There would seem to be no possible similarities between the World Community Film Festival and the Olympics other than the fact that both were available to Grand Forks viewers this past weekend, yet there were. I watched eight of the nineteen films and most of the Olympic events featuring Canadians. Many of the films dealt with the environmental damage and/or human suffering caused by either large corporations or men and women motivated by greed or acting in selfish ignorance. The Vancouver Olympics themselves have been criticized for being a corporate run event that has disregarded criticism of its wasteful use of natural resources and the tax dollars that might be spent on health, education and environmental protection.

Those are not the similarities I'm talking about, however.

I heard criticism of the film festival for being too dour and depressing, for showing films that portrayed the negative side of humanity: destruction, death, greed and violence. I heard similar criticism of the Olympics for ignoring reality and being a Pollyanna elitist showcase and celebration of a few rare, gifted individuals at the expense of the common man, a gathering place for corporate executives and wealthy parasites who could afford luxurious lifestyles.

None of that is what I'm talking about either.

In every film I saw and in every Olympic event there were individuals who exhibited extraordinary amounts of courage and perseverance, who brought intelligence and skill, self-sacrifice and endurance to bear on the tasks that faced them. All tried to overcome overwhelming odds. Many failed; a few succeeded.

At 63, I am not yet prepared to say that we should limit the kind of human achievement that should be celebrated. I was moved by it all. To those who think that people go to documentary film festivals just to wallow in misery, I would say take in a few films next year. Far from being depressing, the real heroics on display are uplifting. To those who say that people who sit in their living rooms and ignore reality by watching silly, useless games I would say enjoy the collective joy of competition on TV at the next Olympics, or at the GFI or Border Bruins games.