The Ghosts in Our Machine - Hot Docs Press Summary

The Ghosts in Our Machine World Premiere -­‐ Hot Docs 2013 GAT PR Press Summary

Hot Docs: Films about a strip club, the organ trade and dirt bikes to highlight Toronto film fest

By Cassandra Szklarski |March 19, 2013

The Manor — one of 205 docs from 43 countries that will screen at the fest — joins a substantial Canadian contingent that also includes Michelle Latimer’s hip-­‐hop portrait Alias, Liz Marshall’s animal-­‐focused The Ghosts in Our Machine, Ric Bienstock’s expose Tales from the Organ Trade and Charles Wilkinson’s look at oil sands workers in Oil Sands Karaoke.

This article can also be seen in the following outlets:

http://www.canada.com/entertainment/docs+films+about+strip+club+organ+trade+dirt +bikes+highlight+toronto+film+fest/8127358/story.html

http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/600981/strip-­‐club-­‐tale-­‐to-­‐open-­‐hot-­‐docs-­‐festival/

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/film-­‐about-­‐strip-­‐club-­‐family-­‐business-­‐to-­‐ open-­‐hot-­‐docs-­‐festival-­‐198977431.html

Hot Docs Preview: Interview with Liz Marshall -­‐ Director of The Ghost in Our Machine Interviews by Melissa Silverstein | April 25, 2013 1:45 PM

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/interview-­‐with-­‐liz-­‐marshall-­‐director-­‐of-­‐ the-­‐ghost-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine

"The Ghost in Our Machine"

The Ghosts in Our Machine is an extremely upsetting yet moving film about how we treat animals. It tells the story of Jo-­‐Ann McArthur, a photographer, who has dedicated her life to showing the disturbing treatment of animals. After watching the film, there is no way you will look or thinks about animals the same way again.

Women and Hollywood: Talk a little about the title. Where did it come from?

Liz Marshall: The title was inspired during the fall of 2010, through a talk by Canadian novelist Graeme Gibson. He eloquently spoke about the human condition, and our aggressive

infringement on the natural world. Within this context he referred to nature as the ghost in the machine. This sparked a great aha moment for me -­‐ I was seeking a title, one that could embody the conceptual idea I was already developing. I then madly looked into the origins of "The Ghost in the Machine," and if you do a Google search you will see that this title has been broadly used, within every possible genre. In fact, it is has become a common phrase. I ran it by my development team, my lawyer, tossed and turned, and then locked into a variation on the phrase, one that is reflexive: THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE. The 'our' in the title is meaningful.

The machine is not an abstract notion. We are the machine, and the ghosts are the billions of animals used annually, worldwide, for our consumer goods.

WaH: How did you meet Jo-­‐Anne?

LM: I met Jo-­‐Anne McArthur ("Jo") years ago through a mutual friend, and over time I took notice of her work. She would share images with my partner Lorena and me, asking for our thoughts. I knew she spent up to six months of each year in the field, all over the world, photographing animals at the frontlines. As a documentary filmmaker who has traveled to some very difficult places, I could relate to her. And although I didn't fully grasp the animal issue (yet), my heart was naturally attuned to Jo's photographic sensibility: It is intimate, honest and brave, and she has a wonderful eye. I felt inspired more and more by her dedication to an issue that most people choose to not see. My life partner Lorena is a dedicated animal rights activist and longtime vegan, and I owe it to her for inspiring me to tackle this big challenging subject of animal use and animal sentience, and I owe it to Jo-­‐Anne for inspiring the approach I took. My initial inclination was to integrate her photographs into the film, but I quickly learned that she would also make an excellent protagonist. I knew I needed to anchor the animal issue in a human story, one that would bear the fruit of possibility -­‐ to engage a broad audience. It is through Jo-­‐Anne's lens, imagery and mission that we access non-­‐human animals in the film.

When I asked Jo to participate at this level she immediately said yes, she understood.

Jo-­‐Anne is a hopeful heroine type character in the film trying to save the animals, and we can't help but want her to succeed.

WaH: This is a very hard movie to watch. What do you hope people will get out of it?

LM: The issue of animal use and abuse can seem insurmountable, it is tragic and it is complex.

We love our companion animals and we value wildlife but we are generally blind to the realities of what goes into the food we eat; the clothing we wear; the chemicals we put on our lawn, on our hair, in our medicines, and we are taught to believe that animals living behind cages and in concrete tanks are happy. The list goes on. Animals have been reduced to objects for production, and their lives are designed around our needs and desires.

But, how does one convey difficult truth in a way that people will want to watch? I worked hard to create ebb and flow between animals as living, breathing, feeling subjects in the film, with names and stories, and those who are mere numbers, destined for slaughter, caught within our machine. The result is that the film is difficult in some scenes and heartwarming in other scenes.

The film doesn't focus on violence, there is enough violence around us in the world everyday. I prefer to focus on truth and on hope. Bruce Cowley, our commissioning editor at Canada's documentary channel, didn't want a violent film for the same reasons. He wanted a film that could engage a broad demographic about this morally significant subject matter. He funded THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE early on (summer of 2011), and every step of the way we wanted the same film.

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a cross-­‐platform project focused on the theme of empathy.

What I hope people will get out of it is a new and/or deeper awareness that animals are not

objects. As consumers we can all make a difference for them, each and every day, in a multitude of ways.

WaH: This is extremely difficult work for Jo-­‐Anne yet her dedication is so intense. She said she even had PTSD. Did you learn at all how she continues to keep doing this work?

LM: Jo-­‐Anne has found ways to nourish her soul and replenish her spirit, so that she can keep doing her work effectively. One of the ways she copes is to spend time at animal sanctuaries, such as Farm Sanctuary (featured in the film), which is also a sanctuary for her, and other activists in general.

WaH: Did making this documentary change you at all?

LM: Yes, it profoundly tweaked my moral compass. I see animals differently, as little universes; characters; sentient beings. And, as a consumer I am very conscious of what I buy, so that I am not contributing to the system that is using them. I was vegetarian for 20 years but I am now vegan. I don't find it limiting, I find it liberating – it's a like a whole big new way of viewing the world. I have a new lens. I have always been a human rights advocate/activist, and in a recent years an environmentalist, and now I also include animals in my world view. Maude Barlow, the subject of my last film (WATER ON THE TABLE) says: The rights of animals is the next frontier in the search for both justice and environmental sanity.

WaH: What advice do you have for women who want to make documentaries?

LM: Study the craft of filmmaking. Work tremendously hard. Be hands on, learn camera, editing, business; discover your strengths and then hone them and be who you are meant to be. Create something meaningful. Be clear about your intentions. Be confident. Make your dreams come true. It is a hard line of work, are you cut out for it? Ask yourself the hard questions.

Hot Docs Sets Full Lineup For 20th Anniversary Fest

by Peter Knegt | March 20, 2013 11:34 AM

Liz Marshall’s "The Ghosts in Our Machine," which captures the sentience of animals through stunning images;

Hot Docs 2013 Program Features 'Huge Rise' in Canadian Films, Including Titles Headed to CBC March 19, 2013 By Leah Collins http://www.cbc.ca/live/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐program-­‐features-­‐huge-­‐rise-­‐in-­‐canadian-­‐films-­‐ including-­‐titles-­‐headed-­‐to-­‐cbc.html

And among the 45 Canadian-­‐made films which are spread over several programs -­‐ 22 of which are world premieres -­‐ are several selections that will also debut on documentary later this year, films including The Ghosts In Our Machine, NCR:Not Criminally Responsible and Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children. The first, from Water on the Table director Liz Marshall, is an "intimate character study" of activist/photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, one which ultimately examines a question of animal rights; the second is a rare and timely look inside an Ontario hospital for the criminally insane from fifth estate veteran and Life With Murder director John Kastner; the third, a "follow-­‐up" to Shake Hands With the Devil, catches up with Lt-­‐Gen. Romeo Dallaire, whose new mission is ending the use of child soldiers in Africa.

Hot Docs Daily: The Ghosts in our Machine, Buying Sex, After Tiller One week gone, but Hot Docs is going strong!

May 1, 2013 | By Kiva Reardon http://torontoist.com/2013/05/hot-­‐docs-­‐daily-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐buying-­‐sex-­‐after-­‐ tiller/

Torontonian Liz Marshall’s The Ghosts in our Machine (4 Stars, 6:30 p.m. Bloor Hot Docs Cinema) is a complex and intricate look at animal-­‐rights activism, through the (literal) lens of photojournalist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur. Eschewing sensational grim imagery—though there is some of that—the doc finds hope in an aspect of human behaviour that some of us never think twice about: eating animals.

Hot Docs 2013: The Ghosts in Our Machine

By Kiva Reardon • Published April 22nd, 2013 • Issue 90, Summer 2013 • 1 Comment http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine

“I knew I needed to find a way to attract people to the subject, not repel them,” says director Liz Marshall. The challenge before Marshall, however, was a difficult one, as the subject she is referring to is animal rights. Thought of as grim and gory, the issue is far from sexy, and embroiled with ethical questions over definitions of sentience. It’s not surprising, then, even with a background in human rights and environmental activism, that Marshall says this topic “has got to be the most

polarizing issue” she’s encountered. Which is why with The Ghosts in Our Machine she focused on creating what she calls the “ebb and flow of bearing witness,” and— most importantly—community building.

Though Marshall admits she’s drawn “to issues that are harrowing or unjust,”—her previous documentary, Water on the Table (2010), addressed water as a human right—her work eschews an exposé or “misery-­‐porn” style. Instead, she chooses to focus on what she calls “the resilience of the human spirit.” Or, here, the animal spirit. Following photojournalist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur as she crosses the globe documenting the atrocities in fur farms, factory farming and pharmaceutical laboratories, Marshall’s film draws attention to the forgotten beings: animals who are neither pets nor wildlife.

Instead of bombarding the audience with images of animal abuse, Marshall structures the film around McArthur’s journey, which adds a human centre and allows for necessary moments of reprieve from the horror. For instance, McArthur speaks openly about her PTSD (post-­‐traumatic stress disorder), which she counters by visiting an animal sanctuary. In these moments Marshall seeks to reveal “the beauty and the hope and the change” in a topic that is not often thought of in these terms. As such, Marshall hopes viewers will “walk away in a reflective state of mind, as opposed to arriving at a conclusion immediately.”

For as much as Marshall’s focus is on creating an experience rather than having the audience merely watch, what happens when they leave the theatre is equally important to her. “You can’t make the film and walk away,” says Marshall, who finds the power of documentary lies in the ability to “tap into and build your own community that grows over time.” Marshall has thus teamed up with Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge, who together form the digital creative team The Goggles, to create a multiplatform and cross-­‐media project, which will be released alongside The Ghosts in Our Machine. Allowing viewers to go deeper into the film, the web components create an interactive experience. (Marshall points to being able to access McArthur’s photo journal, which is shown in the film, as an example).

Given this, Marshall sees The Ghosts in Our Machine as an “unfolding journey” whose aims and issues don’t end at the credits. In this way, she’s taking on the issue of “armchair activism”—the feeling of having done something merely by watching a film—head on. Marshall is not only addressing how to turn an audience into a community, but is also actively doing it.

The Ghosts in Our Machine: Prepare to be uncomfortable Geoff Pevere | Special to The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-­‐reviews/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐prepare-­‐to-­‐be-­‐ uncomfortable/article11461984/ Directed by Liz Marshall Year 2013 Classification PG Country Canada Genre documentary Language English

Photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur specializes in pictures of animals who suffer: in fur and factory farms, pet mills and research facilities. Her mission is to document the conditions under which animals are compelled to live to provide us with largely non-­‐essential stuff, and to make us look them in the eye. Her pictures – many obtained by guerilla-­‐tactic means – are not easy to look at, and in Liz Marshall’s largely moving documentary we come to understand that’s the point: Once we begin to empathize with these animals, we can’t ignore them quite so easily. Marshall’s documentary is clearly in full concurrence with McArthur’s project, but the movie begs for a larger context: Where does this work fit in with the history of advocacy photojournalism? How effective is it? And what is its role in the larger history of the animal rights movement?

Animal activist doc wants you to stop thinking of animals as products http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-doc-captures-challenges-of-animalactivist/article11702371/

Hannah Sung speaks with director Liz Marshall and photographer Jo-Anne McArthur about their struggles to create a documentary that showed how humans treat animals as products as oppose to sentient beings

10 Films You Must See From This Year's Hot Docs

by Peter Knegt, Bryce J. Renninger and Basil Tsiokos May 3, 2013 11:45 AM http://www.indiewire.com/article/10-­‐films-­‐you-­‐must-­‐see-­‐from-­‐this-­‐years-­‐hot-­‐ docs?page=1#articleHeaderPanel

"The Ghosts In Our Machine" The "ghosts" in Liz Marshall's film are various animals, used by humans for food, clothing, or research, as captured by documentary photographer Jo-­‐ Anne McArthur as part of her advocacy work to force us to confront our beliefs about animal sentience and rights. Making her way, often clandestinely, into factory farms and other sites of what she views as animal exploitation, McArthur bears witness through the haunting still photographs she takes of deplorable conditions and frightened creatures -­‐ but she faces an uphill battle to find a mass audience for her work, since it is too disturbing for most magazine editors. That's exactly her point, to provoke the viewer into empathizing with the various species on display -­‐ from dairy cows condemned to death after just a couple of years of milking, to minks raised in sparse cells for their fur.

As a needed counterpoint in an often disturbing film, Marshall shows McArthur in more peaceful surroundings in a farm sanctuary in upstate New York which takes in abused animals and often saves others from unnecessary death. Marshall succeeds in creating a portrait of a driven activist that shies away from outright polemics to perhaps preach beyond the converted. [Basil Tsiokos].

The Ghosts in Our Machine REVIEW BY SUSAN G. COLE NOW RATING: NNNN http://nowtoronto.com/hotdocs/2013/film-­‐detail.cfm?film=643

Liz Marshall's compelling portrait of photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, whose mission is to document the invisible war on animals, bears powerful witness to the appalling conditions to which humans consign our fellow creatures.

Marshall tags along with McArthur when she covertly takes photos at a fur farm (these tension-­‐filled sequences are made to look like incursions into enemy territory) or at theme parks where entertainers literally surf on dolphins, to name just two of the doc's disturbing settings.

Marshall contrasts these scenes with beautifully shot sequences at animal sanctuaries where rescued animals -­‐ and McArthur herself -­‐ recover from their traumatic experiences.

Ghosts isn't as gruesome as it could have been. Obviously determined not to go the exploitation route, the director makes her point with shots of a five-­‐tiered truck carrying hundreds of pigs to slaughter, a glimpse of McArthur's photo of skinned rabbits and a distressing -­‐ but mercifully short -­‐ sequence of cows going to slaughter.

A superb example of committed filmmaking.

FILM

Hot Docs 2013 Our critics weigh in on the buzziest, sexiest films screening at this year’s edition of the annual real-­‐to-­‐reel festival.

BY: JASON ANDERSON, ADAM NAYMAN, AND GREIG DYMOND http://www.thegridto.com/culture/film/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013/

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE 8/10 Dir. Liz Marshall. 92 min. April 28, 6:30 p.m., Bloor Hot Docs Cinema; May 1, 11 a.m., Isabel Bader; May 4, 11 a.m., Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

We are an awful species. That much is clear from Toronto director Liz Marshall’s often upsetting yet visually striking film about the efforts of photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur to force humankind to acknowledge the sufferings of the animals we use for meat, science, and clothing.

What could’ve been a straightforward animal-­‐rights polemic is transformed into something more haunting and affecting thanks to the eerie score by Bob Wiseman and the gorgeous cinematography by a team that includes John Price and Nick de Pencier.—J.A.

Film review: The Ghosts in Our Machine

By Humberto DaSilva| April 26, 2013

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/film-­‐festivals-­‐toronto/2013/04/film-­‐review-­‐ghosts-­‐our-­‐ machine The film "The Ghosts in Our Machine," directed by Liz Marshall, is a view of the animal rights issue through the lens of Toronto photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur. The film posits that animals are not an insentient resource to be mechanistically processed, but a separate nation. Humanity is making imperial war on this nation, and Jo-­‐Anne McArthur is a combat photographer.

McArthur makes an international career of documenting the inhuman misery that capitalism visits upon animals. She has worked with numerous animal rights campaigns documenting the horror that are the lives of billions of animals treated as system throughput rather than sentient beings. Her photographs are haunting both to herself and the viewer. Her lens gives meaning to lives lived only to gain protein mass, fur or some other commodity traded and consumed by human beings.

In the scenes where McArthur infiltrates a fox fur farm, the banality of the evil that is fur is immediately apparent. The foxes are caged, exposed and miserable. As a European animal rights activist enumerates the number of foxes that are raised and killed in this single operation, it becomes apparent that billions of animals are born, live and die in conditions tantamount to life long torture.

Despite "advanced" animal protection legislation, most animal cruelty is concentrated in the developed world. For that reason industries exploiting animals fear the right photograph more than property damage or animal liberation direct action.

It will be people who will eventually end animal abuse. This will only happen when the suffering of animals is unavoidably evident. Insurance will cover property damage and stock loss, but the idea that there is no more god given right to exploit other species than to exploit other races is the biggest threat to the status quo.

An eventual acceptance of basic animal rights will occur like the end of slavery, or universal suffrage. It will take a critical mass of awareness. McArthur is clear in her purpose. She is not there to liberate individual animals. That would not change the system that is geared to exploit

them. She is there to add to the critical mass of awareness needed to render the concept of animal rights as normal as that of human rights.

McArthur is personally haunted by the life of one chimpanzee, Ron, whose image is truly poignant. Despite a life of enduring medical experimentation, Ron forgave humanity for the horrors of his existence. The picture of Ron is heartbreakingly anthropomorphic. If we can abuse a creature separated from ourselves by so few degrees of evolution, what hope does a rat or mink have.

But McArthur's photographs show us the animals we don't want to see: the beagles bred for torture, the highly intelligent marine mammals imprisoned in water circuses, and the trailers full of pigs trucked to slaughter in a Toronto urban slaughterhouse. These are all animals who we don't want to view outside their normal context. Everyone loves images of majestic wildlife, or cute cats. What nobody wants to see is billions of animals being processed into product. The machinery of modern life is greased with the suffering of sentient creatures, but it's best if no one questions what makes the machine run so smoothly.

Recent legislative gambits may actually render McArthur's craft illegal. The factory farming industry has sponsored many bills to make photographing slaughterhouses a crime. The success of photographers like McArthur in advancing animal rights can be measured directly by the efforts of animal exploitation industries to have their profession criminalized.

The farm sanctuary sequences in Ghosts in Our Machine show one of the last contexts within which human beings form actual connection with farm animals. Most real farms are protein factories wherein animals are commodities and no regard is given to their sentience. The tranquility of farm sanctuary is a welcome counterpoint to the film's merciless displays of industrial and scientific cruelty.

The difference between the life of an animal in a sanctuary and an animal in the machine, is the difference between heaven and hell. Piglets at the sanctuary are things of beauty enjoying happiness. The fact that their mother was the subject of torture by cattle prod seems an incongruity, rather than the brutal norm.

The film moves slowly and deliberately. It is richly shot, and has a lingering ambient and atmospheric soundtrack by Bob Wiseman. The film's atmosphere does not reflect the noise and pain of the lives of the animals caught in the machine. What it does reflect is the inner tranquility of McArthur, who, though haunted by what she has seen, is at peace for knowing she is doing whatever she can to ameliorate the existence of billions of creatures.

Upon meeting with a Newsweek editor she whispers: "I'm trying to save the world" in a way that is self-­‐consciously exaggerated. This is pure insight. The secret to tranquility is a life spent in good humour, pursuing a higher purpose.

After a creature is consumed in the machine, a McArthur photograph is usually the only thing documenting its miserable existence. There are cultures that believe that a photograph steals the spirit of its subject. McArthur's photographs actually accomplish the opposite. They are often the only haunting trace of an entire existence; ghostly representations of billions of lives lived in horror.

Hot Docs 2013 Preview: Canadian Edition April 25 | By Dorkshelf http://dorkshelf.com/2013/04/25/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐preview-­‐canadian-­‐edition/

The Ghosts in Our Machine Director: Liz Marshall Program: Canadian Spectrum 92 minutes

Recommended: Yes. It’s beautiful and moving in ways that few films on this subject even come close to.

Coming hot on the heels of Denis Cote’s far slicker and wordless Bestiare last year comes Liz Marshall’s look at animals living in deplorable conditions as a perfect companion piece, and actually a better film on the subject of how animals can think and feel just like the rest of us.

Marshall tags along with photographer and animal rights activist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur as she documents the disturbing conditions some animals are subjected to and the suffering placed on them for fashion and progress. The point is to make the audience sympathize with the animals and their plight, and Marshall and McArthur make for a perfect team in this respect. It’s not a film designed to make you feel good. It’s one designed to ask questions of the audience to look within their own hearts and make a connection to another living creature and offer empathy and mercy. It’s equally tragic, vital, and essential viewing. (Andrew Parker) Screens

Sunday, April 28th, 6:30pm (RUSH ONLY), Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Wednesday, May 1st, 11:00am, Isabel Bader Theatre Saturday, May 4th, 11:00am, Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

Jewel Thiefs! Reindeer Herding! Sex for Trees!

HotDocs Celebrates Its 20th In Style Kurt Halfyard | March 19, 2013 http://twitchfilm.com/2013/03/hotdocs-­‐2013-­‐announcement.html

In the competitive Canadian Spectrum program, notable films include: Michelle Latimer's ALIAS, which illuminates the lives, music, and dreams of five rapper's in Toronto's street hip-­‐hop scene; John Kastner's NCR: NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE, a compassionate portrayal of the dilemma between the rights of the mentally ill and the safety of others; Charles Wilkinson's OIL SANDS KARAOKE, the story of oil sands workers easing their loneliness at their local karaoke bar; Hans Olson's THE AUCTIONEER, a charming portrayal of a man helping his rural Alberta neighbours deal with a transforming culture; Anne Wheeler's CHI, following actress Babz Chula's journey to India in hopes of finding a cure for her cancer; Liz Marshall's THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, which captures the sentience of animals through stunning images; and Nimisha Mukerji's BLOOD RELATIVE, the story of a man's fight to obtain life-­‐saving medical treatment for young people in India

what (not) to doc

April 19, 2013 · 12:01 PM

Hot Docs 2013 Overview

http://whatnottodoc.com/2013/04/19/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐overview/

In less than one week, Toronto’s Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, kicks off its twentieth edition, which will run through Sunday, May 5. An essential stop on the doc fest circuit, I’ve been fortunate to attend for the past several years, and will be covering the event for Indiewire once again.

Liz Marshall’s THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, following an activist as she documents industrial abuse of animals;

HOT DOCS 2013: The Ghosts In Our Machine

"The Ghosts in Our Machine is angry, stoic, and demanding of its audience to be responsible." http://www.pressplus1.com/hot-­‐docs/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐the-­‐machine

Capsule Review Festival: Hot Docs 2013 Film: The Ghosts in our Machine

Sun, Apr 28 6:30 PM Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Director: Liz Marshall Length: 92 Minutes

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

SYNOPSIS: Award-­‐winning photographer and activist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur has been travelling the world for over ten years to document the mistreatment and suffering of animals at the hands of western industry. Ghosts In Our Machine joins the impassioned McArthur on covert missions: to factory farms in the dark of night where animals raised for fur or food are kept in appalling conditions, and to an almost utopian sanctuary for rescued animals. Her goal is to demonstrate the sentience of non-­‐human animals; her deep connection with these animals is palpable in her photography. She takes these photographs in order to bear witness; her stunning portraits of the animals—foxes, cows, pigs, chickens—capture their unique personalities, quirks and intelligence, and make a compelling argument on their behalf. Poetic and engaging, this powerful film will

spark important conversations about the relationships between human and nonhuman animals on our shrinking planet. Lynne Fernie

THOUGHTS: I don’t even know exactly where to start with this film; probably somewhere around the point that animal torture is not newsworthy. That singular fact that it is convenient for us to ignore this point must infuriate photographer and animal rights activist, McArthur, which the audience feels this documentary through.

Watching the foxes devour themselves out of hunger or the minks wailing and screaming in rows upon rows of metal cages (there would be hell to pay if it was waling children in those cages) just made me think of how cavalier Anna Wintour (Editor of Vanity Fair) is about fur in fashion, and how this unnecessary suffering of those animals would one day be an attire of prestige. I read somewhere that if you are willing to kill an animal directly to eat it then it would be considered acceptable to pick it up at the grocery store. I know I could kill a fish to survive but not a cow – and that is why I am a pescatarian. However, after watching Ghosts in Our Machine, pescatarian is one step closer to vegan. It is that divide between us and the animals – mostly through the sanitation of going to the grocery store instead of actively having to kill it, that has made us monsters in our ignorance – which is no excuse.

By the way, you see some gorgeous vegan food in this film as people discuss the subject of animal rights throughout the film, without pointing out indignantly that everything on the table is cruelty free.

It is easy to understand why McArthur is diagnosed with PTSD. The things she sees in order to take her photos – that nobody wants to see – is enough to make you not eat anything for a month, or at least, purge the contents of your stomach. McArthur is writing a book and it is through this process that we follow her journey for a time. Who will pick up this book? Willing advocates or those who might receive the benefit of an article in Time magazine on the subject that would open their minds and change their lives, or simply make them rethink what they buy and how they buy it.

The Ghosts in Our Machine is angry, stoic, and demanding of its audience to be responsible. It doesn’t persuade, it simply declares, and in those declarations are truths we have hidden away under the rug for far too long. It is probably time for us to get the dustpan out and start cleaning up this mess.

Oh, and beagles are the best breed for vivisection for experiments, just thought you should know.

Hot Docs 2013: ‘The Ghosts in Our Machine’ uses the power of the camera to put the horse before Descartes Posted on April 28, 2013 By David Fiore Blog, Doc Talk, Hot Docs http://www.soundonsight.org/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐uses-­‐the-­‐power-­‐ of-­‐the-­‐camera-­‐to-­‐put-­‐the-­‐horse-­‐before-­‐descartes/

The Ghosts in Our Machine Directed & Written by Liz Marshall Canada, 2012

Modern Western philosophical patriarch René Descartes is probably best known for his pithy dictum: cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”) – a formulation which led him

step by step to a “dualistic” vision of existence, with a radical divide between the physical body and the purely spiritual “mind”. Mid-­‐20th century behaviorist Gilbert Ryle famously criticized this approach to the philosophy of mind for its absurd attempt to artificially parse out the parts of personhood, likening Descartes’ concept of the “soul” to a “ghost in the machine”. The terms were aptly chosen, and the 17th century French thinker probably wouldn’t even have disagreed with them, considering his willingness to describe all non-­‐human animals as “machines”. Today, very few philosophers would accept the strong version of Descartes’ body/mind argument – but humanity at large seems more disposed than ever to treat most non-­‐human beings as if they are merely physical objects to be exploited.

Director Liz Marshall turns this abhorrent way of thinking on its head, forcing the viewer to come to terms with the billions of ghosts churned out by the soulless machine of human industry and the robotically anthropocentric logic that keeps its processes running at full tilt. The Ghosts in Our Machine chronicles the efforts of activist and photojournalist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur to shut this seemingly unstoppable automaton down, using only her aesthetic/ethical instincts and the services of another machine – her camera. This harrowing documentary follows McArthur around the world as she documents the plight of non-­‐human animals living in the most wretched conditions imaginable as they await their grim fates. Unable to free these beings from their bonds, she does what she can by spiriting contraband evidence of their personhood to the world that consumes them so callously. McArthur and Marshall know that their audiences have all heard the animal rights/animal liberation arguments before – to little or no avail. The film does contain some of this familiar rhetoric, but for the most part it leaves the heavy hearted lifting to the lens – and what it reveals. A visit to a massive fox fur farm sets the tone for much that comes later, as the camera captures the agony of the prison’s inmates in their eyes and horribly immured mannerisms.

The Ghosts in Our Machine also takes an unexpected detour into McArthur’s subjective experience of her seemingly Sisyphean task. She tells an editor that she is “trying to save the world” – and the relative ineffectuality of her quest to this point has obviously taken its toll. Marshall accompanies the photographer to several farm sanctuary locations (including Ontario’s own Snooter’s) that present a model of what ethical interspecies relations might look like. Here again, McArthur and Marshall do an extraordinary job of putting the emotions of non-­‐human people on the screen (happy ones, in this case). The film never allows the viewer to rest comfortably in the notion that the evident contentment on display in these havens might somehow “balance out” the ongoing horrors occurring in the world beyond their felicitous fences, Rather, this little dose of positive imagery makes the overwhelmingly strong medicine contained in the rest of the movie even harder to swallow. Perhaps someday soon, we just won’t.

The Ghosts in Our Machine makes its world premiere at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on April 28 (6:30 pm). It will also show at the Isabel Bader Theatre on May 1 (11 am) and again at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on May 4 (11am).

The Ghosts In Our Machine Haunts Hot Docs 28 Apr 2013 Posted by Emer Schlosser http://www.weraddicted.com/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐haunts-­‐hot-­‐docs/

We’re all animals, but on earth today we’ve created a hierarchy and some humans place very little value in the feelings and well being of other creatures. Photographer and passionate activist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur makes it her mission to capture The Ghosts In Our Machine.

Although she feels strongly, she doesn’t free the individual animals, but rather tries to make a bigger impact by capturing the conditions and spreading the powerful images to a wide audience.

She’s taken this wholeheartedly on as her mission, but her heart is heavy with the memories of those she snaps and leaves in their cages. To recoup, she heads to an animal sanctuary, and thank goodness because that gives the audience a chance to recover and digest the hauntingly disturbing imagery. It’s also nice as it helps to paint two sides end of the spectrum of animal treatment. The sanctuary is a safe haven for creatures who were rescued from cruel conditions so they can live out the rest of their lives in love and freedom.

A difficult documentary to watch (ladies, make it a mascara-­‐free evening), but it is potent light that is shone through McCarthur’s flash on this subject. McCarthur takes risks and strives to bring these issues to the public, help her achieve that goal by going to see The Ghosts In Our Machine and educate yourself.

WYLIE WRITES The Reviews of Addison Wylie Hot Docs 2013: The Ghosts in our Machine is Hauntingly Good May 1, 2013 Wylie Writes Leave a comment Go to comments http://wyliewrites.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐ is-­‐hauntingly-­‐good/

According to The Ghosts in our Machine, it’s easier for photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur to go unseen in factory farms than it is to be seen in major publications.

McArthur has dedicated her life to capturing the life of unkempt animals through her lens to spread the word of inhumane treatment aimed towards animals to garner material goods. Whether she’s tagging along with other passionate individuals or executing guerrilla missions as we saw some do in the Academy Award winning documentary The Cove, Jo-­‐Anne will stop at nothing – which has caused her distress outside her work. It’s hard not to when you’re constantly witnessing innocent animals in awful conditions.

Her photos may speak volumes, but the media refuses to use her work either because the images are too graphic and break outside their PG-­‐13 guidelines or because the issue isn’t major enough to generate much interest – which can easily transfer to “the issue is easy to ignore”.

The Ghosts in our Machine is a prime example of the saying “if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself”. In this case however, MacArthur does it with the help of a book editor, a camera crew, a song specially performed by Radiohead, and Liz Marshall – a director/producer who is just as devoted as Jo-­‐Anne.

The documentary bounces around a lot from issue to issue, but doesn’t find itself becoming unfocused because each argument is backed up with a significant amount of information. MacArthur and Marshall tackle fur factories, the unfairness of dairy

farms, the heartbreak of animal testing and other unsettling processes that lead to your dinner plate.

The Ghosts in our Machine doesn’t feel heavy-­‐handed when it’s informing moviegoers about these lesser looked at animal processes, but there are moments in the documentary that feel as if McArthur and Marshall have an ulterior motive which is showing how easy and convenient it is to live a vegan lifestyle. They never overly glamorize veganism and outright say that everyone should be swaying away from animal products but its hard not to raise an eyebrow when MacArthur’s healthy meals are being perfectly lit and presented. There are too many shots of sautéed veggies to not ignore this.

But, as a doc that wants to educate viewers on statistics that are generally ignored or swept under the carpet, it’s a worthwhile watch that packs a memorable emotional punch. MacArthur’s photos are upsetting but equally breathtaking and gorgeous in their own ways. The same can be said about how Marshall and her team of cinematographers have shot this documentary in a way that could fool anyone into thinking Steven Sodebergh had helmed – or at least produced – this impacting film.

The Ghosts in our Machine also comes through on its promise to humanize animals and show us these creatures feel and react the same as us. MacArthur and Marshall manage to dodge a conventional hippy-­‐dippy attitude during this conveyance through candid shots of animals going about their usual routine. They don’t have to do much selling or convincing to show us this side of their argument because of this artful yet simple display of unity.

So, Jo-­‐Anne MacArthur and Liz Marshall: Mission Accomplished! I wish you all the best with furthering your careers with trying to save the world.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

"THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE" + "CHIMERAS" + "FELIX AUSTRIA!" -­‐ Reviews By Greg Klymkiw -­‐ Klymkiw's Bases-­‐ are-­‐loaded HOT DOCS 2013 HOT PICKS http://klymkiwfilmcorner.blogspot.ca/2013/05/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐chimeras.html

The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013) **** Dir. Liz Marshall Review By Greg Klymkiw

Okay, so something funny happened on the way to my home in the country. My wife and child, both being inveterate tree-­‐huggers, got the craziest idea. What they wanted to do sounded like one hell of a lot of work. They promised I would not have to avail my services upon any aspect of their venture. Well, good intentions and all that, but now I find I'm not only a gentleman farmer, but involved in the rescue of animals living in horrid conditions and headed for inevitable slaughter. Now, it's not that I'm some kind of anti-­‐environmental redneck or something, but what I love about living in the country is sitting in my dark office, smoking cigarettes, watching movies and writing. I occasionally step over to the window, part the curtains briefly

and look outside to acknowledge -­‐ Ah yes, nature! I then happily return to my prodigious activities.

You see, prior to becoming a gentleman farmer, I liked the IDEA of nature, the IDEA of being in deep bush, the IDEA of living off-­‐grid on solar energy. Well, more than the ideas, really, since I did enjoy all of the above in practice, but in my own way.

Now, I have animals. Shitloads of them that my wife, daughter and eventually I rescued from misery with the assistance of a super-­‐cool Amish dude.

Needless to say, when watching Liz Marshall's film, I was completely blown away.

You see, having experienced the joy of coming to know a variety of animals, I eventually realized that all of God's creatures I mistook for being little more than blobs of meat with nothing resembling character, spirit or intelligence was just downright stupid. I've always had dogs and THEY certainly have character, spirit and intelligence -­‐ so why NOT chickens? Or donkeys? Or hell, even bees.

Marshall's film, you see, focuses upon someone I'd have to classify as a saint.

Photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur is not only an astounding artist of the highest order, but by restricting her activities to mostly photographing animals in the most horrendous captivity, she's risked both her life and mental health. Given my recently-­‐acquired predilection for animal rights, I watched Marshall's film three times. Yes, on a first viewing I was far too emotionally wound up to keep my cap of critical detachment on, but now I'm perfectly convinced of the film's importance in terms of both subject AND cinema. It's a finely wrought piece of work that takes huge risks on so many levels in order to present a stunningly etched portrait of the heroic McArthur and HER subjects -­‐ all those animals being tortured to fill the bellies of ignoramuses and line the pockets of corporate criminals. (Not that I'm planning to go Vegan anytime soon, but I do believe that ANYONE who consumes any animal product derived from cruel meat factories as opposed to natural free-­‐ range is no better than a torturer and murderer.)

Not kidding about that, either.

What you see in this film will shock you. There is no denying what both Marshall and McArthur see and capture with their respective cameras. Creatures with individual souls and personalities are being hunted, incarcerated in conditions akin to concentration camps and/or bred in captivity and tortured until they are slaughtered. Equally frustrating are the corporate boneheads in a variety of publishing industries devoted to generating purported journalism -­‐ the difficulty with which McArthur must suffer to get her work published and to bring attention to these atrocities gets me so magma-­‐headed I need to almost be physically restrained from going "postal".

You must see this movie.

4/25/2013

Hot Docs Review: 'The Ghosts in Our Machine' http://www.cinemablographer.com/2013/04/hot-­‐docs-­‐review-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine.html

The Ghosts in Our Machine (Canada, 92 min.)

Dir. Liz Marshall Programme: Canadian Spectrum (World Premiere)

“I’m trying to save the world,” whispers photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur to a colleague as he marvels at the images she has placed before him. McArthur turns art into activism one still frame at a time by travelling the world and capturing the mistreatment of animals through her lens for a massive project entitled “We Animals”. Her pictures are stunning aesthetic feats, especially for how well they juxtapose the personality of our four-­‐legged friends with the inhumanity of our industrialized factory farms and food industry. McArthur’s passion and conviction ring true in every frame of The Ghosts in Our Machine, making it one of the strongest offerings at Hot Docs this year.

McArthur’s maverick photography, impressive as it is, seems to find a hard time reaching the audience she needs to inspire change. The Ghosts in Our Machine shows the contradictory nature of trying to make a difference, as one’s message must be provocative enough to inspire action, but safe enough to appeal to a mainstream(ish) paying public audience. An early scene shows McArthur pitching some of her work to her peers and while they acknowledge the power

and importance of her photographs, they admit that the photos will have a hard time finding their way to print. The more honest and effective the photo is, the less likely it will be seen by a wide readership.

The Ghost in Our Machine, however, gives McArthur’s photography the compelling display it deserves. The film follows McArthur as she executes several photo-­‐shoots aimed at bringing empathy to non-­‐human animals in captivity. McArthur captures the personality in these animals against the cold, industrial backdrop of their confines. The photographs show that animals offer many of the same emotions that humans bring to pictures: a sense of pride can be seen in the poise of a newly freed beagle, while the eyes of a pig reflect fear as it stands in a cramped truck.

Other noteworthy sequences include a visit to a farm for rescued animals and a portrait of a couple that creates a family by rescuing beagles from a test lab. The sanctuary scenes show how much better non-­‐human animals can flourish when they’re given open spaces and conditions akin to their natural habitats. The same practices, in theory, could be used by many farms in developed countries, but the western world opts for cost and convenience, as even many organic farms offer inhospitable conditions for the animals as they’re processed quickly and efficiently in order to cater to the over-­‐consumptive habits of developed countries. The beagle adoptees present the long recovery that awaits animals that escape the machine, as Abbey, their newest beagle, can’t even climb a flight of stairs when she arrives in her new home. Both sequences propose practical and effective habits that ordinary citizens can take a stand for animal rights and contribute in meaningful ways.

The importance of McArthur’s art is captured best in one excellent sequence that brings her to Europe where she documents the conditions of a factory farm for foxes with a fellow animal rights activist. McArthur and her colleague plan the shoot methodically and then go in for the attack during the early morning hours. The documentary shows the conditions of the farm firsthand—small overcrowded cages and foxes in need of care and treatment—and Marshall intercuts the footage with still images of the photographs that McArthur captures in the sequence. The way McArthur’s camera captures the foxes differently than the film’s camera does is a thing of beauty. The sequence stresses the power of McArthur’s photographs, which look twice as compelling when framed within the context in which they were shot.

McArthur likens herself to a war photographer in one scene of The Ghosts in Our Machine, but the comparison might not be hyperbole. Director Liz Marshall (Water on the Table) follows McArthur along some fascinating and revealing reconnaissance missions that feel comparable to the taught research scenes in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. Hunting down factory farms might not seems as tricky as ferreting out Osama bin Laden, yet the methodical intuition and inspiring urgency that McArthur invests in her work isn’t too far from the conviction of Jessica Chastain’s Maya. There’s a war for to be fought for the rights of non-­‐human animals, The Ghosts in Our Machine proposes, as the rights of all earthly creatures might be the next stage in human morals.

If The Ghosts in Our Machine bears even the slightest hint to Zero Dark Thirty, then it’s a blood relative to last year’s animal doc Bestiaire by Denis Côté. Looking into the eyes of non-­‐human animals with a compassionate, observational gaze, both Ghosts and Bestiaire highlight straightaway how wild animals aren’t meant for a life of industrialized confinement. Both films show the emotions and personalities of animals as they live in man-­‐made surroundings.

Marshall’s doc exceeds Côté’s, however, because it puts the onus on its audience to acknowledge that it’s simply our intellect that sets us apart from these creatures and that we should use this advantage for kindness and compassion, and not for profit and consumption.

Marshall’s rendering of McArthur’s project is a worthy portrait. The Ghosts in Our Machine is as impeccably composed as its subjects’ photographs. Handsomely shot by a team of four cinematographers—Nick de Pencier, John Price, Iris Ng, and Marshall herself—and seamlessly edited by Roland Schlimme and Roderick Deogrades, The Ghosts in Our Machine offers top-­‐ notch filmmaking. Thanks to the extensive coverage Marshall provides for each scene, The Ghosts in Our Machine has the look and tempo of a Hollywood thriller—hence the reference to Zero Dark Thirty—and the convincing insight never feels the slightest bit like a lesson.

The film, which credits all the non-­‐human animals that appear in the film alongside their human animal co-­‐stars, is bound to engage its audience with its dramatic look at the underbelly of contemporary commodification. Jo-­‐Anne’s sympathetic story and inspiring passion could easily change the way many viewers look at animals. Whether they’re feed, entertainment, or domesticated friends, animals deserve to enjoy many of the same rights we do.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)

Jared Lorenz Cinematographer | Producer | Writer

Picks for Hot Docs 2013 Posted on April 29, 2013 by admin ·∙ Leave a comment http://jaredlorenz.com/picks-­‐for-­‐hot-­‐docs-­‐2013/

This is the first year since moving to Toronto that I am not shutting absolutely everything down for Hot Docs. Normally I’m a fixture at the Forum and festival proper. This year I am instead working feverishly to produce my next project, a collaborative doc called Finding Family which we’ll be starting this summer as we travel across Canada.

Nevertheless, you can’t keep a bear from honey, so here are the films I’ll be seeking out in the downtime.

The Ghosts in Our Machine. This activist selection attempts to show the unique personalities of animals. Lynne Ferney’s words say it best: “this powerful film will spark important conversations about the relationships between human and nonhuman animals on our shrinking planet.”

Hot Docs 2013: The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013)

Posted by Judith Keenan April 22, 2013 0 Comment 1164 views

http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/documentary/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐ our-­‐machine-­‐2013/#.UYlyniuDR7M

The Ghosts in Our Machine follows Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, a highly skilled and empathetic photographer as she pursues her own personal brand of animal rights activism – photographing the animals farmed en masse for food, clothing, accessories and medical research. Her access is close, accompanying a young couple adopting their second purpose-­‐breed beagle from a research facility; riding in the trailer with a cow liberated from slaughter; visiting Cambodia where wild caught monkeys start their journey to laboratories. Sometimes it’s illegally close, for instance climbing fences in the middle of nowhere Europe to shoot the largest fox farm still operating. And the documentary film camera is right there at her shoulder, as artfully deployed as the still camera.

If the intent of the filmmakers of The Ghosts in Our Machine is “to witness,” they have achieved that, with the benefit of poignant images brought to the level of art.

Not surprising given the subject’s stock in trade, but hopefully more subtly effective as a tool in teasing viewers into the issues than one might otherwise expect.

Just because its beautifully presented does not mean all the content is easy.

McArthur admits she suffers PTSD due in large part from having to shoot, then walk away from each horrific situation, rationalizing her inaction in that moment with the logic that one act will not change worldwide systems so ingrained. Reaching hundreds of thousands of people to create awareness is her stated goal – she’s playing the long game. The film takes the audience into periods of rejuvenation at Snooters Animal Sanctuary, showing how McArthur recharges by being with animals given maximum capacity for life, while demonstrating the polar opposite alternative in the treatment of animal sentience. The only middle ground addressed in the film is an interlude with Temple Grandin who invented more humane ways in which to treat cattle slaughter while also achieving business aims.

For me, already a convert, the film was validation of what I knew or suspected, but in the instances of wild animal farming, had never seen. It is a rallying cry for those already supporting the play – see it to bolster and recharge your activism. The question of whether the film will be effective for those not yet in the match lies in one’s belief of whether “bearing witness” is enough. If you are considering getting involved, or have a friend or colleague thinking about putting in time, see the film for a considered, un-­‐preachy survey of issues both worldwide and very close to home.

Editor’s note: Judith Keenan is a colleague of producer Nina Beveridge and a fan of Liz Marshall’s chutzpah in getting her work into the world. In addition to being a film producer, she works extensively in dog rescue, in close proximity to puppy mill issues, and lives around the corner from the abattoir featured in the film. Rather than seeing any of this a disqualification in reviewing this film, I saw her as the perfect reviewer to judge the efficacy of this documentary.

Screening Time for The Ghosts in Our Machine

Sun, Apr 28 6:30 PM Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Wed, May 1 11:00 AM Isabel Bader Theatre Sat, May 4 11:00 AM Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

Indiecan acquires The Ghosts In Our Machine doc

8 days ago by Etan Vlessing http://playbackonline.ca/2013/04/29/indiecan-­‐acquires-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐ doc/#ixzz2SZiTJllF

Indiecan Entertainment has picked up the Canadian rights to the animal rights feature documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine by Liz Marshall.

The acquisition by the indie distributor follows a world premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto.

The Ghosts in Our Machine, commissioned by the CBC’s documentary channel, focuses on animals that are caught up in a global trade in commodities.

Produced by Nina Beveridge and Marshall, the documentary features animal photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur photographing animals bought and sold as consumers, and which the film attempts to bring empathy to.

Hot Docs ’13: Indiecan captures Marshall’s “Ghosts” 5 days ago by Adam Benzine http://realscreen.com/2013/04/29/hot-­‐docs-­‐13-­‐indiecan-­‐captures-­‐marshalls-­‐ ghosts/#ixzz2SLdxWJeo

Indiecan Entertainment has acquired the Canadian distribution rights to Liz Marshall’s feature documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine (pictured), which had its world premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto last night (April 28).

Produced by Marshall (Water on the Table) and Nina Beveridge, the doc follows animal photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur over the course of a year as she photographs several animal stories in parts of Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

“The Ghosts in Our Machine is a film I have been talking to Liz about since the fall of 2010, when I first met her at a Planet in Focus event,” said Indiecan founder Avi Federgreen in a statement. “Indiecan was launched back in 2011 to give films like The Ghosts in Our Machine a real boost to reach audiences across the country.”

Marshall added: “It’s full circle karma with Avi. The Ghosts in Our Machine is a concept I had been mulling over for some time, and he was the inspiration for me to get cracking on developing and pitching the film in the fall of 2010. And, now here he is again helping us to soar.”

The Ghosts in Our Machine is a cross-­‐platform project commissioned by Canadian TV channel Documentary. The commissioning editor is Bruce Cowley, and the exec producer is Mila Aung-­‐Thwin.

INDIECAN acquires Liz Marshall's THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE -­‐ Hot Docs 2013

April 30, 2013

http://www.pressplus1.com/canadian-­‐film-­‐news/indiecan-­‐acquires-­‐liz-­‐marshalls-­‐the-­‐ ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐hot-­‐docs-­‐2013

Indiecan Entertainment has acquired the Canadian distribution rights to the feature length documentary, THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, directed by Liz Marshall (Water On The Table).

Produced by Nina Beveridge and Liz Marshall, THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINEis a consciousness-­‐raising film that shines a cinematic light on the animals we don't easily acknowledge. The "ghosts" are commodities within the machine of our modern world.

Marshall followed animal photographer, Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, over the course of a year as she photographed several animal stories in parts of Canada, the U.S. and in Europe.

Each story is a window into global animal industries. For over a decade McArthur has travelled the globe documenting the lives of animals with heart-­‐breaking empathic vividness and professionalism.

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a cross platform project commissioned by documentary. Marshall and Beveridge developed their fan base early on using tactical Web outreach on an ongoing basis to expand the project's online presence over the course of production. Webby Award winning artists The Goggles created stunning brand design for the project, and an online Interactive story to accompany the film: www.theghostsinourmachine.com.

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is produced in association with documentary, Commissioning Editor is Bruce Cowley. Edited by Roland Schlimme and Roderick Deogrades, Cinematography by John Price, Iris Ng, Nick de Pencier, Liz Marshall.

Composer, Bob Wiseman. Sound Recordist, Jason Milligan, Sound Design, Garrett Kerr, Sound Mix is by Daniel Pellerin. Executive Producer is Mila Aung-­‐Thwin.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGhostsInOurMachine?ref=hl

The Ghosts In Our Machine is Acquired by Indiecan Entertainment Monday, April 29th, 2013 | Posted by shael stolberg

http://filmbutton.com/mainpage/?p=8962

from GAT (Toronto, Canada) – Indiecan Entertainment has acquired the Canadian distribution rights to the feature length documentary, THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, directed

by Liz Marshall (Water On The Table) which had its much anticipated World Premiere last night to a standing ovation.

Produced by Nina Beveridge and Liz Marshall, THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a consciousness-­‐raising film that shines a cinematic light on the animals we don’t easily acknowledge. The “ghosts” are commodities within the machine of our modern world. Marshall followed acclaimed animal photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur over the course of a year as she photographed several animal stories in parts of Canada, the U.S. and in Europe. Each story is a window into global animal industries. For over a decade McArthur has travelled the globe documenting the lives of animals with heart-­‐breaking empathic vividness and professionalism.

“THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a film I have been talking to Liz about since the fall of 2010,” says Indiecan’s Avi Federgreen, “when I first met her at a Planet in Focus event. Indiecan was launched back in 2011 to give films like THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE a real boost to reach audiences across the country.”

“It’s full circle karma with Avi,” adds director Marshall. “THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a concept I had been mulling over for some time, and he was the inspiration for me to get cracking on developing and pitching the film in the fall of 2010. And, now here he is again helping us to soar.”

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a cross platform project commissioned by documentary.

Marshall and Beveridge developed their fan base early on using tactical Web outreach on an ongoing basis to expand the project’s online presence over the course of production. Webby Award winning artists The Goggles created stunning brand design for the project, and an online Interactive story to accompany the film: www.theghostsinourmachine.com.

The Ghosts in Our Machine defends the animals on our screen 1 Posted by Ezra Winton -­‐ March 27, 2013 -­‐ Features, Reviews, Screen http://artthreat.net/2013/03/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐review/

Over the last decade of programming political documentary for Cinema Politica I can say with confidence that there are two subjects that have always been decidedly divisive and caused the most vociferous backlash from audience members. One of those subjects is the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine and the other is animal rights.

Expecting More — Or Less?

Over the years I recall audience revolts occurring where we had screened shorts and features interrogating the ugly spaces of the non-­‐human animal world’s subjugation to the biped food chain champs, homo erectus. PETA shorts have always inspired the most passionate responses – once an audience member stormed out of “Meet your Meat” to yell at me: “You should know better! We expect more from Cinema Politica! This is totally beneath you and is totally offensive!”

At so many screenings where we have projected images of non-­‐human animal oppression and subjugation we have been met with intense audience backlash. It’s not just strangers either. I remember bringing the film Earthlings to some family members’ home (animal-­‐ loving, canine-­‐obsessed family members) to watch together. I gave a very thoughtful introduction to the film that included a stern warning about some of the more graphic images and sounds that we were about to experience.

Not even twenty minutes in, during a particularly disturbing sequence showing puppies being gassed at one of many “puppy mills” (this is where most pet store puppies come from), someone jumped up and said: “Why did you bring this into our house? Turn this off NOW!” Upset, they went outside for some air while I, once again, tried to reconcile the debilitating tension between an audience that seems sympathetic but when confronted with the reality of the issue, recoils and rejects the experience altogether.

There is something to this rejection of animal suffering in documentary, and I think it has a lot to do with the larger (capitalist) liberal framework that documentary operates in and that audiences have become accustomed to.

There is a tradition associating movie-­‐ watching with entertainment and pleasure, and documentarians, likely in an attempt to move from the margins into the middle, have played into that tradition with feel-­‐good liberal takes on serious and disturbing issues (the current

reigning champ of this populist impulse is Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman).

Perhaps when we see a movie we don’t want to be implicated, and when we see a documentary about the systemic oppression of our animal friends at every level (entertainment, food, clothing, etc) how can we not feel complicit? This kind of confrontation challenges our liberal frameworks that have us comfortably “loving” animals selectively: those we have in our homes, those we take our children to pet, and those covered in white fur on snow, looking innocent and picturesque.

There is a corollary to those that are loved, which is those that are excluded: the ones we wear, eat, test on, and more. The sociologist Ernest Becker once said (I’m paraphrasing with poetic license here) that beneath the lofty ascension of humankind is a mountain of animal carcasses so high it may just eclipse our view of progress.

Confronting the Ghosts

So it is perhaps understandable that I approached LIz Marshall’s (pictured above, at right) new documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machine, with trepidation and a programmer’s hint of cynicism. I’ve seen many documentaries tackling animal rights and I’ve seen many sing to the choir while repelling in droves both the apathetic and sympathetic.

Yet Ghosts is a film that offers the hope of attracting those who care and those who don’t, a documentary that will embolden the converted while likely influencing more to join the choir (or at least check out the song book). It is a documentary that refuses to preach, instead opting for a beautifully constructed homage to the rest of our kingdom, spilling over with a unique and thoughtful cordiality that is born out of unmitigable love, respect and understanding.

The documentary is a refreshing departure from its more rational-­‐minded predecessors that throw facts and data at us while barraging audiences with violent sounds and images of slaughter and torture. Ghosts instead confronts with the unforgettable grace of animals many of us so easily shut out from our daily thoughts, as industrial capitalism distantly spins its cogs of exploitation on farms, in labs and factories and abattoirs.

These are the ghosts – the winged, the four-­‐legged and the otherwise objectified and disgraced cousins gasping for life below us on the commodity/food chain.

Marshall doesn’t throw the sixties wrench into the cogs of the machine, screaming from a mantle of righteousness that what we are doing is morally, ethically, ecologically wrong.

Instead, she introduces proximal empathy into the abysmal space between consumers and capital with a powerful effect that hits both the mind and heart with an enduring resonance.

Through the various actions and efforts of the very talented and committed photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur the film quietly sneaks into the obscured and horrific spaces of mink farms and other places where animals have had their essence as sentient beings barbarically debased into commodity form, lingering just long enough to occlude forgetting.

Both the photographs and cinematography in the film are stunning, and viewing on a small screen should be avoided – Ghosts is a visual delight, despite the sometimes difficult scenes that unfold. A confident direction shines through in this skilfully shot and tightly edited doc that is also audibly adorned with an awesome score and soundscape. The beauty of the film’s artifice somehow does not aestheticize suffering, nor create Hallmark images of the animals documented – instead the richness of sound and images helps us through tough spaces, punctuating moments we might otherwise wish to shut out or alternately, not have registered as worthy of contemplation.

Yet we do not spend too much time in the most violent of animal oppression spaces, and by focusing on the beauty and individuality of the many animals (who have names and personalities) that McArthur documents, including and crucially the relationships between committed humans and the broken and discarded, Ghosts brings us in close and personal and squeezes tight.

It’s a warm and inviting embrace that the film offers, one that builds empathy for these creatures over its 90 minutes, and it doesn’t relinquish after the closing credits.

I didn’t feel yelled at or schooled, but I do feel implicated and educated. To the benefit of Marshall and others who worked on this film (and by extension, to McArthur) those feelings of implication and elucidation are wrapped in beauty, love and understanding.

If I sound warm and fuzzy it’s because this film’s compassion and sensitivity are comforting sensations that just might be the right mixture needed to deliver a documentary on animal rights that transcends the earlier discussed divide and invites everyone in without compromising its politics, while not shutting out others, in spite of its politics

THE PUBLIC EPISODE 14: HUMANITARIAN JEAN VANIER, FILMMAKER LIZ MARSHALL March 24, 2013 by kevincaners http://thepublicradio.org/2013/03/24/the-­‐public-­‐episode-­‐14-­‐humanitarian-­‐jean-­‐vanier-­‐ filmmaker-­‐liz-­‐marshal/

And in the second half of the program, I speak with award-­‐winning documentary filmmaker Liz Marshall on her upcoming film The Ghosts in our Machine, in which she turns her lens to how we treat animals in our modern industrial society.

Documentary Filmmaker Liz Marshall The Ghosts in our Machine will be premiering at the 2013 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in Toronto this May.

The Ghosts in our Machine, the upcoming documentary by Liz Marshal explores how we treat animals To find out more about the film and to keep abreast of upcoming screenings, visit www.theghostsinourmachine.com

20th Hot Docs Line-­‐Up Features World Premieres, Top Docs, Speaker Series DAILY NEWS Mar 20, 2013 7:03 AM -­‐ 0 comments http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/news/20th-­‐hot-­‐docs-­‐line-­‐up-­‐features-­‐world-­‐ premieres-­‐top-­‐docs-­‐speaker-­‐series/1002153627/

In the competitive Canadian Spectrum program, notable films include: Michelle Latimer’s ALIAS, which illuminates the lives, music, and dreams of five rapper’s in Toronto’s street hip-­‐hop scene; John Kastner’s NCR: NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE, a compassionate portrayal of the dilemma between the rights of the mentally ill and the safety of others; Charles Wilkinson’s OIL SANDS KARAOKE, the story of oil sands workers easing their loneliness at their local karaoke bar; Hans Olson’s THE AUCTIONEER, a charming portrayal of a man helping his rural Alberta neighbours deal with a transforming culture; Anne Wheeler’s CHI, following actress Babz Chula’s journey to India in hopes of finding a cure for her cancer; Liz Marshall’s THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, which captures the sentience of animals through stunning images; and Nimisha Mukerji’s BLOOD RELATIVE, the story of a man’s fight to obtain life-­‐saving medical treatment for young people in India.

Hot Docs 2013: Full Lineup By Interest POSTED BY: Adam http://filmpulse.net/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐full-­‐lineup-­‐by-­‐interest/ The full lineup for Hot Docs 2013 has been officially announced today, and North America’s largest documentary film festival doesn’t disappoint with another massive slate of amazing looking docs.

ANIMALS Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys; Auctioneer, The; Blackfish; Furever; Ghosts in Our Machine, The; Trucker and the Fox CAPITALISM & BIG BUSINESS Big Men; Blackfish; Brave New River; Chimeras ; Downloaded; Forest of the Dancing Spirits; Furever; Ghosts in Our Machine, The; Menstrual Man; Occupy: The Movie; Oil Sands Karaoke; Petropolis ; Searching for Bill; Second Class; Terms and Conditions May Apply; Whole Lott More, A FOOD & AGRICULTURE American Commune; Auctioneer, The; Burger and the King, The; Ghosts in Our Machine, The

PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTOGRAPHERS Chimeras; Everybody Street; Ghosts in Our Machine, The; Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington

Hot Docs 2013: My Thoughts on The Ghosts in Our Machine http://www.skonmovies.com/2013/04/hot-­‐docs-­‐2013-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine.html

These days it is not too uncommon to go on the subway in Toronto and see a poster about animal rights. Animal rights has always been touchy subject, since many people have different opinions on it. Some people are against animal cruelty, but still eat meat, while others heavily endorse a vegan lifestyle. One of the arguments made in Liz Marshall’s documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine is that, with the exception of pets and certain wild animals, most animals are only seen as food, clothing, animal tested goods, and entertainment. People often forget that all animals are sentient and have the capacity to feel.

The main subject of the film is photographer and activist Jo-Anne McArthur. Her job involves using her photographs to raise awareness about animal cruelty. As it is stated at one point, a photograph can do a thousand times more damage to an industry than direct action. McArthur’s job is only to document the cruelty, not liberate the animals, and she always finds leaving the animals to their fates the hardest part of her job. To help calm her nerves, she frequently travels to a farm sanctuary in New York, where liberated farm animals are allowed to graze peacefully.

If you are an animal lover, The Ghosts in Our Machine can be a very difficult film to watch. There is a scene in the film where McArthur sneaks into a fur farm to photograph foxes, who are yelping and clawing at their cages. You are definitely an emotionless person if those scenes don’t affect you in some way. Even sadder still is that many of these fur farms operate “off the map” in secluded areas, which gives the industry deniability involving their existence.

I won’t go as far and call The Ghosts in Our Machine propaganda, though the film does seem to try at times and convince the viewer that a vegan lifestyle is the way to go. The argument made by Jo-Anne McArthur is that all animals are sentient beings and have feelings and personalities. In fact, the film goes as far to credit every animal that appears in the film by name, under the heading “Non-Human Animals.” The film makes the very compelling argument that most animals are now raised on factory farms and that over ten billion are killed each year for food (a number that does not include sea animals).

Of course, it is very difficult to endorse a vegan lifestyle when consuming meat and dairy is so ingrained in our culture. The film features a number of voice clips, in which various individuals give their opinions on animal rights. The most compelling quote for me came from Temple Grandin, in which she said that we can use animals in ethical manners for food, but must give them a life worth living.

Overall, I have to say that The Ghosts in Our Machine definitely gets you thinking about animal rights. The whole perception of animal rights is quite vague and there are many in this world, who believe that animals aren’t even deserving of them. Since it’s a personal choice, I’m not sure how many people would truly go vegan after watching this film. However, I do have to admit that the film caused me to rethink all the meat I consume.

9 | REALLY LIKED IT

Breaking of the Shell Sunday, 28 April 2013

The Ghosts In Our Machine-­‐-­‐the Film Everyone Must See http://lilmacbreakingoftheshell.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine-­‐film-­‐ everyone.html

I had the privilege of attending the world premiere of Toronto film-­‐maker Liz Marshall's documentary "The Ghosts in Our Machine," a film that I have been eagerly awaiting for more than a year.

I expected the film to be beautiful and life-­‐changing, and now that I have seen it I can emphatically say that it exceeded my expectations in every possible way.

More than I could have imagined, the film is visually stunning and skilfully woven together. I know absolutely nothing about making or critiquing films, but I do know emotion, and it was on this level that the film was most brilliant.

As anyone even slightly familiar with how animals are kept and killed for the sake of our use knows, there is no shortage of horrific images and video footage that could instantly traumatize and reduce any viewer to a sobbing, shrieking, irrational, angry, devastated mess. Yet instead of confronting the viewers directly with the horror, the film gently peeled back a few carefully selected layers, hinting at the deeper terror, let us absorb the utter heartbreak, and then ever so mercifully brought us to happier places. Just as we were exposed to some of the heartbreak of factory farms and laboratories, we were also brought to sanctuaries, where we could laugh and cheer along with the antics and bliss of the rescued few, who gleefully showed us the magic that our animal friends could routinely share with us, if only we would finally learn the lesson that contented grunts and wiggly noses are more important than crispy bacon, and a group of adorable fox pups cavorting in a wintery wood means so much more than a fashionable fur trim on our winter coats.

As Liz Marshall said in the discussion after the film, her goal was to make a gentle film with a dramatic impact. That is exactly what she succeeded in doing.

And how was this extraordinary task in dealing with such a difficult topic accomplished? Of course, it was due to Marshall and her team's incredible skill (that I am incapable of fathoming and so can say little about).

Yet what struck me most, as I watched how the film unfolded for us the world of the animals in a way that was characterized by compassion and empathy for both the subjects and the viewers, was how, in doing so, it mirrored the traits that its protagonist, Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, and her incredible work, so perfectly embody.

I will admit that I, along with everyone else who has encountered her photography, am already in awe of this woman. She travels the world and documents, in the most beautiful and hauntingly powerful images, the plight of animals whom most of the world view as nothing but raw materials for our use. She walks into situations that are bleak and horrific, and shines just enough light to bring into focus the inner potential of her subjects, so that we can fully feel the tragedy of the magic and

beauty of which the world has been deprived, as a result of their confinement, abuse, and destruction.

Dressed in what looks like combat gear, she climbs fences and sneaks into nondescript compounds hidden from sight, and, with a degree of professionalism worthy of the most seasoned war photographer, she suppresses her own intense emotions, and does what she must to ensure that the stories of the animals whom she will have to leave behind will be revealed to the world which would never otherwise see any trace of their existence other than the finely packaged products created from their anonymous suffering. The woman is hardcore. The woman is a hero. The woman is tough, and serious, and professional. All this I already knew, which is why I admired her so much from the moment that I learned of her existence.

And yet, despite her genuine credentials as a warrior for the invisible underclass of non-­‐human animals, she is gentle, and unassuming, and vulnerable. We see, in the brilliantly presented moments of solitude and silence, the toll that her extraordinary work takes on her. We also see her struggle to share her work with a world that, for the most part, would rather not be aware of it.

This was the most powerful part of the film for me. We can't just separate her from ourselves as a hero who does something that none of us could ever do. She is one of us. The difference is that she is one of us who has taken it upon herself to dedicate her life to the goal of persuading the rest of us to hear the cries, and the wails, and the shrieks of those beings that most of us would rather not acknowledge. And she does this at great personal cost to herself. For the sake of trying to rectify horrors that she herself has not created, and does not perpetuate, she continually exposes herself to those horrors, despite having developed Post-­‐Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result.

If I were her, I would be an absolute wreck 100 % of the time, alternating between an inarticulate, inextinguishable rage, and a heaving, sobbing, screaming-­‐at-­‐the-­‐sky-­‐and-­‐asking-­‐why grief. I would be useless, and unprofessional, and destroyed.

Jo-­‐Anne, however, has remained absolutely professional. gentle, and warm. She does not flinch or shy away when telling her story and the story of the animals whose suffering she has witnessed, but she does not overwhelm her audience with blind rage or grief that they just wouldn't be willing to hear.

In the end, it has resulted in a film that is the best possible vehicle I could have imagined to get the message out on behalf of the animals. We live in a society in which we are all entitled to our opinions. No one wants to hear someone preaching, or raging or moralizing, especially against a practice that is so pervasive, in which we all share and which few want to face.

But when someone like Jo-­‐Anne McArthur shares her perspective, no one has the right not to listen.

She has been to hell and back, and then has resolutely returned to hell over and over and over again, and has documented that terrifying journey so that we can all learn from it. She presents the proof to us with absolute grace and humility. She can't force anyone to share her views, but she has certainly earned the right to engage us all in the conversation.

And that is why-­‐-­‐in conclusion-­‐-­‐I must insist that everyone see this film. Vegan or not, animal-­‐loving or not, you will benefit from the journey. * http://www.theghostsinourmachine.com/ To see it at Hot Docs film festival: http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/ghosts_in_our_machine *To Pre-­‐Order the book version and/or support the project: www.indiegogo.com/projects/we-­‐ animals-­‐the-­‐book

HOTDOCS13 REVIEW: The Ghosts in Our Machine [2013] Posted by Jared Mobarak on Friday, April 19, 2013 ·∙ Leave a Comment

http://www.jaredmobarak.com/2013/04/19/the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine/

“Leaving is the reason that I’m haunted” We are carnivores. That’s a proven fact, right? Where a moral code of honor in our interactions with animals existed at one point—and still does in some cultures—the present slaughter of animals for human consumption has become a business. It used to be we made sure to use every last bit of our furry prey so as to ensure its death was not wasted. We’d eat its meat, capture warmth from its pelt, and shape tools out of its bones. Animals were sustenance and survival inside a convenient package it took skill to hunt, raise, or train. With increased technology, however, these creatures have become nothing more than genetically bred, faceless commodities bought and sold without regard towards their individual lives. For many this truth is in need of rectification.

This is where documentaries like Liz Marshall’s The Ghosts in Our Machine come into play. By putting the harrowing images of factory farm-­‐born animals tortured and malnourished on the big screen for all to see, they attempt to tug at heartstrings and our almost nonexistent compassion towards anything beyond our own species so the masses can band together and create change. But where the abuse of mankind is impossible to watch, not everyone finds himself closing his eyes when a cow comes towards them on a conveyor belt to get a captive bolt pistol pressed against its forehead. Our society has been desensitized because we’re ingrained from a young age to believe in our superiority as intelligent creatures. These animals are our food source and will continue to be until they rise up against us.

Bob Blog -­‐ April 15, 2013 The Unforeseen Good Thing

By Bob Wiseman http://bobwiseman.ca/BobsBlog/?p=1327

I scored a film about a photographer who documents animal suffering which is playing at Hot Docs, called The Ghosts In Our Machine – it premieres Sunday April 28th at the Bloor. This is actually the 2cnd time I will see a film at the Bloor that I scored. The previous time I felt like elbowing every stranger on either side of me, ”Hey I did that. Did you like that? I did that. Really. Hey you stop talking – listen to the movie!”

As my relationship with the director, Liz Marshall, progressed over a year and a half, it became apparent that what was working for her was electronic music. I am called upon to make electronic music about as frequently as surgeons seek my opinion on gallbladder operations but I was excited to try to prove myself. I liked the inherent conflict – that in my heart of hearts I find electronic music insipid. Much of it sounds like one note depressed by someone’s index finger, while with their other hand they text a friend about dinner reservations. Wow was that ever amazing that you played that note for a fraction of a second and then all this factory programmed stuff happened.

There are of course electronic instrument choices that very organic with dimension, that shift in time, that you can sculpt and alter. So the test was on, can I make “good” electronic music? Is it as simple as I thought? Am I an imposter? Can I handle the truth?

Can I text and write simultaneously? It all worked out well, Liz was happy with the final pieces. But subsequently an unexpected thing happened. People tell me they think it is more “serious” than the music they usually associate with me. That’s an unforeseen good thing. I didn’t know people didn’t know I write serious music but maybe that’s how it is, maybe that’s the best thing about heading into new directions, getting new results.

I’ll admit I’m one of these people. I love the taste of red meat and frankly don’t care enough to find out the details of how it came to be cooked and seasoned on my plate. Does this make me a bad person? To portions of our society, yes. These activists love to inundate non-­‐believers with extreme depictions of violence, pools of blood surrounding infectious animals awaiting their death, and the fear of isolation in these creatures’ eyes through the metal latticework of cages and then wonder why we’ve become numb. They’ll equate the disparity in rights between man and animal with slavery and women’s rights. But while such an easy comparison seems apt in an emotionally generalized sense, it fails since cannibalism wasn’t a factor in either injustice. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.

In this respect I applaud Marshall and her subject—photojournalist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur— for not going too far into that sort of mind-­‐numbing rhetoric I generally ignore. Instead they take more of a stance based on the ethics of treatment rather than fully resorting to indoctrination of veganism as the one true religion of protein consumption. Yes, it’s intrinsically there when dealing with a ten-­‐year vegan as the film’s star and a place like Farm Sanctuary in New York posting signs to please not consume animal byproducts while on the property, but it’s kept on the periphery. When Temple Grandin’s voice is heard over the imagery to talk about how we need to find a way to give these animals a life whether we kill them still or not, I began to appreciate the film’s goal.

We all know zoos and marine theme parks aren’t the greatest environments for animals to live within. We’re fully aware farms with deplorable conditions are raising foxes and minks for fur or cows and pigs for meat around the world. And yes, America and western nations probably have their hands in the pot. This stuff isn’t new and those who care have been or will be exposed to the concept soon enough. What The Ghosts in the Machine hopes to focus on instead is the identities of the animals. Through McArthur’s still photography and Marshall’s video we are introduced to rescued Beagles and cows

with names and faces. They appeal to our natural adoration of cute furry friends to counteract the frightening imagery at the start of those they could not save.

Herein lies my major gripe, though. While I enjoyed experiencing the warfront metaphor of what McArthur endures to capture her images, the film ultimately becomes a story about her rather than them. Billed as a “documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world”, The Ghosts in Our Machine is actually about Jo-­‐Anne McArthur and her fight. While noble and worthwhile as a narrative, it’s not what we’re told we’re getting. Those eloquent enough to stand by their convictions could argue the film exploits the plight of these creatures for financial gain because while McArthur genuinely does this for the right reasons, moments depicting people telling her she needs to advertise herself more come completely false when remembering they’re in a film about her.

But hey, I’m a meat-­‐eater who doesn’t see any future in which I won’t remain one. So I’m not necessarily the target audience. Objectively, however, while a beautifully produced documentary showcasing a photographer who puts a ton of emotion in her work and truly believes in her cause, I’m not sure the film gives anything we don’t already know. My interest was in the idea of compromising and learning to think about ways to improve the dairy and meat industry rather than dismantle them altogether. I’d love to know the meat I eat comes from an animal raised compassionately. I also like how McArthur uses her work to raise awareness by documenting rather than liberating.

The bond she makes affects her immensely and the pain leaving them behind only makes the mission more important.

In the end, though, seeing cows Fanny and Sonny saved by the Farm Sanctuary or watching cute little Abbey the Beagle find a caring home after months of vivisection won’t make me turn vegetarian. Maybe plants have souls too. This subject is rooted in

spirituality and religion and the film’s constant look into the eyes of these sad, soulful animals to push that agenda becomes a bit much to stomach without a slight smile at its over-­‐wrought manipulation. The Ghosts in Our Machine tries too hard to be too many things and should have solely focused on McArthur breaking into fox farms and working towards animal rights or solely with meeting saved animals personified by the love given to them. Both concepts compete for attention here and the whole suffers as a result.

The Ghosts in Our Machine 6/10 | ★ ★ ½ photography: courtesy of gat.ca/

Art & Culture Maven Saturday, April 20, 2013 http://www.artandculturemaven.com/2013/04/hot-docs-2013-april-25-to-may-42013.html

The Ghosts in Our Machine – Directed by Liz Marshall -­‐ World Premiere With dramatic impact, Liz Marshall’s The Ghosts In Our Machine gently reveals a stark reality that is hidden from our view. Through the heart and lens of acclaimed animal photographer Jo-­‐ Anne McArthur, this consciousness-­‐raising documentary shines a cinematic light on the animals we don’t easily acknowledge -­‐ the “ghosts” -­‐ are commodities within the machine of our modern world. Over the course of a year, award-­‐winning director Liz Marshall follows McArthur as she photographs several animal stories in parts of Canada, the U.S. and in Europe. Each story is a window into global animal industries: Food, Fashion, Entertainment and Research. All part of an epic photo project called We Animals (www.weanimals.org) now in its 15th year and shot all over the globe, McArthur has documented the lives of animals with heart-­‐breaking empathic vividness and professionalism.

Attending Hot Docs: Director Liz Marshall, Subject Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, Producer Nina Beveridge Premiere -­‐ Sun, Apr 28 -­‐ 6:30 PM -­‐ Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Screening 2 -­‐ Wed, May 1 -­‐ 11:00 AM -­‐ Isabel Bader Theatre Screening 3 -­‐ Sat, May 4 -­‐ 11:00 AM -­‐ Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

May 1, 2013

HAUNTED BY GHOSTS — LIZ MARSHALL’S THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE HTTP://MICHAELBARKER.CA/?P=743

The Ghosts in our Machine This morning, as part of Hot Docs, I saw Liz Marshall’s new film about animal rights “The Ghosts in Our Machine” — a film told in part through the lens of activist photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur, who is the film’s chief pro-­‐ tagonist, and who I feel comfortable describing as a hero. In fact, if there was a word I felt best described this film, it would be ‘heroic’.

Animal rights is not an easy subject to tackle. My first self-­‐initiated teenage political involvement with activism was with the animal rights movement — an issue with some traction back in the 80s. My first punk zine (embarrassingly titled ‘anger’, worse yet, ‘anger’zine’) was almost entirely about animal rights. When I started work on it, I had the intention of doing some kind of objective journalistic article on the issue, and wrote to a bunch of different animal rights organizations (including ARK-­‐II and others) asking for con-­‐ tributions and information. I remember being overwhelmed by what I received in response, some of which was very graphic, and very disturbing, the photos in particular, but also the style of the dialogue, the balaclava-­‐clad militancy, the embrace of direct action. I ended up reprinting some of the pamphlets I was sent verbatim because I couldn’t get any distance from the subject, I had trouble processing it.

I couldn’t find the right language. “The Ghosts in our Machine” finds the right language.

This is a film that can’t be easily dismissed as a fringe issue, doesn’t preach to the converted, and insists that the ‘animal question’ hit mainstream consciousness, mainstream dialogue. It’s a film that contrasts horror with beauty, imprisonment with rescue, that celebrates compassion and forgiveness rather than rage. This film will upset you, there are some deeply troubling, deeply sad images here — but don’t let that scare you away from seeing it — because it’s also a hopeful film, an inspiring film — many injustices feel beyond our ability to address as individuals, but this is one that is extremely personal, extremely close, one where you can make an immediate impact through personal choice, where just changing the conversation around animals as food, entertainment, property, can have a meaningful impact on the lives of living creatures. It has me reconsidering some of the choices I make in relation to animal products, and I suspect changing some of those choices.

There’s one more screening of the film as part of Hot Docs on Saturday and at the time of writing this post, there are still tickets available — but you will have the opportunity to see this film, and you should, rest assured it will have a theatrical release, it will be broadcast, it will be accessible. As a work of sensi-­‐ tive advocacy, it is intended to be seen widely — but you don’t have to wait, there’s a multimedia photo essay on the film’s website where you can see some of Jo-­‐Anne’s work, and read some of her thoughts around the issue — Jo-­‐Anne also has a website of her ongoing “We Animals” project where you can see a wide range of her deeply moving photography. —Michael

The Ghosts in Our Machine

Directed by Liz Marshall

By Scott A. Gray http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/HotDocs/ghosts_in_our_machines-­‐directed_by_liz_marshall

Regardless of your position on whether or not being omnivorous is morally defensible, the ethical treatment of animals is a subject that needs to be kept in the light. With the fur industry and experimental testing as the primary targets in her crosshairs, filmmaker Liz Marshall skirts the nourishment issue (which means no argument about the sentience of carrots) and takes on a concern with much wider public support.

If you have empathy for non-­‐human beings, the first-­‐hand images she captures of factory farming practices are more horrific than any fiction we can concoct. Ostensibly, The Ghosts in Our Machineis about depicting qualities in animals that mirror recognizable human behaviours and emotions so that religious sociopaths with entitlement issues will believe that other sentient life forms have "souls."

To an extent, this is true; Marshall fills a lot of screen time with the myriad expressions and behavioural ticks of animals that are easily identifiable signifiers of personality. But what the movie is really about is photographer Jo-­‐Anne McArthur and her mission to "save the world."

She's a talented photographer with an artistic eye that sneaks into the hidden holding areas of labs and factory farms around the globe to snap shots, hoping to deal some damage to exploitative industries by selling her well-­‐documented stories to major news publications. Marshall gets a little too caught up in telling a story that positions McArthur as a vigilante hero with a camera, giving her struggle to be published as much weight as the thesis of her picture. Yes, it takes guts to risk your own safety for a cause but it smacks of egotism to put boosting a person's profile ahead of the agenda.

Being conscious of how much more effective an image is than words at provoking a response from the populace, it could be a calculated decision to make McArthur a face of the movement, knowing that most people will pay more mind to something they'd theoretically like to breed with than to depictions of adorable creatures suffering.

Stimulating conversation isn't part of the equation at all and the inclusion of audio quotes from Temple Grandin and other animal science academics only adds cursory information to the topic. There's no discussion of how morality is relative to survival needs (try telling the Inuit to go vegan) or how it might be possible to love and respect something and still be fine with it dying.

Marshall and McArthur have their hearts in an admirable place of compassion but their heads are in the clouds, which limits the potential of this project to significantly impact a gargantuan system of injustice.

(Ghosts Media/Films Transit International)

http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/hot-­‐docs-­‐review-­‐the-­‐ghosts-­‐in-­‐our-­‐machine/

We are carnivores. That’s a proven fact, right? Where a moral code of honor in our interactions with animals existed at one point—and still does in some cultures—the present slaughter of animals for human consumption has become a business. It used to be we made sure to use every last bit of our furry prey so as to ensure its death was not wasted. We’d eat its meat, capture warmth from its pelt, and shape tools out of its bones. Animals were sustenance and survival inside a convenient package it took skill to hunt, raise, or train. With increased technology, however, these creatures have become nothing more than genetically bred, faceless commodities bought and sold without regard towards their individual lives. For many this truth is in need of rectification.

This is where documentaries like Liz Marshall’s The Ghosts in Our Machine come into play. By putting the harrowing images of factory farm-­‐born animals tortured and malnourished on the big screen for all to see, they attempt to tug at heartstrings and our almost nonexistent compassion towards anything beyond our own species so the masses can band together and create change. But where the abuse of mankind is impossible to watch, not everyone finds himself closing his eyes when a cow comes towards them on a conveyor belt to get a captive bolt pistol pressed against its forehead. Our society has been desensitized because we’re ingrained from a young age to believe in our superiority as intelligent creatures. These animals are our food source and will continue to be until they rise up against us.

I’ll admit I’m one of these people. I love the taste of red meat and frankly don’t care enough to find out the details of how it came to be cooked and seasoned on my plate. Does this make me a bad person? To portions of our society, yes. These activists love to inundate non-­‐believers with extreme depictions of violence, pools of blood surrounding infectious animals awaiting their death, and the fear of isolation in these creatures’ eyes through the metal latticework of cages and then wonder why we’ve become numb.

They’ll equate the disparity in rights between man and animal with slavery and women’s rights. But while such an easy comparison seems apt in an emotionally generalized sense, it fails since cannibalism wasn’t a factor in either injustice. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.

In this respect I applaud Marshall and her subject—photojournalist Jo-­‐Anne McArthur—for not going too far into that sort of mind-­‐numbing rhetoric I generally ignore. Instead they take more of a stance based on the ethics of treatment rather than fully resorting to indoctrination of veganism as the one true religion of protein consumption. Yes, it’s intrinsically there when dealing with a ten-­‐year vegan as the film’s star and a place like Farm Sanctuary in New York posting signs to please not consume animal byproducts while on the property, but it’s kept on the periphery. WhenTemple Grandin’s voice is heard over the imagery to

talk about how we need to find a way to give these animals a life whether we kill them still or not, I began to appreciate the film’s goal.

We all know zoos and marine theme parks aren’t the greatest environments for animals to live within.

We’re fully aware farms with deplorable conditions are raising foxes and minks for fur or cows and pigs for meat around the world. And yes, America and western nations probably have their hands in the pot.

This stuff isn’t new and those who care have been or will be exposed to the concept soon enough.

What The Ghosts in the Machine hopes to focus on instead is the identities of the animals. Through McArthur’s still photography and Marshall’s video we are introduced to rescued Beagles and cows with names and faces. They appeal to our natural adoration of cute furry friends to counteract the frightening imagery at the start of those they could not save.

Herein lies my major gripe, though. While I enjoyed experiencing the warfront metaphor of what McArthur endures to capture her images, the film ultimately becomes a story about her rather than them.

Billed as a “documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world”, The Ghosts in Our Machine is actually about Jo-­‐Anne McArthur and her fight. While noble and worthwhile as a narrative, it’s not what we’re told we’re getting. Those eloquent enough to stand by their convictions could argue the film exploits the plight of these creatures for financial gain because while McArthur genuinely does this for the right reasons, moments depicting people telling her she needs to advertise herself more come completely false when remembering they’re in a film about her.

But hey, I’m a meat-­‐eater who doesn’t see any future in which I won’t remain one. So I’m not necessarily the target audience. Objectively, however, while a beautifully produced documentary showcasing a photographer who puts a ton of emotion in her work and truly believes in her cause, I’m not sure the film gives anything we don’t already know. My interest was in the idea of compromising and learning to think about ways to improve the dairy and meat industry rather than dismantle them altogether. I’d love to know the meat I eat comes from an animal raised compassionately. I also like how McArthur uses her

work to raise awareness by documenting rather than liberating. The bond she makes affects her immensely and the pain leaving them behind only makes the mission more important.

In the end, though, seeing cows Fanny and Sonny saved by the Farm Sanctuary or watching cute little Abbey the Beagle find a caring home after months of vivisection won’t make me turn vegetarian. Maybe plants have souls too. This subject is rooted in spirituality and religion and the film’s constant look into the eyes of these sad, soulful animals to push that agenda becomes a bit much to stomach without a slight smile at its over-­‐wrought manipulation. The Ghosts in Our Machine tries too hard to be too many things and should have solely focused on McArthur breaking into fox farms and working towards animal rights or solely with meeting saved animals personified by the love given to them. Both concepts compete for attention here and the whole suffers as a result.

The Ghosts in Our Machine screens at Hoc Docs April 28, May 1, and May 4.

Hot Docs has record-­‐breaking year Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, had record-­‐breaking crowds in Toronto where Audience Award went to Muscle Shoals. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/05/06/hot_docs_has_recordbreaking_year.html

Hot Docs Top 10 audience favourites at Hot Docs 2013 1. Muscle Shoals 2. Blood Brother 3. A Whole Lott More 4. The Punk Singer 5. Last Woman Standing 6. Spring & Arnaud 7. This Ain't No Mouse Music!

8. Menstrual Man 9. The Crash Reel 10. The Ghosts in Our Machine

Record-­‐Breaking Attendance at Hot Docs 2013

By Joanna Padovano Published: May 7, 2013 http://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/2013-­‐5-­‐7-­‐can-­‐hot-­‐docs

The cash prize for the Audience Award, presented by Netflix, is being shared

by Muscle Shoals, Blood Brother and A Whole Lott More. The remaining titles in the top ten audience favorites are The Punk Singer, Last Woman Standing, Spring & Arnaud, This Ain't No Mouse Music!, Menstrual Man, The Crash Reel and The Ghosts in Our Machine. The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear and These Birds Walk tied for the Filmmakers Award.

Hot Docs has record-­‐breaking year

By Staff http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/661341/hot-­‐docs-­‐has-­‐record-­‐breaking-­‐year/

Hot Docs Top 10 audience favourites at Hot Docs 2013 1. Muscle Shoals 2. Blood Brother 3. A Whole Lott More 4. The Punk Singer 5. Last Woman Standing 6. Spring & Arnaud 7. This Ain't No Mouse Music!

8. Menstrual Man 9. The Crash Reel 10. The Ghosts in Our Machine

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