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MJ docs shine a light on social issues

Posted by: admin | On: 19th Oct, 2017 | News

Busayo Osabade working on her documentary

From the Highway of Tears in B.C. to a Nigerian village, University of Regina Master of Journalism students are shining a light on important issues. Join us for a screening this Thursday, and watch for more MJ projects online and in The Crow magazine.
Thursday, Oct. 19
Research and Innovation Centre 7 p.m.
 
• Highway of Lost Years
 
The ‘Highway of Tears’ is a strip of Highway 16 in northern British Columbia where dozens of women have been reported missing or found murdered. Forty years after the first incident an inquiry was launched by the provincial government. The most urgent recommendation was develop a public transit system along Highway 16. The remoteness between communities increased women’s vulnerability to violence given the necessity to hitchhike. Four years later little has been done. This documentary investigates why the urgent transportation recommendation has not been implemented, who is responsible and the consequences on vulnerable women.
 
Producer/Director: Tennessa Wild
 
 
• Falling Between the Cracks
 
Falling Between the Cracks is a documentary that investigates the absence of support for autistic children and their families in remote areas of Saskatchewan. We intimately experience the lives of three mothers, including the filmmaker, and their children as this documentary explores the stark, often frightening world of raising an autistic child, while investigating the institutions that are failing to support these mothers and children.
 
Producer/Director: Jeanelle Mandes
 
 
• Sloppy Shoulders: Children Who Come and Go
 
Twelve year old Hope Makadi, like hundreds of thousands of Nigerian children, is vulnerable to lethal diarrheal infection because she is forced to fetch and drink unclean water. Sloppy Shoulders investigates the complex reasons behind the preventable deaths of 150,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria each year. The documentary is focused on Wumi village, the home of Hope and other vulnerable children. This documentary explores the human consequences of government inaction and the cultural myth that certain children are pre-destined to die and that nothing can be done to save them.
 
Producer/Director: Busayo Osobade
 
• Briarpatch: A True Saskatchewan Throwback.
 
This radio documentary explores the history of one of Saskatchewan’s longest-running independent magazines. Despite the challenging environment facing print media, Briarpatch manages to persevere. Joel-Hansen looks at the challenges facing alternative media and journalism as a whole.
 
Radio documentary by Michael Joel Hansen
 
Also watch for:
 A Grid Growing Green: Saskatchewan’s Energy Future
 
Saskatchewan’s greenhouse gas emissions are over three times more than the Canadian average and almost 10 times higher than the world average. In the face of a climate crisis, citizens are beginning to explore energy alternative options — but government support is lagging behind. By continuing to rely on fossil fuels as an economic driver, the province may be exacerbating harmful global trends and missing important opportunities that lead toward a greener, more sustainable future.
 
Multimedia online site by Joelle Seal, at www.saskgreengrid.jschool.ca
 
Offside
 
Women sports journalists navigate an unlevel playing field, where sexual harassment is a daily hurdle and everything from their sports knowledge to their wardrobe choices are under constant scrutiny.
 
Magazine feature by Laura Beamish, forthcoming in The Crow magazine.
 
Song of Survival
 
What makes women stay with the partners who abuse them? Song of Survival chronicles one woman’s struggle to break free from an abusive relationship. Lack of outside supports and an unresponsive justice system are among the barriers encountered.
 
Magazine feature by Sumaira Alwani, forthcoming in The Crow magazine.