Closed Captioned
Study Guide
Grades 10-12, College, Adult
Directed by Ian McLaren
Produced by Productions Grand Nord Québec
DVD Purchase $79, Rent $45
US Release Date: 1996
Copyright Date: 1995
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-729-9
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-655-0
Subjects
Anthropology
Biology
Colombia
Conservation
Developing World
Economics
Ecotourism
Environment
Forests and Rainforests
Geography
Globalization
Humanities
Indigenous Peoples
Latin American Studies
Multicultural Studies
Political Science
Social Psychology
Sociology
Sustainable Development
Awards and Festivals
Grand Prize, Festival International du Film Médical et de Santé de Mauriac, France
Golden Sheaf, Best Science & Nature, Yorkton Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Hot Docs, Toronto
Merit Award, International Wildlife Film Festival
DESIRABLE, California Instructional Technology Clearinghouse
Finalist, International Environmental Film Festival, Pretoria
Nominated, Gemini Awards
The Other America Film Festival, San Antonio
The Choco rainforest in Colombia faces development. What is the best option?
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"A must for environmental studies...social studies, science, and multicultural classrooms. " School Library Journal |
This beautifully photographed documentary looks at the choices for development facing the Choco in Colombia, one of the largest relatively unspoiled rainforests on the planet. Hugging the Pacific Coast to the West and rising to the Andes in the East, the Choco still hides thousands of undiscovered plants and animals, and contains undisturbed ancient forests and shorelines. But large scale development plans and the impending completion of the Pan American Highway threaten the future of the Choco and the lives of the blacks and Indians who live along the banks of its maze of rivers.
This video takes us into the Choco aboard an old steamer, the Jestiven. On board to interpret what we see and to debate the region's future are six of the world's foremost experts on tropical ecology and sustainable development.
Reviews
"This excellent video is... packed with information...Part one focuses on the biological diversity and richness of the rainforest. Part two bites into the meat of the difficult questions surrounding rainforest protection and economic development. Issues including intellectual property rights to genetic resources, ecotourism, logging, depletion of fish, hydroelectric dams, and the poverty of the indigenous people and the black population living in this region are... discussed... A must for environmental studies, Native American units, Latin American studies, social studies, science, and multicultural classrooms. "
School Library Journal
"In this well made documentary, McLaren raises many questions about the Choco, such as how to preserve the rainforest yet increase the standard of living for its inhabitants, how to balance the demands for development with the rights of the indigenous inhabitants and with the needs of the environment...well worth watching. Appropriate for junior high through university, it would be of interest to students in courses on social studies, anthropology, political science, economics, and geography."
Rebecca S. Graves, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, MC Journal