In 2019, Simon Schneider and Sarah Sharkey Pearce set out to make a film about the last living Southern Resident Killer Whale in captivity, an orca named Lolita (or “Toki”), who had been captured in Puget Sound in 1970. Lolita spent more than half a century in the Miami Seaquarium’s “Whale Bowl’, a tank that measured 80 x 35 foot, and only 6 metres deep. As filming progressed, they joined a coalition of environmentalists, billionaire philanthopists, disenchanted ex trainers, and Lummi elders, all fighting to have the aging and ailing orca returned to her ocean home. It proves a long and painful odyssey, but also provides remarkable insights into how humans and animals feel about each other.
Apr 1: Q&A with director Simon Schneider & Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris
Sarah Sharkey Pearce & Simon Schneider
Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris, Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinely
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Tuesday April 01
Wednesday April 02
Thursday April 03
Friday April 04
Saturday April 05
Sunday April 06
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
Sarah Sharkey Pearce, Simon Schneider
Cinematography
Simon Schneider
Editor
Tony Kent
Original Music
Josh Zubot, Jesse Zubot
Also Playing
Our Blue World: A Water Odyssey
Connecting ancient wisdom with practical 21st century solutions, Our Blue World is a spectacular and eye-opening film about our deepest and most precious resource. Join us on Earth Day for a post-screening conversation with Wade Davis and others.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
WALL-E
Set 700 years from now (though we may get there sooner), the film imagines Earth as a toxic dump, while humankind cruises outer space in luxurious limbo. Trash robot WALL-E falls in love with a shiny new research drone, Eve. Rated: G
Image: © Disney Pixar 2008
Exhibition on Screen: Dawn of Impressionism
The latest Exhibition on Screen film contextualizes the landmark show which launched Impressionism with correspondence and journal entries from Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Morisot et al, and looks also at the turbulent history of the period.