The Centre for Socialist Education, Young Communist League, and the Vancouver East Club of the Communist Party of Canada presents left film night: Finding Oscar.

Sunday, January 27, 2019, 7 pm
Centre for Socialist Education, on Unceded Coast Salish Territories
706 Clark Drive, Vancouver (corner of Clark & E. Georgia)

Written and directed by Ryan Suffern, USA, 2017, 94 minutes

Looking back to Guatemala’s 1982 Dos Erres massacre, director Ryan Suffern focuses not on the nearly 250 villagers who were murdered by commandos working for the government, but on a child who is said to have survived and been raised by one of the soldiers who carried out the atrocity. This was one of many bloody events in Guatemala’s decades-long US-funded war against Indigenous peasant communities, the effects of which are still being felt today. A mix of archival footage and interviews with surviving family members of the victims guide the way toward Oscar. The search is not easy, but Suffern strikes a respectful, not entirely hopeless tone, allowing those affected by the civil war to speak about their experiences. Their words are often more powerful than the filmmaking, but Suffern wisely allows them to do most of the talking.

This event takes place on the traditional, unceded, occupied territories of the səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. In acknowledging this, we must be in solidarity with the struggles of the peoples of the territory in which we occupy.

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No admission charge, but donations towards our costs are welcome. Coffee and refreshments available. Call 604-255-2041 or email <pvoice@telus.net> for further information.