“UNDER RICH EARTH” NOW AVAILABLE FROM RYE CINEMA DISTRIBUTION FOR LIBRARIES, UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES.

Rye Cinema is pleased to announce that institutional/educational DVDs of
the international award winning Canadian documentary “Under Rich Earth” are
now available from Rye Cinema Distribution.

Under Rich Earth is a powerful and uniquely moving film that has attracted
the attention of film lovers, academics, teachers, industry analysts,
policy-makers, NGO’s, lawyers and politicians in Canada and around the
world.

In a remote mountain village in Ecuador, farmers face the prospect of being
forced off their land to make way for a mining project. Unprotected by the
police and ignored by their government, they prepare to face down the
‘invaders’ on their own. Their resistance leads to a remarkable and historic
stand off between farmers and a band of mysterious armed men hiding in the
cloud forest. Under Rich Earth is a surprising and poignant tale of courage
and determination.

“Urgent and vital filmmaking in the spirit of favourites like Kanehsatake:
270 Years of Resistance and Manufactured Landscapes.”
- Jesse Wente, CBC

“I have shown parts of the film to several of my law classes not only
because it is a good film but mainly because it has influenced the
development of the law.”
- Professor Shin Imai, Osgoode Hall Law School

“A classic example for companies on how not to handle community relations.”
- Editorial, The Northern Miner

Subjects:

Film Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Human Rights, Global Politics, Environment,
Ecology, Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Biodiversity, Global Issues,
Sustainable Development, International Justice, Law Enforcement, Economics,
Latin American Studies.

Awards

WINNER - Golden Reel Humanitarian Award - Tiburon International Film
Festival
WINNER - Global Conscience Award, Mexico City International Documentary Film
Festival
TOP TEN - Vancouver International Film Festival
TOP TEN - Encuentros del Otro Cine, Ecuador
NOMINATED - Coral Award, Best Documentary, Havana Film Festival
NOMINATED - Best Documentary, Hamburg International Independent Film
Festival

Screenings

Toronto International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Sudbury International Film Festival
BEST.DOKS Munich - Human Rights Films
Havana Film Festival
Mexico City International Documentary Film Festival
Hamburg International Independent Film Festival
Calgary Justice Film Festival
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Winnipeg Documentary Project
Imagen de los Pueblos, Ecuador
Encuentros del Otro Cine, Ecuador
Sao Paulo International Film Festival
Victoria Film Festival
Cinema Politica Bucharest
Boulder International Film Festival
Watchdocs Warsaw
Tiburon International Film Festival

Specifications

Running time: 92 minutes
Country of Origin: Canada/Ecuador
Copyright date: 2008
Original Languages: English and Spanish with English subtitles
Versions: French and German versions are currently in production

Price

$295.00 - Institutional/Educational version (PPR) + shipping

To order a copy for your University or College Library, send your purchase
order by email by clicking Rye Cinema Distribution

Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Shin Imai wrote this review, published in a special edition of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies on extractive industries:

- Download PDF

Under Rich Earth screens on Thursday, June 24th at the 2010 People’s Summit as part of the Reel Solutions Documentary Film Series. All screenings are at the Toronto Underground Cinema (186 Spadina Avenue). Start time: 7:15pm.

By invitation from Toronto M.P. John McKay, scenes from Under Rich Earth were screened in June for Canadian parliamentarians and international dignitaries at the Parliament building in Ottawa. The screening was organized by the Honourable John McKay as part of his efforts to gain support for his private members Bill C300 on transnational corporate accountability.

Following the screening, Under Rich Earth Director Malcolm Rogge took part in a panel discussion with three other filmmakers who have recently produced works related to the human rights impact of Canadian mining projects in Latin America. The three other panelists were Jamie Moffat (Director of Return to El Salvador), Emily Wilson (Producer of Undermined) and Steven Schnoor (Director of All that Glitters isn’t Gold).

Left to Right: Jamie Moffat, Steven Schnoor, Malcolm Rogge and The Honourable John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood).

Under Rich Earth has been selected as one of ten finalists for the Cinema Politica Audience Choice Award 2009. The Award (with cash prize) will be given to the film with the most votes tallied as of April 30, midnight. Good luck to everyone, each one of the films deserves to win!!

The place to vote for Under Rich Earth is: http://www.cinemapolitica.org/vote

You can now purchase the international award winning documentary Under Rich Earth from: Titlehouse Distribution.

For educational sales (Universities, Libraries, Colleges, etc.), contact: Rye Cinema Distribution

The question I am most commonly asked at screenings of Under Rich Earth is why did I decide to make this film. Here is a selection of articles that I published in previous years which ultimately led to the making of Under Rich Earth:

Malcolm J. Rogge, Towards Transnational Corporate Accountability in the Global Economy: Challenging the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens in In Re: Union Carbide, Alfaro, Sequihua, and Aguinda, 36 Tex. Int’l L.J. 299, 302 (2001)

- Download PDF and also available online here.

Malcolm J. Rogge, Ecuador’s Oil Region: Developing Community Legal Resources in a National Security Zone, Third World Legal Studies, 1996-1997, Valparaiso University School of Law.

- Download PDF

Rogge, Malcolm, How to Make Them Hear: Challenging International Oil Interests in Ecuador’s Amazon Region, Refuge: Canada’s periodical on refugees, Vol 16, No 3 (1997)

- Download PDF

Malcolm James Rogge, Human Rights, Human Development and The Right to a Healthy Environment: An Analytical Framework, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Volume XXII, No. 1, 2001

- Download PDF (available soon) or contact the Canadian Journal of Development Studies

Una entrevista con el Director Malcolm Rogge en el programa “South American Vision”.

Entrevista con Malcolm Rogge - SAVTV from Marco Rafael on Vimeo.

Haz click aqui para ver todo el programa de SAVTV.

In this interview, Toronto M.P. John McKay discusses his independent member’s Bill C300 on Toronto’s community TV program “South American Vision”. Bill C300 is a “modest” parliamentary Bill which would create a small degree of corporate accountability in Canadian law for companies operating in countries like Ecuador. The mining industry and the government are vehemently opposed to the Bill.

John McKay on Bill C300 from Marco Rafael on Vimeo.

The entire program (including Mr. McKay’s response to Under Rich Earth) can be watched online at: SAVTV

La versión Español del documental Bajo suelo ricos está lista!