Films
The following films will be showing at Shared Planet 2007:
Wal-Mart: the high cost of low prices | The Listening Project | The Power of Community | Tibet, the cry of the snow lion | Black Gold | Taking Liberties | Visit Dungavel: Monster of the Glenn | This Revolution | Escape from Doncatraz |
Wal-Mart: the high cost of low prices
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is the documentary film sensation that’s changing the largest company on earth.
The film features the deeply personal stories and everyday lives of families and communities struggling to survive in a Wal-Mart world.
It’s an emotional journey that will challenge the way you think, feel… and shop.
Watch the trailer on the right.
The Listening Project
“What does the world think of America? To find out, we traveled to fourteen countries around the globe, listening to people from all walks of life as they shared their views. The result is a feature documentary called The Listening Project.”
This is an exclusive showing for Shared Planet before the film goes on general release.
thelisteningprojectfilm.com/ (includes trailer)
Watch the trailer on the right.
The Power of Community
How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half — and food by 80 percent — people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time.
Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.
Watch the trailer on the right.
Tibet, the cry of the snow lion
Ten years in the making, this award-winning feature-length documentary was filmed during nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal.
The dark secrets of Tibet’s recent past are powerfully chronicled through personal stories and interviews, and a collection of undercover and archival images never before assembled in one film. A definitive exploration of a legendary subject, Cry of the Snow Lion is an epic story of courage and compassion.
Presented by Students for A Free Tibet
Black Gold
As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice.
In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar industry, Black Gold traces one man’s fight for a fair price.
Taking Liberties
A review from the BBC when the film was released in June 2007:
“Tony Blair will have even fewer fans after the shocking documentary Taking Liberties. British filmmaker Chris Atkins has tracked down a host of victims of the increased security measures introduced by New Labour both pre- and post-9/11.
From peaceful protesters to suspected terrorists, many have been detained and had their lives turned upside down for flimsy reasons. Disturbing footage combines with amusing testimonies and commentary in this Bowling For Columbine-style documentary that’s as entertaining as it is educational.” Review from bbc.co.uk
Visit Dungavel: Monster of the Glenn
Imagine escaping persecution in your own country, only to be locked up without trial in Dungavel. According to Amnesty International, the UK detains an estimated 25,000 asylum seekers every year: men, women and children. Camcorder Guerillas believes that asylum is a right, not a crime.
Using documentary, testimony, animation, original music and drama, Visit Dungavel: Monster of the Glen, is a shocking, funny, informative and moving series of short films about detention - and, since this is a Camcorder Guerilla film - what to do about it!
www.camcorderguerillas.net/dungavel.htm
This Revolution
Jake Cassevetes is a network war shooter just back from Iraq who is assigned to cover the run-up to the RNC. As a well-paid stringer for the networks, he does not buy into the currently vogue, left-wing conspiracy theory of a corporate-controlled press. And he is only forced to question his world view after he meets Tina Santiago, a young mother widowed after her husband was killed in Iraq. But it is not until he discovers his network has given his videotape of a Black Bloc group to Homeland Security that Jake decides to take action.
With Entertainment Tonight and New York Daily News in tow, the shoot was interrupted when six NYPD officers pulled up in a van and arrested Dawson and Marshall mistaking them for Black Bloc anarchists. This Revolution had its world premiere at Sundance 2005. It was also an official selection of the True/False Festival where director Stephen Marshall won the True Vision Award.
Escape from Doncatraz
Have civil liberties become an illusion in Blair’s Britain? Who poses the biggest threat to freedom, terrorism or our own elected representatives? This film looks at how British values have fallen apart as we’ve imprisoned ourselves on our island of controlled borders.