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Winnipeg Free Press
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Technology helps revive folk fest documentary
The creator of a new documentary and oral history book about the Winnipeg Folk Festival doesn't describe himself as a die-hard folkie. 'I've been more of a casual attender, but still a fan,' says Kevin Nikkel, a local filmmaker and writer with an interest in Winnipeg history and culture. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Kevin Nikkel (left) with collaborator John Prentice. SUPPLIED Filmmaker Kevin Nikkel (left) with collaborator John Prentice. This week, Nikkel releases two parallel projects about the history of the annual summer music festival, which celebrates its 50-ish anniversary at Birds Hill Provincial Park in July. His book, Founding Folks: An Oral History of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, launches at McNally Robinson Grant Park Wednesday; followed by the opening of his feature-length documentary, When We Became Folk Fest, at Dave Barber Cinematheque on Friday. 'I'm really excited to show people this cinematic time capsule of the folk fest,' Nikkel says of the documentary directed with his late collaborator, Dave Barber. It's a movie that almost ended up in the trash. Nikkel and Barber — Cinematheque's founding programmer, who died in 2021 — were working on another local history documentary, Tales from the Winnipeg Film Group, when they started mulling another project. Barber had come across a set of previously unusable film reels that hadn't been watched in decades and were headed for the bin. Captured by Winnipeg Film Group members in 1975, the grainy Super 8 footage shows a young Mitch Podolak, bearded and bespectacled, keeping things afloat during the second-ever Winnipeg Folk Festival. SUPPLIED PHOTO Founding Folks is an oral history of the event. The reels, which also included more than four hours of crowd shots and artist performances, were intended for a documentary that was scrapped in the editing booth because the video and audio were out of sync — a fatal issue at the time. 'We were able to access all this material because, technology being the way it is, it was far more reasonable to sync up the faulty audio with the picture because the software has improved so much,' Nikkel says. 'We picked up a project that had begun and was stalled and has become something completely different than what they had originally intended.' Local composer and sound designer Andy Rudolph helped solve the post-production puzzle and UMFM 101.5 radio host John Prentice, who was present during the original film group shoot in 1975, was brought on as a collaborator. When We Became Folk Fest pairs the vintage footage with archival photographs and offscreen interviews with festival instigators Podolak, prior to his death in 2019, wife Ava Kobrinsky, co-founder Colin Gorrie and others. SUPPLIED PHOTO When We Became Folk Fest is a feature-length doc about the early days of the festival. The film — which focuses on the event's early politics, vision and business model — also includes conversations with the likes of performers Bruce Cockburn, Tom Jackson, Peter Paul Van Camp and Al Simmons. 'I'm really looking forward to sharing this window into our scene, our culture — and people might even recognize themselves or their relatives,' Nikkel says. Creating a documentary is a big enough project on its own, but Nikkel knew from the outset he wanted to pair it with an oral history book. He took a similar tack with Establishing Shots: An Oral History of the Winnipeg Film Group, a book based on interviews from his 2017 documentary with Barber. 'My frustration as a filmmaker or editor is you sit down and have a nice long conversation with someone, but then you only take a couple quotes that end up in the film,' he says, adding writing has become a fitting companion to his filmmaking practice. Founding Folks, published by University of Manitoba Press, features many of the same voices as the film but takes a deeper look at the festival's early days and continued success, which Nikkel says is due in large part to its location and dedicated volunteers. JOHN BACHMANN PHOTO A new documentary revives troubled footage from 1975 for a look back at 50-ish years of Folk Fest. These performers were among the first in 1974. JOHN BACHMANN PHOTO A new documentary revives troubled footage from 1975 for a look back at 50-ish years of Folk Fest. These performers were among the first in 1974. In an era when folk festivals across the country are failing, he hopes readers and viewers will recognize the rarity of a grassroots event that's managed to carry on since 1974. 'For both of these projects, I'm really wanting to contribute to that sense of place and the fact that we have this very rich history and heritage,' Nikkel says. 'We often see this kind of archival material and think about Woodstock and some of these other highly important cultural gatherings from that era, but you never get to see that about yourself and about Winnipeg.' BETSY THORSTEINSON PHOTO The footage captured by the Winnipeg Film Group in 1975 suffered the then-fatal flaw of out-of-sync images and sound: today's technology was able to save it. BETSY THORSTEINSON PHOTO The footage captured by the Winnipeg Film Group in 1975 suffered the then-fatal flaw of out-of-sync images and sound: today's technology was able to save it. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Zawya
30-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
SANS Institute to host dual cybersecurity training events in UAE in May 2025
SANS Abu Dhabi May 2025 and Dubai May 2025 to bring in-person and virtual events with hands-on courses and exclusive Community Night sessions United Arab Emirates – SANS Institute, the global leader in cybersecurity training and certifications, has announced two major training events in the United Arab Emirates this May: SANS Abu Dhabi May 2025 (May 18-23) and SANS Dubai May 2025 (May 25-30). The events offer a selection of world-class courses tailored to help cybersecurity professionals across the Middle East sharpen their skills and stay ahead of today's most advanced threats. The UAE's cybersecurity landscape is under growing pressure, with over 223,800 exposed assets and half of all critical vulnerabilities left unpatched for more than five years. According to the 2025 State of the UAE Cybersecurity Report, misconfigurations and improper usage are driving most incidents, while AI-powered threats like phishing and deepfakes are becoming more common. As government, finance, and energy sectors remain key targets, strengthening cyber resilience is now a national priority. "The UAE's rapid digital growth has positioned the country as a prime target for increasingly sophisticated cyber threats,' said Ned Baltagi, Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, SANS Institute. 'By offering practical, mission-focused training in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, we're enabling teams to level up their capabilities, from ICS and forensics to red teaming and auditing – and build a stronger defense posture that meets the needs of 2025 and beyond.' SANS Abu Dhabi May 2025 Taking place at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi, from May 18-23, SANS Abu Dhabi May 2025 offers the following courses: ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials FOR572: Advanced Network Forensics: Threat Hunting, Analysis, and Incident Response SEC670: Red Teaming Tools - Developing Windows Implants, Shellcode, Command and Control In addition to training courses, SANS will host a Community Night session on 'Tales from the Cryptography' on May 19 (5:30pm–6:30pm GST). This free evening talk, open to all cybersecurity enthusiasts, will highlight real-world cryptographic failures from 2024 – from open-source libraries to Fortune 500 codebases – and offer practical insights into why cryptography remains a critical, yet misunderstood, area of cybersecurity. SANS Dubai May 2025 SANS Dubai May 2025 will take place from May 25-30 at the Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah, where participants can register for the following courses: SEC565: Red Team Operations and Adversary Emulation SEC566: Implementing and Auditing CIS Controls SEC511: Cybersecurity Engineering: Advanced Threat Detection and Monitoring SANS Dubai will also feature a Community Night session on Monday, May 26 (5:30pm–6:30pm GST): 'Same Findings, Different Organization'. The talk will shed light on recurring vulnerabilities across companies and industries, raising tough questions about whether organizations are truly improving their security posture. Both events will be led by SANS-certified instructors with years of real-world experience, offering participants globally respected GIAC certifications, practical labs, and case studies. Whether attending virtually or in person, professionals will leave with actionable skills that can be immediately applied in their roles. About SANS Institute The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions worldwide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cybersecurity events and OnDemand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cybersecurity. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's and bachelor's degrees, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to manage their 'human' cybersecurity risk easily and effectively. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community.
