A
20 minute experimental documentary
by Penelope Buitenhuis
With
the loss of an opposing political paradigm, the left are left scrambling
for direction and although there are lots of left out there, they
are not politically aligned. As the corporate world further dominates
contemporary ideology, what do we have to strengthen and define an
effective opposition. What's Left? is a short experimental
documentary examining diverse perspectives on what left wing means
in Canada today. Interviewing people on the street in different economic
zones in Vancouver, teenagers at school and workers in alternative
environmental, cultural and political organizations, the video provides
a glimpse into what people believe about our political system and
what they wish to change. This commentary is contrasted with huge
lips reciting a poem, struggling with the language of the left, of
consumerism and internalized political conflicts. Finally the dilemma
of the left is dramatically articulated in a security camera view
of an overwrought Canadian woman racing around her apartment, isolated
and consumed too busy to consider her place in the present political
paradigm. By the end, she notices the camera becoming aware of the
operating apparatus. What's left? depicts the struggle
and confusion of the old left to define itself within a power structure
no longer controlled by the nation state but a by the corporate machine.
The work's intent is reveal this invisible mechanism while questioning
what's left to do about it.
SYNOPSIS
OF WHAT'S LEFT?
What's Left? is a fast-paced experimental documentary
examining diverse perspectives on what left wing means in Canada
today. A collage of interviews with people on the street contrast
more academic responses from lefties and provide a brief glimpse
into what people believe about our political system and what they
wish to change. A girl in isolation rushes around her fictive apartment,
too busy to think politically but bombarded by images of consumption.
Will she become aware of the apparatus that shapes her, or has
the human conditioner been effective? As the corporate world further
dominates political policy and ideology, can the left re-unite
in diversity and possibly effect change?
Since the fall of the wall, with the loss of a opposing political paradigm,
we are left scrambling for direction. What can we as political workers do to
reveal this invisible apparatus that is heading into economic collapse.
This fast-paced experimental documentary poses the question What's Left? in
Canada today in a collage of interviews on the street contrasted with academic
responses from lefties, providing a glimpse into what people believe about
our political system and what they wish to change. A girl in isolation rushes
around her fictive apartment, too busy to think politically but bombarded by
images of consumption. Will she become aware of the apparatus that shapes her,
or has the human conditioner been effective? As the corporate world further
dominates political policy and ideology, can the left unite in diversity and
possibly effect change? The revolution will be carbonated.
Since the fall of the wall, with the loss of a opposing political paradigm,
we are left scrambling for direction. What can we as political workers
do to reveal this invisible apparatus that is heading into economic collapse.
