May 04, 2006
No Past to Speak Of
My final entry of the evening.

The second film we saw as part of the double bill last night was No Past to Speak Of: A story of infant rape in South Africa. This was a heart wrenching and very saddening documentary about an issue that is happening and continues to happen in RSA which is being kept within the borders of the country. It was not until a woman named Claudia Ford made it an international issue.

I first found out about infant rape in South Africa a few years ago while watching Oprah. I know I know, what in the heck was I watching the Oprah Winfrey show for?? Well I guess it was in my unemployed stage of life, or just before I left for China stage in my life, I can't really remember when so I was watching a lot of tele at that point. Either way I first became informed about this issue during one of her shows. Claudia Ford made an appearance to speak about the horror that was happening in Johannesburg.

This documentary is the story of how Claudia came to care for the youngest rape victim and to eventually adopt this beautiful girl named Vyanna. She, Vyanna, was only 5 months old when she was discovered by police and taken to the hospital after being brutelly raped. The news of the rape made headlines all over RSA yet didn't really filter out into the international arena. It did if you were looking for news out of RSA but the average person doesn't read the international headlines all that often. Or maybe this is a North American phenomenom. Either way the story broke and discussions eventually came about the "root" causes of infant rape.

What I liked about this movie is it debunked the media myth that the men were doing the rape as part of the belief system that having sex with a virgin will cure them of HIV/AIDs. This film really dug deeper into the issue and pointed to many reasons why the people were committing these horrific crimes. I say people because as it explored the issue more it was discovered that not only were men committing the act itself but women were selling their babies and there have been stories of male children--11 to 14--also raping younger children. It's something that is being swept under the rug in RSA. Claudia Ford is trying to bring attention to the issue by telling her story and Vyanna's story.

Something that really stuck in my head was how Claudia made the distinction between infant rape and pedofilia. I think this is really important for people to understand as infant rape is an act that does not require much time and care to the process. It just happens. Pedofilia on the other hand is a very calculated process. Grooming must take place in order for the person to violate that child sexually. Infant rape is also an act of pure anger and hatred, the men are not attracted to the babies. Pedofiles are attracted to their victims, sexually and romantically. Infant rapists do it because they can, pedofiles do it because they think they are in love.

For more information on this film check out the following site:

http://www.filmstransit.com/No_past_speak.html

This film is defintely not for the faint of heart. It's tough subject matter!!

CottonLand
Second entry for the evening.

So last night was Peter's birthday. For his birthday I took him to see a double bill at the Hot Doc's festival currently happening in the Annex in the big city.

The first screening we was a doc about Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. The title of the doc was Cotton Land. It was definitely an interesting documentary.

The premise of the doc was about the problem currently killing off the community. That problem is the addiction to OxyContin. For those of you not familiar with Glace Bay, it use to be a coal mining town but when the coal industry faltered the town folk lost their livelihood. This town was very dependent on the coal and steel industry. It use to be a prosperous town but now it is slowly becoming a town of addicts. The non-addicts are leaving the town to find a better life for themselves.

The story of the addiction is told through the eyes of a former addict living in that town. He speaks with three friends throughout the film. Two of these friends are clean and the third was still addicted, using and waiting to enter a methodone clinic program. The film touched on the history of the town and it's decline. It also talked about how easily available the drug became and the lack of education around the possibility of becoming addicted to this prescription drug.

I have seen how this drug can destroy families and people's lives. This film put what I have seen on the big screen and it's great that the message about oxycontins or OC's or cottoncandies or green monsters is very much like heroin. I liked how the film got to the root without blaming any one particular reason for the problem. I also liked how it talked about various solutions without being condenscending.

I highly recommend this treat if you are interested in understanding about the process of addiction, or if you are interested in just educating yourself about various social issues around Canada.

For more info see the following site:

http://www.nfb.ca/trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?id=52109&v=h&lg=en&exp=