Students and Faculty

More than Human Cargo

A successful screen writer, author, and professor in UBC's creative writing program, Linda Svendsen co-wrote and co-produced Human Cargo, a $9-million, six-hour mini-series on refugees that aired on CBC TV in January.

Capping both a personal and professional journey for Svendsen, the series was billed as an unflinching look at the post 9/11 world of refugees -- and the people who try to help them. Svendsen became intrigued with Canada's handling of refugees following the tragic bungling by the international community of the civil war in Rwanda.

"The civic war was unfolding in Rwanda," says Svendsen. "Then I saw the documentary, Who Gets In, about the Canadian immigration process, and started attending refugee hearings and listening to people's stories first-hand."

Svendsen and her partner Brian McKeown, of Howe Sound Films, proceeded to weave a story of six characters. An Afghan woman, smuggled across the Canadian border in a produce truck. A dedicated refugee lawyer. An ambitious right-wing parole board lawyer whose racist views enflame the legal community. Her daughter, a relief agency worker. A mother battling disease, starvation and child-soldier recruitment in Africa. And her brother, who escapes torture to file a refugee claim in Canada.

While conveying the systemic and human problems around refugee issues, the series reflects Svendsen's personal commitment to their plight.

"I think about Rwanda and the fact that no one did anything. When former commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda Romeo Dallaire spoke at UBC, he challenged us to consider our treatment of refugees. He asked, 'Are some humans more human than others?'"

Production for UBC professor Linda Svendsen's mini-series included 35 shooting days in Vancouver, and 30 days in Port St. John, South Africa, site of this makeshift camp. Xhosa residents from villages as far as thirty miles away brought their families to the camp, situated on the summit of Mount Thesiger, to portray Burundian refugees.

Related Links

• Creative Writing Program
• CBC Television - Human Cargo

Milestones

The Corporation. Law professor Joel Bakan (centre) has won international acclaim for his book and film "The Corporation". The provocative movie won international acclaim as a "cogent, entertaining, even rabble rousing indictment of perhaps the most influential institutional model of our era." The film, based on Bakan's book, took away awards from the International Documentary Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, and will show in 300 U.S. cities this year.

"Humble" satellite challenges astronomers. Canada's MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars) satellite project, headed by UBC physics and astronomy professor Jaymie Matthews, turned conventional thinking on its head in June. The suitcase-sized telescope took readings of the star Procyon, but found none of the pulsations predicted by 20 years of theory.

Students sweep Metropolitan Opera regional auditions. UBC School of Music students Rhoslyn Jones, Justin Welsh and Neema Bickersteth took three out of four prizes at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Canada District Auditions in November. All three have regularly performed on stage throughout their studies, and are known for their charismatic stage presence, vocal excellence and attention to detail.

1,747 miles to the gallon. A team of UBC mechanical engineering students finished first this year in the 25th annual Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Supermileage Competition in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After 12 months of refining the design of their vehicle, the team was able to travel 1,747 miles on one U.S. gallon. This spectacular result equates to almost 738 km on a single litre of fuel.

Living large. Geoff Gotto (right) got to live his dream last year. On track to earn his UBC medical degree in May, he completed a month-long elective at Khunde Hospital at the base of Mt. Everest, caring for Sherpa villagers and climbers. Practicing medicine at the base of the renowned mountain gave him the best of both worlds, he says.

A Wesbrook Scholar, Gotto has received many awards, including the UBC President's Scholarship and the Hamber Scholarship. He has also earned the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award for leadership and community service. During his studies, he worked with the Community Health Initiative by University Students in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a program that sees students from a range of disciplines provide much-needed services to disadvantaged residents.