RKS Film: “Tigre Gente”: Nancy Regan Had it Right: EarthX Film Festival

The EarthX Film Festival runs in Dallas Texas May 12-15 with some films being virtually available. The documentary “Tigre Gent” explores the illegal jaguar trade in Bolivia occurring in Madidi National Park and the finger is pointed directly to the Chinese traditional medicine market. What did former First Lady Nancy Regan say about drug consumption, “Just Say No!”. A simplistic and ignorant statement in many respects but true in other respects. Time has come for the Chinese consumer to say no.

In illegal logging in the Palawan Rainforest in the Philippines as in Bolivia the pattern is the same for illegal logging as it is for the trade in jaguar teeth in Bolivia. At the bottom there are the poor felling trees and hunting jaguars with middlemen and a “big boss” selling illegal products to buyers. In this case if there was no demand in China the diminishing jaguar population would be protected. The answer is not the vilification of the Chinese with anti-Chinese demonstrations but through education.

The PRC has passed legislation prohibiting the trade in endangered animal products but as long as there is a junkie for these animal products the trade will survive. In China’s case it is traditional medicine that fuels the demand and it has been passed down generation after generation that is understandable but we are at a point in time where Chinese consumers must surely recognize their consumption of endangered animal products is morally and legally wrong. The time has run out for excuses based on cultural “norms”.

Park rangers in Madidi National Park in Bolivia  do their best to clamp down on the killing of jaguars by arresting hunters and middlemen and help bust a ring in Sana Cruz headed by a Chinese couple. 185 jaguar teeth are seized the product of killing 53 jaguars. The Chinese woman is sentenced to three years in prison while her husband flees to China. The middle levels are arrested too but the ultimate consumer escapes! Bolivians go on anti-Chinese demonstrations.

An exciting but terribly sad documentary. The only ray of hope is an investigative reporter speaking to primary school students in Hong Kong gasping when hearing the reporter as a child ate shark fin soup.

Director Elizabeth Unger. For information on live and virtual screenings https://earthxfilmfestival.org/title-item/tigre-gente/

RKS Film Rating 92/100.

RKS Wine: Colossal Reserva from Lisboa: Gigantically Delicious?

Is the Colossal Reserva from Portugal’s Lisboa appellation gigantically delicious or disastrous? As there is Alicante Bouschet in the blend that’s almost always a good sign!

On the nose black cherry, pomegranate and ripe raspberry. The tannins are moderate but generous to support up to three years of cellaring. Black cherry, cola with some raspberry tart. The finish is moderate. There is some nervous energy in this wine and it is almost high strung. You can certainly sip it but best with food. Try with Spanish Style Garlic Shrimp with Tomato Toasts (From Wall Street Journal).

Not a colossal wine but not to far off that mark. Another winner from Portugal.

(Colossal Reserva 2018, Vinho Regional Lisboa, Casa Santo Lima-Companhia das Vinhas, Portugal, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 548867, $16.95, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).

Roger Voss of Wine Enthusiast gives this a 91.

HOT DOCS AWARDS $65,000 CDN IN CASH AND PRIZES  

TO CANADIAN AND INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS 

Toronto, May 7, 2022— Hot Docs announced this morning the winning documentaries in this year’s official competition and the recipients of additional awards honouring Canadian filmmakers. The awards were revealed at the Hot Docs 2022 Awards Presentation at TIFF Bell Lightbox, hosted by arts journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends Garvia Bailey. Thirteen awards in total were given out, including nine awards for Festival films in competition – of which seven were won by female filmmakers –and $65,000 CDN in cash and prizes were awarded. Playing on screens across Toronto and streaming online across Canada, the 2022 Hot Docs Festival will close on Sunday, May 8. The Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian documentary will be announced on the last day of the Festival at a special encore screening at 7:00 pm at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. The top three Canadian features in the audience poll will share in a $50,000 cash prize, courtesy of Rogers Group of Funds. The overall Audience Award winner will be announced after the Festival. 

The Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award was presented to Geographies of Solitude (D: Jacquelyn Mills | P: Rosalie Chicoine Perreault, Jacquelyn Mills | Canada), in which self-taught naturalist and environmentalist Zoe Lucas shares her incredible life’s work. Sponsored by DOC and Telefilm Canada, the award includes a $10,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “For its deft ability to reveal the complex intersections between the natural world and humanity’s excesses on a singular isolated island through strongly crafted and arresting visual and aural storytelling, the Canadian Features Jury presents the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award to Geographies of Solitude.”     

The Best International Feature Documentary Award was given to Blue Island (D: Chan Tze Woon | P: Peter Yam | Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan), a hybrid film that takes stock of Hong Kong and the region in the aftermath of pro-documentary protests and the subsequent crackdown. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “For its evocative use of re-enactments interwoven with traditional documentary forms to create a rich, socially-grounded cinematic tapestry, the jury is honoured to present the Best International Feature Documentary Award to Blue Island, directed by Chan Tze Woon.” 

Hot Docs is an Academy Award qualifying festival for feature documentaries and, as the winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award, Blue Island will qualify for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided they comply with Academy rules.       

The DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary was presented to Rojek(D: Zaynê Akyol | P: Zaynê Akyol, Sylvain Corbeil, Audrey-Ann Dupuis-Pierre | Canada), a journey into Syrian detention centres that captures revealing conversations with key members of the Islamic State. Sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada and DGC Ontario, the award includes a $5,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “For its sensitive curiosity about its subjects’ lived experiences and internal lives, self-reflexive interrogation of the documentary filmmaking process, and unique contextualization of the fragile state of peace, the Canadian Features Jury presents the DGC Special Jury Prize for Canadian Feature Documentary to Rojek.” 

In the DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary category, the jury also acknowledged Batata (D: Noura Kevorkian | P: Paul Scherzer, Noura Kevorkian | Canada, Lebanon, Qatar) with an honourable mention. 

The Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary was given to The Wind Blows the Border (D: Laura Faerman, Marina Weis | P: Rodrigo Díaz Díaz, Luís Ludmer | Brazil), a film charting an Indigenous woman’s dangerous fight to keep her community’s ancestral land safe from the expansion of agribusiness in her native Brazil.  Sponsored by A&E, the award includes a $5,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “The jury was very taken with this film and the ways–both subtle and bold–that it documents an unfolding natural crisis rooted in human social conflict. The jury awards The Wind Blows the Border the Special Jury Prize for International Feature Documentary.” 

The Earl A. Glick Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award is given to a Canadian filmmaker whose film in competition is their first or second feature-length film. The award, which includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of the Earl A. Glick Family, was presented to director Jacquelyn Mills for Geographies of Solitude (D: Jacquelyn Mills | P: Rosalie Chicoine Perreault, Jacquelyn Mills | Canada). Jury statement: “For her remarkable ability to capture a sense of place, textural approach to cinematography, and unique sound design, the Canadian Features Jury presents the Earl A. Glick Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award to Jacquelyn Mills for Geographies of Solitude.” 

The Emerging International Filmmaker Award is given to an international filmmaker whose film in competition is their first or second feature-length film. It was presented to director Bogna Kowalczycfor Boylesque (D: Bogna Kowalczyk | P: Tomasz Morawski, Katarzyna Kuczyńska, Vratislav Šlajer, Hanka Kastelicova | Poland, Czech Republic), the portrait of an openly gay 82-year-old Polish man living out loud in his palpably homophobic country. The award, supported by the Donner Canadian Foundation, includes a $3,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “The jury was struck by the balance between this filmmaker’s aptitude for the craft of filmmaking, and the interest and tenderness they have for their subject, both which came through in this film.” 

The award for Best Mid-Length Documentary was presented to Rewind & Play (D: Alain Gomis | P: Anouk Khélifa, Arnaud Dommerc | France, Germany), a revisiting of an agonizing 1969 interview of jazz visionary Thelonious Monk for French television that crackles with ferocity in the face of patronization. Sponsored by British Pathé, the award includes a $3,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “The jury was impressed by the innovative use of archival, the rigorous cutting, and the relentless quest for intimacy with a subject on the brink of alienation.” 

The Best International Short Documentary Award was presented to More Than I Remember (D: Amy Bench | P: Amy Bench, Carolyn Merriman | USA), a lushly animated documentary following the journey of 14-year-old Mugeni Ornella as she and her family are separated and displaced by civil strife in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The award includes a $3,000 cash prize. Jury statement: “The Best International Short Documentary Award goes to a film that uses the most vivid and unique animation to tell a story of resilience that is both personal, and increasingly universal. The jury was impressed with the beautiful balance of all the creative elements in this film and the way it takes the documentary form beyond the expected.” 

In the Best International Short Documentary Award category, the jury also acknowledged My Disability Roadmap (D: Dan Habib, Samuel Habib | P: Dan Habib | USA) with an honourable mention. 

The Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary was presented to Perfecting the Art of Longing(D: Kitra Cahana | P: Kat Baulu, Ariel Nasr | Canada), the portrait of a quadriplegic rabbi in a long-term-care facility cut off from his loved ones during the lockdown, filmed remotely by his daughter. The award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of John and Betty Youson. Jury statement: “For the skillful crafting of a complex and robust film that celebrates the human spirit with lightness during a dark time, the jury awards the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary Award to Perfecting the Art of Longing, directed by Kitra Cahana.” 

In the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary category, the jury also acknowledged The Benevolents (D: Sarah Baril Gaudet | P: Sarah Baril Gaudet | Canada) with an honourable mention. 

Hot Docs is an Academy Award qualifying festival for short documentaries and, as winners of the Best International Short Documentary Award and the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary Award respectively, More Than I Remember and Perfecting the Art of Longing will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided they comply with Academy rules.       

The Scotiabank Docs For Schools Student’s Choice Award went to Navalny (D: Daniel Roher | P: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris | USA), the riveting doc-thriller centred around Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The award is given to the Festival film in the Docs For Schools education program that receives the highest rating as determined by a student poll and comes with a $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of Scotiabank. 

Award-winning Indian filmmaker Anand Patwardhan received the 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award. Patwardhan’s seminal work was featured in the Outstanding Achievement Retrospective Program at this year’s Festival. 

The Lindalee Tracey Award, which honours an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour, was presented to Iranian Canadian filmmaker Avazeh Shahnavaz. Shahnavaz will receive a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Lindalee Tracey Fund, $5,000 in post-production services from SIM, and a hand-blown glass sculpture by Andrew Kuntz, specially commissioned to honour Lindalee.  

Toronto-based producer Mila Aung-Thwin, producer of Midwives and co-founder of Montreal-based production company EyeSteelFilm, received the Don Haig Award, announced at the beginning of the Festival. The award is given to an outstanding independent Canadian producer with a film in the Festival in recognition of their creative vision, entrepreneurship and track record for nurturing emerging talent and comes with a $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of the Don Haig Foundation.  

The 2022 awards for films in competition were determined by four juries.  

The Canadian Feature Documentary Jury:  

Abby Sun (Director of Artist Programs at IDA, graduate researcher at the MIT Open Documentary Lab, and editor of Immerse), Basil Tsiokos (senior programmer for the Sundance Film Festival), Yasmine Mathurin (award-winning writer, director, and podcast producer). 

The International Feature Documentary Jury: 

Chloé Trayner (Artistic Director of Ragtag Film Society), Alex Rivera (filmmaker), Diana Sanchez (film programmer). 

The Mid-Length Documentary Jury:  

Connor Jessup (actor and filmmaker), Shameela Seedat (filmmaker), Chase Joynt (director and writer). 

The Short Documentary Jury:  

Joanne LaFrenière (filmmaker and photographer), Ricardo Acosta (film editor and script consultant), Sarra El Abed (filmmaker). 

RKS Film: EarthX Film Festival Presents “Big vs. Small”: The Ultimate Surfing Film!

The EarthX Film Festival runs in Dallas Texas May 12-15 with some films being virtually available. The Finnish documentary “Big vs. Small” primarily focuses on Portuguese female surfer Joana Andrade and to a lesser degree Finnish free diving champion Johanna Norblad.

Andrade is the first Portuguese woman to surf on what some say are the biggest waves in the world at Nazaré Portugal. I have been to Nazaré some 15 years ago when tourism was starting to ramp up. It was a quaint fishing village.

Andrade faces monstrous waves that are dangerous and although there have been no deaths in Nazaré there have been many injuries. The surf photography captures the sheer power of these towering waves and some of Andrade’s runs are incredibly awesome and visually stunning.

Andrade was a natural athlete excelling in many sports but it was the forbidden fruit of surfing that aroused her passion. Forbidden as her mother wanted nothing to do with the dangerous sport. Despite Andrade’s proficiency in surfing her mother does not wish to know she is out on the waves.

Andrade is troubled by something and says that she lived in fear for many years about who she was. As the film progresses she reveals she was abused at 12 years of age and that it was the waves that helped her face the fear. Perhaps it is because as you ride these monsters you can only think of the ride and nothing else. The sea is her therapy. It goes beyond an obsession and one may surmise she takes a spiritual view of the sport and the water it is performed in.

You see the waves cresting and pounding down. If you are caught in the waves crashing down you can be pushed 15 metres below the service and panic can be a killer. As a trained lifeguard with the Royal Canadian Lifesaving Society I agree with the assessment of Norblad it is not so much as the water can drown you but the panic. Andrade goes to Finland for a brief training session with Norblad who teaches her to relax and be at peace with the water and trust yourself and manage panic even when you are swimming under ice in a frozen Finnish lake. Norblad admits some fear is essential to spur on top performance but too much can cause panic and death. An interesting bio of Andrade and Norblad but the star of the documentary are waves so wonderfully filmed by Tim Bonython.

For in theatre schedule see https:earthx.org/about/  

For a trailer see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u59-7ZisIqk and if you watch this and not be awed I’ll eat my shirt.

Some of the films may be able to be seen virtually.

Directed by Minna Dufton

RKS Film 87/100.

RKS Wine: Château le Grand Retour Plan de Dieu Côtes du Rhônes-Villages 2019

The wine is a GSM blend. 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre. It comes from 45-year-old vines.

On the nose big fat very ripe strawberries, black cherries, raspberries, red plum and sarsaparilla. Low on tannins with a big undertow of spice, hot red pepper, dark chocolate, black licorice, black cherry and blackberry fruit “wine”. Medium finish. A cloistered and tight-fisted wine. Good food match with Umami Garlic Noodles with Mustard Greens (from New York Times). Drink by the end of 2023. Best suited with food.

(Château Le Grand Retour Plan de Dieu Côtes du Rhône-Villages 2019, AOC Plan de Dieu, Aubert Frères, Travaillan, France, $16.95, 750 mL, 15%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 224592, RKS Wine Rating 89/100)

“Travels to a Different Time ” : 11July1975: Somewhere in Norway: Obnoxious Norwegian Cries in His Sleep

Hello once again. The obnoxious Norwegian I almost slugged yesterday woke me up with the buzzing of his electric razor. He was keeping us up with his sonic boom snoring and the German guy told me he was crying in his sleep. I woke up and went to the bank to change some money. My clothes were still wet so I put them in a plastic bag and shoved them into my knapsack. A two-and-a-half-hour wait for a lift but it was a long one for 275 kms through incredibly beautiful scenery. Up in the mountains past gushing waterfalls. Up in the mountains I filled my canteen with cold water from a steam. If water can be delicious it was! My driver told me many interesting things about Norway but his English was bad so I just kept nodding. I was left at a terrible spot 12 kms from a youth hostel. After 2 kms I got a lift by some Frenchmen in a Citroen. I set up my tent in the woods near a steam but at an angle so I kept slipping down during the night. I used water from the stream below to wash my face and bush my teeth. Asleep without and dinner at 22:30. I hung my damp clothes outside on a tree.

RKS Film: “Suntan”: Hellenic Film Society USA Presents a Modern Greek Tragedy

“Suntan” is an understatement for this Greek film. The disaster that enfolds in front of your eyes makes the name of the film “Sunburn” and it is a tragedy that has a finger wagging and a voice saying , “Don’t play with me or you’re playing with fire” like in a Rolling Stones song.

Kostis Makridis is to be the new town doctor in a small town on a Greek island. It is a position with the respect and gratitude of the town’s population if it is cultivated. As the mayor says welcoming Kostis it is a small town where everyone in the 800-person village knows each other by name. Now this means everyone knows each other’s business. Kostis arrives on a grey damp day near Christmas and this is a season where a tourist vibrant town shuts down when the tourists leave and times are tough as without tourism the town’s economy also stalls and that is the way for many Greek islands.

Kostis makes no sincere effort to fit in remaining on the fringes. For many the quiet winter might be a time for reflection and reading, writing and long walks to enjoy before the summer explosion.

Kostis is fat, short and not a particularly good-looking man. In his 40’s it is as if life is passing before his eyes. Kostis comes alive after meeting young Anna who is hanging out with a hedonistic crowd that has a priority of partying to excess, fornication , drinking and frolicking around on a nude beach. Anna has had a spill on a motorcycle and the minor injury is attended to by Kostis who receives an invitation to attend with this unruly, disrespecting and immature crowd to the nude beach.

His interest in Anna progresses nicely, at least in his mind.  Anna is only concerned with her own pleasure like a selfish child. Kostis falls deeper in love in his singular mind failing to recognize Anna is only here in the present moment and a true relationship is impossible.

Kostis becomes obsessed with Anna and gets drawn into her make-believe world that life is a party ignoring his practice drawing the ire of the villagers. He starts getting more involved with her hedonistic crowd going further towards the edge out of sync with youthful hedonism.

After “consummating’ his relationship with Anna his obsession with Anna increases but anyone with his faculties about them would realize Anna only know a good time and Kostis is simply past tense in the good time narrative. The film careens to a tragic conclusion.

One could wax about the follies of youth but there is also the folly of a man twice the age of Anna attempting to establish a traditional relationship with Anna. That is the beginning of the end.

A message for those who are disgusted with the lewd and irresponsible behaviours of the young tourist interested selfishly in nothing but a good time living it up in a fantasy world of sex, booze and clubs. It is all about me me me. Sympathy out to the inhabitants of party central having to put up with thousands of drunken spoilt brats for income. Slaves to decadence? As a last note in my early trips to Greece in 1970, 1971 and 1972 I traveled with the young crowd that behaved respectfully. Times have changed and many Greek islands are just another Malagouf.

Makis Papadimitriou as Kostis plays his role as an outsider to a deranged stalker with aplomb and Elli Tringou shines as the flirty and self-obsessed nymph unaware of the peril facing her.

It is no surprise this painful 2016 movie won 6 Hellenic Film Academy Awards including best film, director and actor. Directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos.

The films are presented by the Hellenic Film Society USA monthly “Greek Films on Demand” and can be streamed virtually from May 6-15. For more information www.hellenicfilmusa.org. You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmFfu_30a8s

RKS Wine: Cabeça de Toiro from Tejo: Portugal’s Fringe Wine Region

If you have familiarity with the red wines of Portugal that are available in Canada it is the Douro that rules. Alentejo trails in second position and Lisboa in third. Dão wines are a distant fourth. Well Tejo is in the “other box” which may be an attraction to the adventuresome. It is sandwiched between the wine regions of Lisboa and Alentejo.

It is a blend of 34% Syrah, 33% Castelão and 33% Touriga Nacional. Castelão has a nickname of Periquita meaning little parrot. It has been aged 9 months in French oak.

Aromas of cherry, ripe raspberries, cassis and a tad of spicy cinnamon. The tannins are restrained. One can’t help notice that spicy cinnamon accompanied by blackberry and crafty acidity which is well woven into the wine. With the acidity I think it is a good “with food” wine. In my last visit to Greece I had some very interesting chicken prepared in a tomato sauce with a pinch of cinnamon. Recently I tried a Turkish green bean recipe with cinnamon. This wine would be an ideal match for those dishes.

I would drink this year. Where acid is noticeable even when well integrated into a red wine I become a bit skitterish about ageing it.

(Cabeça de Toiro 2017 Reserva, DOC Tejo, Enoport, Rio Maior, Portugal, $17.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25248, 750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : 10July1975: Fauske, Norway: Mystery Woman Disappears : Obnoxious Norwegian

The girl, I don’t know her name, was up at 7:30 and took a shower and was on the road. I was next and packed up and hit the road. Picked up by some Frenchmen. Next ride with a Norwegian and two girl hitchhikers he had picked up. The girls got off at Narwick and we continued on. The roads here are not that great and there are many potholes. We had to take two ferries. They were heading off in a different direction so they let me off at Fauske where I really had to stay as I had no Norwegian currency. I stayed at some hostel but it was more like a cheap hotel that members of some club can stay at. Most of the guests are old and have cars and money. I checked in and rushed out to get some food as I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours. Ate well and returned to my room to do a wash. I met a German guy and played some Frisbee. While we were getting ready for bed some weird Norwegian guy stormed in and demanded we turn the radio off. I could have slugged him.

RKS Film: “Delikado”: Philippine Big Business and Politics and a Murderous Rampage Slaughters Environmentalists

Toronto Hot Docs 2022 screened “Delikado” but due to an overwhelming volume of films received I could not review it until it is too late to watch it in theatre or virtually within that Festival. But it is an engrossing documentary that will not fade away and keep an eye out for it in your country.

The Palawan Rain Forest is one of the oldest and most diverse rainforests in the world. But it is also an emerging tourist destination, a rich fishing ground, a site for plantations, a prime illegal logging ground and a hotbed for corruption and violence. Global Witness has declared the Philippines the most dangerous country in the world for environmentalists.

The Palawan Rain Forest is being stripped by resort developers, plantation development, illegal fishing and illegal logging. Yet the corrupt political system aids the rain forest rapists under the guise of “development” that would seem to be driven by relatives of politicians “developing” the area. The Governor of the province where Palawan is located has a brother who owns a resort in Palawan and the Governor of that region is a cousin of human rights violator President Duterte. You oppose the President and his relatives and cronies and suddenly you are a narco-politician and subject to harassment and death threats. The machinery of the state is oiled very well by greed and corruption not a true war against narcotics.

As the police, army and allies of Duterte are defenders of commercial interests raping and pillaging Palawan it is up to desperate citizen groups in Palawan such as the Palawan NGO Network Incorporated (PNNI) to stalk illegal loggers and fishers and steal their chainsaws and boats and damage their equipment. But the illegals are poor and desperate and they are the pawns of commercial interests operating out of Manila. But the PNNI has had many of its activists murdered. The environmentalist mayor of a Palawan village El Nido is facing re-election is put on Duterte’s “narco politicians list” and threatened with murder for being one of his opponents. The mayor is harassed and tailed by the police and arms herself. She loses the election to a candidate Edna Lim who publicly favours big business and unchecked tourist development and muses that politicians paying off voters is the way in the Philippines.

Perhaps I will stop here. A few years ago I reviewed a documentary about the Philippines fighting Muslim insurgents as a civil war. It was not received well in the Philippines. I don’t buy Duterte’s war on narcos as a true war but a brazen and brutal attempt to cleanse any opposition to his regime and hand it back to the Marcos family. Where are his mobile crematoriums?

A rather depressing and repetitive theme of violation of the rights of indigenous people. In Peru it is destructive gold mining and in the Philippines the “development” of Palawan with cash registers ringing in Manila.

Directed by Karl Malakunas.