JULY/AUGUST 2011
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 9
Anti-Trump film being screened in New York
A controversial documentary about of a band of residents from a farming village in Aberdeen, Scotland, who stood up to developer Donald Trump, was the only documentary filmed in Scotland last year.
Rej ected from the country's Edinburgh International Film Festival, You 'veBeen Trumped instead had its world premiere at Toronto's Hot Docs filmfest in May this year.
The film is a poignant and moving human story charting a year in the development of the self-proclaimed "greatest golf course in the world."
The implications of the development are many and its political ramifications lead to the very top of Scottish Government.
When the local authority declined planning permission to the resort, the decision was overturned by the Scottish Parliament.
In the film, First Minister Alex Salmond justifies this by saying, "Six thousand jobs across Scotland, 1,400 local and permanent jobs in the North East, that's a powerful argument, and I think that outweighs the environmental concerns."
These concerns involve the complete loss of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and its surrounding ecosystem, the last of its kind in Scotland.
And now Trump has backed out of providing those jobs for the local economy and he has completely destroyed an internationally important SSSI.
"I've seen time and time again examples where power and money seem to have influence, and you can't help but feel baffled," says Anthony Baxter, the film's 41-year-old director, who lives about 60 kilometres south of Aberdeen.
"It's a political hot potato, but I believe it's a story we needed to tell and I felt so strongly it had to be followed that I was prepared to forego any income to make the film."
During a recent visit to his golf resort in Aberdeenshire, Trump dismissed the documentary telling journalists, "I haven't seen it. I heard it got some bad reviews. People told me it was boring."
The documentary centres on local residents who turned down Trump's request to purchase their homes for razing in order to build a luxury golf course.
Documenting their struggle with not only Trump but also with the Scottish Government, the picture is a David vs. Goliath story that ultimately forced its creator to choose a side.
"I felt like I was in a hostile environment, like a complete different country," says Baxter, who has made documentaries in Afghanistan and Uganda, but was arrested for the first time as a journalist while working a short car ride from his home.
During an interview with Sue Munro, an 87-year-old Aberdeen resident who had been living for a week without water while the sand dunes by her home were being stabilized, Scottish police swarmed Baxter and asked him to turn off his camera. When he refused, Baxter was hauled off to jail.
The Foggy Dew Irish Pub in Richmond and Coquitlam
Is the place to be for all your entertainment needs. We offer a select menu, great daily Irish specialty food & beverage, great music, great service, friendly faces and lots offun!
ENJOY THE SUMMER ON OUR PATIO
EVENT CALENDAR
Foggy Dew, Richmond: July 15-16-TBA July 22-23 - TBA July 29-30-TBA Aug 5-6 - TBA Aug 12-13 - TBA Aug 19-20 - DJ. Chris Aug 26-27 - TBA Sept 2-3-TBA Sept 9-10 - TBA Sept 16-17 - The Substitutes
•50t wings after 4:00 pm all day Sun
• Daily Beer & Cocktail Specials
•Watch all your favourite games here!!
JULY/AUG/SEPT Foggy Dew, Coquitlam: July 15-16 - J. Burgess July 22-23 - Bobby Scores July 29-30 - Hey Stewey Aug 5-6 - Shindiggers Aug 12-13 - One & A Half Aug 19-20 - J. Burgess Aug 26-27 - Bobby Scores Sept 2-3 - Pop Junkies Sept 9-10 - Hey Stewie Sept 16-17 - Bobby Scores
• 45<t wings all day to close Monday
• $7.25 MGD mini jug Monday
• Watch all your favourite games here!!
On our 10 plasma & 10 satellite screens.
Also showing UFC
WWW.FOGGYDEWIRISHPUB.COM
405 North Road
(in the Executive Plaza Hotel) Coquitlam, B.C.
(604) 937-5808
7311 Westminster Highway Richmond, B.C.
(604) 270-2266
"The policeman slammed the handcuffs on and pushed me up against the car and I must admit, it was completely shocking," says Baxter, a veteran of Britain's "hostile environment course," which every British j ournalist undergoes before heading out to Afghanistan. "You just think, 'What the hell's going on here?' It's just extraordinary."
The unusual turn of events would continue during the year of Baxter's filming, an ongoing roller coaster ride that would conclude with Trump's flirtation with the U. S. presidency.
Today, construction of the golf course is nearly complete, with 1,500 condominiums soon to be built. (The people of Aberdeen who opposed the golf course remain in their homes unbroken.) But a pall now hangs over Trump's political aspirations, Baxter says.
"I've seen a side through making the film, Donald Trump saying something and the truth being something entirely different," says Baxter. "The documentary is about giving a voice to the people who don't get heard against the publicity machine of Donald Trump."
You've Been Trumped is now heading for a screening on the billionaire's Manhattan doorstep following an online fund-raising campaign to allow Baxter to fly to the United States. It will get a special screening at the IFC Centre in New York this month.
A SCENE from the controversial documentary film You've Been Trumped about a band of residents from a farming villiage in Aberdeen, Scotland who stood up to developer Donald Trump's plans to build a luxury golf course on an environmentally sensitive coastline.
Skye tribute to fashion designer Alexander McQueen
A memorial headstone marking legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen's final resting place was unveiled recently on the Isle of Skye. Artist Eric Marland engraved the green-slate boulder with words chosen by the designer's family, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind." McQueen, 40, whose real name was Lee Alexander McQueen, hanged himself in his Mayfair apartment on the eve of his mother's funeral last year.
Come try our exciting new menu with lighter options, perfect for the summer!
Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall - always a perfect 20 oz pint
POPLIN'S
IRISH PUB
BC Day long weekend: We're open late all weekend!
* Catch all your BC Lions & Whitecaps games here
654 Nelson St. I Doolinsxa I faufcter^Doolins