| NZFF 2011: 'IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT' |
| Written by COUP DE MAIN |
| Monday, 27 June 2011 21:16 |
 'IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT' 2011 l 85 mins DIRECTOR: Marshall Curry. CAST: Daniel McGowan, Tim Lewis, Jake Ferguson. "This is a superb documentary about crime and punishment and the many-fronted ‘war on terror’ achieving a comprehensive view of fiercely contested territory – and an almost Shakespearean embrace of individual drama and history. Filmmaker Marshall Curry explores the case of Daniel McGowan, an apparently mild-mannered New Yorker arrested in 2005 for his participation in the radical Earth Liberation Front (ELF). It’s a gripping investigation: our understanding is shifted and deepened through successive encounters with a whole gamut of key players. Activists watched native forests toppled and, disillusioned by the violent suppression of public protest, targeted property (never endangering human life); the Forestry Service and mill owners watched fortunes torched by the increasingly random ELF; FBI officers were galled to the point of obsession by the tactical brilliance of ‘the nation’s number one domestic terrorism threat’. Every one of them has much to learn from listening to the others – and several of them have subsequently admitted it. — BG" Watch the trailer for 'If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front' below...  The 2011 NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL runs from July 14th to July 31st in AUCKLAND, July 29th to August 14th in WELLINGTON, August 4th to August 21st in DUNEDIN, August 11th to August 28th in CHRISTCHURCH, August 18th to September 4th in PALMERSTON NORTH, August 25th to September 11th in HAMILTON, September 1st to September 18th in NELSON, September 8th to September 24th in TAURANGA, September 15th to September 28th in NEW PLYMOUTH, September 21st to October 9th in HAWKE'S BAY, October 13th to October 19th in GREYMOUTH, October 27th to November 9th in MASTERTON, November 3rd to November 16th in GISBORNE, and from November 10th to November 20th in KERIKERI. Click HERE for the official NZ Film Festival website and to sign up for their mailing list. |
