[Corporations] 2006 Anti-Corporate Film Festival: Dec 1-3 in SF

Thu Nov 23 14:39:10 CST 2006

The 1st Annual Anti-Corporate Film Festival: Dec. 1–3 in San Francisco

  2006 Festival features “eco-terrorists”, “pirates”, sociopaths
  (both human and corporate), and the office retreat from hell

(San Francisco, Nov. 22) — Who said an anti-corporate film festival  
has to be serious, preachy, and (dare we say it) boring? Not the  
folks organizing the CounterCorp Festival, which launches its  
inaugural year with a series of movies chock full of crime, violence  
— and, yes, even humor.

       The festival kicks off on Friday, Dec. 1, with two  
documentaries — about so-called “eco-terrorists” and “pirates”,  
respectively — and then follows that up on Saturday, Dec. 2, with  
more lawbreaking by those pesky pirates, leading up to a comedy that  
brings new meaning to the term “cut-throat competition”. The festival  
ends on Sunday, Dec. 3, with a love story set in India, a documentary  
that could be called "Sociopaths, Inc.", and a look at the present  
state (and two possible futures) of the food we eat every day.

	Opening Night — Friday, Dec. 1

  · (7:30) THE FOREST FOR THE TREES — A made-in-San Francisco  
documentary about the still-unsolved car bombing of environmental  
activist Judi Bari, and her crusading attorney, Dennis Cunningham,  
who won the largest civil penalty against the FBI in U.S. history for  
its politically motivated effort to blame the victim. Directed by  
Bernadine Mellis (60 minutes, 2006). There will be a Q & A with  
director Bernadine Mellis, Dennis Cunningham, and Bari protege Alicia  
Littletree following the film.

  · (9:30) PIRATE RADIO USA — San Francisco premiere! Broadcasting  
live with a 4-watt transmitter from an “undisclosed location”, DJs  
Him and Her take us through the underground world of rogue radio,  
where people all over the U.S. are defying federal law to say and  
play what they want on the air. Along the way, we see the rise of   
Big Media — and of “citizen media” in response to it — and the  
showdown between the two as they report on the "Battle of Seattle" at  
the 1999 WTO ministerial meetings. It’s not Left versus Right, it’s  
Corporate versus Public. Directed by Jeff Pearson (84 minutes, 2006)

	Day Two — Saturday, Dec. 2

  · (4:00) MAKING WAVES — Not everyone who opposes corporate power is  
a left-leaning socialist. Big Media also squelches the anti- 
government views of a group of crusty libertarian radio pirates in  
Tucson, Arizona. See if you still support "free speech radio" when  
you disagree with what the speakers are saying. Directed by Michael  
Lahey (64 minutes, 2004). There will be a Q & A with the director  
after the screening.

  · (7:30) ALTERNATIVE FREEDOM — San Francisco premiere! The  
development of the Internet and resulting explosion in access to  
information are challenging traditional definitions of collective  
culture and individual property. A growing number of academics,  
activists, and artists are questioning whether copyrights — which  
artists are often forced to sign over to corporations under economic  
inequality duress (in a form of modern indentured servitude) — were  
originally designed or should be used primarily as a means of  
maximizing profits, instead of encouraging creativity, innovation,  
and the exchange of ideas.

	The film examines the rise of the “free culture” movement in  
response to efforts by corporations to maintain their control over  
information — and high profits. Featuring interviews with Grey Album  
mash-up dj Danger Mouse, Xbox hacker Andrew "Bunnie" Huang,  
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Jason Schultz, free-software  
guru Richard Stallman, underground rapper Adam "DoseOne" Drucker, and  
Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig. Directed by Shawn Cronin and  
Twila Raftu (68 minutes, 2006). There will be a Q & A following the  
film.

  · (9:30) Centerpiece Film: SEVERANCE — San Francisco premiere! What  
do you get when you cross "The Office" with "Friday the 13th"? A  
British horror-comedy in the style of "Shaun of the Dead", but in a  
far more terrifying setting: a 'team-building' weekend at an isolated  
corporate retreat. The hotel turns out to be more rustic than  
expected, and there's reason to think it was the site of a gruesome  
massacre by renegade soldiers during the Bosnian War.

	Computer tech Steve decides to stave off boredom by dropping acid,  
and is soon convinced that the local deer are insulting him. But the  
meeting agenda quickly changes as he and his co-workers find  
themselves being stalked and killed in unexpected and horrifying ways  
that bring new meaning to the phrase, "cutting staff at the office ".  
Directed by Christopher Smith (UK, 96 minutes, 2006). Not available  
on DVD. U.S. theatrical release scheduled for April 2007.

	Closing Night — Sunday, Dec. 3

  · (4:00) THE CORPORATION — What anti-corporate film festival could  
be complete without the grand-daddy of them all? Rather than simply  
presenting a litany of corporate crime and abuse, the film examines  
the very nature and “personality” of corporations themselves, and  
takes the idea of corporate personhood to its logical conclusion,  
arguing that anyone who behaved like a corporation would be diagnosed  
— and treated — as a sociopath. Co-directed by Mark Achbar and  
Jennifer Abbot (Canada, 150 minutes, 2004)

  · (7:00) BHOPAL EXPRESS — A heart-breaking, narrative drama about a  
newly married Indian couple whose lives are forever changed by the  
American chemical factory that dominates the local economy. Tara  
(Nehra Raghuraman) insists on returning to her village for several  
days for a post-wedding visit, so husband Verma (Kay Kay Menon)  
receives permission to leave his job at the plant a few hours early  
to spend more time with her before she leaves.

	Verma's former co-worker and carousing single friend Basheer  
(Naseeruddin Shah) takes them to the station and witnesses the  
couple's forlorn parting. He drags the dejected Verma to a bar to try  
to lift his spirits with some whiskey — and a sultry singer called  
Zohrabai. As the two men drink and laugh, neither can imagine what  
awaits them or Bhopal. Directed by Mahesh Mathai (100 minutes, 1999).  
Co-sponsored by the 3rd Eye San Francisco South Asian Film Festival.

  · (9:00) THE FUTURE OF FOOD — There is a revolution happening on  
the farms and dinner tables around the world that is transforming the  
very nature of the food we eat. From the prairies of Saskatchewan,  
Canada, to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, the Future of Food reveals  
the complex web of economic and political forces at work as huge  
multi-national corporations seek to control the world's food system.

	An in-depth investigation of the disturbing truth behind the  
unlabeled genetically-engineered food that has quietly filled U.S.  
grocery store shelves for the past decade. The film examines the  
impact of patented "techno-crops" on the lives and livelihoods of the  
farmers who grow them, the health of the public who consume them, and  
the government policies that are supposed to regulate them — and  
looks at the viability of organic and sustainable agriculture as  
alternatives to large-scale, laboratory-driven industrial  
agriculture. If you eat food, you'll want to see this film. Directed  
by Deborah Koons Garcia (88 minutes, 2004).

	*	*	*

	Tickets are $10 ($5 for students with ID) and are available online  
through the CounterCorp website (www.countercorp.org) and at the door  
an hour before the first show. Single-day and full-festival passes  
are also available online. For more information, visit the  
CounterCorp website or e-mail or call us at filmfest at countercorp.org  
or (415) 282-2486.

	For more information on the films — including photos and trailers —  
visit the "Festival" page on the CounterCorp website,  
www.countercorp.org. Feel free to forward this e-mail and information  
about the festival to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers,  
and to bring them with you to the festival. This is our first year  
and we want to start things off right!

	We also want to how the local and national media — including last  
Sunday's New York Times:

  www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/movies/19pete.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

— that people are concerned about the power and influence of  
corporations in our society, and want to know what they can do about  
it. CounterCorp may start out being considered a "niche" festival,  
but the issues the festival explores are hardly limited to a small  
part of our lives, communities, or culture. They are integral to  
almost every aspect of how we live and and everything we do everyday.

	Thanks for your support, and look forward to seeing you at the  
Festival!

  CounterCorp Film Festival
  Dec. 1-3, Victoria Theater
  16th & Mission Street, SF
      www.countercorp.org
  filmfest at countercorp.org

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To see every show at the 2006 festival for $7.50 each, get a
"Full-Fest" pass at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5620

To add the festival schedule to your computer or iPod calendar,
click on webcal://icalx.com/public/CounterCorp/CounterCorp.ics

To donate to the festival, select CounterCorp from the drop-down
menu at https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695

To subscribe to CounterCorp's News and Events e-mail list, visit
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