Pubdate: Thu, 23 Oct 2014
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Page: B1
Copyright: 2014 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Julie Chadwick

COMPLEX LOOK AT THE 'PRINCE OF POT'

New Film on Legalization Advocate Marc Emery Is, Like the Man Himself,
Not Without Its Controversy

It's fitting that a documentary on a figure as controversial as
self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery should be subject to some
controversy itself.

At its core, Citizen Marc wrestles not only with the topic of Emery's
legal troubles - the pot activist recently served four years in a U.S.
prison for "conspiracy to manufacture marijuana" - but also takes on
the complexity of the man himself, who has arguably been the single
most significant figure in the fight for marijuana legalization in
recent history.

The product of five years of research, filmmakers Roger Larry and
Sandra Tomc followed Emery on the road and through his extradition
fights as Emery "took on America," said Larry.

Released from prison in August, Emery had been handed a five-year
sentence for selling marijuana seeds from his Vancouver-based store to
clients in the U.S.

Timed to coincide with Emery's return to Canada, Citizen Marc rides on
the wave of public sympathy and interest Emery has garnered since his
arrest.

Currently the widest release of the year for a Canadian documentary,
the film has openings in 13 cities and on 16 screens, including at the
Avalon Cinema in Nanaimo from Oct. 24 to 28.

"It's getting the response it's getting because Marc Emery is such a
fascinating, contradictory, outrageous character and the film captures
that in all its glory," said Larry.

"It's a suspenseful narrative - in fighting for freedom his whole
life, only to end up in jail."

However the film is not without its detractors, including Emery's
wife, federal Liberal candidate and legalization advocate Jodie Emery.

"The 'Citizen Marc' movie: (a) sloppy amateur film that manipulates &
edits interviews & omits important facts because director hates Marc
Emery," tweeted Jodie on Oct. 16.

For Larry and Tomc, who are also a married couple, the response is
somewhat inevitable considering it was their own dialogue and debate
about Emery that informed their approach to the film.

"What you're seeing is the fruits of five years of arguing," said
Larry.

Though he says he thinks Emery is "one of the greatest and most
influential Canadian activists ever," like many public figures he is
not without his contradictions, and that is what they sought to highlight.

"We have a film that raises the question: Should we think this guy is
a hero or just an egomaniac? And audiences are finding that exciting
because they get to decide for themselves, as opposed to us just
trying to shove an interpretation down their throats," he said.

Among some of the most interesting discoveries in their research was
both Emery's libertarian politics and his long history of activism,
which stretched back to his youth in London, Ont.

The film traces Emery's early "conversion moment" after reading Ayn
Rand as a teen, and his subsequent anti-government activism from
opposing the Pan-Am games to fighting censorship at his City Lights
bookstore in London by selling banned records.

"Our film is not one of those one-dimensional hagiographies that just
says, 'This person is perfect and we love him,' we try to give Marc a
ton of credit and we try to let his critics and his advocates speak."

Citizen Marc plays in the Avalon Cinema from Oct. 24 - 28 at 1:20, 4
and 7:10 p.m. Director Larry will be present for a Q&A on Oct. 25 at
7:10 p.m.
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MAP posted-by: Richard