Sustainability Studies: Documentary Films

2007 - CNN Worldwide Investigation

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOWBlY05egg

Topics covered:

·          Episode 1

•  Endangered species
• Animal Trafficking
• Habitat Destruction
• Species Recovery - Yellowstone Wolves
• Top Predator Loss - Cambodia Tigers
• Animals sold as food
• Public Health
• Water Quality through Mining and Agriculture - China
• Chemical Contamination – United States

·          Episode 2

• Climate Change
• Greenland’s melting ice sheet - Animal Research – Polar Bears, Seals
• Carteret’s Islands, New Guinea - Sinking Island, Coral Bleaching
• Lake Chad, Africa – 90% reduction in the lake
• Controversy of Climate Change
• Amazon Rainforest, Brazil – deforestation, poaching, Sister Dorothy
• Social Injustice - Quality of Life differences for the disadvantaged

2006- Docurama Films

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMZ5enPwEjA

Topics Covered:

Farm Subsidies

·        Prices stayed high because supply and demand were in balance

·        1973, reoriented the program so that crop would expand and price would go down

Growth and introduction of tractors

·        Production of planters made it even easier to plant corn

Genetically modified corn seed

·        To resist weeds

·        Also to resist herbicide called Liberty that is sprayed on weeds

Commodity Corn

·        Most corn grown in Iowa is inedible, so the farmers planting and harvesting the corn can’t even eat it until it is processed

·        Where does all the corn go?

2011- Virgil Films

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

Topics Covered:

Obesity in the U.S.- diseases and conditions associated with it 

·        Link between food and health

·        Plant based, whole foods diet seen as better choice

·        History/ change in food choices

Coronary Heart Disease- can be caused by animal based diet

Difference in disease profile

·        based on country of origin-plant based diets seemed to have fewer cases of disease

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Motivational Triad

·        Liver Cancer and Philipino Children

·        USDA- conflict of interest

2007- OXI Productions, LLC

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UM73CEvwMY

Topics Covered:

Waste disposal- methane gas production and global warming

Indiana

·        landfill proposed right by elementary school

·        leech 8 in ground water

·        runoff from landfill can leak into water supply

Michigan- inundated by garbage from Toronto, Canada

·        Waste Management

·        cheaper to take materials and recycle them than to take them to landfill

Terms:

Freegans- people who divert items from the land fill by searching through dumpsters and trash bags to find good food and house hold items

North Pacific Gyre- 3.5 mill tons of plastic in world’s oceans

2010- Atlas Films

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72MCumz5lq4

Topics Covered:

Bottled water industry

·        Nestle- Poland Springs Bottled water (water mining)

Ground water laws- Absolute Dominion

·        Opposition from citizens in towns who do not want bottled water companies to tap into water

Climate change and water availability

·        Droughts in South Eastern US- water restrictions to residents, but not on companies

·        Over-pumping of ground water to bottle

Petro-chemical plants

·        PET- made from refining crude oil

Case study of effects of these plants on people- Texas Flint Hill Plant

·        Insufficient regulation of bottled water

·        harmful chemicals found in bottled water (Styrene, phthalates)

-BPA found in bottled water as well as water jugs

·        State bottle bills- deposits only in 10 states

North Pacific Gyre- plastic pollution in the open ocean

2010 – The People’s Picture Company, Inc

Trailer: http://www.livingdownstream.com/trailer

Resource – Guide for Community and Curriculum available

Topics Covered:

• Based on Sandra Steingraber’s book “Living Downstream”
• Environmental Connections to Cancer
• Chemicals in air, water, soil and food
• Research that has been conducted
• Normandale, IL – mail survey conducted by county’s Public Health Department
• Salinas River, CA – UC Berkley study of affects on frogs
• Testing of Breast milk for chemical contaminatio
• Chemicals
• Atrazine
• DDT
• PCB
• Interviews
• Sandra Steingraber, author and narrator
• Tyrone Hayes, UC Berkeley – research on frogs
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring - footage of interviews with her

Stephane Lair, University of Montreal – research on beluga whales

2009 – Crude Productions, LLC

Trailer: http://www.crudethemovie.com/trailer-and-photos/

Topics Covered:

• Ecuador people v. Chevron (a.k.a Texaco) lawsuit - “Amazon Chernobyl”
• Social injustice issue
• Facts
• Texaco began drilling in Ecuador in 1964
• PetroEcuador took over the oil operations in 1992 with known evidence of spills
• People became sick, and began to die primarily due to contaminated water
• 1993 – lawsuit filed against Texaco; 2001, Chevron merges with Texaco and inherited the lawsuit
• Question of who is responsible and what is to be done
• Evidence
• Site visits to oil production locations and areas damaged from leaks
• Sick people of Ecuador villages – Cancer, skin problems, dead animals
• Lab samples from potentially contaminated sites (conflicting results from Texaco v. people of Ecuador)
• Independent expert’s “global assessment” report  of the damages and cost for repairing
• Media responses to the lawsuit on both sides
• Celebrities and people in power take sides

2008- Touch Productions Ltd

 Trailer:http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-5042-5242/ngc-human-footprint-trailer/

Topics Covered:

Human impact on the world through waste & consumption

·        Progression of human footprint from infant to death

·        Life cycle analysis and materials used to produce items we use (diaper example)

·        Amount of different items we will use in our lifetimes (bread, meat, milk, potatoes)

·        How much post consumer waste we throw away

·        Consumption over a lifetime of different products

Food transportation and processing

·        Where our fruit comes from (miles traveled until they reach our grocery stores)

·        How our food is wrapped and packaged

2009- Docurama Films    

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWB8KJ1aIJ4&feature=relmfu

Topics Covered:

What is happening to fish in the oceans?

Newfoundland Canada- Cod Fish

·        Due to overfishing of Northern Cod, the fish was depleted and there had to be a moratorium until the population replenished in 1994

Blue Fin Tuna- decrease in population

·        Problem Company- Mitsubishi-> Biggest buyer of Blue Fin Tuna

Senegal Dilemma

·        Dependence on fish for livelihood

Terms:

• Species Depletion
• Fishing Controls- Catch Limits
• Fish Farming

2005- The Katahdin Foundation

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wppwutXf5lU

Topics Covered:

Alaska-

·        Oil companies buy up reservation land

·        Western law vs. Native American laws

·        Arctic national wildlife reserve

·        Oil company wants to intrude of preserve and drill in area of migration and reproduction of caribou

·        Oil spill in Prince William Sound- Exxon

Navajo Reservation- New Mexico

·        Radiation from mining

·        Mention of 3 Mile Island- example of how radiation bottomed out

·        Insitu-leech mining

Penobscot River- Maine

·        Penobscot Nation

·        Lincoln Pulp and Paper

·        Dependence on fish- fish is becoming contaminated

2010- Man Bites Dog Films

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBsp_s0AB94

Topics Covered:

Industrial chemicals – different dangerous chemicals found in everyday items

·        Gene interaction with our environment

West Virginia- “The Chemical Valley”

·        Chemical Plants and Coal Mines

·        Health of workers and citizens

·        C8 in drinking water (PFOA’s)

·        Deadly chemical MIC- Bhopal India Industrial accident killing thousands of people

·        Bayer Plant Explosion

Kentucky- Radium 226

·        link between autism and chemicals- vaccines-> chemicals-> autism (ethyl mercury in vaccines)

Washington DC- Kids Safe Chemical Act

2008- PBS

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZhZVYYpQYo

Topics Covered:

Global Warming

Industrial Age- Increase in Fossil Fuel use and CO2 increase

·        U.S. Failure to accept Kyoto Protocol

Bali Indonesia- U.S. finally agrees to negotiate a treaty to decrease emissions at UN meeting

Coal fired power plants- American Electric Power- Coal as base load generation

·        Clean Coal Campaign

·        Carbon Capture and Storage plant in Florida- Polk power plant

·        Southern Company- Based out of Georgia- Do not favor Carbon Capture and Store because of geology of region

Exxon Mobile- Crude Oil

·        Tar Sands in Canada

·        Growth of Ethanol

·        Efficiency in Europe- Renewable Energy leaders

2011 – Canadian International Documentary Festival

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGxy85R380

Topics Covered:

• Eco-Terrorism – Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
• Interview with Daniel McGowan: member of ELF
• Events leading up to the efforts of the ELF: Earth First and Warner Creek Protest
• Events leading to Daniel’s involvement with ELF
• Events and evidence in the trial against the members of ELF arrested
• WTO, Black Block, Seattle, WA
• Superior Lumber Company burning, Oregon
• University of Washington and Oregon Poplar Farm burning
• Joe Romania Truck Center, Eugene, Oregon
• Use of Jake Ferguson to collect confessions from members of ELF
• Arrest of members of ELF
• Sentencing of Daniel McGowan
• Terms
• Eco-terrorism
• Monkey Wrenching

2008 – Oscilloscope Laboratories

Trailer: http://flowthefilm.com/trailer

Topics Covered:

• Contamination of water via water borne diseases and chemicals: agricultural , pharmaceuticals, industrial, and others
• Social Injustice and lack of clean drinking water
• Involvement of World Bank in the privatization of water
• Decrease of water around the world, even in the United States
• Bottled Water v. Tap Water
• Building of dams and displacement of people and water
• Pumping of water from city wells by bottled water companies – legal implications
• Citizen Activism

2006- Sony Pictures Classics

Trailer:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/

Topics Covered:

History, development and commercialization of the electric car

·        GM’s EV1

·        California Air Resources Board- passed the Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate

Destruction of the Cars

·        Global warming

·        Middle Eastern politics

·        Oil industry and automobile manufacturers

·        George W. Bush Administration

·        Talks of hydrogen fuel cell cars

Click here for Videos!