[van-announce] Wed Feb 9: "Strength, Survival, Sisterhood: Power of Women in the Downtown Eastside"

[Harsha W.]

Join us for a film premiere of the short documentary "Strength, Survival,
Sisterhood: Power of Women in the Downtown Eastside", screening of
award-winning feature "Finding Dawn", and presentations by women residents
of the Downtown Eastside.

Wednesday February 9th
Vivo Media Arts Centre (1965 Main Street).
Doors at 6pm, Screening at 6:30 pm.
Open to all, free event.

~ Premiere of "Strength, Survival, Sisterhood: Power of Women in the
Downtown Eastside", a short film that documents the 20 year history of the
annual women's memorial march in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. By
focusing on the voices of women who live, love, and work in the Downtown
Eastside this film debunks the sensationalism surrounding a neighbourhood
deeply misunderstood and celebrates the complex and diverse realites of
women organizing for justice. By Alejandro Zuluaga and Harsha Walia, based
on concept and direction by the DTES Power of Women Group. This is a
not-for-profit production that is available for free distribution under
creative commons license.

~ Followed by "Finding Dawn". An award-winning compelling documentary that
puts a human face to the tragedy of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
This is an epic journey into the dark heart of Native women’s experience
in Canada. From Vancouver’s skid row, where more than 60 women are
missing, we travel to the “Highway of Tears” in northern British Columbia,
and onward to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of Native
women remain unresolved. Along the road to honour those who have passed,
we uncover reason for hope as communities to come together to demand
change. (2006, Directed by Christine Welsh)


* Part of the commemoration events for the 20th Annual Womens Memorial
March for Missing & Murdered Women on Feb 14th, starting at Main and
Hastings at noon: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

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Organized by the Downtown Eastside Power of Women Group. For more
information contact project at dewc.ca or call 604-681-8480 x 234

Living in the DTES of Vancouver, the poorest off-reserve postal code in
Canada, we are a group of women from all walks of life who are either on
social assistance, working poor, or homeless; but we are all living in
extreme poverty. Our aim is to empower ourselves through our experiences
and to raise awareness from our own perspectives about the social issues
affecting the neighbourhood.

Many of us are single mothers or have had our children apprehended due to
poverty; most of us have chronic physical or mental health issues for
example HIV and Hepatitis C; many have drug or alcohol addictions; and a
majority have experienced and survived sexual violence and mental,
physical, spiritual, and emotional abuse. For indigenous women, we are
affected by a legacy of the effects of residential schools and a history
of colonization and racism.