Under Rich Earth

ANNOUNCING A SPECIAL FUNDRAISING SCREENING AT THE BLOOR CINEMA:

Rye Cinema presents the acclaimed feature documentary film:

UNDER RICH EARTH

“Urgent and vital filmmaking in the spirit of Kanahsatake: 270 Years of Resistance and Manufactured Landscapes.”
- Jesse Wente, CBC

Director’s Cut!
Guest Speakers!
Director Q&A!
DVD Launch!
Fundraising!

Date: Saturday, February 13th, 2009
Time: 6:30
Where: The Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street, Toronto, Tel: 416-516-2331
Tickets: $10
Please Arrive Early! Tickets go on sale 1 hour before the event.
This is a fundraising event.

* Winner: Global Conscience Award – Mexico City Documentary Film Festival
* Top Ten Most Popular Canadian Films: Vancouver International Film Festival
* Nominated for Best Documentary – Hamburg International Independent Film Festival
* Nominated for Coral Award – Best Documentary – Havana Film Festival
* Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Victoria Film Festival, Sudbury International Film Festival, Watch Docs Warsaw, Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Encuentros del Otro Cine – Quito, Boulder International Film Festival and many more…

http://www.underrichearth.com

GUEST SPEAKERS!

The Honourable John McKay (To Be Confirmed) – John McKay is the Member of Parliament for Scarborough – Guildwood. His private member’s Bill C300 seeks to create a framework for transnational corporate accountability in Canadian law. The Bill has already passed second reading in the House of Commons and is not affected by Stephen Harper’s prorogation of Parliament.

Murray Klippenstein – Murray Klippenstein is a Toronto lawyer representing three Ecuadorians who are suing the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Copper Mesa Mining Corporation for violating their human rights. Under Rich Earth tells the story of the events that ultimately led to this ground breaking transnational lawsuit. Read more in the Toronto Star:http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/729148

FUNDRAISING!

Under Rich Earth was a labour of love produced on a shoestring budget over two years. Proceeds from this event will help to pay for the making of the film and to support two Ecuadorian community organizations that are featured in the film: Radio Intag (a community radio station) and Café Rio Intag, a fair trade coffee co-op located in the Intag valley.

DVD LAUNCH!

The Limited Edition Director’s Cut DVD of Under Rich Earth will be available for purchase:
$25.00 – home use
$150.00 – community organizations
$295 – Universities and Libraries.

Event Sponsors

Nathanson Centre for Transnational Human Rights Crime and Security, Osgoode Hall Law School.
Charles Street Video
Mining Awareness Coalition – Toronto

SYNOPSIS

In a remote mountain valley in Ecuador, coffee and sugarcane farmers face the dismal prospect of being forced off their land to make way for a mining project. Unprotected by the police and ignored by their government, they prepare to face down the ‘invaders’ on their own. Their resistance leads to a remarkable and dangerous stand off between farmers and a band of mysterious armed men high in the cloud forest. In a world dominated by news of massacres and terrorism, Under Rich Earth is a surprising and poignant tale of hope and determination.

HERE’S WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT UNDER RICH EARTH:

“Magnificent… a thrilling and revealing portrayal of the search for justice.”
- Alberto Ramos, Signis (Brussels)

“Gripping and disturbing…”
**** Eye Weekly

“Graceful and Uplifting”
Critic’s Pick NNNN
- NOW Magazine

“Hair-raising…”
- Playback Magazine

“A remarkably prescient cautionary tale…”
- Matthew Hays, Montréal Mirror

“An outstanding work of hard journalism…”
- Michael Sauve, Canadian Film Programmers Blog

“A startling exposé… a graceful, well made vérité doc.”
- Marc Glassman, Classical 96.3FM

“Down to earth…without any bullshit”
*** AfroToronto.com

“Powerful… remarkable… dramatic…”
- Chris Cobb, Ottawa Citizen

“It’s impossible not to be intrigued…”
- David Schmeichel, Winnipeg Sun

“Another good film about people power. Things go sideways, diagonally, and off the chart when a small Ecuadorian farming village stands up to the supremely underhanded tactics of an aggressive Canadian mining corporation.”
- Geoff Olson, Vancouver Courier

“Rogge’s most impressive achievement here is how his story gnaws through stereotypes of people as victims of corporate and army oppression. The documentary dispels such notions, revealing the people of Junin as powerful organizers.”
- Ed Janzen, FUSE Magazine

“Unarmed and unprotected, the poor farmers in a tiny mountain community in Ecuador face down and detain armed mercenaries hired by Canadian mining company Ascendant Copper. Canadian documentary maker Malcolm Rogge caught some amazing footage to build a story about corporate malfeasance and how the undertrod overcame the superior forces of might, money and political manipulation.”
- Susan Walker, Toronto Star

11:00 am-Car/bicycle caravan departs from south-west corner of Allen Gardens
Park (Carlton & Sherbourne Sts.).

11:30 am-Rally @ Bob Rae’s Constituency Office, 514 Parliament Street (Carlton
& Parliament Sts.).

Background
The Canadian House of Commons is debating Bill-C23, to implement the
CCFTA. The
Harper government, with crucial Liberal party support, is committed to
implementing the CCFTA and throwing right-wing Colombian president
Alvaro Uribe
a political lifeline, despite his corrupt, discredited regime and egregious
human rights record. Two Liberal MPs in particular, Bob Rae and Scott Brisson,
have shown themselves to be strong supporters of the CCFTA.

Come and tell our elected officials that we are opposed to the ratification of
the CCFTA. It has no effective, binding mechanisms to safeguard labour, human
rights and the environment. Like Mexico’s NAFTA, it will negatively impact
small and medium-sized producers who are among the most marginalized in
Colombia. It will mainly safeguard investors’ rights, especially Canadian
energy and mining corporations that are active in conflict-zones. CAFTA will
aggravate internal displacement, which at close to 4 million people,
is already
an alarming humanitarian crisis. At minimum, the Liberal party should honour
its earlier stated commitment to a full independent human rights impact
assessment before further consideration is given to a trade agreement with
Colombia.

Organized by: Colombia Action Solidarity Alliance (CASA), Toronto Chapter
Council of Canadians & Latin American Solidarity Network (LASN)/Endorsed by:
CUPE OntarioFor more Information: esguerra @vif.com 416.651.2409

Caravan  Route:
First Loop
Departure – Allan Gardens Park @ 11am
EAST – on Carlton Street
NORTH – on Parliament Street (5 min. stop at 514 Parliament Street)
EAST – on Wellesley Street
SOUTH – on Sumach Street
WEST – on Carlton Street

Second Loop
NORTH – on Parliament Street (5 min. stop at 514 Parliament Street)
WEST – on Wellesley Street
SOUTH – on Jarvis Street
EAST – on Carlton Street
End – Allan Gardens Park

__________________________________________________
For more information about CASA please contact
esguerra@vif.com

Break the Silence

Break the Silence Congo Week, which will take place from October 18-24, 2009, is a global initiative led by students and community organizers around the world, in association with Congo Global Action and Friends of the Congo, to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the Congo. Students from the US, Canada, England, Belgium, Germany, France, Brazil, Jamaica, Norway, Korea, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, Columbia, etc. will organize events about the Congo (films, lectures, demonstrations, and more) on their respective campuses.

The purpose of the Break the Silence Congo Week is to raise awareness about the devastating situation in the Congo and mobilize support on behalf of the people of the Congo. It will take place from Sunday October 19th to Saturday October 25th.

The University of Toronto chapter of Friends of the Congo is proud to present a number of excellent speakers and films. See below for the full schedule.

The Congo is the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today where nearly 6 million people have died since 1996, half of them children under 5 yrs old and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped all as a result of the scramble for Congo’s wealth. The United Nations said it is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War Two. However, hardly anything is said about it in the media. Can you imagine 45,000 people dying each month and hardly a peep from anyone in the age of the Internet? This is literally what has happened and continue to happen in the Congo. There is a media blackout about Congo and no worldwide resolution to end the conflict and carnage there.

Visit the Friends of the Congo – University of Toronto Chapter for a full schedule of events

http://friendsofthecongouoft.wordpress.com/

Visit the Congo Week website for more background information:

http://www.congoweek.org/english/

Anti-uranium rally at Queen’s Park, south lawn, organized by Cottagers against Uranium Mining and Exploration. The message is clear: Stop the uranium mining industry from staking further claims, and protect all Ontarians by giving them what residents of British Columbia already enjoy—a ban on uranium mining and exploration.

Radioactive fallout and washout from uranium mining sites is carried for up to 400 kms, resulting in a significant increase of cancer fatalities in a wide area.
Kueppers 1994

“Wherever uranium is mined, it contaminates the land, air and water. Yet the province of Ontario is allowing multi-national companies to strip our local cottage-country forests and drill near our source waters in search of uranium. Most of which, is destined for export. And what they’re planning here are open-pit mines,” says Susanne Lauten, founder of Cottagers against Uranium Mining and Exploration. “British Columbia has a ban on uranium mining, Nova Scotia and Labrador have a moratorium, New Brunswick has strict regulations, but Ontario’s a free-for-all.”

Just 2 hours northeast of Toronto, south of Algonquin Park, an American mining company has bulldozed 20 hectares of mature forest, scraping the earth to bedrock. Followed by 40 test drills each 100 metres deep. All without environmental assessment. This took place in the Trent Severn watershed, source water to tens of thousands of residents.

Uranium has not been mined in Ontario since 1996, when the mines at Elliot Lake were closed, and the rich reserves in Northern Saskatchewan—the largest in the world—became Canada’s primary source. And now, just ten years later, the Ontario government is opening the door to uranium mining again. But this time, it’s open-pit mining, and it’s right on Toronto’s doorstep.

Speakers include:

Bruce Cox, Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada

Robert Lovelace, Retired Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, and Queen’s University professor, imprisoned for 101 days for resisting uranium prospectors on aboriginal land

Terry Rees, Executive Director, Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations, FOCA

Lorraine Rekmans, Author, and witness to World Uranium Congress, Salzburg

Email: cottagers.vs.mining@sympatico.ca

*There will be road closures downtown that day due to Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and the Word on the Street.