The Green Rapper crew rolled mobb deep to a screening of Seasons, a mountain biking film by The Collective. Now, we’re not ones to drink a lot of Mountain Dew and cross our arms in an X-formation while yelling “EXTREME!”, but we did very much enjoy this beautifully shot film. The film follows elite riders through the back country of their home turf and into the competitive mountain biking circuit, telling their stories chronologically from Winter to Fall. In the end, it is the amazing speeds, stunts and cinematography that make this film worth checking out. Also the soundtrack was awesome and has inspired me to check out the music of Latch Key Kid. Here’s a teaser from Youtube:

Last night, the Green Rapper crew saw a screening of the documentary Thirst, Fighting the Corporate Theft of our Water, Thirst tells the story of citizens’ fight for public control of water in California, Bolivia, and India. As the title might imply, the arguments put forth are fairly one-sided and the movie runs a bit long, but overall the film is informative and well-done.

The film opens with footage of civil strife in Bolivia after the privatization of water resources in Bolivia, but is mostly centered around activists in Stockton California and their fight to keep the local water resources from being controlled by a multinational. The town caved into the outside interests, but later overturned the decision to privatize water.

The most compelling story is that of Rajendra Singh and his work in Alwar, Rajasthan in India. His NGO helped to empower villagers to take control of water management due to the government’s slow progress. This story probably hit home for me because it was what I would have loved to see happen in the in Oviedo.

My buddy Justin just sent me a DVD of the film Ecosutra, a Russel Berns documentary about issues like permaculture, sustainability, and renewable energy. I don’t know if this guy is related to Ken Burns or not, but the preview on youtube looks pretty cool.

As a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, I used to take bucket baths and pour a bucket of water into the toilet to flush in lieu of running water. I had to chase down cistern trucks just like everyone else and then carry buckets of water indoors. Various government aqueduct projects came and went, and after two years passed, I really wanted to do something about the problem. Though I had neither the resources nor the time to build an aqueduct, I was able to borrow a video camera from a fellow volunteer and shoot a documentary to raise awareness.

My goal was to spread word about the precarious water situation in the community where I lived. After returning to the states, I edited the documentary, sent it around, and posted it to Google Video. Later, a friend of mine in Oviedo, D.R informed me that the water situation had improved. I don’t believe my documentary had much effect, but it was screened at several film festivals and perhaps helped some Americans become aware of their water use. Here is the video: