In the Land of Blood and Honey

In the Land of Blood and Honey is a directorial debut of Angelina Jolie. The movie is about the conflict that erupted in 1991 between Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. The ethnic cleansing left an estimated 100,000 people dead. The movie depicts the isolation of war: the humanitarian trucks being rocketed, the old people being abandoned in their beds, women being repeatedly violated, kids being rocketed for building snowman. The Bosnian desperately wanted help. But the world stood by and did nothing. The US didn’t want to get involved, under a pretext that it was a European problem. As the fighting spread, the UN got involved in ’94-95, bringing US to the table.

The movie shows the sad side of human nature, the cruelty and betrayal of war. What happens to neighbors who once loved each other, only ethnicity separated them. The urge to protect your own blood relatives, turns the love for the neighbors into vengeance.

It is a great history lesson that we all should participate in and be aware of the genocides that we were ignorant of when it happened.

Dundarave Festival of Lights

Dundarave Festival of Lights at Dundarave Beach in Vancouver through 4 Saturdays in December. In the true spirit of Christmas, the festival brings the best of local community by raising money to end the homelessness. The festival is celebrated with 20 meter bonfire on the beach, music, joy and food. It features a forest of lavishly decorated trees, the Bonfire Night, Christmas Fair, and Nativity Paddle Songs. The festival starts with Christmas tree decorating at the beach, which includes carol singing and lighting ceremony. The spirits are lifted when all the trees are lighted.

Woodford Folk Festival

Woodford Folk Festival is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Australia, bringing artists from around the world and lasting for six days over the New Year period (December 27 to January 1). It includes Aboriginal culture, which is one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world. The spiritual life of Aboriginal Australians has been based on understanding their environment, the land, plants and animals, which shaped their culture. They have developed many plant and animal based medicines. The ceremonial performances are the core of their cultural lives bringing together all aspects of art: song, dance, and body decoration.  The festival brings hundreds of tribes from all over Australia together to share their traditions, ceremonies and beliefs. The festival features music, dance, and theatrical performances. Fire Event on the New Year’s Day is a spectacular closing ceremony of the festival.