After reaching notoriety thanks to his documentary Sharkwater, filmmaker/environmentalist Rob Stewart found his next subject while taking his movie around the world. In China, a student asked him about the point of trying to save the sharks in circumstances aquatic life is in dire jeopardy as well.

His response took the shape of Revolution (now playing at the Roxy in Saskatoon, coming soon to Regina), a documentary in which Stewart goes around the world visiting areas affected by climate change, deforestation and the most pressing threat, Ocean acidification. I talked to Rob recently about his movie. Even though he seems weary of talking about the subject, Stewart is not done trying to get his message to the people.

- While making the film, did you make an effort to separate your job as a filmmaker and your activism?

- There is no real difference to me. I’m making movies because I’m an activist. This is the way I believe I can change the world most profoundly. I’m not in it to make the greatest piece of art.

- Did you know where you were heading to, every step of the way?

- No. There were a lot of surprises. Canada’s involvement was a huge surprise (tar sands, withdrawal from Kyoto), the involvement of children in changing the world… We went from having giant budgets to small ones, so the movie changed quite a bit along the way. We made a US$ 5 million film for a million bucks.

- Revolution is a very optimistic film, but I failed to discover the reasons of this optimism.

- Every successful revolution worked because people knew where they needed to go. Right now, this is the first time we have the tools to tackle this problem: There is a billion people connected through Facebook, there is more technology in your phone than what got us to the moon, we have a million of conservation groups working for the same cause. Instead of fighting against corporations, we should be fighting for a brighter future, a world that works.

- Just as a filmmaker, how do you feel you have changed from Sharkwater to Revolution?

- Sharkwater was like film school for me. I never went to film school or operated a camera. I learned everything on the job. It taught me I could educate people to take better decisions and sent me on a career path.

- You have a number of roles in Revolution (director, writer, producer, editor). Which one would you hand off in a future project?

- I don’t think I’ll produce the next movie. This was too much for me. I would like someone else to focus on the business side while I worry about the creative side.

The Drowsy Chaperone runs on the main stage at Globe Theatre from May 22-June 9. For ticket information call 306-525-6400.

So check it out if you get a chance.

PEARL, which has been tracking ozone depletion, air quality and climate change in the High Arctic since 2005, and contributes data to several international environmental monitoring projects, is run by an informal network of university researchers called the Canadian Network for Detection of Atmospheric Change. The network announced early in 2012 that the station would be forced to cease year-round operations at the end of April that year after being unable to secure the $1.5-million annual funding it needed to stay open all year. The station had been funded primarily by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, a granting agent funded by the federal government from 2000 to 2010. In the 2011 budget, no money was allocated to CFCAS. Instead, $35 million over five years was budgeted for the CCAR program, but it had not yet started accepting applications for funding. The network had applied for other grants, but had been turned down for all of them.

Great news!

But the reason I’m mentioning this is that The Guardian has a great column by English author and education expert Sir Kenneth Robinson  column on how creativity actually works. The headline: “To Encourage Creativity, Mr Gove, You Must First Understand What It Is”. Here’s an excerpt:

First, creativity, like learning in general, is a highly personal process. We all have different talents and aptitudes and different ways of getting to understand things. Raising achievement in schools means leaving room for these differences and not prescribing a standard steeplechase for everyone to complete at the same time and in the same way.

Second, creativity is not a linear process, in which you have to learn all the necessary skills before you get started. It is true that creative work in any field involves a growing mastery of skills and concepts. It is not true that they have to be mastered before the creative work can begin. Focusing on skills in isolation can kill interest in any discipline. Many people have been put off mathematics for life by endless rote tasks that did nothing to inspire them with the beauty of numbers. Many have spent years grudgingly practicing scales for music examinations only to abandon the instrument altogether once they’ve made the grade.

The real driver of creativity is an appetite for discovery and a passion for the work itself. When students are motivated to learn, they naturally acquire the skills they need to get the work done. Their mastery of them grows as their creative ambitions expand. You’ll find evidence of this process in great teaching in every discipline from football to chemistry.

The column is here and you guys should read it. Go!

*Against? Nah, I like “at”.

2 WHAT A WEEKEND As of this morning, two Conservative senators and the PMO’S former chief of staff are holidaying in scenic and sunny resignationland. The Senators, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, have both been subject to probes into shenaniganical expense claims while Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top man has stepped down because he wrote a $90,000 cheque to Mike Duffy to bail him out of trouble.  Turns out a former legal adviser to the PM brokered the deal between Wright and Duffy. CTV reports that in exchange for the $90K and, apparently, a promise that a Senate investigation would go easy on him, Duffy would promise to repay the expenses. CTV also reports that Harper is “very upset” about this mushrooming scandal. I guess that’s why he’s fled the country.

3 AND THEN THERE’S THIS “Dozens of people appointed to plum patronage jobs have been donating to the Conservative party, despite government rules that forbid it.” Yikes.

4 AND THEN THERE’S ROB FORD The Toronto Mayor, who may have been filmed smoking crack cocaine, made his first public appearance since Friday when he dismissed the accusations without denying them. New York magazine has a list of Rob Ford controversies–which includes DUIs, driving while reading, accusations of unwanted touching, belligerent public drunkenness and offering to get oxycontin for constituents,  and other nonsense The Star has its own list. This whole story is incredible. Ford seems completely out of control. Forget about staying on as mayor–I can’t see how this guy’s going to still be alive in two years.

5 ASSHOLES IN FLORIDA ARE TRYING TO RUIN A GAY TEENAGER’S LIFE BY SELECTIVELY APPLYING LAWS THAT AREN’T INTENDED FOR SITUATIONS LIKE THIS Jesus Christ. Go help this poor 18 year-old.

6 SO WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT BC ELECTION, ANYWAY? Ill-timed boners for policy, possibly.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? I HADN’T. IT’S FUNNY! WATCH IT! Patton Oswalt as the Penguin verses a somewhat, erm, dim Batman.

Wednesday night he’s in town to play a show at Bushwakker Brew Pub (9 p.m. start). To give you a sense of what he’s like, here’s video of him performing the title track off Growing Pains at a 2012 show at a Calgary pub:

During the May 20-25 run of the festival, a whole pile of music, theatre, literary, visual art and other types of creative events will be happening. Probably your best bet to get up to speed is to grab one of the festival guides that was included in our May 16 issue. But if that’s not doable you can find more information here.

To close here’s a video by one of the musical groups that will be playing at the festival. It’s “Slings & Arrows” by Jeffery Straker, and he and his band will be playing at the Holy Rosary Park Main Stage on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. after the Streetfair: