The Ghosts in Our Machine

Liz Marshall's new documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine follows the beneficial risks taken by photographer and animal rights activist Jo-Anne McArthur as she snaps heartbreaking shots of the animals enslaved in various industries.

Grim statistics numerically accompany her outputs, providing troubling realities with cold hard facts.

The fur industry's profits are increasing, for instance.

Scientific laboratories have actually bred a beagle to maximize its docility.

Dairy cows generally give milk for three to four years before they're butchered, even though they could have lived a much longer life, their utters no longer being profitable.

Facilities like those chronicled in Gabriela Cowperthwaite's Blackfish are sprouting up all over the world.

And the practices adopted by many organic farmers aren't that different from their large-scale competitors.

Animal rights are the focus and discourses which justify animal abuses are contradicted through a wide range of compelling photographic and cinematic images.

The film is informative without being preachy, evocative but not sickly sentimental.

It's not sensational, relying more on the integrity of its illustrations than the volatility of its message.

When they visit the Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York and show close-ups of their resident cows, pigs, sheep, etc., intricately capturing their emotions and personalities, it's truly moving.

The film should be airing on the CBC's documentary channel on Sunday, November 24th.

Finding funding to support your work, an artist's dedication, and historical revelations are featured as well.

Here's an article about animal rights in Switzerland.

This is what I think Ms. McArthur is referring to when she mentions bears.

Farm Sanctuary's catalogue and its value added information are remarkable.

Living an ethical life.

During question period after the film, an audience member asked how Ms. Marshall and Ms. McArthur manage to continue pursuing their goals in the face of so much suffering (paraphrasing), and Jo-Anne recommended Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World as an aid.

Sounds like a good read.