Film Exhibition

Ecology and social struggles: Homage to Chico Mendes (1944-1988)
December 4 and 5, 2013, Teatro da Cerca de S. Bernardo and Casa das Caldeiras (Coimbra)

Framework

During the first day will be presenting documentaries based on current ecological struggles in different parts of the world. On the second day the focus is placed in the life of Chico Mendes, whose death will complete 25 years on December 22, 2013.

The murder of Chico Mendes at the behest of the landowner Darly Alves, representative of the then Rural Democratic Union (UDR), on the night of December 22, 1988, in Xapurí, Acre, stirred huge international attention at the time. Issues such as deforestation, violence and investment in development projects in the Amazon, which had been internationally criticized by Chico Mendes, gained an extraordinary dimension, became one of the main agendas of environmentalism and boosted the problem of ecological struggles of the “people of the forest” and other “traditional” populations as a fundamental issue of ECO 92, a major conference held in Rio de Janeiro.

Today, 25 years after the death of Chico Mendes, Latin America remains the most violent region in the world in terms of murders of environmentalists, according to the Global Witness organization. A study recently released by the organization states that there were 711 murders between 2002 and 2012. In all, deaths occurred in 34 countries such as Indonesia,Cambodia, Kenya.

The aim of the show, however, is not restricted to address the issue of physical violence to ecologists, but to offer documentaries that discuss the dynamics of today’s ecological struggles, with topics such as access to natural resources, rights of local people to participate in the discussion on projects that impact their livelihoods, and the global problem of climate change.

The show includes a partnership with PUC- Goiás ,  that has archived documentary films directed by Adrian Cowell on Amazon , including the classic film "Chico Mendes: eu quero viver" [Chico Mendes: I want to live], in which the director followed the path of the ecologist in two years leading up to his murder.

This shows part of the parallel programming of the IV International Colloquium of PhD students of CES.  

Organization: Centre for Studies(CES), Oficina Ecologia e Sociedade and the  European Network of Political Ecology – Entitle (in partnership with: IGPA PUC of Goyas)