A family and a festival: How Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day tragedy unfolded
VANCOUVER - In January last year, Cirque du Soleil usher Alexander Lo made his final public post on his Facebook timeline, promoting the circus' Kooza show.
Four days later, his brother responded. 'Brother, we will get to see this together sometime,' wrote Adam Kai-Ji Lo.
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Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: Anti-Israel hatred from artsy types a troublesome trend
A man walks on a red carpet displaying a sign for the Toronto International Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. Photo by Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Have our cultural icons lost their collective minds? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Across the cultural landscape — music, film, books — it certainly seems that way. Musicians, filmmakers, authors have apparently persuaded themselves that they alone can solve the Middle Eastern crisis from their distant perches in Canada or the U.S. or Europe. Despite all evidence to the contrary, most politicians generally know they lack the superpowers to single-handedly end wars like the one raging between Israel and Hamas. But some self-important culture types clearly think they do. Take TIFF for example (please). In the past few days, as the entire world knows by now, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey and his Toronto International Film Festival adamantly refused to screen a documentary based in Israel by acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich — after having previously promising that they would. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Why? Well, many suspected latent antisemitism played a role with unseen forces at TIFF. This writer wondered if Hamas' banker — Qatar — had put pressure on TIFF, with whom it has quietly partnered since 2019. TIFF's stated reason? Avrich and his fellow producers had failed to secure permission from Hamas — to show some Hamas footage in the documentary! (We are not making this up, as much as we wish that we were.) It was absurd and insane: Bailey and TIFF wanted a terror group's approval first. After the scandal became front-page news around the world — good job, Navigator! — TIFF hastily called emergency board meetings to find a way to put out a raging PR fire. Late Thursday, the film festival did a whiplash-inducing reversal and invited Avrich back. But the damage had been done to the reputation of a major Canadian cultural icon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. More damaging revelations are on TIFF's horizon, because its disdain for the Jewish state remains: Avrich's film isn't the only one that has been maligned by TIFF for being fair towards Jews and Israel. Other prominent Jewish film makers have also been treated shabbily by Bailey and TIFF. (Stay tuned for details.) Elsewhere, further examples of anti-Israel hatred abound. For instance, if you happened to be walking past the Park Hyatt Hotel last November — as this writer did — you would have seen protesters screaming about Israeli 'genocide,' and condemning the Giller Prize gala, that night taking place inside. The protesters weren't so much the issue — as addled as they may be, they have a constitutional right to protest. The issue, instead, are the many writers who received Giller's prestigious awards. The ones who swanned around inside past Giller galas, snarfing canapés. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Michael Onjdaatje, Madeleine Thein, Sarah Bernstein, Suzette Mayr, Omar El Akkad, Sean Michaels, Lynn Coady, and Johanna Skibsrud were all past winners of the prestigious Giller Prize – and all signed a letter in the Toronto Star condemning the Giller's then-sponsor, Scotiabank, for having supposed links to Israel. That, too, is free speech. But how many of those writers who received generous cash prizes from the Giller jury — in some cases, as much as $100,000 — actually gave back what they had received? None. Not one. None of these literary heavyweights, it seems, practice what they preach. Meanwhile, the Giller is now on life-support, and is desperately seeking new sponsors to replace what they've lost. If the Giller slips under the waves, it will be a national tragedy — and it will be entirely the fault of the pro-Palestine or pro-Hamas (take your pick) fringe. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In the music scene, it's the same sad story. Too many — from Bob Vyllan advocating death for Jews, to Pink Floyd's Roger Waters shrugging about Oct. 7 — have embraced hatred. Instead of producing music that brings people together, they have chosen to drive people apart. Read More In some parts of the publishing industry, at the smaller houses, similar stories run rampant: those who submit manuscripts that advocate for a 'free Palestine' have a much easier time getting published. Those with positive things to say about Israel? Not so much. Sadly, expressing hatred for Israel has become pretty trendy since the war commenced. And few as obsessed with being trendy as our cultural elite. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Toronto Blue Jays Canada Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Toronto Star
TIFF and filmmaker Barry Avrich reach resolution to screen Oct. 7 doc amid outcry
Barry Avrich arrives at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Gala in Toronto on Monday, September 9, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young chy flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Toronto Star
TIFF and filmmaker Barry Avrich reach resolution to screen Oct. 7 doc after outcry
Barry Avrich arrives at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Gala in Toronto on Monday, September 9, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young chy flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
