Video Transcipts

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After Silence: Civil Rights and the Japanese American Experience (2003: 30 minutes): Blurb from video case: As a child, Dr. Frank Kitamoto and his family lived on Bainbridge Island, the first place where the US government ordered Japanese Americans to leave their homes. For decades, the Japanese American community rarely spoke of the disturbing experiences of their exclusion and incarceration. After the silence of many years, the story began to be told. In this film, Frank tells it to high school students as they help him develop archival photographs in the school darkroom. Together, Frank and the students discuss the need to safeguard constitutional rights. Frank’s firsthand account brings the past to life by capturing history through the eyes of an individual who has spent his life coming to terms with the injustices suffered by his family and community during WWII.
America’s Arm Sales: Center for Defense Information film outlining how U.S. weapons exports to Third World militaries help increase regional tensions and lead to human rights abuses and massacres by militaries against their own citizens.
Another World is Possible: Impressions of the 2002 World Social Forum (2002: 24 minutes): What if 51,000 people from 131 countries put their heads together to discuss what is wrong with the world and how to work together to change it? In early 2002, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, public officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, indigenous nations, farmers, and labor – including 11,000 young people from around the world – gathered for the World Social Forum, a week of workshops, panel discussions, and demonstrations. This film presents a sampling of the issues and events at this gathering, showing that the international movement for social justice is a force that cannot be stopped (adapted from description on back cover).

Produced by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young
Transcript courtesy of Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com)
Arming Dictators: Center for Defense Information film that reveals how U.S. foreign policy vis a vis the Third World opposes democracy and supports anti-democratic regimes which help create favorable investment climates for multinational corporations.
Arms for the Poor: Consider these three facts. The USA is (1) number one exporter in the world; (2) selling more weaponry than all the other 52 exporting nations combined; with (3) more than 80% of its exports sold to non-democratic countries. This documentary explores the consequences of America’s trafficing in weapons.
Arrows Against the Wind: Filmed secretly in West Papua, this film depicts the valiant West Papuan struggle against the Indonesian invasion that has cost the lives of 1/3 of the population in the past 35 years of occupation.
Banking on Life and Debt: A very short introduction to the resistance by Filipinos organized at the grassroots level against the death and destruction being caused by the debt burden.
Behind the Flag: Resistance in the U.S. to the Gulf War.
Bittersweet: The Real Price of Sugar: Third World agricultural development policies pushed by the World Bank in Haiti have led to increased poverty, malnutrition, and human rights abuses.
Blood and Oil: Using declassified documents and forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines, Blood and Oil shows how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years – rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. This film calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless the US changes direction, the world stands to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates. [Edited from blurb on back cover of DVD case]. Note: The film will be shown in two parts; part two will start at the chapter entitled “Fueling Terror”.
Bought and Sold: The United Nations estimates that criminal groups rake in more than $7 billion dollars annually from trafficking human beings –rivaling the lucrative trade in guns and drugs. One of the fastest growing trafficking trades is the sex trade. But this is not a film about prostitution. This is a film about trafficking and modern-day slavery, and how and why it persists even into the 21st century.
Breaking the Bank: This film captures the courage and sense of purpose of the participants in the demonstrations against the World Bank/IMF as they converged on Washington D.C. from throughout the world in April 2000. With such a diversity of organizations forming a united coalition of resistance in the heart of monopoly capitalism, the police reacted with brutal terror which exposed to the whole world how undemocratic the United States really is.
Breaking the Silence: Fighting for Human Rights: U.S. role in the state-sponsored terrorism committed by the Guatemalan military against its own citizens and the role that grassroots-based human rights organizations are playing in helping the people resist.
The Business of Hunger: Case studies of the negative consequences of agricultural development policies pushed by the World Bank in the Philippines, Brazil, and Senegal. Traces the origins of these postwar policies to colonial policies over the past 500 years.
Community: Oxfam film showing alternative development strategies in Bangladesh that attempt to revitalize rural communities and empower women.
Deadly Deception: GE, Nuclear Weapons, and our Environment: Background to Infact’s boycott campaign against General Electric Corp.
Dolls and Dust: Committee for Asian Women film shows how women in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and South Korea are struggling in an organized resistance to the sweatshop labor conditions at World Bank sponsored export processing zones.
Drumbeat for Mother Earth: Persistent Organic Pollutants Threatening Indigenous Peoples (1999: 56 minutes): Blurb from video case: The smallpox blankets are back – this time as toxic chemicals from transnational corporations that enter us through our traditional foods. You can’t see them. You can’t smell them. You can’t taste them. These chemicals threaten our clan relationships, our treaty rights, our health, and our future generations (transcript courtesy of Bullfrog Films and Greenpeace Indigenous Environmental Network).
Faces of Vietnam: Using slides to tell the story of an American family living and working in northern Vietnam to implement alternative development projects sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.
A Fate Worse Than Debt: An introduction to Third World development policies pushed by the World Bank/IMF and the devastating effects such policies have on the majority of people living in Third World countries.
Flames in the Forest: The “Savage” Strikes Back: Indigenous peoples’ resistance to World Bank sponsored environmental destruction and genocidal policies in the oil producing region of Ecuador.
The Friendship Village (2002: 50 minutes): This film is about a group of war veterans from the US, Vietnam, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, and Australia who are building a village in Vietnam for children with Agent Orange-related deformities. The Vietnam Village of Friendship stands not only as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, but as a testament to the potential for all people to come to terms with the past, heal the wounds of war, and create a better world. The efforts of the participants are a powerful example of how average people can still make a profound difference in our increasingly globalized world (adapted from description on back cover).

Produced, Written and Directed by Michelle Mason
Transcript courtesy of Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com)
The Future of Progress: Reflections on Environment and Development: Conference held in Sweden with participants from grassroots-based organizations from around the world.
Gap & Nike: No Sweat: In the words of Paul Kenyon, investigative reporter for BBC: “The Gap and Nike claim their clothes are manufactured under some of the strictest ethical conditions in the market place. They tell their customers “No sweatshops, no child labour” but Panorama has found some disturbing realities, tonight we expose the ethical claims that don’t always stand up.”
Global Village or Global Pillage?: Based on the book by Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello, this film shows the human rights abuses associated with work in free trade zones as part of the World Bank/IMF/WTO-sponsered process of “globalization” and “Third World industrial development.” The film also portrays how workers are uniting globally against the abuses of transnational corporate capital.
THE GLOBAL BANQUET: POLITICS OF FOOD, Parts I & II: How the impact of globalization on argicultural practices extents to anti-democratic politics, support for oligarchies, questionable biotech (genetically modified food) practices, and much more.
The Golf War: A story of land, golf and revolution in the Philippines (2000: 39 minutes): A Philippine government plan to transform ancestral farmland and fishing grounds into a tourist resort sparks a dramatic conflict when villagers oppose the project. As farmers and fishers organize to stop the golf courses and yacht marinas, their seaside community becomes a violent flashpoint in a larger, national battle over land. The Golf War is a provocative portrait of a community struggle for survival against forces pushing for “economic development” (adapted from description on back cover).

Directed by Jen Schradie and Matt DeVries
Transcript courtesy of Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com)
Hidden Wars of Desert Storm (2000): This film presents an historical overview of the politics of oil in the Middle East and the role of the United States in maintaining authoritarian regimes in power at any cost to further its imperial policies. The hypocritical nature of U.S. pronouncements of concern for human rights and the U.S. rhetoric of humanitarian intervention is fully exposed. Based on a two-year investigation, incorporating a large selection of archival footage, uncovering documents never seen before, and backed by extensive interviews with prominent persons, Hidden Wars of Desert Storm reveals the horrors associated with the continued existence of the American Empire.
The Homeless in Japan (1999: 26 min.): This film profiles Tsuyoshi Inaba, a human rights activist who works with the homeless in Tokyo. With no shelters available for the homeless, and the uncaring attitude toward the homeless among the public and within the government welfare offices, Japan’s homeless live in cardboard shacks and makeshift tents, fending for themselves in an extremely hostile environment. The homeless have recently united with day laborers and with grassroots-based support groups to fight for their basic human rights.
In Whose Interest? (2002: 27 minutes): This film offers a revealing critique of US foreign policy since World War II. Revealing a pattern of intervention, the film focuses on Guatemala, Vietnam, East Timor, El Salvador, and Palestine/Israel.
Inside Burma: Land of Fear: John Pilger film showing the frightening situation in Burma under the military regime that enjoys a cozy relationship with multinational corporations eager to make a profit at any cost.
Inside the CIA: On Company Business: The Central Intelligence Agency’s secret methods and undefined goals have been the topic of much speculation. Inside the CIA gives a penetrating look inside one of the world’s most powerful secret organizations. This long-suppressed, award-winning documentary shows you the CIA of today and its role in the political intrigues of the recent past. This volume (part 1 of 3 volumes in total) starts at the end of World War II when the “Company” was formed and takes us through the various political incidents that the CIA has played a major role in throughout the last forty years.
It Takes A Child: Craig Kielburger’s Story — A Journey into Child Labor: Craig Kielburger was 12 years old when child labor activist Iqbal Massih (also 12 years old) was killed in Pakistan for speaking out. That event changed Craig’s life forever. He went on a seven-week trip to South Asia to find out everything he could about the lives of child laborers. What he learned has turned him into a passionate, articulate, and incredibly effective advocate on their behalf. With other children his age, Craig founded “Free the Children”, a children’s organization that now has 10,000 members in 20 countries.
Japan’s Peace Constitution: In 2005, sixty years after the end of World War II, the conservative Japanese government is pressing ahead with plans to revise the nation’s constitution and jettison its famous no-war clause, Article 9. Through interviews with leading thinkers from around the world, the film explores the origins of the postwar constitution and the significance of its pacifist idealism in the conflicted times of the early 21st century. [from DVD insert].
The Last Blockade: Indigenous resistance to logging practices that are not only destroying the environment but leading to cultural genocide in Sarawak, Malaysia.
The Longest Struggle: Depicts the on-going war of resistance by a federation of indigenous peoples in Burma against the military regime.
Manufacturing Consent: Edited version introduces Noam Chomsky’s “propaganda model” of mainstream media analysis using the paired example of Cambodia under the Khmer Rogue and East Timor under Indonesian military occupation.
Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium: Reveals how the Gulf War was a nuclear war in the sense that the radioactive fallout from the depleted uranium shells used by the U.S. military has led to a huge increase in diseases associated with radiation sickness. The radioactive debris still left in Iraq is continuing to inflict casualties amongst the Iraqi population.
The Monks, the Trees, and the Concrete Jungle: Japan imports half of all tropical hardwoods harvested from rainforests worldwide and uses much of it to make plywood molds for ferro-concrete buildings. (These molds are used once or twice and then burned). Introduces a Japan-based environmental organization that is attempting to raise public consciousness and force the government to enact laws to prohibit this outrageous practice by the construction industry.
Not for Sale (2002: 31 minutes): Patents and other intellectual property rights are expanding what corporations can own and control. What does this mean for the environment, our food supply, and human rights? This documentary explores some little-know aspects of global trade agreements like the WTO. This film looks at farmers, indigenous people, and global justice activists who oppose patents on life and advocate for a world where life is not a commodity but something to be treasured. With footage from the headwaters of the Amazon, farms in Washington and Iowa, India and Peru, plus glimpses of the Seattle WTO protests, Not for Sale brings this global issue into focus with stories of everyday people.
RAIZ FORTE (Strong Roots): The Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) started in 1985 to correct the extremely unequal concentration of land in Brazil, where 1% of large landholders control 46% of agricultural land. Of the 400 million hectares of arable land, only 60 million are used for planting crops; 4.8 million families have no land, while 35 million Brazilians live in poverty. Over the past 18 years, the MST has won 20 million hectares of land for 300,000 families and built thousands of food production cooperatives and schools. These land occupations bring new life to people without hope and pressure the Brazilian government to implement agrarian reform.
PROJECT CENSORED: IS THE PRESS REALLY FREE?: A critical study of the US media system this documentary does not trade in conspiracy theories but rather examines the structural causes of censorship–of why crucially important news stories are neglected or even repressed.
SANTIAGO’S STORY: Fair Trade Coffee: This documentary examines what fair trade is and how it benefits developing nations. Case study: the fair trade coffee farmers in Somoto, Nicaragua.
School of Americas: Guns and Greed [2000]: This documentary shows how SOA graduates brutally use their counter-insurgency warfare training to protect the greed of multinational corporations and financial institutions by targeting labor organizers, human rights activists, educators, religious leaders, students, farmers, and others who speak out against sweatshops and enterprises of greed that exploit the country’s people and resources. The film presents powerful statements from students, labor leaders, and other pro-democracy movement participants involved in non-violent protests to close the School of the Americas.
School of Americas: School of Assassins [1995]: Shows an example of how the United States brings elite-track officers from Third World countries to the U.S. to train in counter-insurgency warfare tactics at a U.S. military base. The example is the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Georgia which trains soldiers from Latin America and the Caribbean in interrogation techniques and various methods of intimidating the civilian population so that they will not become involved in pro-democracy movements.
Secrets of the CIA: A frightening and true story, Secrets of the CIA draws on highly personal stories of numerous ex-CIA agents. Experience these personal accounts supported by photos from their albums, excerpts of explosive government reports, CIA training films and archival footage. These elements combine to tell a troubling story not only of the CIA’s complicity in the overthrow of governments which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, but the current and future uses of advanced spy technology on America’s citizens.
Slum Futures (2004: 23 minutes): Globally, one in six people live in slums. At the current rate of growth, the United Nations predicts that by 2030, one in every three people in the world could be living in a slum. This film depicts live in the slums of Bombay – now know as Mumbai. According to Mumbai’s city housing authority, eight million out of the twelve million people in Mumbai live in the slums. For study resources see this film’s related links at: BullfrogFilms.com.
Stop the Traffick (2001:28 minutes): Thirty years of war have left Cambodia ravaged and poverty stricken. Poverty, corruption, and global tourism have combined to make it particularly vulnerable to the child labor industry. Children as young as 10 years old are trafficked into cities from rural areas to become sex workers or trafficked out to Thailand to work as beggars, domestic workers, or laborers on construction sites. International trafficking gangs target poor rural families, often striking when times are hardest. In return for the children, they offer “loans,” which then accumulate huge interest repayments, leaving the children trapped in debt bondage for life. This film investigates human trafficking and the new efforts by the International Labor Organization and local groups to rescue the children and stop the trafficking. For study resources see this film’s related links at: BullfrogFilms.com.
The Stranger in our Midst: Shows how U.S. policy in Central America has led to a tremendous increase in the flow of displaced people into inadequately supported refugee camps.
SUITS AND SAVAGES: Why the World Bank Won’t Save the World: Public pressure is growing to change the way international development is shaped by agencies like the World Bank.
Travel Seminars: Lessons from a Distant Road: Alternative, educational travel to Third World countries by the Center for Global Education.
War Made Easy (2007): Shattering the illusion that a free press is immune to propaganda, War Made Easy provides ample evidence of the media’s complicity in promoting government agendas for war.
With Our Own Eyes: AFSC Youth Delegation’s Journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki: American Friends Service Committee sponsors a delegation of U.S. high school students to attend the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Japan to see photos and exhibits, and hear first-hand accounts of the aftereffects of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Japan so that they can share their experience with friends, family, and fellow students back in the U.S.