinema Politica’s Got Beef

You can imagine that myself and other organizers of Cinema Politica Concordia were quite thrilled to finally see some The Link coverage (Everything on the Table [Vol. 31, Iss. 10, Pg. 06]) of our campus-based, free-for-students, and ongoing documentary film series at Concordia (every Monday night, all are welcome!).

I’ll admit that this sudden attention was unexpected given the chronic lack of interest from The Link in our weekly events, which feature Q&As with filmmakers and local speakers, as well as an overwhelming number of Quebec/Canadian premieres. These screenings are programmed to expand the discussion on pressing current issues such as the fight against bottled water on university campuses, hydraulic fracking in Quebec or Bill C-300 demanding corporate accountability from Canadian mining companies.

But alas, our elation quickly deflated when we realized that The Link made two errors in the article. First, the name of the film Corkum discusses is Water on the Table, not On the Table (I think we can all agree the water
part is pretty key). And second, Corkum describes Maude Barlow’s visit to Concordia in a detached context from the overall series, both neglecting to mention that she was invited to speak at Concordia University by Cinema Politica Concordia, and dismissing altogether the contribution and financial support of the groups we collaborated with—namely, Sustainable Concordia, ASFA and the political science department, among others.

While we welcome this new attention from The Link towards one of Concordia’s integral student services, we would appreciate factual accuracy to say the least.

—Svetla Turnin,
Executive Director, Cinema Politica

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 13, published November 9, 2010.