The Pulse
Nov. 10, 2022

A new short film titled This is Where We Live uses verbatim theatre to let Edmonton's unhoused community tell their own stories.

The film, directed by Dave Horak of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival and produced by Eric Rice with Ground Zero Productions, will be screened for the first time on Nov. 22 at Metro Cinema, marking the National Housing Day of Action.

It is the final product of a years-long process that started with interviewing eight people who were homeless or had experienced homelessness. Those interviews became the script performed by professional actors, who were hired to match the age, gender, and ethnicity of the interviewees.

Although his intent was to document lived experiences, Rice felt that shooting the film as a documentary would have worked against the aim of the project. So he chose an unobtrusive interview practice to put the film's subjects at ease.

"We wanted to give them freedom to tell their stories in a very natural and unforced way," he said. "Getting a camera stuck in your face and having somebody setting up lights around you, that doesn't really promote a feeling of comfort and trust and safety."

Having the interviews performed by professional actors in a controlled environment is meant to make it easier for audiences to truly hear what is being said, "without having the people listening filter their stories based on how people look," Rice said, noting that it's hard to come across as polished without access to showers or clean clothes.

The idea for This is Where We Live grew out of Rice's previous work and the shortcomings of past creative approaches to depicting homelessness. In his play Starless, Rice wrote a character based on his experiences volunteering with Alberta Street News and interviewing the often marginalized people who sold the paper.

"I realized after doing that, I wasn't really telling their story," Rice said. "I was taking pieces of their story, and using them to create a dramatic product."

• A new Loblaws City Market opened in ICE District Plaza on Nov. 9 after a two-year delay caused by the pandemic. "We know this has been a highly anticipated opening for our residential and office space tenants," said ICE District CEO Stu Ballantyne. Previously, there were no grocery stores downtown east of 109 Street, and the area could be considered a food desert.
• Susan Bandola, the sister of James Hanna, has accused officers with the Edmonton Police Service of "gross negligence" for firing a stray bullet that killed her brother. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has so far revealed that the officers were responding to an armed robbery call at a liquor store when they chased the suspect on foot and shot him. A stray bullet hit Hanna while he was watching TV in his nearby apartment. "It's senseless," said Bandola, who plans to take legal action once ASIRT's report is released. "I have been there at 6:30 at night. People were coming home from work. They're walking down the street."
• City Council has appointed three new members to the Edmonton Police Commission. Anne-Marie Lambert, Wally Sinclair, and David Sowemimo will be introduced at the commission's next public meeting on Nov. 17. Their term will end Dec. 31, 2024.
• The annual Coats for Kids campaign by the United Way is looking to collect 9,000 winter jackets this year for Edmonton families. Donations can be made at any United Way drop-off location in the Edmonton area. In 2021, the campaign collected and distributed 4,860 coats.
• An Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission hearing decision has struck down a licensing condition imposed by the commission on the Grand Villa Casino inside Rogers Place that required it to be open seven days a week. The AGLC said a series of closures and reduced hours at the casino beyond those enforced early in the pandemic caused millions in lost revenues to charities and the province. In the Oct. 14 decision, however, a panel of AGLC board members sided with Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited's legal team, which argued the condition put undue constraints on the casino's ability to be flexible.
• Sherilee Harper, an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, is attending the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, as a presenter and moderator. Harper is a lead author of the report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, released in February by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Harper also recently published a paper with colleagues about including mental health in assessments measuring the impact of climate change and adaptation.
• The Alberta government has endorsed the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, which is a 10-year pan-Canadian framework developed by Women's Shelters Canada in consultation with stakeholders. The group's full report was released Apr. 30. According to the province, the plan will form the "groundwork for further development of made-in-Alberta gender-based violence prevention initiatives."
• Premier Danielle Smith won the byelection in Brooks-Medicine Hat, with 54.5% of the votes compared to NDP candidate Gwendoline Dirk's 26.7% and Alberta Party Leader Barry Morishita's 16.5%. Dirk told Radio-Canada she was excited about the results nonetheless, noting that the NDP won 17 of 26 polls in Medicine Hat compared to none in the previous election.
• Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane will sit out for up to four months after his wrist was cut by a skate during the Nov. 8 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Oilers have recalled forwards Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin, who were playing in the American Hockey League.

Episode 37 of Bloom looks back at the ASTech Awards and looks ahead to Startup TNT's next investment summit.

The breadth and depth of the work that Technology Alberta honoured at the 33rd annual ASTech Awards impressed co-host Faaiza Ramji.

"We're working on really big stuff around here," she said. "And I just love the fact that we're able to showcase it."

She and co-host Karen Unland also commented on the five Edmonton companies that will be pitching at Startup TNT's Investment Summit VI on Nov. 17.

Two have been featured on previous episodes of Bloom: Umay, which was on Episode 30, and Kidney-Chek, which was on Episode 36. The other three are Electronic Grid Systems, 48Hour Discovery, and SketchDeck.ai.

Like the ASTech Awards, Startup TNT's investment summits are a showcase for innovative work in Edmonton. But they also address the other side of the table, educating new investors so they know what to ask and feel comfortable writing cheques, Ramji said.

"I think what Startup TNT is doing is very helpful for both sides of the equation. If we want to keep more companies here, then we need to give them reasons, and one of those reasons is definitely capital."

Hear more on the Nov. 10 episode of Taproot's podcast about innovation in Edmonton.

You're invited on Friday to take time to reflect on those who have offered their service and sacrifice. This weekend also presents opportunities to take in the work of female-identifying film directors, get in some early Christmas shopping, see how a door can tell a story, or let the whole family explore their creativity.

• Nov. 11, 10:30am: Remembrance Day ceremony at City Hall Plaza
• Nov. 11-12: Broad View International Film Festival at Metro Cinema
• Nov. 12, 10am: The Market off Whyte: Indie Craft & Art Fair at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre
• Nov. 12, 10am: Edmonton Potters' Guild Show and Sale at the Alberta Avenue Community Centre
• Nov. 12, 6pm: Opening Reception of Doors at the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts
• Nov. 13, 12pm: Children's Gallery Exhibition Opening | ᐋᐧᐸᑲᐧᓃᐊᐧᐣ Wâpakwanîwin (To bloom, it has many flowers) at the Art Gallery of Alberta

Find even more things to do in the Arts Roundup.

Photo: Anne Wheeler's 1981 film A War Story will be screened at the Broad View International Film Festival on Nov. 11 at 6:30pm. (National Film Board of Canada)