What Are We Doing Here?

What Are We Doing Here?

How to view: Free on Vimeo

Director/Producer: Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein
Produced 2012 | Country: USA
Run Time: 1hr25min | Language: English

Synopsis: WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? explores why the charity given to Africa over the last five decades has been largely ineffective and often harmful. The film tells the story of Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein who travel across Africa in an attempt to understand one of the great problems of our time; the failure to end poverty.

In the film, the Klein family travel 15,000 miles via public transportation from Cairo to Cape Town. They cross war torn and famine-ridden regions where aid workers, politicians, and inspiring individuals tell about the incredibly complex and often misunderstood issues that affect hundreds of millions of people across the continent.

Daring to ask the questions no one else will, the filmmakers invite the world to rethink the fight against poverty in Africa.  Could our good intentions be causing more harm than good?  Have humanitarian interventions prolonged suffering? Who is actually benefiting from our good intentions? These questions and many more are addressed for the first time ever in this groundbreaking feature length film.  If you ever wanted to know what happened to the $10 dollars you donated to charity last year, look no further.  This film will change the way you look at charity in Africa forever.

Recommendation: I watched the first 20 minutes, and the film looks like a great learning opportunity.

The End Of Poverty?

The End Of Poverty? (2008)

How to view: Rent for $2.99 on Vimeo

Director: Philippe Diaz | Producer: Cinema Libre Studio
Produced 2013 | Country: USA
Run Time: 1hr 44 min | Language: English, Spanish, French

Synopsis: The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.
The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate?

Recommendation: The trailer looks great and worth the watch.

Hardest hit: Survival strategies from the frontlines of climate change

Hardest hit: Survival strategies from the frontlines of climate change



Viewer (optional): Brian Rawson

How to view: Request a free DVD from Oxfam America (while supplies last)

Or click here for the films online:

Global Crisis (10 minutes) - overview of climate change effects on people


US Gulf Coast (6 minutes) - Hurricane Katrina and building back stronger


El Salvador (6 minutes) - Safer source of drinking water to endure hurricanes



Ethiopia (6 minutes) - Innovative early warning system based on interviewing women in the community


Vietnam (6 minutes) - Farming families adapting to climate change


Director: Alan Grazioso.  Narrated by Majora Carter 

Produced in the US.  Countries featured: Ethiopia, El Salvador, Vietnam, US (Gulf Coast)

Run Time: 34 minutes to show all segments

Language: English

Year: 2009

Synopsis: 

Recommendation:  This is an excellent choice for events focused on climate resilience.

Stand Up Planet

Stand Up Planet

How to view: Watch a sneak peak of the television premier http://www.standupplanet.org/2014/03/tune-in/
The show premiers on May 14th 2014 on Pivot, Link TV and KCET Los Angeles

Director: David Munro  | Producer: Wendy Hanamura

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time: | Language: English

Synopsis: Stand Up Planet began with a hypothesis: the world is full of struggle. Comedy comes from adversity. This must be one hilarious planet. To prove it, they ventured around the globe to places dealing with serious issues. The world's highest HIV infection rate in South Africa. A sanitation crisis of staggering proportion in India.
Punchlines were unmistakable - spilling out of huts, shacks, and makeshift comedy clubs. The sound of laughter everywhere, led by young rebel heroes of a new stand up insurgency who were slaying eager audiences with the truth.
Stand up Plant followed jokes into the lives of the joke tellers - fearless members of an exploding global comedy underground who are raising their voices, making people laugh and making people think.


Opinion: There is nothing inherently funny about hunger, poverty an disease. But there is something powerful - affirming about laughing in the face of hardship. Humor is humanity's antibody to defeat, and it is as much about survivals the air we breathe.

Recommendation: Why not do a screening in your city on May 14? The film does not prescribe solutions to poverty, so be prepared to speak with your audience and bridge the solutions and call to action to support US foreign aid and aid transparency.

Camp Green

Camp Green 

How to view: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/video/camp-green/

Director: | Producer: Oxfam creative productions 
Produced | Country: Uganda 
Run Time: 3.42 minutes | Language: Swahili (English subtitles) 

Synopsis: Fifty feet by 32 feet: as far as farms go, that's probably one of the smallest in the world. But that hasn't stopped Harriet Nakabaale from turning her hard-packed chunk of Kampala into something of a miracle. In a city where overcrowding chokes many neighborhoods and nothing, it seems, can grow in them, Nakabaale's Camp Green is like a beacon. It bursts with living things, all of them edible--an important survival tactic in an urban area where the high cost of buying food can saddle a family with relentless poverty.
Read more of Harriet's story here http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/articles/harriet-nakabaales-camp-green 

Opinion: Camp green proves that even a tiny plot of land with some hard work can be a new way forward. 

Recommendation:

Life, Land and Justice in Uganda

Life, Land and Justice in Uganda

How to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17QxF61PVC4

Director: | Producer: Friends of the Earth International 
Produced | Country: Kalangala, Uganda 
Run Time: 5.07minutes | Language: Central Sudanic (English subtitles)  

Synopsis: In Kalangala, Uganda, John Muyisa woke up one day to find bulldozers clearing his land to plant oil palms. John and his community have preserved their forests and lands for generations. Now their way of life is at risk. 

Opinion: Support John. In this video he has had the opportunity to share what happens to communities every single day, many who do not have a voice. 

Recommendation:

Land Grabs - Ethiopia

Land Grabs - Ethiopia

How to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeQFCBFYlwY

Director: | Producer: The Guardian Films   
Produced | Country: Ethiopia 
Run Time: 11.48minutes | Language: English 

Synopsis: Over the last three years an area the size of Britain has been handed over to corporations to make way for large-scale industrial farming in Ethiopia. With cheap rates and incentives, companies are pouring in to the exploit the land the government has cleared of its people. Many of the displaced are too scared to complain:"what power do we have to stop them? We just stay silent", says one farmer. Despite promises of a better life, many Ethiopians are being left within nothing. Ethiopian Farm Minister, Wondirad Mandefro, shrugs: "they have to abandon their previous way of life".

Opinion: In Ethiopia, one of the hungriest countries in the world, small farmers and communities are being moved off their land as international agribusinesses take over large swathes of fertile farmland.

Recommendation:

Africa's Last Famine

Viewers: Brittany Collins, Will Fenton, and Clara Herrero

Stream for free: http://www.viewchange.org/videos/viewchange-africas-last-famine

About: 
Director:  | Producer: 
Produced: 2011 Country: 
Run time: 25:16 | Language: English

Synopsis: This World Food Day is marked by one of the worst famines in recent history.  But, with the right planning a few new ideas, it could be the last.  Get the latest from the Horn of Africa and beyond in this special report from Oxfam America and ViewChange.org.

Opinion:

• Great introduction to Oxfam (at least our international work)
• Could be perceived as an advertisement for Oxfam
• Effectively addresses small-scale farmers, work for insurance, managing risk, Rural Resilience Initiative

• No consistent narrator/titles
• Jumps from famine to Vietnam-- slightly disjointed

Recommendation: 

• Show for: People not yet familiar with Oxfam's work
• Use as auxiliary component to events
• Break down the video into parts
• Perhaps end with "Is microinsurance the silver bullet..." to lead into a discussion of how it is not a silver bullet