With great regret and a heavy heart we have taken the decision to postpone Global Roots Film Festival: The Reporter until the Fall when it will be recreated as a high profile showcase within the Vermont International Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 1).
Directed by Yung Chang
Canada | 2019 | 106 mins
Co-sponsored by Muffie Milens; Andrea Rogers
Followed by Q&A with Jake Bernstein, Yung Chang (via remote)
Screening preceded by a reception in the Lake Lobby 6:30 – 7:30
One of the world’s preeminent journalists, Robert Fisk has been reporting on the Middle East from his Beirut base for close to forty years, covering both Gulf Wars, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the ongoing conflict in Syria and much more. “I think we should be objective and unbiased — on the side of those who suffer,” he has famously declared. “If we were reporting the slave trade in the 18th century, would we give equal time to the slave ship captain?”
Yung Chang (Up the Yangtse, China Heavyweight, The Fruit Hunters) captures Fisk in action, crafting an invigorating film essay that challenges received wisdom on the Middle East while reinforcing the crucial need for investigative journalism in our frenzied digital age. “I want the audience to engage with Fisk, to question him, to criticize him,” says Chang. “Fisk has a higher mission in the pursuit of truth than being likeable.”
THIS IS NOT A MOVIE – Press clip from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.