Occupation 101

Sunday night was jammed packed at the Academy Cinema screening two films; Occupation 101 & The Iron Wall.

Occupation 101 is definitely worthy of its numerous film awards.  It is a compelling and powerful film on the Palestine’s story of the Israeli occupation on the West Bank.  This view has not been considered in the media to date. The film increased my understanding of this subject matter considerably.  It looked at the history: how Israel and associated settlements were founded, based on an unquestioned belief of land ownership purely based on their religious beliefs.

It was an emotional insight of the IRON WALL, a huge patrolled wall (twice the size of the berlin wall) confining and isolating Palestinian communities, curfews and checkpoints (restricting movement between Palestine communities).   This issue may be addressed by the media as Barrack Obama is soon to meet with Israeli leader to discuss Israeli settlements on the West Bank

We can help by buying Palestine Olive Oil.  In your supermarket or Trade Aid store produced by local Palestinians.

It was 5/5 for me.

film feast

Just so you don’t get lost on the way to the fair trade film fest, here’s a pic of the Academy cinema – although you may be able to find your way just from the caffeine aroma Saturday night. It doesn’t look so spooky in real life but it is very cool.

Academy Cinema on Dundas St, by the rugby park

The first film night of the fortnight festival is 2 May and has the theme Trade. First feature up is:

Squeezed: the real cost of free trade in the Asia-Pacific

(Australia 2007, 40 mins)

“Filmed in Thailand and The Philippines in July 2007,Squeezed tells the story of how free trade agreements and globalisation are changing the lives of millions of people living in the Asia-Pacific region.

Featuring interviews with farmers, workers and slum-dwellers, the film travels across the landscapes of Asia, from the lush rice paddies of Thailand to squatter settlements perched on a rubbish dump in urban Manila.

A short film of contrasts and contradictions, Squeezed is an emotional document of the impact of globalisation on people in the Asia-Pacific, and their responses to it.”

For links to info on films for the rest of the fest go to the events page.. cool! http://fairtradeindunedin.wordpress.com/products/

up coming film fest..

As part of Dunedin’s Fair Trade Fortnight, Trade Aid and Forest & Bird are holding a film festival to showcase fair trade and environmental documentaries from NZ and around the world. Films will be shown at the Academy on Dundas St over seven nights, each night will have a theme (nature or resources for example) and lots have extras like live music, free fair trade coffee and chocolate and directorial intros. For more info and the movie timetable check out our events page..

And, just to whet your appetite, we have the trailer to FLOW: for the love of water, an award winning documentary from South America on the true cost of bottled water..