hi all!
Well, i returned from FICA film festival in Goias, Brasil. It was jam packed with good films, events, and people! First thing’s first- i must thank all the people at FICA for such a wonderful festival experience! Really, if anyone out there ever get’s invited to attend FICA, you’re a fool, in my book, if you don’t come! Tnx again, you people rock!
Other than beautiful nature and the perfect little brasilian town in which the festival is held, FICA offered a really great line-up of documentaries, out of which i can recommend particularly
Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it? In the suspenseful documentary BANANAS!*, filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food.
Also, Ton van Zantvoort documentary that reveals the ugly truth behind one of the most beautiful things- a rose
In an intriguing way a BLOOMING BUSINESS shows the world of Jane, Oscar and Kennedy, who all depend some how on the huge flower farms in Naivasha, Kenya. A poetic, cinematic and poignant documentary in which director Ton van Zantvoort goes deep into the lives of the main characters. Is the smell of the imported rose so sweet indeed?
Jakob Gottschau’s Bringing Life To Space
For several decades man have prepared for long voyages into space and to settle other planets. To secure survival on a long journey we need to “Bring Life to Space”, and scientists have been trying to copy Earth’s delicate ecological balances in small, sealed cycles, to prepare the production of sufficient and vital supplies of water, oxygen and food on a journey into space. This historical documentary takes us back to the 1960s and reveals unique footage from Russian experiments, where people were confined for one year in a sealed spaceship mock up.
Arthur Rifflet’s La Grippe du Laissez-Faire
La Gloria, a small town in the state of Veracruz, recently became the centre of the global media attention. It was here a 5 year old child became the first casualty of the global swine flu pandemic. Whilst the media and political focus however attested to the local conditions of impoverishment, away from the media glare another battle has been taking place as inhabitants of the Valley of Perote have waged a campaign against Granjas Carroll de Mexico - a company partly owned by Smithfield foods, accusing them of contaminating the local environment. Indeed, in spite of judicial proceedings, they still maintain their struggle against what they see to be the environmental injustices of the "laissez - faire" system.
and Garbage Angels by Élène Dallaire
Garbage Angels, odd life forms tell their tale of our society where everything seems to be disposable.
And so many other….!
Let me finish with a few pictures from the festival! Goias, i hope to see you again!
