I Heart Edmonton

Director Rosie Dransfeld discovers more than she expected to tell in her documentary, based in a local pawn shop BY EMIL TIEDEMANN I T'S when he's so desperate that he'd break into a parked car to steal its GPS unit and a few CDs. It's when his addiction has taken over his inhibitions, and spare change and empties are all he's got left. It's when her wedding band is no longer irreplaceable and has lost the meaning it once held. These are the kind of lonesome moments director Rosie Dransfeld captures in her sobering documentary Broke , which was filmed last year right here in Edmonton. Set entirely in or just outside the cluttered A1 Trading (9434-111 Ave.), Broke examines the mostly loyal patrons of the inner city pawn shop, which happens to be situated across the street from an elementary school (see picture below). Jewish immigrant David Woolfson is the poor man's banker, of sorts, lending cash to bottle collectors, drug addicts, alcoholics, or folks j...

Documentaries from around the world converge in Edmonton for Canada's oldest and finest festival of its kind BY EMIL TIEDEMANN B EFORE we get into Saturday's edition of the 4-day Global Visions Film Festival , I think it's only appropriate to give you a little history of the nation's first and oldest documentary film fest. "We operate from the knowledge that the world is getting smaller, and that all people are interconnected, interdependent citizens of the global village," reads the Mandate & Mission Statement on the festival's official website. The GVFF claims that it "aims to entertain, engage and inspire our audience. We entertain them by bringing original, top-quality documentaries made by talented filmmakers from across Canada and around the world to Edmonton every year." It began in 1981 as the Edmonton Learners Centre's Third World Film Festival, but by 1998 had become a non-profit society called the Global Visions Festival Socie...

Edmonton begins 28th annual docu-film fest with a film made in its own backyard What: Global Visions Film Festival When: Thursday, Nov. 5-Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 Where: Downtown Arts District T HE opening gala ($20) for the 28-year-old Global Visions Film Festival kicks off at 8:00PM this Thursday, November 5th with the screening of the locally-based documentary feature Broke (2009). Helmed by first-time director Rosie Dransfeld , Broke follows the story of "grouchy old guy" David Woolfson , who runs an inner-city pawn shop in Edmonton, and has been for the last 16 years. The award-winning film has recieved applause throughout the national film community and has already been screened at film festivals in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The GVFF "celebrates the work of passionate, accomplished documentaries from Canada and around the world." It started back in 1981 as the Edmonton Learners Center's Third World Film Festival, and is now recognized as Canada...