Local journalism film festival highlights region
- Ink-stained Wretches will hold its third Journalism Film Festival on May 5 at Playhouse Cinema in Hamilton, pairing a panel with a screening of Spotlight. - The event starts with a discussion on local media as social infrastructure; tickets are $11 early-bird for 31 seats, then $15 general admission. - The group was founded in 2020 by former Waterloo Region Record staff and now has 50-plus volunteers abroad. (ink-stainedwretches.org)
Ink-stained Wretches is bringing its third Journalism Film Festival to Hamilton on Tuesday, May 5, with a panel on local media followed by a screening of *Spotlight*. (playhousecinema.ca) (therecord.com) The event will be held at Playhouse Cinema and is presented by Ink-stained Wretches in partnership with Midtown Radio and the Waterloo Region Community Foundation. (playhousecinema.ca) The evening opens with a panel discussion on “local media as social infrastructure,” then moves into the 2015 film about the Boston Globe team that exposed sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church. (playhousecinema.ca) (wrcf.ca) Playhouse lists early-bird general admission at $11 for the first 31 tickets, with regular admission at $15 after that. (playhousecinema.ca) Ink-stained Wretches was founded in early 2020 by former Waterloo Region Record newsroom staffers and says it now has more than 50 volunteers across Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Europe. (ink-stainedwretches.org) The group says its annual film festival is one part of a broader campaign to build “a culture of appreciation for quality journalism” and to raise awareness around United Nations World Press Freedom Day. (ink-stainedwretches.org 1) (ink-stainedwretches.org 2) Previous editions were built around journalism-themed films including *Writing with Fire*, *All the President’s Men*, *Network* and, in 2024, *Killer Water*, a documentary by Brandi Morin and Geordie Day. (ink-stainedwretches.org) The local-media theme has been circulating in Waterloo Region this year through Midtown Radio’s “Community by Design” series, which describes local media as part of the community’s connective tissue. (communitybydesign.transistor.fm 1) (communitybydesign.transistor.fm 2) This year’s festival shifts the conversation from nostalgia for old newsrooms to what organizers and partners are calling a shared civic resource: local reporting, public discussion and the places that still convene both. (playhousecinema.ca) (wrcf.ca)
