Friday October 30, 7pm – 9:30pm

Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main

Free

The Heart of the City Festival is proud to present two films by award-winning documentary filmmaker Greg Masuda – The Spirit of Nihonmachi and The Right to Remain.

The Spirit of Nihonmachi (2012, 28 min)

Commissioned by the Powell Street Festival for their 35th Anniversary, this commemorative film uses an experiential documentary approach to show the festival through the eyes of two Downtown Eastside volunteers.

The Right to Remain (2015, 45 min)

The CBC documentary looks at the Downtown Eastside residents and the fight to save community from development. Started as an idea five years ago, Greg Masuda accumulated over 300 hours of footage. He says “The Right to Remain is a culmination of my entire career as a filmmaker. As a Japanese Canadian, I could not resist participating in the advocacy for the Downtown Eastside community as it looked down the barrel of the real estate industry in the second most expensive city in the world.”

A talkback panel will follow the films with a discussion about the broader topic of Community Displacement: what is our responsibility to the Downtown Eastside? Panel guests include Wendy Pedersen, Grace Eiko Thomson, Herb Varley, Ethel Whitty and filmmaker Greg Masuda. Members of the Powell Street Festival Advocacy and Outreach Committee will also attend.