Indigenous Rights Film Festival Nov 5-7
Indigenous Rights Watch presents free screenings of six films that address the longest standing human rights issue in the United States.
All screenings will take place in Room 2 of the Ward Building at American University (4400 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington DC 20016).
A discussion will follow each screening.
November 5-Friday
8:00pm To Protect Mother Earth: Broken Treaty II (60 minutes)
by Joel Freedman
Joel Freedman examines the unilateral “extinguishment” of the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which bound the U.S. government to respect the sovereign territory of the Western Shoshone Nation since the 1800s. This treaty has repeatedly been broken in the past 20 years, violating the Western Shoshone’s rights of equality under the law, due process, and the right to property, and effectively stripping the Western Shoshone of their land and livelihood.
Please also see Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain
http://www.nvr.org/vidforum_content.php?end=&filmid=128&pro=native&start=&subsec=a
and the Western Shoshone “Payoff” Bill series in our Economics section.
Please vist the Western Shoshone Defense Project http://www.wsdp.org
for updated information on this ongoing struggle.
November 6-Saturday
2:00pm Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story (90 minutes)
by Michael Apted
This film documents the highly charged controversy surrounding the conspiratorial framing and incarceration of a Sioux for the violent deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Filmmaker Michael Apted’s compelling analysis of the evidence generates strong misgivings about the verdict that was handed down, as well as the integrity of the U.S. Justice system. http://www.freepeltier.org/videos.htm
5:00pm In the Light of Reverence (75 minutes)
by Toby McLeod
This film documents Native American struggles to protect landscapes of spiritual significance. The film tells the stories of three communities and the places they care for: the Lakota at Devils Tower, Wyoming, the Hopi in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, and the Wintu at Mt. Shasta. Narrated by Peter Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal, the film explores obstacles to religious freedom for land based practitioners and impacts on sacred sites that range from mining and ski resorts to New Age practices and rock-climbing. It was broadcast on PBS in August 2001. Charmaine White Face of the Black Hills Defenders and sacred sites activist Guy Lopez will be present for the after-film discussion.
For more information about the film please visit http://www.sacredland.org/films.html
November 7-Sunday
2:00pm Drum Beat for Mother Earth:
Persistent Organic Pollutants Threatening Indigenous Peoples (56 minutes)
by Indigenous Environmental Network and Greenpeace
Our air, water, and soil are rife with toxic pollutants, threatening the health and well-being of all of the inhabitants of this land. This film examines the alarming extent to which this ecocide continuously decimates Indigenous communities, whose traditional lifestyles and cultural values are inextricably intertwined with the environment in which it exists, thus transforming ecocide into cultural genocide. For more information about the film please visit http://www.ienearth.org/pops_threat-p1.html . Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network will join the after-film discussion.
5:00pm “Una Muerte en Sion” (A Death in Zion) (25 minutes)
by Adam Goldstein
In the 1970's petroleum was discovered beneath traditional territory of the Achuar people, in a remote part of the Northern Peruvian Amazon. Filmmaker Adam Goldstein and the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River show how contamination has profoundly affected communities along the Rio Corrientes basin since then, and how much of the indigenous population feels abandoned and left to fend for itself.
5:30pm Soy Defensor de La Selva “I Am Defender of the Rainforest” (25 minutes) by Eliberto Gualinga
Film shows the struggle and resistence of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku confronted with the presence of the Argentinian petroleum company, CGC in Block 23 which encompasses their territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This film was produced, filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community. The film is in Spanish and Kichwa. Translation will be provided. Sarayacu community members will be present for the after-film discussion.
The Indigenous Rights Film Festival is organized by Indigenous Rights Watch in partnership with American University’s Washington Internship for Native Students (WINS) program, Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Amazon Watch and Amazon Alliance.
For additional information, please contact:
Keli Lovejoy
Indigenous Rights Watch
MA International Development
School of International Service
American University
(1) 202 361 0840
kelilovejoy@hotmail.com
web: http://www.indigenousrightswatch.org
Indigenous Rights Watch presents free screenings of six films that address the longest standing human rights issue in the United States.
All screenings will take place in Room 2 of the Ward Building at American University (4400 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington DC 20016).
A discussion will follow each screening.
November 5-Friday
8:00pm To Protect Mother Earth: Broken Treaty II (60 minutes)
by Joel Freedman
Joel Freedman examines the unilateral “extinguishment” of the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which bound the U.S. government to respect the sovereign territory of the Western Shoshone Nation since the 1800s. This treaty has repeatedly been broken in the past 20 years, violating the Western Shoshone’s rights of equality under the law, due process, and the right to property, and effectively stripping the Western Shoshone of their land and livelihood.
Please also see Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain
http://www.nvr.org/vidforum_content.php?end=&filmid=128&pro=native&start=&subsec=a
and the Western Shoshone “Payoff” Bill series in our Economics section.
Please vist the Western Shoshone Defense Project http://www.wsdp.org
for updated information on this ongoing struggle.
November 6-Saturday
2:00pm Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story (90 minutes)
by Michael Apted
This film documents the highly charged controversy surrounding the conspiratorial framing and incarceration of a Sioux for the violent deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Filmmaker Michael Apted’s compelling analysis of the evidence generates strong misgivings about the verdict that was handed down, as well as the integrity of the U.S. Justice system. http://www.freepeltier.org/videos.htm
5:00pm In the Light of Reverence (75 minutes)
by Toby McLeod
This film documents Native American struggles to protect landscapes of spiritual significance. The film tells the stories of three communities and the places they care for: the Lakota at Devils Tower, Wyoming, the Hopi in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, and the Wintu at Mt. Shasta. Narrated by Peter Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal, the film explores obstacles to religious freedom for land based practitioners and impacts on sacred sites that range from mining and ski resorts to New Age practices and rock-climbing. It was broadcast on PBS in August 2001. Charmaine White Face of the Black Hills Defenders and sacred sites activist Guy Lopez will be present for the after-film discussion.
For more information about the film please visit http://www.sacredland.org/films.html
November 7-Sunday
2:00pm Drum Beat for Mother Earth:
Persistent Organic Pollutants Threatening Indigenous Peoples (56 minutes)
by Indigenous Environmental Network and Greenpeace
Our air, water, and soil are rife with toxic pollutants, threatening the health and well-being of all of the inhabitants of this land. This film examines the alarming extent to which this ecocide continuously decimates Indigenous communities, whose traditional lifestyles and cultural values are inextricably intertwined with the environment in which it exists, thus transforming ecocide into cultural genocide. For more information about the film please visit http://www.ienearth.org/pops_threat-p1.html . Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network will join the after-film discussion.
5:00pm “Una Muerte en Sion” (A Death in Zion) (25 minutes)
by Adam Goldstein
In the 1970's petroleum was discovered beneath traditional territory of the Achuar people, in a remote part of the Northern Peruvian Amazon. Filmmaker Adam Goldstein and the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River show how contamination has profoundly affected communities along the Rio Corrientes basin since then, and how much of the indigenous population feels abandoned and left to fend for itself.
5:30pm Soy Defensor de La Selva “I Am Defender of the Rainforest” (25 minutes) by Eliberto Gualinga
Film shows the struggle and resistence of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku confronted with the presence of the Argentinian petroleum company, CGC in Block 23 which encompasses their territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This film was produced, filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community. The film is in Spanish and Kichwa. Translation will be provided. Sarayacu community members will be present for the after-film discussion.
The Indigenous Rights Film Festival is organized by Indigenous Rights Watch in partnership with American University’s Washington Internship for Native Students (WINS) program, Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Amazon Watch and Amazon Alliance.
For additional information, please contact:
Keli Lovejoy
Indigenous Rights Watch
MA International Development
School of International Service
American University
(1) 202 361 0840
kelilovejoy@hotmail.com
web: http://www.indigenousrightswatch.org