A packed house in the Queen Elizabeth Playhouse rose to its feet Sunday night to join with singers, musicians and actors in singing the powerful **Venceremos,’’ as Canadians saluted the struggles of. the Chilean people on the anniversary of the fascist coup in Chile. For the members of the Media Vita Theatre Group, and for the local singers and musicians mak- ing up the ensemble, it was a fit- ting tribute to the four months they had labored in putting together their original production, “Stories and Songs of Chile.’’ For the audience of 600, it was a triumph. Intertwining dramatic sketches with popular Chilean songs, the eleven actors and eleven musicians traced some of the events leading up to the election of the Unidad Popular, and following its over- throw. Each dramatic vignete set these momentous events in human terms, alternately focusing on the individual dramas of a poor work- ing class couple (played by Helen Dixon and Warren Ham), a politically-committed father and his son (played by Pedro Con- treras and Kelly O’Hagan,) a maid and her politically-active friend (played by Patti Powell and Jane Kalmakoff) and a young man and {ihe woman he falls in love with ‘Chile solidarity — show ‘a triumph’ (played by John Brazier and Sarah Dixon.) The music, by contrast, served to be the sum of the whole, the magnificent collective voice of the Chilean people. Six songs, most of them written by the artists of the New Chilean Song Movement, were woven into the two-hour production. The musicians and singers formed a_ tightly-knit ensemble, capturing the spirit of the music. Particularly exciting were the solos and duets of Raul Figueroa (a Chilean political refugee living in Vancouver since 1976) and Charlotte Diamond (a member of Bargain at Half the Price.) The first dramatic scenes, although sometimes confusing, served to show the uneven ~ political awareness among many Chileans before the formation of the Unidad Popular. John Brazier as Mickey gave a spirited perfor- mance of a young, rebellious con artist who initially had only a superficial analysis of what was wrong in Chile. By the end of the production, Mickey (now Juan) is forced to seek political asylum in Canada. Each successive sketch developed the theme of the sharpening struggle ‘between the wealthy owners and the working poor. As a result of this struggle, workers and their alliés begin to Actors, singers and musicians join in singing Venceremos in the finale to Songs and Stories of Chile. organize their efforts. In one scene, Sylvia (played by Jane Kalmakoff) invites her friend Rosa the maid (played by Pattie Powell) to a meeting of the newly- formed UP. Rosa courageously defies her employer’s (Michael McGarry) threats, and goes. By the middle of the first act, the UP is in power. Success impels the revolutionary movement for- ward: there are more nationalized factories and industries, more social services and more control over work places. The fight-back by the reactionary forces steps up and the first act concludes with the horror of the coup, effectively incorporating actual film footage — of the last days of the Allende goverment, the tape of Allende’s last speech, slides -shown simultaneously on two screens, and the actors caught in a highly dramatic tableau. The audience was _ receptive throughout the production, and _ during the second act, responded: to the message relayed from tne stage in story and song: we have a responsibility-to help the Chilean working. people restore their democratic rights. And it came through loud and strong: boycott Chilean goods, place pressure on the Canadian government to withdraw Canadian investments - from Chile, fight for the informa- —Fred Wilson photo tion to the whereabouts of missing Chilean political prisoners and do everything possible to hasten the downfall of the Pinochet dictator- ship. ~. John Brazier, Heather Blakemore and Helen Dixon are to be congratulated ‘in their scrip- ting of the stories of each character, and Maureen Peacock for her direction. Musical directors Neil Bryson (who produced the show), Steve — Gidora and arranger Paul Figueroa must be complimented for bringing together the talents of a yariety of singers and musicians so effectively. —Janice Harris } a = Photographed outside Lomonosov University, Canadian delegation head Helen Webster joins some of the other participants at the 11th Festival of International Films in Moscow. Left to r, they are: Juan An- tonio Bardem, Spanish director; Kola Ogunbanvo, official of Nigeria's state cinema; Mohammed Sharif Ali, Sudanese director; Webster; Afolainen Adeyemy, Nigeria; Mikhail Isakov, Kirghizia. —Tass photo Film review Wit and imagination in ‘Breaking Away The social and economic significance of a college education has been slowly changing in this country. More and more people have spent some time in college. But college is no longer a guarantee of wealth or success. The movie Breaking Away ig- nores these recent developments, and uses the traditional conflict bet- ween ‘‘town and gown’”’ as its basis. Rivalry between college students and local youth was common place years ago and probably still exists where large elite universities dominate a community. Near the University of Indiana at Bloomington live four friends, David, Cyril, Mooch and Mike. They are just out of high school, Canadian film honored at Moscow Festival — The recent llth International Film Festival in Moscow. was notable for the record number of films submitted from all parts of the globe, and.the high quality of the pictures. It is a source of pride for ‘Canadians that of the four films submitted, the full-length feature Fish Hawk was awarded the Peace Committee’s. prize and the short documentary Michel Pellus took se- cond prize in its group. Also shown were Skip Tracer, about a credit collector, and the humorous Track Stars. : The festival opened with the showing of Viva Mexico! filmed by Sergei Eisenstein and several other Soviet theatrical and film directors who had been invited to Hollywood nearly four decades ago. ‘‘Where do they make films here?”’ they had asked Charlie Chaplin who met them on arrival, and Chaplin had replied, ‘‘Here they make money, not films.”’ It turned out that the film moguls of Hollywood could not (would not) use what their Soviet guests had to offer, so Eisenstein, along with two colleagues went to Mexico and filmed life and struggle in that country. Those shots remained on the other side of the Atlantic until recently and then only sections were delivered. Grigory Alexandrov, the surviving member of the trio, undertook to put the film together the way Eisenstein would have done it, and Viva Mexico! had its premiere in Moscow after all. A copy of the film was delivered to the Mexican embassy as a gift to the country it describes and glorifies. Since film makers from 104 coun- tries and four international bodies PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 21, 1979—Page 10 presented their films and hundreds of cinema people, critics and jour- nalists participated in daily discus- sion sessions, it would be impossi- - ble to fully report the festival, as it was to take in all the events. This great world movie show liv- ed up to its slogan, ‘‘For humanism in cinema, for peace and friendship among nations.’’ It was heartwarm- ing to see the developing countries come up with fine, in some cases ex- cellent productions. To mention but one, not because it was the best but because it was typical of the social content and ar- tistry, there was Nigeria’s Fight for Freedom. it told of the local chiefs who were for all the world like feudal barons, and how the people resisted their tyrannies. This was the first time a product of the young Nigerian film industry was shown beyond the borders of the country, and the applause it received showed it was appreciated. . Canadian entry Fish Hawk was good medicine for this Canadian who has too often complained about our country’s curious hesita- tion to exhibit our works abroad. Fish Hawk is an Indian, the only one of his people left in that part of Canada (judging by the beautiful shots of the scenery the place is nor- thern Ontario) — ‘‘Tom Thomson country,’’ a fellow-Canadian beside me whispered. Fish Hawk makes friends with a young lad, bears with dignity the indignities to which he is subjected by some, finally says good-bye to his friends and the graves of his family and walks away into the woods. Fish Hawk does not fight direct- ly, but he upholds the beauty and justice of the Native people. He stands out as a real man. — John Weir BREAKING AWAY. Starring Dent Christopher, Jackie Earle Haley, Denn Quaid and Daniel Stern. Produced a directed by Peter Yates. At 108 “theatres. -and for different, mostly vast’ reasons, aren’t going on to colleg® They are likeable, even endearifé characters. Each is rebelling in own individual way against th future of boredom and wasted © fort he sees- before him. Mit responds. with anger, Cyril a scathing wit, but David’s rev) assumes the most flamboyant fom the hilarious fantasy that he 1S Italian bicycle racer. The villains in the film are college students. They are Lie trayed as rich and snotty. as name for the ‘‘townies ¥ “cutters.”? The chief industry — southern Indiana used to be qua ing. The use of ‘‘cutters,”’ short 0 stonecutters, as a term of contem™ is a good example of ruling © : scorn for working people. ual tunately, false and viclo” “theories”? of working class af feriority are an important pat it academic teachings, and it adopted by many students oF ¥ ing backgrounds. a Although the social situation; portrays are somewhat daté - Breaking Away jis a first 1" comedy. The final climatic conftt \ tation between the privilege iad legians and the underdog locals id bicycle race is exciting “of suspenseful. Sometimes passage ith slapstick clash uncomfortably "ie the film’s realistic style. But f% 9 most part this is a movie of Ci and intelligence, graced by W and imaginative whimsy. itt — Marian Ir :