FLEFF: March 31-April 6, 2008

I'm incredibly excited about the upcoming Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) in Ithaca, NY, from March 31 through April 6, 2008. One look at the film list will explain my excitement. Many great documentaries are available, some of them attended by the filmmakers who created them. There are film discussion panels, concerts, mini-courses, and other events as well. The festival is incredibly rich with facts, ideas, and fun, and it's great to see awareness being raised about so many important issues. There's certainly a risk of compassion fatigue, but that danger is what makes FLEFF such a fantastic event.

Last year was the first year I attended the festival, and I saw a great documentary called Frankensteer, which discussed aspects of the Canadian cattle industry, and the inspiring The Forest For The Trees, which covered the trial of Judi Bari's civil rights lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland Police to clear her name of accusations of carrying a bomb to an Earth First! logging protest. The bomb--which detonated and injured both Judi and a fellow activist Darryl Cherney--was planted by agents, who lied and fabricated evidence against Judi and Darryl. Another highlight last year was the paradigm-shifting Black Gold, a documentary about fair trade coffee and the plight of Ethiopian organic coffee growers. I learned a lot in this film, and it piqued my interest in subject areas--including World Bank/IMF issues and global trade inequalities (WTO, free trade)--that, before the film, I had not considered or understood in context. It was inspiring and sobering to sit in a crowded theater and see these issues on screen and in discussion and wonder about what I could do, as one person, against this tide of unfairness and oppression.

This year's lineup looks, again, to be quite thought-provoking. I'm planning to see at least half a dozen films on the Ithaca College campus as time and schedule allow. Also in the lineup are weekend films in the downtown indie theaters. I'm including The Price of Sugar, Counterfeiters, War/Dance, the much anticipated Taxi to the Dark Side, and maybe Summer Palace. I hope to blog about my experiences and reactions to these films and subsequent discussions. It's really going to be a great week!

No End in Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq

No End in Sight is an excellent film that examines the decision-making and policies of the Bush administration on the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. If you followed things closely after the war began and in the months after Bush's mission accomplished speech, you'll get to see and hear all of the maddening quotes and disgusting bravado of top Bush officials, including Bush himself and especially Rumsfeld. Such footage is spliced elegantly with historical information and commentary from other top officials who were charged with carrying out the reconstruction and planning for postwar Iraq. Many of these individuals were given no time to accomplish such a feat and repeatedly reference examples of their advice and experience being ignored and disregarded by Bush and his cronies, who forged ahead with an agenda based on inexperience and uninformed by the many documents and reports amassed by intelligence and Pentagon officials who tried to sound the warning about what could (and did) go wrong.

The film is serious and steady, a damning indictment leveled by those charged with its execution. I learned new information from this film and now understand better that the “insurgency” and other difficulties that we face in Iraq didn’t just happen. The stage was set by decisions made in a stubborn vacuum. The soundtrack, featuring original music from Peter Nashel, and the footage used in the film combine with the somber faces and words of those interviewed to conjure up feelings of frustration, sadness, and alarm. These emotions reach a fever pitch late in the film, and my eyes welled up near the end. So many lives touched, damaged, and taken. So many who yet will die. Despite the illegality of the invasion and its false pretenses, the United States may actually have had a chance to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis and do some good in that country, but any initial goodwill and willingness of the Iraqis to move with us in concert into this new chapter of their nation’s history was squandered by Bush’s arrogance.

The tone of this film is excellent, and the delivery of its message and information is superb. I recommend it.

No End in Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq (2007)
Directed by Charles Ferguson