By: Alex Bloom
Vancouver International Film Festival
VIFF will be offering a Black History Month three-ticket pass for $30 that will allow you to see any combination of the following films: Black Cop, Brown Girl Begins, Quest, or Tell Them We Are Rising. (More films were on offer as part of the bundle, but will not be shown after the time of publication.) Black Cop is one of the fastest-approaching screenings of their Black History Month coverage, taking place on February 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Vancity Theatre. There will also be a screening of UK documentary Generation Revolution on February 17, also at the Vancity Theatre. For more information, visit VIFF’s website.
Lecture: The Congo Crisis
Hosted by The Voice of Ituri and the SFU African Students Association at SFU Vancouver’s Segal Centre (HCC 1410-1430) from 5–7:30 p.m. on February 19, Congolese journalist Luc Malembe will be giving a lecture on freedom of speech. As the event poster describes him “. . . Malembe has emerged as a prominent civil rights activist and journalist, even being imprisoned at different times for publicizing his political views.” For anyone interested in journalism, political science, or who just wants to broaden their understanding of the current state of affairs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this lecture will be extremely informative. For more information visit the Facebook event page.
Black Panther movie night
Exactly what it sounds like. SFU Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry (SFU SOCA) is organizing an excursion to see the new Black Panther film. The movie night will take place on February 20 at Cineplex Metropolis at Metrotown for a 7:30 p.m. showing. Some advance tickets will be available through SFU SOCA at a reduced price of $10; all other tickets will be at regular price. More information regarding ticket sales can be found on their event page.
Facing Race: CBC Town Hall
Put on by CBC radio’s the Current at CBC Vancouver’s Studio One, this public forum will be hosted by Piya Chattopadhyay. This town hall will be focused on the topic of race within the Canadian health-care system, and is both free and open to all. You can register to attend on the CBC event page. It will take place on February 20, from 6:30–9:30 p.m. The town hall will also be available to watch live on Facebook, and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One on March 2. This is an excellent opportunity to be part of an important ongoing conversation in Canada.
Black History Month art exhibition
Curated by Rhoda Obineche, the Richmond Arts Centre will be hosting a Black History Month exhibition from February 17–March 2 in the upper rotunda, 7700 Minoru Gate. The event poster describes it as “an exploration of identity, culture, and self expression through photography, illustration, and paintings . . . [taking] us on an intimate journey from Canada through Ghana, [the] US, and Cuba.” The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m.–9:30 p.m., and Saturday to Sunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. There will also be an opportunity to meet the artists on February 21 from 6–8 p.m. For more information contact artscentre@richmond.ca.
