Grief. Violence. Quilts.
In January 2020, the RCMP killed homelessness activist Barry Shantz at his home in Lytton, B.C during a mental health crisis. That morning, his partner called 911 for help. What they got was an army of police officers, including snipers, but not a single mental health worker. In response to this tragedy, his sister Marilyn creates a series of art quilts called Kairos – a Greek word which means ‘an opportune time for action’.
A Bullet Pulling Thread is a documentary that follows Marilyn’s journey through grief and tells the story of her brother’s extraordinary life. Although they grew up together in small-town Ontario, Marilyn and her brother were very different. Marilyn had a calm, peaceful, safe life as an award-winning quilter. It was nice. Her brother Barry was a fearless advocate for the homeless, a former drug smuggler, ex-con and finally a victim of police violence. One bullet brought their paths together. Marilyn began her Kairos quilts as a way to process her grief. She also believes they could be important tools to spark conversations about mental health and to motivate change in policing.
While carrying on this artistic mission, Marilyn also tries to discover why police replied to her brother’s cry for help with fatal force. In doing so, she runs up against administrations that refuse to admit culpability or take responsibility. In the summer of 2021, Marilyn packed up her quilts and drove across the country to exhibit them in Abbotsford. Her aim is to confront law enforcement with her pain and share her experiences with those who knew her brother. And as she discovers, grief is a question with no easy answers.
WINNER Best Documentary @ Chilliwack Independent Film Festival
Nominated – Best Documentary Forest City Film Festival; Mental Filmness Festival, Chicago; Opening Night Film, JayU Human Rights Film Festival; Human Rights Through Film Selection, Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
Feb 12th – Whitehorse, YT – Available Light Film Festival
Mar 16th – Kingston, ON – @ The Screening Room
April 14th – Guelph, ON – The Bookshelf Cinema
Written & Directed by Ian Daffern
Edited by Gisela Restrepo and Eui Yong Zong; Cinematography by Marina Dodis, Dennis Porter, Daniel Everitt-Lock, Steve Field, Kyle Sandilands & Tate Young
Produced by Idfactory
Funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council.
Supported by TA2 Studios in Toronto and The Reach Gallery in Abbotsford, BC
“Daffern shows how Farquhar channelled her grief into radical art…It’s a striking work that conveys her loss, but also the many lives affected by that single shot.” – POV MAGAZINE
“Her struggle shows that the systems like the RCMP need to recognize the human cost of their actions, and the necessity to change the way they approach people in crisis.”- Abbotsford News
“If Shantz’s name sounds familiar, it might be because of Abbotsford v. Shantz, the 2015 B.C. Supreme Court case — an unprecedented ruling in Canadian housing rights… Shantz led an extraordinary life.” —Winnipeg Free Press
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