Sustainable Development Movie Round Up

It's sometimes hard for people in the West outside the field of Sustainable Development to understand how decisions made over here affect people in developing nations 'over there'. For those of us entrenched in the field of sustainable development the connections seem obvious; but how do we give those less versed in the field a door into this world? Sure we could give them a book, but even the most commercial books are, in general, heady tomes geared at general book lovers and ardent sustainability folk.

Fortunately, for the broad minded there are movies. The best feature a strong narrative to go with the banal details to draw a picture of how economic globalization often negatively affects international development. Below is a summary of some of the best movies with a Sustainable Development angle.

Life and Debt
Interwoven with text from Jamaica Kincaid's non-fiction book "A Small Place", Life & Debt is a documentary focusing on the stories of individuals whose strategies for survival are determined by the agenda of the United States and other foreign economies. The movie touches heavily on how IMF restructuring plans has killed local industries forcing the small island nation to become increasingly dependent on outside imports, increasing unemployment, corruption, illiteracy, violence (particularly poignant in the wake of drug related violence in Kingston, Jamaica's capital). By poignantly touches on issues of neo-colonialism using real life examples instead of the language of political theory, it vividly illustrates the issues all set to a beautiful soundtrack (a lot of Bob and Ziggy Marley).

Darwin's Nightmare
Hubert Sauper's Darwin's Nightmare tells the harrowing tale of what happens when ecosystem damage is integrated with economic globalization. The documentary which focuses on the town of Mwanza, Tanzania tells the story of what happens when an invasive species of Nile perch is introduced into Tanzania's Lake Victoria in the 1960s. The fish decimated the local fish population, destroyed an ancient ecosystem and left those who depended on that ecosystem in even more dire situation. While millions of shipments of cleaned Nile perch are stripped clean and flash frozen for export to foreign nations, millions in interior Tanzania struggle to feed themselves, sometimes going so far as to eat the rotting fish heads tossed out in the export process. The airstrip which is the film's touchstone serves to remind us that the Tanzanian's are supposed to be getting something for all that they are giving up - when we learn what they are getting leaves us both angry and disheartened at the effects of economic globalization.

Flow
Irena Salinas takes us through interview with scientists and activities who explain the impending water crisis on both the global and human level. It discusses the recent governmental and corporate culprits between the increasing water grab, but most importantly asks the question "can anyone really own water?" and "should anyone own it?" As water is declared both a UN human right and a dwindling resource, how we maintain and cultivate this precious commodity has repercussions for us all.

King Corn
Recent college graduates, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, plant a single acre of corn in Iowa and follow their corn on its journey from the seed to the dinner plate. In the course of their adventures they reveal how resource heavy modern agriculture is; the heavy processing that contributes to American's poor food health, and the policy and legislative actions (and thinking) which created this dysfunctional food system. Funny and highly watchable it's a great look at both the food system and those who helped create it.