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.

Sisters on the Planet

Sisters on the Planet

Viewer (optional): Brian Rawson

Synopsis and recommendation: These short films profile women who are confronting the impacts of climate change and leading community efforts to build resilience. They are unique in providing a vivid, honest and intimate look at the lives of the women featured. However, they do not provide framing or analysis of the issue, so you must be prepared to provide that and facilitate audience discussion. 

How to view: Click below for a film profiling each Sister

Sahena (Bangladesh) (7 minutes) - young mom becomes a community leader in building resilience to floods



Sharon (US, Mississippi) (7 minutes) - After Hurricane Katrina, a hairstylist from Biloxi becomes a community leader in demanding government representation for those most affected.



Martina (Uganda) (8 minutes) - A mother must walk further from home to gather firewood for income and tree nuts for food 


OTHER RESOURCES:
- Search the internet for more Oxfam films in the "Sisters on the Planet" series
- More background information on these women, their lives, and Oxfam's work in their communities is available in this info packet (skip the first few pages of campaign messaging from 2008)

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.

DIRT! the movie

DIRT! The Movie–narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis–brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.DIRT! The Movie is a call to action.

Visit http://www.dirtthemovie.org/ 

Viewer (optional):  Brian Rawson posted this, but hasn't viewed it yet

How to view:
- Purchase the DVD from the website http://www.dirtthemovie.org/  Just the DVD is $19; a kit for hosting free community screenings is $40.
- Purchase it online at https://gumroad.com/benpro.  Streaming version is $3, and downloadable is $10.

Director: | Producer:

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time:  | Language:  English

 Synopsis:

 Opinion:

 Recommendation:

Ladies of the Land

Ladies of the Land 

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/ladies_of_the_land

Director: | Producer: Megan Thompson 

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time: 29 mins | Language: English 

Synopsis: As small, family farms continue to disappear, and large, mechanized farms dominate American agriculture, a new kind of farmer is sprouting up across the land: women. Although women have always been involved in farming, it has long been thought of as a "man's job." Traditionally, farm women have often identified themselves as something other than the "farmer." That's all changing. According to the USDA, between 2002 and 2007, the number of women who identified themselves as farmers increased by 19 percent, and the number of women "principal operators" increased by 30 percent.

Today, there are about one million women farmers in the U.S. - 30 percent of the total. Women are a fast-growing demographic in American agriculture, and they are doing things differently. While the average farm size in the U.S. has grown dramatically over the last 50 years, women tend to run smaller operations. Many choose organic and natural methods.

Opinion: 

Recommendation:

The Last Farm in Lowell

The Last Farm in Lowell 

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_last_farm_in_lowell

Director: | Producer: Andrew Szava-Kovats

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time: 1 hour | Language: English 

Synopsis: Director Andrew Szava-Kovats presents a portrait of Rollie's Farm in Lowell, Massachusetts, where the Parron family has been growing fresh produce and more for over 50 years. Family owned since 1953, Rollie's Farm has eschewed the corporate trend, and thanks to the supportive locals they've always managed to stay in business. But that's not to say that it's been all smooth sailing for the Parron's; a conversation with Rollie and his elderly parents reveal just how close they came to losing the farm due to taxation issues in the mid-1970s. 

As always, however, they managed to bounce back, and today their farm is the pride of the entire community

Opinion: 

Recommendation:

Pregnant and Working in the Fields

Seven Months Pregnant and Working in the Fields 

How to view: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26154092

Director: | Producer: Sonia Narang 

Produced | Country: Nepal 

Run Time: 2 minutes 24 seconds  | Language: Nepali (English subtitles) 

Synopsis: Women in Nepal do the lion's share of agricultural work, and it's common for them to continue working in the fields throughout pregnancy. But this can seriously affect their health, and that of their unborn child.

Opinion: Read the fill article on the BBC page along with the video. 

The Reality of Food Aid: Bill Pritchard

The Reality of Food Aid: Bill Pritchard 

How to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJc0tYNGcWo

Director: TEDx | Producer: TED Talks

Produced | Country: Australia 

Run Time: 13.05 minutes | Language: English 

Synopsis: Bill Pritchard, human geographer, challenges our views on what it takes to create a food-secure world. Bill is an Associate Professor in Geography at the University of Sydney, where he teaches and researches on food, agriculture and rural and regional development. He embraces a geographer's passion to understand the world, believing that the best way to understand an issue is to see it first hand and talk directly to the people involved.

Opinion: Interesting insight into food aid from a geographical perspective.  

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:

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:

Bajo Aguán: The Clamor for Land

Bajo Aguán: The Clamor for Land 

How to view: http://www.albasud.org/video/en/22/bajo-aguan-grito-por-la-tierra-english-version

Viewer: Zhenxi 

Director: | Producer: Alba sud and Rel-UITA with the support of the The World Rainforest Movement (WRM), Food First International, The Coordination of Popular Organizations of the Aguán (COPA), Radio Universidad (UCA Nicaragua) anb Comitè de Empresa de Serveis Funeraris de Barcelona
Produced | Country: Honduras

Run Time: 30 minutes  
Language: (Spanish with English subtitles)

Synopsis: a film about one of the most violent regions in Honduras since the 2009 coup, where the country’s largest and wealthiest landowner, Miguel Facussé, has used extreme levels of violence to re-press peasant communities in order to expand his massive oil palm plantations. Since the coup, over 80 Aguán peasants and activists fighting for the right to land been murdered.

Opinion:
The film documented the struggle people in Bajo Aguan are facing by letting the people speak for themselves. It starts with an introduction to the military regime and follows up with the reality of farmer's lives after the resettlement. 
The film highlighted the cruelty and injustice in the region through people's narration. Through the interviews with the local activists, survivors and government officials, we get a holistic idea of the impacts the violence has caused. 

Good with documentation, but no suggestive actions. See hope but mostly depressing.

 Recommendation:

Good for motivational purpose. It leaves a powerful impression. However, the documentary does not link Oxfam's campaigns as the solutions to the problem. 

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Land Rush: Why Poverty

How to view: Full film available for streaming and download at http://www.whypoverty.net/en/all-about/land-rush/

Director: | Producer: BBC
Produced | Country: 
Run Time: 58:00 | Language: English

Synopsis:
75% of Mali’s population are farmers, but rich, land-hungry nations like China and Saudi Arabia are leasing Mali’s land in order to turn large areas into agribusiness farms. Many Malian peasants do not welcome these efforts, seeing them as yet another manifestation of imperialism. As Mali experiences a military coup, the developers are scared off – but can Mali’s farmers combat food shortages and escape poverty on their own terms?

Opinion:

Recommendation:

The Big Banana

How to view:  visit http://thebigbananamovie.com/home/ 

Director: | Producer:Franck Bieleu

Produced:  | Country: Cameroon

Run time:  85min
Language: French with English subtitles


Synopsis:  Food security suffers in the fertile farming area of Cameroon where banana plantations cultivate fruit for European markets.  Now the large multinational wants to own the residents' land too.
From the website:  The region of Njombe-Penja in the coast of Cameroon has a very fertile soil due to high volcanic property. Tropical fruit such as banana, pineapple or mango are widely cultivated for export toward the west, generating millions dollars profit to agro industrial companies. At first glance, a little paradise for the locals soon turns to nightmare.
With the new agreement APE (partnership agreement) between the ACP countries (Africa, Pacific, Caribbean) and Europe that allows free trade. Tropical fruit companies (The big Banana) are encouraged to increase their production to meet the western demand. Such an increase requires more land. Unavailable, the big banana begins expropriating farmers with the help of the local government, leaving land owner, and small farmers with nothing to fend for themselves and their families.

Opinion:

Recommendations:

Chocolate Country

Viewer: Brittany Collins

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/chocolate_country

About:
Director: Robin Blotnick | Producer: 
Produced: 2010 | Country:
Run time: 5 minutes | Language:

Synopsis: In the backcountry of the Dominican Republic, poor cacao farmers have been fighting a losing battle with the global economy for as long as anyone can remember.  The Loma Guacnojo cooperative has found a way to turn the system on its head.

Opinion:
This short film shows how farmers unite in a cooperative, and how the middlemen are cut out of the system so that the farmers directly benefit more.  It's a great display of investing in small-scale food producers!

Recommendation:

Fresh

Viewer: Brittany Collins

Stream for free: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/onlinevideo.html


Director: Deborah Koons Garcia | Producer: Catherine Butler and Koons Garcia
Produced: 2004 | Country: United States
Run time: 1:29:00 | Language: English

Synopsis: The Future Of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

Opinion:

• Starts off with background information about how the food system has changed over the past couple of centuries
• Quickly transitions into how the Green Revolution became the Gene Revolution, setting the tone for a narrow focus on genetic engineering
• Lots of anti-GMO, especially anti-Monsanto segments, as well as explanations of how companies have patented living organisms 
• Interviews with farmers who have been sued by Monsanto for violating their patent
• Big focus on biotech revolution
• Mentions it is cheaper for Mexico to import corn from the U.S. than to grow its own because of U.S. subsidies
• U.S. subsidizes crops, Europe subsidizes farmers, Canada and Mexico subsidize neither
• University research can't challenge conventional wisdom (corporate control of genetic research)
• Mentions dangers of multinational companies continuing to consolidate the food system
• At around 1:10:00, states that world hunger is not about the amount of food (the people starving today used to be farmers themselves)
• Talks about local food, CSAs at the end

• Very heavily focused on issues of GMOs and patents
• Does not focus so much on the future as the title would suggest
• Much more problem-oriented than solution-oriented
• Outdated (7 years old)

Recommendation:

• Some segments may or may not be worth showing to Oxfam supporters
• Would have to update such figures as "800 million malnourished" (to 925 million)
• Not really the most appropriate film for Oxfam events
• Appropriate audience
• Easily understandable for anyone interested in the issues of GMOs and U.S. patents
• Does not align with Oxfam/GROW

I Eat Therefore I Am

Viewers: Brittany Collins and Brian Rawson

Stream for free: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/6243/I-Eat-Therefore-I-Am

About:

Director: Vincent Bruno | Producer: Alexandra Pons

Produced: 2010 | Country: Belgium

Run time: 28:10 | Language: French (English subtitles)

Synopsis: Of the 870 million people who suffer daily from hunger, 75 percent are farmers.  "I Eat Therefore I Am" sheds light on many of the problems surrounding agriculture around the world, and questions the ineffectiveness of the system to assure the food sovereignty of all people--especially those who are cultivating food for the rest of the population.

Opinion:

• Well-organized around thesis (Who will feed the world?)
• Subtitles distracting at times
• Does not really align with GROW
• In a post-2008 food crisis economy, the film's framing seems more 2005-ish
• Animated segments do a good job of making certain topics more digestible 

• Focuses on liberalized foreign trade
• Discusses problem of selling food for the lowest price to remain competitive-- could be confusing when we talk about rising food prices
• Proposed solutions include food sovereignty, imposing tariffs, opting out of the system (not solutions proposed by GROW)
• Does not address plural focus of GROW or the current myriad of problems

Recommendation: 

• Use for background context only
• Good for showing for:
• People looking for background context
• Not appropriate for first exposure to GROW campaign