[CounterCorp] NEXT WEEK! 2009 Anti-Corporate Film Festival runs May 28-30

[CounterCorp News and Events List]

ANTI-CORPORATE FILM FEST OPENS WITH OIL, CLOSES WITH WATER

Program also examines corporate influence on our diet, culture, and  
economic aid

(San Francisco, May 19) -- The 4th Annual Anti-Corporate Film Festival  
opens on Thursday, May 28, at 7:00pm with the West Coast premiere of  
SWEET CRUDE (USA, 2009, 92 min), the first feature-length film about  
Big Oil's devastation of the environment and people of Nigeria's Niger  
River Delta region, and efforts -- some of them violent -- by local  
residents to have their grievances addressed.

	The screening coincides with the start of a landmark civil trial in a  
New York court for Shell Oil's role in the torture and killing of  
Nigerian protesters over than 10 years ago. Director Sandy Cioffi will  
speak after the film about her experiences making it (including being  
detained by Nigerian security forces for five days) and the current  
status of the conflict, and will be joined by Nigerian activist Joel  
Bisina.

	The oil theme continues at 9:15pm with the West Coast premiere of  
BLACK WAVE (Canada, 2008, 99 min), a chronicle of the 20-year legal  
battle -- the longest in U.S. history -- that toxicologist Riki Ott  
and the residents of Cordova, Alaska, have waged against the world's  
most powerful oil company, ExxonMobil, to win compensation for the  
worst industrial disaster in U.S. history: the Exxon Valdez spill.  
Director Robert Cornellier will be in attendance for a post-screening  
Q & A.

	Friday also includes an opening night reception at the San Francisco  
Media Archive (www.sfm.org) at 8:00pm. More details on the reception  
soon!

	The Festival continues on Friday at 7:00pm with the California  
premiere of KILLER AT LARGE (USA, 2008, 105 mins), which looks at the  
epidemic of obesity in the U.S., which could give this generation a  
shorter lifespan than their parents. The film traces a corporate- 
driven shift to industrial agriculture, and marketing campaigns that  
encourage Americans to over-consume cheap, high-calorie processed food.

	This year's centerpiece film at 9:15pm is the West Coast premiere of  
RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO (USA, 2008, 86 min), which explores the idea of  
"intellectual property" in the Information Age, as digital technology  
changes the relationship between musicians and audiences. The film  
follows popular mash-up artist Girl Talk, who creates new music by  
chopping up and re-assembling other people's songs, and sounds an  
alarm about corporate control over our collective culture and right to  
creative expression.

	Closing night begins at 7:00pm with APOLOGY OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN  
(Greece, 2008, 93 min), a film adaptation of John Perkins'  
controversial book, 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman', which seemed  
to confirm what critics of international "development" have long  
suspected: The U.S. uses economic aid to trap poor countries in  
permanent debt and advance corporate interests. Opening with Perkins'  
public apology for helping to overthrow the populist president of  
Ecuador, the film documents Washington's ongoing use of this strategy  
in Panama, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere -- including, most recently,  
Iraq.

	The Festival closes on Saturday, May 30, at 9:00pm with the Northern  
California premiere of BLUE GOLD: WORLD WATER WARS (USA, 2008, 94  
min), a look at our dwindling supply of fresh water, and efforts by  
giant corporations to turn a basic human necessity into a private, for- 
profit commodity. As water becomes the new oil, competition for  
control over it is already leading to the first "water wars". Director  
Sam Bozzo will be in attendance for a post-screening Q & A.

	"Tipping Man 4", the 2009 Anti-Corporate Film Festival, runs May  
28-30 at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street, in San Francisco's  
Mission District. For more information, including the complete  
Festival program and online tickets, visit www.countercorp.org.


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