Cinema Canada (Oct 1979)

Meeting eye to eye, photographer Martin Duck camera at a level with the children. The result of his effort is the unique point of view in the opening section of the film, and an intimacy with the children being filmed throughout. A variety of activities in three Toronto day care centres (Friends’, St. Peter’s, and Regal Road) were filmed to illustrate the different approaches to day care, the use of space and the relationships with the community. Through interviews with staff members, parents and children, the film suggests several important elements that make for good day care, including the involvement of parents in the administration. Good Day Care: One Out of Ten is a good resource tool for any group in the planning stages of establishing a centre. It’s also a fascinating film in its own right, full of energy and color, beautifully shot and interestingly structured. The first section of the film provides total immersion within one specific centre, where we are able to see a wide variety of experiences available fora child in day care. Anyone looking for an alternative to the babysitter who relies on the TV set will be impressed with the amount of personal attention, exercise and creative interaction that takes place in this setting. One of my favorite moments is a tacit interaction between a child and a male staff member, with the child choosing hats for both of them. In a mixture of seriousness and pure delight, they don the hats, gaze at one another worth and his little people and burst into laughter, as the voice-over narration mentions the good self-image that a child can develop in this atmosphere. However, this section ends with the fact that for most children in Canada, such a milieu is simply “out of reach”. The middle section of Good Day Care: One Out of Ten provides us with a useful and fascinating historical perspective on day care in Canada since the beginning of the century. Using archival photographs taken in factories, “sweatshops,” homes and schools, this section of the film traces the relationships among industry’s needs, government priorities, working conditions for women in the labor force and day care. Some of these old stills are extraordinarily revealing, especially of the shameful working conditions that accompanied the height of the Industrial Revolution. As well, this section documents the continuous failure of the government to deal with day care: a failure that is still with us. In fact, by 1977 the number of day care spaces available in this country had actually decreased. Building on the impact of these archival photographs, the final section of the film includes shots of present-day work environments that are almost equally appalling: huge laundries where women iron clothing all day; garment factories full of sewing machines; secretarial pools, where wages are still not adequate to cover day care. Nevertheless, the film emphasizes the importance of active AIAORT FILM REVIEWS organization by parents in order to change the present situation. The footage from the three different Toronto centres is used here to illustrate what can be done. “I started out to make a home movie about Friends’ Day Care, where my son had been for three years. But very early on in making the film I discovered that the general situation of day care in Canada is appalling,” says Barbara Martineau. “I realized how lucky we’d been, and what strong measures are needed to provide better care for all our children. That is what the rest of the film is about — all our children, and all of us. After all, children are our future.” Joyce Nelson The Show -A Night of Starlight p.Peter Thompson d./ph./ed. John Bertram asst. ph. Robert Bergman sd. Dave Webb, Douglas Ellis m.d. Jim Betts p.c. P.F. Productions For years now Jim Betts and the gang have been getting together for a few songs, some dancing and a great deal of hard work, in order to put on a show. The Show: A Night of Starlight documents the production of the annual review staged by a group known as New Faces at the University of Toronto’s New College. The John Bertram film follows all the action from the initial stages of auditions in October of 1976 through to opening night the following February. The review written and directed by Mr. Betts involved a large and diverse cast and crew. Over eighty-five students majoring in subjects from computer science to physical education dedicated themselves for four months to the creation of the final performance. A Night of Starlight did not evolve from a tight script and an iron-willed director. Betts allowed the interests and abilities of the cast members to flourish and to supply some of the direction. Through a series of workshops and improvisations the eventual structure that was unveiled to the public on opening night developed. John Bertram edited over six hours of footage into a tight twenty-six minute package that fits nicely into the half-hour television format. The continuous camera move Cinema Canada/39