Princeton Environmental Film Festival pits people against corporate interests

            An indignant mother, Margo Pellegrino, paddles her canoe from Miaim to Main in order to draw people’s attention to the ecological threat faced by the world’s oceans, stopping off along the way to talk with  riverside residents about local  environmental difficulties.

            Mike Strizki tells how he turned his home into a wholly self-sufficient energy system based on solar panels and hydrogen batteries.

            Filmmaker Jeff Barrie took an 18 month journey across the southeastern United States—where more than six tons of coal are burned to generate electricity for the average home annually—and produced a stinging and entertaining documentary on the devastating ecological damage caused by coal mining, and its cruel effects on workers and neighborhoods. 

            These are but some of the wide variety of high quality films and talks being presented at the Princeton Film Festival, hosted by the Princeton Public library.

            In “The Water Front” Liz Miller dramatically captures a fascinating ecological, political and social struggle in Highland Park, Michigan, birthplace of the auto-industry but turned into a slum due to the exodus of factories. Market finance fanatics are paid luxurious salaries to privatize the supply of water. Unemployed and semi-employed workers receive water bills as high as $10,000…and, with the help of social workers, react. The story touches on an essential flaw in the U.S. system of government: decisions made behind closed doors with the generous help of lobbies.

            What about the boomtown of Austin, Texas? For years presented as the ultimate dream of middle class America: a nice big house, maybe with a swimming pool, a garage, a playroom, and all the latest gadgets. A super “successful” developer grabs 4,000 acres and turns them into dream suburbs. Oh, one little problem: he forgot about water. So first the town's beloved spring-fed swimming hole was tapped, a company was contracted, contamination appeared...and the water began to dry up…people reacted, winning a partial victory. Now the proud owners of houses in development suburbs wonder for how long they are going to water their lawns and fill their swimming pools.

            The festival has clearly pitted the people and submerged forms of democratic organization against multi-national corporations more concerned about profits than ecology and developers and other powerful groups attempting to dodge public responsibility.

                                       Camden 28

            Another film agenda in Princeton, sponsored by the Global Cinema Café, featured “Camden 28,” an account of how four Catholic priests, a Lutheran minister and civil rights militants opposed to the war against Vietnam managed to break into FBI offices and destroy documents and draft orders. The film shows how the movement discovered the deceptive nature of Washington’s war efforts and moved to open opposition. They spied on the FBI office and planned their break in to tear of documents. Unfortunately, an infiltrator squealed and they were brought to trial. Actually the Camden raid was but one of some 30 such draft board actions leading to the destruction of close to a million Selective Service documents.

            “I ripped up those files with my hands,” proudly proclaimed Rev. peter D. Fordi, adding, “They were the instruments of destruction.”

            The activists were motivated no only by the conviction that the war was unjust, but also their feeling of dismay at discovering the FBI was spying on people’s ideas—something not included in its legal umbrella.

            Following the film, and as coffee began to flow, protagonist Eugene Dixon discussed the events with the audience. One woman wanted to know if there were any hook ups to today’s political scene. He limited himself to saying that one civil rights activist went into politics in a local election, was successful and beloved, but resigned his political career because “politics inevitably involves compromise with the system.”

         What about the present war? Irene Goldman, chairperson of the Coalition for Peace Action, said an action such as that at Camden would be difficult in view of the great vigilance technology now in vogue. Others agreed also that the element of fear was an important factor, but the fact that blatant lies were needed to launch it reveals the distance between the aims of those in power and those who elect them...