Connexions Calendar

Streets of Paris: Backdrop to Charlie Hebdo

February 12, 2015

2015 could hardly have had a worse start than the events of January 7 in Paris with the attack at Charlie Hebdo. Twelve people were murdered but much more died and will likely continue to die with them. This event as with all such events is being used as a pretext to create further paranoia and imperative to security and repression.

Ironically, Charlie Hebdo has been turned into its own cartoonish reality. It is not as simple as what is portrayed in our media by talking heads. The question is not as simplistic and bare as "freedom of expression" or "free speech" but more fully about a post-colonial society that has failed the victims of its crime and omissions and a capital-based system that perpetuates them in every neighbourhood, in every class, in every period.

Beit Zatoun offers two seminal films that address the backdrop of Paris and back story of Charlie Hebdo. La haine (1995) takes place in the streets of Paris showing the state of its disenfranchised youth and sick relations between the state and its people. The Battle of Algiers (1966), one of the single greatest political films, shows the seeds of France's festering present in its racist and colonial past.

Need to know:
- Doors open at 6:50
- $5 donation (suggested minimum)
- Accessible on demand via portable ramp; washrooms not accessible
- Please avoid using strong-scented products due to sensitivities

Time: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Venue: Beit Zatoun
Location: 612 Markham St. Toronto, ON
Website: http://beitzatoun.org
For information contact: info@beitzatoun.org
Phone: 647-726-9500
Categories: Arts & Culture

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