The filmmaker Rachel Epstein discusses her new documentary The Anarchist Lunch, playing at DOXA this week, with Joseph Planta.

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

There was a group of academics here in Vancouver, that four decades ago began a weekly lunch. They’re the subject of a new film, and as The Anarchist Lunch begins, we meet the group as it’s morphed, adapted and expanded dining at their regular spot, a favourite, Lin Chinese Cuisine on West Broadway. It’s 2018, and little did its filmmaker Rachel Epstein realise what would happen in the next few years to her father, Norman, one of the group’s founders, not leaders, and the various aging members. Most are of the left, representing various groups, like anti-war and anti-nuclear movements, advocates for climate justice, union organising, Palestinian liberation. We see members die off, but what happens in the spring of 2020, changes not just the arc of this film but group’s lives as we see them navigate the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom, and the inability to gather at their favourite Chinese restaurant. The film is a marvelous opportunity to reflect on activism, friendship, especially the male variety, and aging. Rachel Epstein is a long-time queer, Jewish activist, a mediator, fertility counsellor, and wedding officiant. Her Twitter handle is @RachelEpstein3. The film screens Friday, 03 May 2024 at 5.15pm at the VIFF Centre. For tickets and information visit www.doxafestival.ca. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Rachel Epstein; Rachel, good morning.

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