Category: Environment/Geography
Baracoa
Baracoa shows the beauty of Baracoa, a municipality of Guantanamo province in Cuba. The film includes footage of the natural environment of Baracoa, the major city, Guantanamo while Cuban music is playing in the background.
Cuba, Environment/Geography, Music/DanceChigualeros
Chigualeros is a documentary about one of the most famous orchestras in Ecuador. Chigualeros, founded almost three decades agos , fuses different sounds like son, marimba, guaracha, currulao, bolero, and the chigualo. Like many parts of Latin America, Ecuador has an African history that is evoked through the mix of sounds in the Chigualeros.The documentary presents the lives of the members of the group while also exploring the deforestation of the tropical forests of the region.
Ecuador, Environment/Geography, History, Music/DanceColombia Magia Salvaje
Showcasing the country's biodiversity, revealing the scenic vistas and native wildlife of Colombia's beautiful -- but fragile ecosystem.
Colombia, Environment/GeographydeMoler
Small look at the sugar workers’ feeling when they see their sugar cane mill dismantled. In Guantanamo, very close to the U.S. Naval Base, stood the Central Paraguay sugar mill. It was initially the Las Cañas sugar mill, built in 1877, and after passing through several owners, was purchased in 1909 by the Guantanamo Sugar Company. After the nationalization of foreign companies brought about by the Revolution in 1959, it became Central Paraguay. And in 2002, following the restructuring of the sugar industry, its demolition was decided upon.
The filmmaker, Alejandro Ramirez, documents the painful process of the mill's disappearance and what it means for the workers and residents of the batey (sugar mill town). The sounds of metal fragments falling to the ground, the emotional voices of many of those interviewed, and the magnificent guitar theme that accompanies the footage, transform this act of demolition into a disturbing and vibrant vision of the national sugar industry's reality.
En El Camino De Nuestros Antepasados
This film uses puppets to deliver lessons about Yucatec Maya language, culture, and history. It deals with issues of contemporary and ancient Maya heritage. The main characters travel to different sites including Chichen Itza, and learn about things such as traditional Maya farming practices, ancient Maya religion, and heritage site looting and preservation.
Animated, Anthropology/Archaeology, Country/Region, Environment/Geography, Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, Social Issues, SubjectHabanastation
Habanastation is a 2011 Cuban drama film directed by Ian Padron. Filmed in a slum in western Havana, the film addresses inequalities in Cuba through the relationship between two children of different social strata. The film was selected as the Cuban entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.
Country/Region, Cuba, Environment/Geography, Social Issues, Social Life and Customs, SubjectLacandona : The Zapatistas And Rainforest Of Chiapas Mexico
This is a film that documents the struggle of the people of Chiapas to reclaim their land and rights that were promised to them by the Mexican Constitution. Their land is full of natural resources, such as oil and precious wood. Their belief that they have a right to their land initiated a revolution. This is a brief overview of their struggle and conflict in Chiapas Mexico. Produced by Native Forest Network, Eastern North American Resource Center.
Environment/Geography, Mexico, Social Movements/ResistanceMuralla Verde, La
A young family, determined to escape the pressures of life in Lima, struggles to exist in the exotic, overgrown Peruvian jungle. Godoy's autobiographical story is perhaps the most honored Peruvian film of all time.
Biography, Drama, Environment/Geography, Peru, Social IssuesNew World Border
New World Border documents the rise in human rights abuses along the U.S.-Mexico border since the implementation of border blockades, which have been erected in populated areas throughout the border region during the last decade. This film includes interviews with immigrant rights organizers, testimony from immigrants, analysis of “free trade” policies & current efforts to build a vibrant movement for immigrant rights.
Border, Country/Region, Economics/Development, Environment/Geography, Mexico, Subject, USANostalgia de la Luz / Nostalgia For The Light
For his new film director Patricio Guzmán, famed for his political documentaries (The Battle of Chile, The Pinochet Case), travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe. The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners, “disappeared” by the Chilean army after the military coup of September, 1973. So while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies, at the foot of the mountains, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped here, search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones, to reclaim their families’ histories. Melding the celestial quest of the astronomers
Chile, Country/Region, Environment/Geography, Politics/Human Rights, SubjectOaxaca (y otros mas)
The video collection that takes you on a trip to Oaxaca to see the sites of the immensely beautiful country of Mexico. Contains 5 clips: Oaxaca, Las Monarcas de Mexico, Prohibido no tocar, La eterna seducción de la plata, y Donde el Pasado Revive.
Culture/Festivals/Food, Environment/Geography, History, MexicoOwners Of The Water: Conflict And Collaboration Over Rivers
The Xavante of central Brazil and the Wayuu of Venezuela are two indigenous groups who both face considerable challenges in their efforts to maintain control over and access to one of the most basic of natural resources, fresh water. In this compelling documentary an anthropologist from the United States collaborates with a member of the Xavante and a member of the Wayuu to explore the ways in which indigenous peoples are responding to threats to their environment and natural resources. The film focuses primarily on efforts by the Xavante to combat the deforestation and excessive use of agritoxins associated with the expanding Brazilian soy industry that threatens the viability of the Rio das Mortes as a viable water source. Through a focus on this particular movement, the filmmakers explore the close connection between the the goals of protecting our environment and defending the interests of indigenous peoples, as well as an growing solidarity among indigenous peoples throughout South America that is centered around mobilization with respect to environmental issues.
Brazil, Economics/Development, Environment/Geography, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements/Resistance, VenezuelaPascua Lama: A Contemporary Quest For El Dorado
This documentary provides an in-depth look at the social, economic, and environmental impact of the Pascua Lama gold mine in the Huasco Valley of northern Chile. By examining the Canadian Barrick Gold Corporation's management of the mine, this film forces us to rethink whether such operations are actually beneficial for Chile and its citizens. In addition to exploring the negative environmental impact and associated effects on local agriculture, the films uses interviews with a number of activists who argue that these mines generate very little economic benefit for the local or national economies, and instead export profits while nationalizing costs.
Chile, Economics/Development, Environment/GeographyRegina Vater: Six Videos On Brazil
This video contains six segments in Portuguese with no subtitles. "Turning Sadness Inside Out" (1985, 18 minutes) is about Rio's Carnival. It is basically a musical where the lyrics somehow cements the images. "From Brazil by Brazilians" (1993, 20 minutes) is an experimental video of interviews with five Brazilian intellectuals, mixed with street and country scenes. This segment also shows how Brazilians see themselves and how they feel about the European and American perception of them. "Tupi or not Tupi" (1988, 18 minutes) contains fragments of interviews with filmmaker Vera Figueredo, famous theater director José Celso Martines Correia, writer and scholar Antonio Medina, and American composer John Cage, regarding their feelings about Brazil and Brazilian culture. "Nature Still Alive" (1993, 5 minutes) is a short work about ecology and conscience, computer edited. This segment works in analogical and metaphorical discourse, and is the result of edited images of animals with Regina Vater's "Nature Mortes" (collection of photographs). "Green" (1991, 30 minutes) is a film made for a video installation in the Royal National Museum of Antwerp in 1992. This film is about the destruction of America's ecology and culture by the Europeans. At the same time, it deals with the foods America provided Europe with the discoveries. The last segment of this video (1993, unfinished) contains a fragment of an hour video recording most of Regina Vater's art works from 1979 to 1993. In this video the artist reads a statement on her ideas about art.
Art, Brazil, Culture/Festivals/Food, Environment/Geography, Social Life and CustomsShoveling Water
Journey to the heart of coca country where United States tax dollars have financed the aerial fumigation of 2.6 million acres of land in Colombia – the world's second most biodiverse country. See crop-duster’s target coca plants, the main ingredient of cocaine, with concentrated herbicide as part of the U.S. war on drugs. Listen to people on the ground, hear about the impacts, and learn new ideas about how to solve this deadly problem.
Colombia, Environment/Geography, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues, Subject, USATerras
Terras ("Lands") is a documentary about the border of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, located in the heart of the Amazon. On this triple frontier the twin towns of Leticia (Colombia) and Tabatinga (Brazil) form an urban island surrounded by forest. It is a region marked by a constant flow of people from diverse origins, where ancestral and contemporary cultures live side-by-side. Through photography and sound, Terras explores the concept of frontier beyond the territorial demarcations that divide nations. Immersing itself in the daily lives of the towns and their inhabitants, this documentary uses a poetic and reflective approach to reflect on the relationship and contact between different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures.
Border, Brazil, Environment/Geography, Indigenous Peoples, Social Life and CustomsTumaco Pacifico
This film portrays daily life in an underdeveloped and overpopulated city on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Tumaco is a city inhabited mainly by Afro-Colombians which depends on fishing as its principal economic activity, a way of life threatened by the accumulation of pollution in the sea and connected waterways. Residents live in houses standing on stilts over the ocean, with no proper water or sanitation systems. Residents of the town share their life stories, their modes of earning a living and reflections on their struggle to secure improved working and living conditions and overcome poverty. Award winner, 26th Latin American Film Festival Bordeaux, France (Public Award) & First Award best feature length documentary film 2009 FESALP Film Festival, La Plata. Argentina.
Colombia, Economics/Development, Environment/Geography, Social IssuesViva Puerto Rico
There are important conservation efforts underway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to protect its endangered native wildlife from extinction on land and sea. Once home to ancient rainforests that covered the Caribbean island when Columbus first landed in 1493, centuries of development have impacted Puerto Rico’s rich natural resources. By 1900, only five percent of its rainforests remained, causing a major loss of habitat.
Viva Puerto Rico follows the work of three conservationists and the ways in which each is trying to restore populations of the island’s most endangered species: the Puerto Rican Amazon parrot, Leatherback turtle, and manatee.
PBS episode
Environment/Geography, Puerto RicoWaste Land
Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Mixes art with social projects. Addresses issues such as classism.
Art, Brazil, Environment/Geography, Politics/Human Rights, Social IssuesWe Don’t Play Golf Here
Mexico serves as a Third World example of how “free market” economics distorts culture and environment. The construction of a golf course is more than the military trying to replace the democratic sport, soccer, with golf. It is how the golf course is going to affect the people in the surrounding area. Fertilizers and pesticides will pollute the nearby waters, Constructing the golf course would require the government to cut down trees, creating an environmental issue. People who believe in taking care of the natural forests around them were being punished by the military for not agreeing with their course of action. Without an individual voice the people of Mexico came together and had strikes against the golf company, the metal company dumping materials, in order to move toward a more democratic country. Despite globalizing efforts of the government, the people of Tepozitlan will always fight for what they believe in.
Culture/Festivals/Food, Economics/Development, Environment/Geography, Mexico, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues