Forerunner Film Festival Recommended Films

This engaging documentary gives new meaning to the term ‘role model.’ Normally we think of children learning from their elders, but here is the story of an 11-year-old girl who is already inspiring adults to make a difference.

When she was just 5, Hannah Taylor spotted her first homeless person in the back alleys of Winnipeg. This experience not only troubled her but it drove her to do nothing less than change the world, leading to the establishment of the impressive Ladybug Foundation. Under Hannah’s leadership, that charity has raised over a million dollars, literally making change for those lacking life’s basic needs.

As this absorbing documentary shows, Hannah insists on being seen as normal, but clearly she possesses an extraordinary can-do attitude. Her message is disarmingly straightforward, coming as it does from “little kid type theories”: “share a little of what you have and always care about others.” Whether it’s organizing Big Boss lunches, speaking to students or to a prime minister, Hannah’s capacity to help others is huge, unflagging, and, ultimately, humbling. We all have a lot to learn from Hannah’s Story.

2007, 29 min

http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=54288

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Tags: Biography, Documentary, Social Justice // Add Comment »

In a small New Zealand coastal village, Maori claim descent from Paikea, the Whale Rider. In every generation for more than 1000 years, a male heir born to the Chief succeeds to the title.

The time is now. The Chief’s eldest son, Porourangi, fathers twins – a boy and a girl. But the boy and his mother die in childbirth. The surviving girl is named Pai.

Grief-stricken, her father leaves her to be raised by her grandparents. Koro, her grandfather who is the Chief, refuses to acknowledge Pai as the inheritor of the tradition and claims she is of no use to him. But her grandmother, Flowers, sees more than a broken line, she sees a child in desperate need of love.

And Koro learns to love the child. When Pai’s father, Porourangi, now a feted international artist, returns home after twelve years, Koro hopes everything is resolved and Porourangi will to accept destiny and become his successor.

But Porourangi has no intention of becoming Chief. He has moved away from his people both physically and emotionally. After a bitter argument with Koro he leaves, suggesting to Pai that she come with him. She starts the journey but quickly returns, claiming her grandfather needs her.

Koro is blinded by prejudice and even Flowers cannot convince him that Pai is the natural heir. The old Chief is convinced that the tribe’s misfortunes began at Pai’s birth and calls for his people to bring their 12-year-old boys to him for training. He is certain that through a gruelling process of teaching the ancient chants, tribal lore and warrior techniques, the future leader of their tribe will be revealed to him.

Meanwhile, deep within the ocean, a massive herd of whales is responding, drawn towards Pai and their twin destinies.

When the whales become stranded on the beach, Koro is sure this signals an apocalyptic end to his tribe. Until one person prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the people…the Whale Rider.

http://www.whaleriderthemovie.com/

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Tags: Drama, Reform // Add Comment »

THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the US to take action to stop it.

Using the exclusive photographs and first hand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle, THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK takes the viewer on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of it’s black African citizens. As an official military observer, Steidle had access to parts of the country that no journalist could penetrate. He was unprepared for what he would witness and experience, including being fired upon, taken hostage, and being unable to intervene to save the lives of young children. Ultimately frustrated by the inaction of the international community, Steidle resigned and returned to the US to expose the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed.

An INTERNATIONAL FILM CIRCUIT release of a BREAK THRU FILMS production in association with GLOBAL GRASSROOTS & THREE GENERATIONS.

COMING TO SELECT THEATERS STARTING JULY 25TH, 2007

http://www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com/

Tags: Documentary, Social Justice // Add Comment »

The Corporation is an incredibly strong documentary film that breaks down the concept of ‘corporation’ comparing it to the profile of a psychopath. Using humor, factoids and interviews from an impressive panel that includes commentators, such as Michael Moore, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and CEOs from some of the world’s biggest companies, the film traces the history of corporations. It reveals to us how corporations managed to have arrived at a place where they may be compared to a psychopath.

From the film we learn that the corporation is, after all, a legal entity that has the same rights as a human being under the present law. However, unlike an actual human who has to answer to the people around him, the corporation is only accountable to its bottom line, suggest the filmmakers.

Read the full review here: http://www.movieweb.com/movies/film/83/2383/review397.php

Corporate ownership and control of economics superseds the power of the government and is the greatest threat to personal freedom on the earth. This is an important film for people to see……

Paul Weigel

Tags: Documentary, Social Justice // Add Comment »

Ecological Footprint with Mathis Wackernagel

The Australian state of Victoria’s plan to measure their ecological objectives. A good explanation of the term which has become widely used.

EPA has worked with the Global Footprint Network to develop a documentary film about Ecological Footprint. This resource, “The Ecological Footprint: Accounting for a Small Planet”, is available for download in Windows Media file format here:

http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/about/documentarydvd.asp

Tags: Documentary, Environmental // Add Comment »

The Film: “Ecological Design: Inventing The Future” is in many ways the progenitor and precursor of Genius Loci Gallery. A winner of multiple independent film awards, this documentary has dropped a stone in the pond of the world’s conciousness, the effect of which are ripples that are beginning to mount into much larger waves. One of these very substantial “ripples” is the book: “Design Outlaws” now in its fifth printing. We encourage you to avail yourself of this rich compendium of some of the greatest minds that this century – and for that matter -
any century has known. Enjoy and discover some new pathways to a more liveable future…

http://www.geniusloci.com/eco.html

Tags: Documentary, Environmental // Add Comment »

2007, 80 min – National Film Board of Canada

In Toxic Trespass, intrepid filmmaker Barri Cohen launches an investigation into the effects of the chemical soup around us. She starts with her 10-year-old daughter, whose blood carries carcinogens like benzene and the long-banned DDT. Then, Cohen heads out to Windsor and Sarnia: Canadian toxic hotspots, with startling clusters of deadly diseases.
Here, everyone seems to know children who have suffered respiratory illnesses, leukemia, brain tumours and other illnesses. And on the Native reserve of Aamjiwnaang, ringed by Sarnia’s “chemical valley,” the film reveals a startling birth rate problem that officials just can’t ignore.

Cohen journeys into toxic nightmares all too common in industrialized countries. She meets passionate activists working for positive change, along with doctors and scientists who see evidence of links between environmental pollution and health problems. And she learns how quickly barriers can go up when anyone tries to even ask questions about the connection betweeen toxins and serious health problems.

Perhaps most appalling – and funny, in their own twisted way – are the roadblocks Cohen encounters when she tries to get information from federal officials. One tells her his department is “planning to discuss the plans.”

This moving documentary is empowering and leavened with wry humour. Carried by Cohen’s passion for truth and her disarming openness, it is essential viewing for anyone concerned about the effects of pollutants on our – and our children’s – very DNA. Toxic Trespass is accompanied by a comprehensive guidebook for educators, activists and concerned citizens, produced by the Women’s Healthy Environment Network.

http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=54100

Tags: Documentary, Environmental, Government // Add Comment »

U.S.A., 2007, 93 mins, Color – Documentary

Irena Salina’s cautionary documentary is determined to stir things up. Water, the quintessence of life, sustains every creature on Earth. The time has come when we can no longer take this precious resource for granted. Unless we effect global change, impoverished nations could be wiped from the planet. Roused by a thirst for survival, people around the world are fighting for their birthright.

Under the cover of darkness, African plumbers secretly reconnect shantytown water pipes to ensure a community’s survival. A California scientist exposes toxic public water supplies. A “water guru” promotes community-based initiatives to provide water throughout India. The CEO of a billion-dollar water company argues for privatization as the wave of the future. A Canadian author pops the cork on bottled water, unveiling the disturbing realities that drive profits in the global water business.

Flow: For Love of Water is an inspired, yet disturbingly provocative, wake-up call. The future of our planet is drying up rapidly. Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. While each community’s challenges are unique, the message is universal–the time to turn the tide is now.
In Theatres Aug/Sept 2008 – don’t miss it.
Director(s): Irena Salina
Executive Producer: Stephen Nemeth
Producer: Steven Starr

http://flowthefilm.com/about.php

Tags: Documentary, Environmental, Science and Technology // Add Comment »

U.S.A., 2007, 90 mins, Color – Documentary

Most Americans know we’ve got a problem: an addiction to oil that taxes the environment, entangles us in costly foreign policies, and threatens the nation’s long-term stability. But few are informed or empowered enough to do much about it. Enter Josh Tickell, an expert young activist who, driven by his own emotionally charged motives, shuttles us on a revelatory, whirlwind journey to unravel this addiction—from its historical origins to political constructs that support it, to alternatives available now and the steps we can take to change things.

Tickell tracks the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt ethanol use in Ford’s first cars to the mysterious death of Rudolph Diesel at the height of his biodiesel engine’s popularization, to our government’s choice to declare war after 9/11, rather than wean the country from fossil fuel. Never minimizing the complexities of ending oil dependence, Tickell uncovers a hopeful reality pointing toward a decentralized, sustainable energy infrastructure—like big rigs tanking up on biofuel at Carl’s Corner Texas truck stop, a new Brooklyn biodiesel plant serving three states, a miraculous Arizona algae-based fuel farm, and the Swedish public voting to be petroleum free by 2020.

Sweeping and exhilarating, Tickell’s passionate film goes beyond great storytelling; it rings out like a bell that stirs consciousness and makes individual action suddenly seem consequential.

Director(s): Josh Tickell
Screenwriter(s): Johnny O’Hara

http://www.fieldsoffuel.com/

See the Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOsQILZFJE8

Tags: Documentary, Economy, Environmental, Science and Technology // 1 Comment »

U.S.A., 2008, 85 mins, Color and Black and White – Documentary

The “classification universe” is invisible to most of us, yet the production of governmental classified secret documents involves millions of people. And government secrecy is growing, vastly outpacing the circulation of open information. The statistics, as much as can be gathered, are staggering. In a single recent year, the United States government classified about five times the number of pages added to the Library of Congress; the cost is about eight billion dollars a year–just to keep secrets secret.

Now, 70 years after the builders of the bomb created a national information security system and just a few years after 9/11, a government secrecy crisis is looming. The combination of a declared war on terrorism and the curtailment of civil liberties sets the stage to ask some critical questions. When does security erode, rather than enhance, democracy? Can burying too much information actually undermine national security?

Secrecy, the stylistically elegant and provocative new film by Robb Moss and Peter Galison, explores the hidden world of national security policy by examining the many implications of secrecy, both for government and individuals. Combining animation, installations, a mesmerizing score, and riveting interviews, the film takes us inside the inverted world of government secrecy as we share the experiences of lawyers, CIA analysts, and the ordinary people for whom secrecy becomes a matter of life and death.

Director(s): Peter Galison, Robb Moss

http://www.secrecyfilm.com/

Tags: Documentary, Government, Social Justice // Add Comment »