CBC.ca/AP/CP: "Vatican decries Iran stoning sentence" (5/09/2010) "The Vatican on Sunday raised the possibility of using behind-the-scenes diplomacy to try to spare the life of an Iranian widow sentenced to be stoned for adultery. In its first public statement on the case, which has attracted worldwide attention, the Vatican also decried stoning as a particularly "brutal" form of capital punishment." Submit a comment online Send your comments to CBC
National Post: AFP: "Son fears Iran will carry out execution" (7/09/2010) "The son of an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery said yesterday he fears she will be executed shortly after this week’s end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "Ramadan is coming to an end and, according to Islamic law, executions can resume," Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s 22-year-old son, Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani, told a news conference by telephone. However, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Iranian authorities had told Italy’s ambassador that "no decision has been taken" over her fate and that he had invited his Iranian counterpart to Rome to discuss the case."
TheChronicleHerald.ca: Colleen Barry: "Miral highlights values shared by enemies" (4/09/2010) "The latest movie by Julian Schnabel couldn’t have been more timely. Miral chronicles decades of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the rarely seen perspective of Palestinian women. The film, dedicated by the director to everyone on both sides who wants peace, made its world premiere Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, just as Israeli and Palestinian leaders sat down in Washington for the first direct negotiations in years.”
Globe and Mail: Erin Hershberg: "Local micro-festivals are keeping it reel" (3/09/2010) “Festivals like these are definite no-brainers for real film buffs, but the Toronto Palestine Film Festival (Oct. 2 to 8) is perhaps the TIFF surrogate most likely to become a trending topic on Twitter. After last year’s controversy over TIFF’s spotlight on Tel Aviv, it would be easy to assume that TPFF wants nothing to do with TIFF. But Dania Majid, the festival’s media liaison, maintains that “TPFF has a good working relationship with TIFF.” Whether this verbal olive branch has anything to do with TIFF’s decision this year to program an array of Palestinian-themed films remains unspoken. Still, the official festival kick-off – which sparks the three-day, 24-film showcase – is a panel discussion with Irish filmmakers Ken Loach and Paul Laverty, who both publicly boycotted TIFF last year.” Send a letter to the editorSubmit a comment online
Toronto Sun: Reuters: "War photographer takes a shot at fashion" (3/09/2010) “Q: So what drives you in your work as a photographer? A: There is a humanistic/political aspect that I find morally important. I feel it’s important to investigate stories, to create visual documents, to record history. I always quote the example of the concentration camps. If some revisionist historian comes along and says they did not exist, we have Margaret Bourke-White and all these other photographers who showed it was there. That’s why today it’s important to go to Gaza, to Darfur or Guantanamo to investigate. These are the things that drive what I do. Q: What is your next assignment ? A: I am going to Gaza in a couple of weeks for a couple of months.”
Toronto Star: Linda Barnard: "Barnard’s TIFF bet: A tale of thrills, chills and regrets" (4/09/2010) "The cast, led by Helen Mirren as a former Israeli Mossad agent dogged by her past, is equal to the compelling story about a trio of agents and the secret they keep — each for their own reason. The action straddles two timelines: Israel in 1997 and 1965’s East Berlin. Mirren plays Rachel Singer, an Israeli national hero thanks to an act of bravery with the agency more than 30 years earlier."
