News and Events
Regenerative Coffee Farming and Mayan Resilience in Guatemala
Mayan farmers are at the forefront of the struggle for environmental justice in
Guatemala. Meet Neydi Juracan, National Coordinator of Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), and hear about the CCDA’s work to protect the land using fair trade coffee as a tool for social justice including land reform and food sovereignty.
Join World Community to welcome Neydi on Sunday, May 11 th at 7 pm in the Common House at Creekside Commons Co-housing (2202 Lambert Drive, Courtenay).
The CCDA was founded in 1982, during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, to defend the rights of workers on large coffee, sugar and cotton plantations, to recover lands taken from the Mayan communities over the past centuries, and to promote and recover Mayan culture and spirituality.
It wasn’t until after the armed conflict ended in 1996 that the CCDA was able to work more freely on the issues of land reform and livelihoods. The CCDA used the Peace Accords to obtain land for member communities in the Lake Atitlán region. “In 1996, World Community Development Education Society brought the first fairly traded coffee to the Comox Valley” notes Janet Fairbanks. “At that time, the coffee available to us was from Nicaragua and we have maintained our relationship with the farmers there but we have also been keenly interested in political situations affecting campesinos in Guatemala and other countries in Central America. Many of our members have been to the highlands of Guatemala and supported the work of the CCDA and other organizations there.”
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet a dynamic young Indigenous leader and hear about the current situation in Guatemala. Everyone is welcome to attend. FMI: Janet (250 334-1840)
Free Film: Beans – Wednesday April 20th, 7pm at NIC
From July to September 1990, two Mohawk communities in Quebec — Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawá:ke — were thrust into a resistance against the Sûreté du Québec, the RCMP, and the Canadian Armed Forces.
FILM SCREENING – Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music (online & in-person)
This ground-breaking documentary explores the individual and collective journeys of a group of LGBTQ+ women and their allies who have successfully navigated the male-dominated landscape of southern music.
Fanny, The Right to Rock online from the morning of March 24th to March 27th at midnight.
Fighting barriers of race, gender and sexuality in the music industry, the incredible women of the 1960s rock band, Fanny, reunite to play music and cut a new record.
Fracking the Peace
How ‘natural’ is liquified ‘natural’ gas? The film Fracking the Peace (35 min) tells how fracking for ‘natural’ gas has negatively impacted the lives of people living on Treaty 8 territory in Northeastern BC. Join World Community and the Dogwood for a screening of the film and discussion on Friday, December 3 at 7 pm in the Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College.
Film Screening: Modified – Tues, March 13th – 7pm at NIC Theatre, Courtenay
Modified is a first-person documentary-memoir that questions why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labeled on food products in Canada and the United States, despite being labeled in 64 countries around the world.Interweaving the personal and the political, the film is anchored in the filmmaker’s relationship to her mother, a passionate gardener and food activist. Their intimate mother-daughter investigative journey, fueled by a shared love of food, ultimately reveals the extent to which industrial interests control our food policies, making a strong case for a more transparent and sustainable food system.
Film Screening – Tues. Feb 13th – “Best of Fest”
The votes are in from the recent World Community Film Festival and the audience pick for a “Best of Fest” re-screening is Bending the Arc (102 min.) to be held on Tuesday, Feb.13 at 7 pm in the Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College, Courtenay. Bending...
Festival Opening Night Film – Friday, Feb 2: Meet Beau Dick, Maker of Monsters
is a portrait of a Canadian art legend, an enigmatic carver from Alert Bay, BC. Beau Dick's remarkable masks have been celebrated across the global art scene as vibrant expressions of West Coast Indigenous culture and a sophisticated crossover into the contemporary...
Indigenous Film to Screen
World Community wraps up its 2017 film series on Tuesday, December 5th at 7 pm in the Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College with a screening of Our People Will Be Healed (98 min). Admission is by donation. Everyone is welcome. Click here to watch the film...
Film Fest Sneak Preview Exposes Privacy Risks
Check out a sneak preview of the 27th World Community Film Festival at the screening of Pre-Crime on Tuesday, November 28 at 7 pm at the Stan Hagen Theatre, NIC Courtenay campus. Click Here to watch the film trailer. What if tomorrow's murders could be prevented...
Come visit us at Fiesta – World Craft Bazaar
World Community will have a table at Fiesta this weekend - Nov 18 - 19 (10am - 4pm) at the Filberg Center in downtown Courtenay. We'll be selling our fair trade, organic products and promoting our on-going film series and other community events. There is a $2...
Film Screening: I Am Not Your Negro – Tuesday Nov. 14 – 7pm at NIC
Raoul Peck's oscar-nominated film, I Am Not Your Negro, a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. In 1979, James Baldwin was planning his next book project, a personal account of the lives and...
Film Screening: Inconvenient Sequel – Thursday Oct 26th – 7pm at NIC
When Al Gore released Inconvenient Truth over a decade ago, climate change was thought of as a hypothetical issue by most people. You had to understand complex graphs and computer models to grasp it. Today, most people have experienced enough extreme and...
Film Screening – Tues. Oct 10, 7pm at NIC Theatre, Courtenay
FREIGHTENED – The Real Price of Shipping.... Cheap clothes, electronics, food — all of it travels the globe by ship. And the true cost of shipping is higher than you may think. Learn more about this and what you can do to make a difference at World Community's film...
Come visit us at MusicFest – July 14-16th
Once again, World Community will have their tent set up at Vancouver Island MusicFest. We'll be near the Grierson Stage, beside the Coffee Bus and Kids Zone. Come see us, learn about our local and international projects, and purchase some organic, fairly traded...
Watch a 30 sec. video about our Film Series – films will be starting again in Sept 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsEkYQ1vHIA
Film Screening: Birth of a Family -Wed, June 28 – 7 pm
Aboriginal History Month Film: Birth of a Family Location: K’omoks Band Hall, 3320 Comox Rd., Courtenay Three Indigenous sisters and a brother, adopted as infants into separate families, meet together for the first time in this moving documentary. Removed from their...