Thanks for supporting the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival

Thanks to everyone that attended and especially to those that volunteered on the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival.

The event was a tremendous success. The Marda Loop Justice Film Festival could not have had a better first year as an important addition to the Calgary arts and social justice scenes.

As a result of the tireless efforts of SPAN volunteers, there was an incredible amount of publicity in the Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, Swerve Magazine, Universo Magazine, CBC Radio and CityTV during the week leading up to the event.

There were approximately 100 - 250 people attending every single one of the nine film screenings throughout the festival weekend. The audience was very diverse - Retirees, middle-aged churchgoers, soccer moms, young social activists, teenage kids and toddlers. The post-film discussions were very engaging, at times controversial and always very respectful. The first comment made after the first movie of the festival (Control Room) was by a young male in his late teens/early 20s who said "Like my parents, I have always been pro Bush and in support of the war in Iraq but this movie gave me a perspective I hadn't considered before." The organizers were pleased.

16 non-governmental organizations participated in the NGO Village and were all very pleased with the number of enthusiastic people they spoke to. The NGOs included CAWST, Light Up The World, Engineers Without Borders, Arusha Centre, Amnesty International, World Vision, Development and Peace, Ayudomos Foundation, and the United Nations Association of Calgary. The groups offered beautiful handicrafts from Guatemala and ethical Christmas gifts, as well as opportunities to sign petitions on various worthwhile causes. SPAN members sold copies of a new book entitled Change the World for Ten Bucks.

Some excellent speakers were invited to introduce the films and lead discussions after each film. Speakers included Carmen Duran, one of the subjects and filmmakers of the movie Maquiopolis who flew in from Mexico; Gary McPherson, an inspiring advocate for disability sports and rights who took time out of a busy Provincial leadership race to be present; Dave Taylor, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the riding of Calgary-Currie; Kyle Brown, formerly with the BBC and now an independent journalist; and Vicki Nzekwu of the Foundation for AIDS Control and Eradication (FACE).

With so many thought-provoking films, inspiring speakers, NGOs and others who are taking positive action, a really engaging environment was created at the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival. In fact, many movie-goers did not want to go home at the end of the night because they were too engrossed in interesting conversations.

Watch for the Second Annual Marda Loop Justice Film Festival to be even bigger and better.