Serving as a microcosm for what’s happening to the entire planet, this film tells the story of a dedicated group of activists striving to fend off the destruction of a 700-acre forest to make way for a biotech park. The first round of permits were issured to make way for Scripps’ biotech research park, and for construction of surrounding housing and retail development in the watershed of the Northeast Everglades bioregion. On Valentine’s Day, 2011, member of Everglades Earth First! began what became a six-week tree sit with a huge banner visible, “DEFEND THIS FOREST”. The banner, visible to thousands of commuters daily along I-95, became the symbol of a resistance that would inspire a new era in environmental action in the state of Florida.
To learn a more in depth account of scripps, watch this
brief video from Everglades Earth First!
Dispatch #2 of Stop the Flows focuses on the burgeoning anti-nuke movement in Japan, following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Truth be told I had larger plans for this dispatch. But with time and resources lacking, I could only scratch the surface of not just the anti-nuke movement, but of the anarchist and activist scene in Japan. So what you see here is nearly a glimpse into the world of the folks who will end nuclear power in Japan for good.
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Although Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in February 2011, the uprisings in Egypt show little sign of retreat. While the uniting rallying cry may have been against dictatorship, the struggle in Egypt that took headlines across the world in early 2011 reflected deeper social, political, and economic problems.
The key demands of the revolution have still not been met. The continuation of military rule and the promise of more neoliberal economic policies lead many to believe it will be a long battle. Protestors in Egypt are hopeful, however, as people all over the world revolt against an economic system that benefits the few at the expense of the many.
We’ve just received the above video, an anonymously-edited collection of footage from the general strike in Oakland on November 2, 2011. The 15-minute video includes scenes from the afternoon anti-capitalist march, the subsequent blockading of the Port of Oakland, and the occupation of the Traveler’s Aid Society building in downtown Oakland later that night.
This is a mere snapshot of the events unfolding around Occupy Oakland, which are still ongoing; much remains to be discussed and debated. We’ll present more material on the subject here soon.
In the meantime, suffice it to say–things are heating up.
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for me. I started touring with END:CIV almost a year ago so far I’ve personally shown it over 100 times. Yep, that’s more than 100 Q and A sessions in four countries and in four languages. I’ve traveled over 40,000 KM by foot, bike, boats, van, buses, jets and trains. Online views of END:CIV are close to 80,000 on multiple platforms and grassroots screenings keep popping up every month. So far I’ve posted 9 translations on the website with a few more in the coming weeks including Turkish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Indonesian. All in all I consider this 5 year project a success.
My newest project has the working title of Stop the Flows. Over the next five years I will document resistance movements that are working towards stopping the flows of hydro carbons, mineral extraction, natural resources and capital, through grassroots and underground organizing. I will publish the dispatches as I complete them with the goal of compiling them into a feature length documentary to be released on 2016.
The first dispatch took me to Central BC where Unis’toten nation are pre-empting the construction of 4 oil and gas pipelines through their traditional territories. You can watch that here. The next dispatch will focus on the growing opposition to an oil pipeline expansion right here where I live in Vancouver. In December I will compile the hours of interviews and footage I gathered while in Japan, for a dispatch spotlighting the growing grassroots anti-nuke movement. In January I hope to travel to Australia to continue touring and gathering material for Stop the Flows and ditto goes for Europe in the spring.
So this is my pitch and appeal for financial support. As you may or may not know, subMedia does no receive money from foundations, corporations or governments. This fact has kept our media truly independent and rogue, videos that don’t mince words or tap dance around the issues. I feel the this type of unfiltered media is crucial in these times, when we are witnessing increased suppression of dissent, but also the birth of a global revolutionary movement.
With that said, consider donating a few bucks to subMedia. The goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of the year to push these projects through the winter.
Greece has become ground zero of the Eurozone’s fiscal crisis. The austerity measures promoted by the IMF/EU/ECB, otherwise known as the troika, are at the core of the social crisis in Greece. This short documentary looks at the current crisis in Greece and social reactions to structural adjustment measures.
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