Wordsfest

The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada

November 13, 2021 at 2:00pm

In partnership with Tamarack Productions, Huron University College and Words are pleased to present a screening of The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada, with a visit from Director James Cullingham and journalists Abdulrahman Matar, Arzu Yildiz, and Luis Horacio Nájera.

The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada

Featuring: James Cullingham, Abdulrahman Matar, Arzu Yildiz, and Luis Horacio Nájera

Hosted by Thomas Peace

13 November, 2:00PM

Film Screening and Conversation

The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada confronts one of the most compelling human rights challenges of our day: the threat to journalists. Focusing on the lives of Abdulrahman Matar from Syria, Luis Horacio Nájera of México and Arzu Yildiz from Turkey, this documentary film investigates why they fled their countries and are seeking to rebuild their lives as refugees in Canada. All three now reside in the Greater Toronto Area striving to re-invent themselves. Their stories and challenges illuminate the global struggle for free speech in a time of increasing threat to journalists. This documentary was filmed in southern Ontario and Mexico. It includes archival footage from the principal characters’ countries of origin and analysis from leading analysts on press freedom and the security of journalists. Directed by filmmaker-historian-journalist James Cullingham, The Cost of Freedom: Refugee Journalists in Canada is the latest in his catalogue of documentaries concerning social justice, popular culture, history and politics over his 30 year career. Cullingham is president of Tamarack Productions, an adjunct graduate faculty member in Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent University and a professor of English and Liberal Studies at Seneca College.

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Authors & Presenters

Arzu Yildiz

Arzu Yildiz is a journalist, editor, and senior reporter.

Luis Horacio Nájera

Luis Horacio Nájera is a Visiting Fellow at The Citizen Lab and the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the University of Toronto.

Abdulrahman Matar

Abdulrahman Matar is a Syrian-born writer, journalist, poet and novelist.

James Cullingham

James Cullingham is an award winning documentary filmmaker, historian and journalist with Tamarack Productions based in Nogojiwanong – Peterborough.