The Eco Film on Friday, April 23rd: A Lawyer Walks into a Bar

Genre: Documentary. Director: Eric Chaikin, USA, 2007. 92 minutes

Winner of the grand jury prize at the 2007 AFI Dallas International Film Festival

A lurid tale of lawyers and lawsuits and Americas fascination with both. This documentary explores the influence of law and its practitioners on American culture, following six individuals as they do whatever it takes to become lawyers themselves, as well as featuring many legal luminaries, politicians and well known comedians as they comment on the judicial system of the USA

The movie portrays a common perception of American life – that, in the time of trouble, whether it be civil or criminal, Americans depend on lawyers to navigate the tough waters of today’s judicial system. To sue or not to sue, that is the question.

The Eco Film on Friday, April 16th:

Alone in the Wilderness

Genre: Documentary. Director: Bob Swerer. USA, 2004. 57 Minutes.

Imagine… a life in a pristine land unchanged by man, roaming a wilderness through which few other humans have passed. Choosing an idyllic site, cutting trees and building a log cabin. Being a self-sufficient craftsman, not at odds with the world but content with one’s own thoughts and company. This is the dream of thousands, but Dick Proenneke lived them. In the late 1960’s he abandoned his ‘normal’ existance and found remote land to call his own, built a cabin and stayed to become part of the countryside that surrounded him. This documentary, mesmerising in its calm beauty, covers his first year ‘Alone in the Wilderness’, and is a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of nature’s events that kept him company.

The Eco Film on Friday, April 9th: Manda Bala

Winner of 4 awards at the Sundance, Rome and Durban International film festivals.

Genre: Documentary. Director: Jason Kohn. Brazil, 2007. 85 minutes.

Manda Bala, meaning ‘Send a Bullet’ is a strikingly beautiful and well-constructed documentary about cycles of violence and how it affects both victims and perpetrators. Filmed in Sao Paulo and banned in Brazil, the film consists of segments in which victims of kidnapping, politicians, policemen, and criminals are interviewed about crime in Brazil. Although it contains nearly surreal content, so shocking is it to discover this rampant criminal activity, its intelligent, cohesive portrayal of the situation avoids morbidity. English translators sit with interviewees, relaying in chilling detail stories that defy logic. Interviewee Christina recalls atrocities inflicted upon her by kidnappers, while footage of her miraculously talented plastic Surgeon, Dr, Juarez Avelar, shows how he helps those scarred. Mr. M, a businessman, enlists in a course about driving one’s bulletproof car, while Magrinho, a masked drug trafficker, discusses the “Robin Hood” ideal behind kidnapping. Though no direct solutions are proposed, Manda Bala illustrates how greed leads to civilian poverty, and how this destitution leads to crime.

The Eco Film on Friday, April 2nd: Bad Seed – The Truth about our Food

Genre: Documentary. Director: Timo Nadudvari USA, 2006. 58 minutes.

Life has evolved on our planet for billions of years. Humans now have the technology to destroy all that nature’s wisdom has provided. Genetic Engineering (GE) poses a serious threat to the health and safety of the human species and the entire planet.

This bold and convincing documentary examines to issues of genetic engineering of food from the real-world perspectives of leading scientists, farmers, food safety advocates and the victims of genetically engineered products. It exposes a plan by large corporations with long criminal histories to gain control over the world’s food supply by infecting food crops with patented DNA. In this film we become aware of what is happening in the Agro-Tech business and the US Food and Drug Administration and the very real risks to human health.

The Eco Film on Friday, March 26th: Favela Rising

Winner of 25 International Film Awards

Genre: Documentary. Directors: Matt Mochary & Jeff Zimbalist. Brazil, 2006. 82 minutes.

This powerful and uplifting documentary shows that grassroots efforts in poverty-stricken neighbourhoods can dramatically reverse social decay, violence, and crime. This is the story of how one young Brazilian – Anderson Sa, a former drug trafficker, began a community rebuilding project by using a new form of music, Afro Reggae, as an alternative to drug dealing and street crime. A blend of hip-hop, drumming, and acrobatics, the music became a source of pride and self-respect for those who performed it, and by their example they became a model of community responsibility and achievement. The film has been received far and wide as an inspirational message on how to carry out a “war on poverty” anywhere in the world, and that education sets the path away from drugs and gang violence for young people.