Minutes, 8 October 2009

Race Film Project Minutes from October 8, 2009 Attending: Sherene, Carl, Rinaldo, Judith, Yasmin, Jennifer NFB Project on Whiteness • Jennifer reported on two conversations with Ashifa Kassam of the NFB, who is working on a proposal for the NFB for a film on whiteness • Rinaldo and Sherene have also had conversations with Ashifa • Ashifa interested in coming to our meetings; decided at this point that we will not invite her • Jennifer will keep in touch to see what happens with whiteness project Project Team • Jennifer was in touch with Bonita Lawrence, who opted not to be involved at this point; and with Richard Fung, who asked about who will direct the film and who has not responded with a definite answer • individuals we might ask to participate on project, affiliation/location, and who will follow-up • Christine Welsh, Victoria, Jennifer • Susan Dionne, York, Carl • Roland Chrisjohn, New Brunswick, Jennifer • Audrey Huntley, Toronto, Sherene (?) • Shani Mootoo, Toronto, Jennifer • Addison Duke, ?, Rinaldo • Loretta Todd, Saskatoon, ? • per a question asked at the last meeting, we discussed what each of us bring to the project • Jennifer–commitment to see the project through; working on issues of race and pedagogy for last several years • Judith–relatively new to teaching about race; has questions about teaching this material; has knowledge about NFB from several years ago • Yasmin–talked about aspect of us as instructors watching films; we might want to start with what we don’t want to see in films; need for focus on structural issues, rather than individual (testimonies, etc.) • Sherene–expertise on race issues, but not on film • Rinaldo–shows lots of films in courses; he knows what he likes and thinks about how films work; made example of seeing film Litany of Survival about Audre Lorde; has a commitment to film and critically engaging in film; wants to construct a persuasive narrative of some kind; wants to critically engage lives of Black people; to think about how narratives work in Canadian nation state; how do people support categories that are problematic–to begin to think about the “complicatedness of that” • Carl–likes the idea of going beyond testimonials; teaches and in this sense is invested in the psychology of things, the individual; is possible to go places with film you might not go otherwise; the ways in which we bring different stories

RACE FILM PROJECT , OCT . 8 MEETING MINUTES

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Content and Format of Film • brief discussion of Harper’s comment that Canada has “no history of colonialism”–one way to open film • might be useful to amass critical work that addresses these issues • one film that addresses race is Slaying the Dragon–this film does not get sucked into individual narratives • any filmmaker with whom we work will need examples • how do we want to approach–how do we bring intersecting hierarchies in in a way that is tangible and intelligible • the issue of what people do with film is a question–people are not necessarily schooled in terms of how to learn from film • montage approach vs. personal narrative approach–latter often sets up victim vs. oppressor frame • montage offers point of repetition; if structured correctly, through montage, ideology can come forward • important to think about in what context film will be shown; what may appear stilted in one setting may seem naturalized in another • difficulty of montage approach related to copyright issues • when filmmakers use montage approach, often have a strong theoretical vision • Rinaldo considered what book he would like to see as a film, and thought about Said’s Culture and Imperialism • film not a neutral medium; can exercise its own power • worth considering what “straight up” documentaries do and don’t do Funding Issues/Questions • possibility of Maytree Foundation–Rinaldo sits on this foundation’s steering committee for their diversity project; they seem to talk about immigration and diversity without talking about race • SSHRC workshop grant–worth going for; could also make application stronger by inviting student filmmakers (Yasmin mentioned Arshad Khan (Threadbare), Concordia, Film Studies) • if we do pursue a SSHRC workshop grant, a lot of work–worth planning on having the meeting anyway (whether or not we get the grant) • possible to do this on smaller scale (rather than large scale), related to the amount of work and odds of getting the grant • also discussed the possibility of a formal/extended discussion of race and film in Canada at the next RACE conference • the next RACE conference is in May (before Congress) in Edmonton • Yasmin and Sherene will bring up the possibility of a focus on race for the RACE meeting after the one in Edmonton; the 2011 RACE conference will be in Vancouver • brief discussion about issue at Congress related to equity panels; probably not the best venue • MCRI–might be worth checking out the second project noted on the funding possibilities

RACE FILM PROJECT , OCT . 8 MEETING MINUTES • • •

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chart (title: Improvisation, community, and social practice)–P.I.–Ajay Heble, Guelph also might consider CURA, which requires a seven page letter of intent and the entire budget up front both MCRI and CURA applications have very detailed requirements in terms of team, etc. might check out U.S. foundations that have funded or might fund films (Spencer, Ford, funder of Race Power of an Illusion, etc.)–Jennifer will follow up on this

Potential Questions/Discussion Points for Blog • list of films with some way of summarizing/evaluating • workshop/conference–who might attend, content, format, etc. • discussion of MCRI, CURA • content questions that are summarized above • who our target audience is Next Steps • Jennifer and Judith will work on setting up the blog • follow-up with potential project participants • Christine Welsh, Victoria, Jennifer • Susan Dionne, York, Carl • Roland Chrisjohn, New Brunswick, Jennifer • Audrey Huntley, Toronto, Sherene (?) • Shani Mootoo, Toronto, Jennifer • Addison Duke, ?, Rinaldo • Loretta Todd, Saskatoon, ? • Sherene and Yasmin will bring question about RACE conference to board • Jennifer will check out possible U.S. foundations • general agreement that the next meeting should be driven by grant deadline and activities [reminder for Jennifer–Sherene on sabbatical winter 2010; Rinaldo possibly on leave Jan 2010 to end of May 2010]