Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Environmental Studies / Environmental Activism / All Films

Tashi's Turbine

Thu, 25 Oct 2018 14:59:00 GMT

Set in the grassroots of the Himalayan mountains, Tashi's Turbine is an uplifting tale of a small village's attempt to harness renewable, sustainable energy with the power of the wind. The story begins with the strong friendship between Tashi Bista and Jeevan, who journey from Kathmandu to Namdok with hopes of building a stronger Nepal, one wind turbine at a time.

Their first site, Namdok, is a humble remote village in Upper Mustang, which previously relied on sparse candlelight to power through the windy nights. As Tashi and Jeevan work with the villagers, the elements and gusty landscape bring their own set of unforeseen challenges for installing a strong wind turbine.

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Edward O. Wilson

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Edward O. Wilson
Buy Now: $320.00

Edward O. Wilson, the Pelligrino University Professor and Honorary Curator of Entomology at Harvard University, is one of the world's most distinguished and controversial scientists. Through his books and lectures, Wilson has changed the way scientists and nonscientists alike view the natural world by fueling their enthusiasm for science and showing them its immediacy for their everyday lives. Wilson's devotion to natural history, his broad humanistic approach to learning, and a gift for storytelling have made him one of the most popular teachers at Harvard and lecturers around the world. In this warm and engaging biographical portrait Wilson offers insight into the scientific process, relating how an interest in studying ants and social insects led him to establish the field of sociobiology and to promote the study of biodiversity. He compares scientists to mythmakers and examines the role of imagination in scientific inquiry. Wilson’s passionate concern for the preservation of our natural heritage has placed him in the forefront of environmental activism. As a young boy growing up in the deep South, Wilson began to dream of going to the "Big Tropics, the Amazon, New Guinea, of discovering new kinds of plants and animals." This urge to explore propelled him from a childhood interest in collecting insects to a career that has encompassed studies in the biology of social insects, ecology, biogeography, sociobiology, and environmental conservation. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Medal of Science (1976), the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990), and two Pulitzer Prizes. Prof. Wilson's books include The Insect Societies, Sociobiology: the New Synthesis, On Human Nature, The Diversity of Life, Biophilia, Naturalist, and The Future of Life.

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Hudson Shad

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:27:00 GMT

Hudson Shad
Buy Now: $295.00

Folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, launched a project to clean it up in the sixties. In Hudson Shad, Seeger and others in the "River Keepers," make a statement about our responsibility for keeping the waters of the river clean enough for the shad to thrive.

Co-director James Brown, who grew up near the banks of the river, felt a responsibility for sharing through this film a general concern for the relationship between contamination of the river and the survival of its natural inhabitants. Showing the film to people concerned with the Hudson River helped them garner colleagues and supporters towards the cause. Seeger has continued the work, with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

Hudson Shad has been restored with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Also included on the DVD: Planning for Floods (color, 29 min, 1974)

A documentary commissioned for distribution and use by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an organization founded by Dennis Puleston and others, to raise awareness around conservation issues and promote public environmental responsibility. Though focused on the immediate community of the Mississippi River, the film's message applies well beyond that region, also anticipating by more than 30 years present-day concerns about global warming. Significantly, it suggests positive action rather than just "ain't it awful."Today this film is applicable to our environmental concerns especially if it is used to promote public action, legislation and education. Planning for Floods is used courtesy of EDF.

This DVD is part of the George C. Stoney Collection

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Marion Stoddart: The Work of 1000

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:49:00 GMT

Marion Stoddart: The Work of 1000
Buy Now: $295.00

In the 1960s, the Nashua River in New Hampshire and central Massachusetts was one of the 10 most polluted in the country, clogged with multicolored, toxic sludge from nearby paper mills.

Around that time, housewife Marion Stoddart moved to the area with her family, so close to the river they could smell its noxious fumes. At a low point in her life, she decided to fight her own emptiness by taking on the biggest challenge she could find - cleaning up the Nashua.

Her dramatic success in mobilizing the community showed people that change was possible, even though they'd lost hope. Marion's efforts helped get the Massachusetts Clean Rivers Act passed so that companies weren't allowed to pollute rivers like the Nashua anymore. In the process, she won a United Nations award, was profiled in National Geographic, and had a widely-read children's book written about her. Her secret? An ordinary person can do extraordinary things when they refuse to give up.

Thanks to Marion, children in the Nashua River Watershed and around the world have come to understand that one person can make a difference, even when the odds seem impossible.

“Individuals like Marion Stoddart--who are able, against great odds, to effect significant environmental change within their lifetimes--are one of our best teaching tools and opportunities to inspire.”
— Professor Ninian Stein, San Jose State University

“A grassroots crusader for the Nashua River, Marion Stoddart serves alongside Rachel Carson as a powerful example of an individual's capacity to muster vast environmental change even in the face of industrial and political inertia. Edwards' film captures Stoddart's determination and single-mindedness with nuance and perspective, offering not only the story of her victories, but the personal and family risks she took to achieve them.”
— Caitlin Boyle, Founder, Film Sprout

“Work of 1000 is more than just a documentary detailing the success of environmental activism in changing things for the greater good; It is the story behind the success - that a person, a housewife in the 1960s - can do the work of a thousand and make a difference in the world. It's a powerful message; one we can all learn from.”
— Daniel Edmonds, Vox Magazine

“Having the screening of Work of 1,000 followed by an interview with Marion Stoddart was a compelling lifetime experience. When you learn what one 'ordinary' person can and did do, you are moved and inspired. ”
— Owen Smith Shuman, Director, Groton Public Library

"Americans feeling distraught as they watch thousands of gallons of oil pour into the Gulf of Mexico every day might take heart from this story about Massachusetts environmental visionary, Marion Stoddart.”
— John Dyer, Boston Globe

“Marion's story and the results of her work give me hope for the future.”
— Patricia B. Campbell, Ph.D. Researcher in Science and Math Education Equity

“This film provides unique learning opportunities and will enhance interest in the environmental science and engineering fields and leadership development for all.”
— Larisa Schelkin, Executive Director of the DOME Foundation

"Thanks to Susan Edwards' new documentary Marion Stoddart: The Work of 1000, we get to meet one of America's most dedicated environmentalists.”
— Pamela Burke, The Woman's Eye

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Short Documentary, Silent River Film Festival, USA, 2012

Best Documentary Short, Rivers' Edge Festival, Paducah, KY, 2011

AT&T Award for Environmental Stewardship and Conservation, Arpa International Film Festival, 2011

Projecting Change Award, Project Change Film Festival, Vancouver Canada, 2011

Speak Out Award, 44th Annual Humbolt Film Festival, Arcata, CA, 2011

Best Short Documentary, Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, New Zealand, 2010

Best "Call To Action", Green Screen Environmental Film Festival, Venice, CA 2010

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Owners of the Water ("ö Tede'wa")

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 13:51:00 GMT

Owners of the Water ("ö Tede'wa")
Buy Now: $295.00

A unique collaboration between two indigenous filmmakers and an anthropologist, Owners of the Water is a compelling documentary with groundbreaking ethnographic imagery. A central Brazilian Xavante, a Wayuu from Venezuela, and a US anthropologist explore an indigenous campaign to protect a river from devastating effects of uncontrolled Amazonian soy cultivation. Xavante and Wayuu are nationally and internationally prominent political actors and both face challenges over water.

Owners highlights a civic protest showing strategic use of culture to bring attention to deforestation and excessive use of agritoxins in unregulated soy cultivation. The film features a diversity of Xavante opinions and evidence that non-indigenous members of the local population both support and oppose indigenous demands. The film showcases indigenous efforts to build networks among different native peoples and across nations.

The film results from long collaboration between anthropologist Laura Graham and Xavante and more recent collaboration with Wayuu. The Association Xavante Warã, a Xavante organization that promotes indigenous knowledge and ways of living in the central Brazilian cerrado (a spiritually and materially integrated space that Xavante know as 'ro) and conservation of this unique environment, invited Graham to tell the story of its campaign to save the Rio das Mortes. David Hernández Palmar, a Wayuu (Iipuana clan) from Venezuela, accompanied Graham to meet the Xavante and learn about their struggles over water. After the trip the Xavante and Wayuu filmmakers and the anthropologist made this film based on the ethnographic footage of their intercultural encounters.

“…the scope of Owners of the Water goes well beyond the somewhat narrow focus of past documentaries, exposing the viewer to a diversity of facts, images and viewpoints. Owners of the Water deserves credit for tracing cutting edge indigenous issues in the Amazon.”
— Jonathan C. Bergman, Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources

“Owners of the Water will be of interest to professors teaching courses on the indigenous peoples of Latin America as well as on the anthropology of protest movements, applied anthropology, and ecological anthropology. Visual anthropologists will find that it is a useful model for incorporating the voices and the aesthetics of the people with whom we work, both in front of and behind the camera… This film could serve as an inspiration to indigenous communities across Brazil and the wider world to use digital technologies in the struggle to maintain the ecosystems on which they depend.” —
Brian Brazeal, American Anthropologist, Vol. 114, No. 1

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

International Meeting of the Latin American Sociology Association, Brazil 2011

Honorable Mention Award for Advocacy, Montana CINE International Film Festival, 2011

Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival, Germany, 2010

Bioneers Moving Image Festival, New Mexico, 2010

American Anthropological Association/Society for Visual Anthropology Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2010

International Unseen Film "Filme Sozialak"" Festival, Bilbao, Spain, 2010

"Visual Representation of Crisis through Ethnographic Film," EASA Biennial Conference, Ireland, 2010

Contro-Sguardi: International Anthropological Film Festival, Perugia, Italy, 2010

Honorable Mention - Best Environmental Documentary, XXVII Festival de Cine de Bogotá, Colombia, 2010

Disclaimer on Naming:
Please be aware that this documentary may include outdated or potentially offensive language. Such terms are not endorsed by DER but are presented in their original context to promote awareness, education, and discussion. Learn more about DER’s efforts to use reparative language and honor the preferred names of Indigenous communities by clicking here.

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Power to the Pedals

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 10:58:00 GMT

Power to the Pedals
Buy Now: $295.00

This documentary portrays the transformative vision and extraordinary efforts of Wenzday Jane, a young woman whose mechanical skills and innovative actions are reshaping her community. Wenzday Jane goes to the heart of the sustainability issue by offering practical economic solutions, and suggests that things don't have to be the way they are.

As a young child growing up in public housing, Wenzday's bicycle meant personal responsibility and self-direction. She watched her family struggle with dependence, disempowerment, and inertia. Determined to pull herself out from those inherited conditions, she gradually built up her skill set. Learning construction techniques and welding, she realized that she literally had the power to reshape her world. Now, with a passion for mechanics and organization, she is creating the means and cultural conditions to replace trucks with human-powered, souped-up bicycles for many local deliveries.

Shot in an intimate, lyrical style, the film follows Wenzday as she builds an organization of riders and cargo bicycles that work in agriculture and food delivery, composting, recycling and waste-hauling — and community building. We follow a rider making the rounds of municipal recycling bins, emptying bottles and cans into the bike's cavernous tank. Weaving his 300-pound load through traffic, he heads for the city's waste sorting facility where he dumps into a mountain of trash "just like any other gigantic truck." Wenzday reflects on winning a substantial contract for municipal recycling pickup. "I've always been interested in challenges — in problem-solving. There's an opportunity to learn something new by solving a problem."

Power-lifting a huge axle onto a stand, Wenzday disassembles a complex wheel assembly. "There's no alternative: you can't just take these to the nearest garage, like a car, to get them repaired." Her hands are covered with grease as she removes a planetary gear. "Bikes represent self-reliance and autonomy," she says. "Working on bikes gives me a platform for really thinking about how things work." By building a fleet of cargo bikes and creating a business around them, Wenzday is lowering the carbon footprint of our transportation system, one bike at a time.

“...an emotionally charged and inspiring film. Wenzday's story is extraordinary and highly motivating.” — Marion Stoddart, of Work of 1000

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Film, Boston Bike Film Festival, 2014

New Urbanism Film Festival, Los Angeles, 2014

Capital Environmental Film Festival, Washington DC, 2014

Arlington International Film Festival, Massachusetts, 2014

6th Annual Environmental Youth Forum, 2014

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To Hold Our Ground

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:57:00 GMT

To Hold Our Ground
Buy Now: $295.00

For thousands of years, Ju/'hoansi have lived in the Nyae Nyae region in northeastern Namibia. Many Ju/'hoansi living in outer regions had been killed or dispossessed by the 1950's, but in Nyae Nyae, Ju/'hoansi were the only permanent inhabitants. There, waterless approaches isolated their ancient communal land and protected them from enslavement.

In 1970, the Ju/'hoansi lost 70% of Nyae Nyae when 'Bushmanland' was established as the only homeland for 'Bushmen' in Namibia. The people were shuffled into a rural slum at Tshumkwe, the administrative capital of Bushmanland, where Ju/hoan men did menial jobs for the Administration and the elderly received rations of mealie meal. No food was produced on the land, and the malnourished population suffered and declined from tuberculosis and other diseases.

To survive, Ju/'hoansi had to develop subsistence farming strategies and produce food to eat in Eastern Bushmanland. In a country where most people had been reduced to extreme poverty under South African occupation, "Bushmen" were the poorest.

Until the mid 1980's, the Colonial Administration planned to complete the dispossession of the "Bushmen" by expropriating Eastern Bushmanland for a game reserve. Only a few Ju/'hoansi were to stay in their rightful home, wearing skins to entertain the tourists. The rest, around 2,000 people, were to be evicted with no means to survive.

In 1982, a development foundation was started to help Ju/'hoansi keep Eastern Bushmanland and develop subsistence farming strategies. The foundation was joined by a number of concerned Namibians and was funded by European Non-Government Organizations. This visual report, produced in conjunction with a major Land Rights Conference in Namibia in 1991, shows the Ju/'hoan struggle to hold onto their last fragment of land.

Part of the !Kung Series.

Orthography Note
The group of people depicted in these films are the Ju/'hoansi, speakers of the Ju/'hoan language. Ju/'hoan is part of the !Kung language group; the term !Kung was previously used by the Marshall family and others to refer to Ju/'hoansi. Although the term is outdated, it has been retained here for the sake of consistency with John Marshall's previously published work. The films and their related printed materials also employ antiquated spellings of names and places. For current Ju/'hoan orthography, please see the Ju/'hoan - English Dictionary, compiled by Patrick Dickens and the Ju/'hoan Peoples Literacy Committee.

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Trial in East Kalimantan

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:57:00 GMT

Trial in East Kalimantan
Buy Now: $320.00

This film, shot in Indonesia in 1999, gives us a rare insider's look at the beginnings of democracy during a period of political unrest and economic turmoil throughout the country. On the island of Kalimantan, a Dayak village organizes a sit-in to protest the destruction of their agricultural land and the desecration of sacred funeral sites by a multinational palm oil company. During the sit-in, eleven community leaders are arrested on charges of vandalism.

We follow the fates of Petrus Dukung and Benyamin Tawwakng, the two young Dayak leaders, as they face a corrupt political and judicial system. The involvement of human rights lawyers, student groups, and other activists bring the Dayak struggle to the attention of the media. We witness the power of organized demonstrations as activists question their government and voice doubts about the court's commitment to justice.

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