FILM MISSION STATEMENT

We are at a critical juncture. Improvements in technology allow us to communicate faster; we can act and react in ways never before imagined: instant messages, videos recorded with cell phones, web-enabled mobile devices, Facebook, Twitter. The capturing of human rights infringements by the Burmese military government and the (almost) downfall of the Iranian government were events hard to predict even a year ago. Now more than ever, an individual can make a difference. The February 15th 2003 antiwar protests (the largest antiwar rally in history according to the Guinness book of records) demonstrate that people are paying attention and must persevere.

SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS, VICTORIES CAPTURED ON CAMERA:

• Liberia, after many years of bloody civil war, has stabilized and elected the first female president in Africa. The country has also hosted the International Women’s Colloquium to help empower the continent’s women and inspire change. Charles Taylor, the former president, was put on trial for war crimes.

• In a small village in Rwanda, Hutu women spoke about sheltering their Tutsi neighbors while risking not only their lives, but also the lives of their families during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Today, Rwandan women are very engaged in leadership. As a result, Rwanda is the country with the highest percentage of women in government.

• In June 2009, after a 13-year legal battle, human rights activists including the son of internationally renowned writer Ken Saro-Wiwa reached a landmark settlement with Royal Dutch Shell. The activists had charged the corporation with complicity in the violent repression of protests against the despoliation of Ogoni land by the oil industry. Their $15.5 million settlement with the company represented a historic victory for families seeking justice for murdered activists and for the Ogoni people as a whole.

• Medellín (Colombia), known for its famous drug cartels in the 80s, is now known for hosting one of the world’s largest poetry festivals, attracting 150,000 people every year.

• For 20 years, the Kayapó tribe in the Brazilian Amazon has been successfully stalling government plans to build the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam.

• In an Iraqi refugee camp in Syria the rhythms of the Brazilian dance/fight, Capoeira, help bridge the gap between cultures.

• Modern technology is helping break the silence in Iran. Through social networking sites and the Green Revolution, young Iranians mobilized in unprecedented numbers to contest the stealing of the presidential election this year. The government eventually squashed protests, but new media outlets such as YouTube and the possibilities of Web 2.0 have reinvigorated the movement for freedom in Iran.

As a celebration of cultural diversity, Cultures of Resistance was filmed in 16 languages: Arabic, Burmese, Dari, English, Farsi, French, Hebrew, Kayapó, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Korean, Portuguese, Sinhalese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Xhosa. 25 countries are featured in the documentary: Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Congo (DRC), Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Occupied Palestine, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Syria, Uganda, USA, Vietnam.

FILMMAKERS BIO:
Director Iara Lee and Producer George Gund’s previous films include the feature-length documentaries “Synthetic Pleasures” (1996) and “Modulations” (1998), as well as numerous short films including “The Battle for the Xingu”, "Beneath the Borqa", "Architettura", "An Autumn Wind" and "Prufrock".

ABOUT THE COLLABORATORS
Filmmaking is a collaborative medium, and Cultures of Resistance draws together musicians and visual artists from around the world. The list of collaborators is extensive and includes animations by Lena Merhej and Ray Kosarin; photography by André Cypriano; drawings by Latuff and Leslie Lumeh; music by Femi Kuti, Bassekou Kouyate, Rebel Diaz, Nega Gizza, Checkpoint 303, Ramallah Underground, Dunia Massoud, Marwan Abado, Mahdyar Aghajani, Hichkas, Abdel Gadir Salim & Emmanuel Jal, and many more.