Earthlings

Earthlings is a multi-award winning 2003 documentary by writer/director Shaun Monson. Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, it uses facts and footage to examine in a blunt and methodical manner how through speciesism, humans have come to treat non-human animals as property. We use them for food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation. We breed and exploit them for profit and in doing so, we neglect them, frighten them and often torture them until they're deemed ready for slaughter.

As sad and awful as the sounds and images are in this documentary, they reflect quite accurately what goes on "out of sight". Regardless of whether or not you choose to consume animals, the information you'll hear and the images you'll see will disturb you. If you do consume animals, I hope that watching this film will lead you to reconsider.

Earthlings - Part 1 of 3

Earthlings is a multi-award winning 2005 documentary by writer/director Shaun Monson, which took around five years to put together. Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, it examines, in a frank and often jarring manner through the use of facts and footage, how humans have come to completely rely on non-human animals, using them for food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation. We breed and exploit them for profit. As sad and awful as some of the images are in this documentary, they're an accurate portrayal of what goes on "out of sight". There's no sensationalism in this film -- just reality.

Part 1, as presented in this YouTube video, features animals raised to become our pets, as well as animals raised to become our food.

Earthlings - Part 2 of 3

Part 2 continues to examine how we raise animals for food. It also focuses on the seafood industry, including the health issues surrounding it. It goes even further to examine the whaling industry and Japanese dolphin hunts. I won't pretend otherwise -- these images are some of the most difficult things I've seen myself in a long time.

Part 2 also examines animals we use for clothing -- for their skin or fur. It also starts looking at animals used for entertainment by featuring images from rodeos and it takes a glimpse at hunting and fishing at the very end.

Earthlings - Part 3 of 3

The final third of the documentary focuses on the gruesome lives of circus animals, on the rigging and cruelty of bullfighting, and then, finally, on animal experimentation.

Free Popcorn!

There's a non-profit media arts collective in Montreal that calls itself "überculture" that's kick-started a project called Cinema Politica, which they describe on their website as "a cross-Canada grassroots network of political cinema exhibition sites showcasing independent Canadian artists". Filmmaker/journalist Avi Lewis is quoted as calling it "a much-needed head-butt to the corporate movie machine".

For the past few weeks, while zipping around downtown on my bike, I've been seeing these posters up everywhere promoting various socio-political documentaries being screened at Conserver House on St. John St. on Friday evenings. I finally stopped and took note of the contact information and checked out the organizers' web page.

"Fredericton: Friday Night Docs" is the name of the weekly event. Donations are accepted in lieu of an actual admission, free popcorn is provided and after each documentary, discussion of the subject-matter covered is encouraged. I'm particularly excited about a screening of the documentary Earthlings they'll be holding on October 19. For anybody who's interested in viewing this documentary and who may be outside of the Fredericton area, it's available via Google Video. In a nutshell, it's about humanity's complete dependence on -- and disrespect of -- animals, through the "pet" and entertainment industries, through factory farming (and its fur and leather production by-products), as well as through animal testing in the name of science and / or medicine The documentary's official website has much more detailed information about it.