Sold Down the River

With my recce trip almost over, I thought I’d post a...

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:46:00 +0100

With my recce trip almost over, I thought I’d post a random compilation of Peruvian people and places we’ve had the pleasure of bumping into over the last ten days. It’s been a whistle stop tour, and an explosion of colour, cultures, chaos and climates. From the humidity of Lima, to the arid desert of Ica, to the cool mountain air in the Sierra region, I’ve felt nothing but warmth from the locals, and gained a real insight into the destructive impacts of extractive industries through their stories.

Today we returned from Ica where we interviewed David Bayer (water expert and sociologist), who gave us a digestible version of the complex entwined issues surrounding water, mining, poverty and politics. David has lived in Ica on and off for over 45 years, and is presently working with local groups to address the water shortages in the region. Formerly a deputy executive officer for USAID, David has been outspoken about the negative impacts of the Peruvian-US Free Trade Agreement, claiming mining companies and other multinationals see special tax breaks and other privileges, leaving them free to continue with their social and environmental disruption. David talked about the issues form a water perspective - from the gross underestimation of the amounts used by extractive industries (often obtained at source, and heavily polluted to run downstream), to his more local concerns of a valley running out of water, yet surrounded by agro-exporters planting ‘water heavy’ crops like asparagus and grapes.

My last day will be spent in Lima, where I’ll be interviewing a spokesperson for the group CONACAMI, who train local leaders how to organize communities to advocate for their rights, as well as resolve conflicts surrounding mining, and generally stand up for their rights.

Another day on the road with the EX1 and some good...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:58:19 +0100

Another day on the road with the EX1 and some good company.

Leaving Lima to the usual car-horn chorus, we headed to the outskirts to meet Jose and his family in one of the many shanty towns. Although the journey only took us around 30 minutes in a car, most people from these areas travel by bus, and the same journey could take up to 2 hours thanks to the absence of consistent routes and ‘bus stop’ areas. In fact, the ‘combis’, as they’re described to me, are a fascinating transportation model, with a unique business system that not only employs the kamikaze drivers, but also ‘conductors’ (to hang out the side and shout for business), roadside bus-spotters (to note the whereabouts of competitive combis and inform the driver of their recent routes) and of course passengers (and their tireless attempts to break the world record for people in a mini-bus).
Additionally, this dog-eat-dog existence where the slowest bus loses the business, makes for interesting levels of pedestrian safety.

As it turned out, the combi case study is indicative of the ingenious ways in which Peruvian people work to find their profit margin, and the capital is seen as an opportunity for people in poverty to try and forge a better life for themselves and their families. Over many years people have travelled from remote areas to Lima in search of employment, where they are often forced to settle in areas of deprivation out of economic necessity. Jose moved with his family from Huancayo to Lima, as he knew his job in the mines was seriously affecting his health. Alongside many other jobs, Jose worked at the ‘state owned’ Centromin (now the privately owned Volcan Cia Minera) in very hot conditions 2000m under the ground - exhaustingly long hours with no breathing apparatus, short contracts with no loyalty, and little financial reward. He told us how many miners are waiting for the “slow death” (Heavy metals in the blood through prolonged exposure to the hazardous materials), and how he worried about his health for the economic future of his family

Like most people in the pueblos jovenes, Jose built his house himself from the raw materials. It is a remarkable construction using a variety of recycled resources and shed-like materials, with DIY electricity, and soon to be connected water supply (most had relied on an expensive weekly water delivery). Jose explained that progress in basic energy supplies had been made in the shanty towns through community pressure, but believes the government have started to employ a “divide and conquer” tactic to divide the community and weaken their power to force change. Nevertheless, there is a local school for the many shanty town children, which is seen as a potential route out of the poverty cycle. We walked with Jose’s 14 year old daughter Stephanie to the school, where she shared her ambitions to be a Biologist, and some general thoughts on life in the pueblos jovenes… “We haven’t got very much, but we all get on well… so the only thing to do is to strive for something better, and to try and improve things for ourselves, and the next generation.”

Interview with Martin Scurrah went very well… I feel we...

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:25:46 +0100

Interview with Martin Scurrah went very well… I feel we now have a voice of authority on the issues (and their causes/solutions) to help guide us through the location footage shot in the Sierra, as well as direct comment on the Coricancha/Margarita case study.

Today I’ve started cutting the trailer in my head, and can see how we can make our way through these complex issues efficiently, but am still unsure of where we’ll be heading for the case study for the bigger film. At present, most of the areas of interest focus on the Amazonian North, where recent land disputes have hit headlines worldwide, so I’m going to see if I can get some contacts lined up for a second recce trip that takes me closer to the Ecuador border… Maybe there’ll be an opportunity to explore this story too?

Tomorrow we’re heading to Pachacutec in the district of Ventanilla (one of the many shanty towns that exist on the edges of Lima), where we’ll film with Jose and his family. Jose is from Huancayo, a city high in the Andes, who having worked in the mines, migrated to Lima to find work and make a better life for his family.

Today mostly lost to the journey back to Lima. A strange descent...

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:27:21 +0100

Today mostly lost to the journey back to Lima.

A strange descent into the smog, where the transition between climates can be lost in the blink of an eye. Lima itself is like a city in the clouds - the background fades away like an 80’s computer game, where the winner is the one who can beep their horn the longest/loudest.

Today I learnt that most traffic police in Lima are female as they’re less susceptible to corruption - apparently lunchtime is the worst time to be stopped as the cops are so poorly paid they suppliment their wages with pedantic fines.

Tomorrow is an interview with Martin Scurrah, and some time to review footage. Hoping to cut a culture complilation and post here very soon.

Thanks for reading.

Awful, awful, awful nights sleep in the truckstop - it seems the...

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:36:51 +0100

Awful, awful, awful nights sleep in the truckstop - it seems the heavy goods screeching during the day is actually a 24 hour experience. It’s hard to find anything comparible, but San Mateo’s traffic levels are something like the slow lane of the M25 going through Knebworth village 24 hours a day.

We left San Mateo after an ‘interesting’ breakfast, and headed towards La Oroya - recently voted one of the ten most polluted places on earth. Another 1500 metres up, so more ridiculous amounts of satsumas and water (apparently an altitude sickness cure?) and although it was only supposed to take an hour or two, we found ourself lagging behind due to the stunning scenery. Winding our way round the mountains, we had to stop after every turn to take some pictures - stunning natural lakes, and snow topped mountains alongside Llamas and signs i couldnt read (one turned out to be a UFO observation point). However, beauty turned into the beast soon after, as mountains began to look like they’d been dragged through a hedge backwards, and rivers and lakes turned from sparkly turquoise to orangey brown from all the toxic mining byproducts. We passed many extractive ‘communities’… Where whole villages exist amongst the filth and the chaos, and eventually stopped close to the Volcan mine (silver, lead & zinc) in a place called Yauli in Pachachaca district. We spoke to Samuel - a man living with his family on a plateau between mountains, alongside a river turned copper red, and a road where the trucks forbid the dust to settle. Samuel told us of how things had changed. The river was an important resource, for his cattle and for the community, but now many of the cattle have become ill, and the river has lost much of its flow due to Volcan’s upstream intervention. Samuel has hopes that the mine will fulfill its promise for a clean-up. We didn’t have the heart to tell him Margarita’s story.

Leaving Lima at 6am local time, we journeyed out of the coastal...

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:17:31 +0100

Leaving Lima at 6am local time, we journeyed out of the coastal region towards the Andes, to visit a region transformed by mining - San Mateo. After a long slow haul up the mountain (3200m to be exact), we found ourselves in a little village overflowing with goods trucks and greasy cafes - a community dominated by the heavy industry of the Coricancha mine and the employment it brings. We had arranged to film with Margarita, who having lived in San Mateo all her life, was experiencing pressure from Coricancha and the locals to sell her land for waste management - basically a place to dump the poisonous leftovers from the mining process. Margarita had previously, and successfully campaigned to remove a huge toxic waste pile from underneath her doorstep, but is not satisfied with how it was removed claiming the land and water still hold dangerous levels of heavy metals. Whilst many locals joined the fight in the early stages, most became satisfied with the toxic removal having grown tired of the long campaign, and grateful for the employment. But with Margaritas continuing campaign to clear the area properly, she began to experience violence and death threats towards her and her family.

Margarita lives in a beautiful part of the world. It’s devastating to see the pollution, and the children playing amongst it. We filmed with her to get a taste of the problem, and will be hoping to return to help with her continuing campaign. Margarita doesn’t want to shut the mine down, she only wants what was promised - a thorough clean of the area, to allow a safe place for her children to grow up in.

Long haul flights are always such strange experiences. For a...

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:14:03 +0100

Long haul flights are always such strange experiences. For a half day or more, we share the innards of the big tin birdy with strangers we’re never going to see again. We’ll have conversations, and eat peanuts, and drink cola from half size cans, and watch Hannah Montana together. Well… I couldnt face that final challenge, so for the first time in my life, i read the FT from cover to cover… With the occasional ‘sing-along’ accompaniment from the headphoned Hannah fans. Amidst the mind boggling groups of numbers, percentages and graphs (man bingo), and 100% guaranteed investment opportunities (textiles in SW England expansion for a million?), there was a detailed piece on how Brazil is seemingly ‘dancing through the economic climate’ boasting of its emergence as a world leader in farming, mining, oil and investment banking. Now… I might have dreamt it, but i’ll dig out the link when i find it, but it wasn’t that long ago that this emerging world leader had earmarked an area the size of FRANCE for deforestation and exploration rights in the amazon region… Thinly guised as agricultural development. Whilst the article did mention Brazil’s environmental record as a ‘problem’, it also suggested this ‘problem’ was a ‘myth’ of the farming industry. Apparently the global view of the Latin giant is changing, and international extractive industries destined for ‘greater prominence’ with the discovery of new oil reserves. However, i also read of another ‘emerging’ political power with some different ideas about its natural resources. Ecuador has thrown a deal on the table for the rich countries to consider - a promise to leave their amazon region alone forever, in return for financial compensation. Makes sense to me… And Germany… Anyone else?

Testing… Testing… Anyone there? Ok… Am in...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:30:34 +0100

Testing… Testing… Anyone there? Ok… Am in Madrid, about to jump on a plane, so if you’re reading this i guess my iPhone communication device is working. Speak to you tomorrow… Miss you! Bye… Bye now…. Janx

Ps is it illegal to clap when planes take off and land?

From the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:11:00 +0100

From the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment:

For those of you unsure of the issues… this should ‘clear’ it up.

Digital Bootcamp

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:59:53 +0100

Hidden in your endless tweets, and facebook updates, and groupie fan requests, are the occasional ‘must follows’, who can help point you in the right direction in terms of untangling the complexities of WEB 2.0 to work for creative projects.

Well thanks to Ingrid Kopp and Shooting People, I happened to hear of a short course that promised to do just that.

Digital Bootcamp

It was a short, but intensive runthrough of everything that’s needed, for people at all stages of digital knowhow. Some key things I picked up for the ‘Sold down the River’ project, was the need to treat our potential audience as producers and participators, as opposed to just consumers, which is why I’m writing to you here… right now… well just then actually. So it’s about active participation… “creative citizens”.

Ingrid clarifies the need to adapt to the changing climate in media consumption…

“It used to be filter, then publish (BBC, Guardian etc), but now it’s publish, then filter”

So how do we make our projects stand out so we don’t get ‘filtered’ into the ether? The course suggested we need to engage with the growing power of social networking, and embrace the MANY applications and tools that can aid this process. A daunting task, at first sight, but actually some well thought out research simplified the approach. I personally think the jury is still out as to the effectiveness of the ‘hard sell’ of many campaigning films, but the idea is to engage your audience early, and make the project a collection of ideas and creativity. Additionally, for those of us budgeting our films, there was a common thought of how to source ‘new producer’ role, and what sort of money will they charge? it’s clear that this is a full time job… I’m hoping to get some funding to take the load off as soon as possible!

Thanks for reading. You can view and contribute to a specially designed wiki here.

Janx

The Britdoc Good Pitch

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:14:00 +0100

Hello!

My first post about my latest documentary project. Details to be revealed very soon.

Amazingly got my Good Pitch application in two days early… which makes me wonder if I said everything I needed to say, or whether something’ll happen over the weekend to change the angle of the pitch?

Ah well… what will be will be.