new+films+from+DC+film+series

SHELTER IN PLACE (USA, 2009, 48 min.)
//**Washington, D.C. Premiere**// Learn about big oil, civil rights and pollution on a grand scale. Texas has become richer than all but ten of the world’s sovereign nations, but at what human cost? It is the vast, sprawling complexes of oil refineries and petrochemical plants that help make the Texan economy one of the biggest in the world. These industries are legally permitted to release millions of tons of toxic pollutants into the air each year, plus thousands of tons more in ‘accidental’ or ‘unscheduled’ releases. When these incidents happen, local residents are told to stay in their homes and tape up their windows and doors. This procedure is called “shelter in place.” Communities living on the border of these Texas industries are usually poor, African American and powerless to protest. This film is an intimate portrait of a community battling against environmental pollution and corporate power. //The film includes Hilton Kelley, 2011 winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize. Directed by Zed Nelson. Produced by Hannah Patterson. Official Selection, 2009 Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival.// Short film, MY TOXIC REALITY (5 min.), about Goldman Environmental Prize winner, Hilton Kelley, immediately follows screening of SHELTER IN PLACE. Introduced by **Alfonzye Chisholm Jr **., Director, Office of Sustainability, Howard University. Discussion with [|**Hilton Kelley**] , featured in film and Winner, 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize, follows screening .

BHOPALI (India / USA, 2011, 83 min.)
//**Washington, D.C. Premiere**// Examining the aftermath of the catastrophic industrial disaster, the massive leakage of poison gas from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in the central Indian city of Bhopal, this documentary consistently maintains a tone of soft-spoken outrage. The film reveals that the initial death toll of the Dec 3, 1984 calamity, which was estimated at 10,000 or more, has been surpassed by the significant number of chronic maladies and birth defects attributed to water contamination caused by the leakage. The film tells often heart-wrenching stories of the disaster’s living victims. These include severely handicapped children whose parents, most of whom are very poor, must seek help from charity-funded or government-operated facilities that often are ill-equipped to cope with so many in desperate need. //Directed, produced and edited by Van Maximilian Carlson. Co-produced by Kirk Palayan.//

**UDC Screening**: Introduced by **Tolessa Deksissa**, Director, College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability & Environmental Science, University System of the District of Columbia. Discussion with filmmaker [|**Van Maximilian Carlson**] follows screening.

**Johns Hopkins University Screening** - Presented by the International Reporting Project (IRP): Opening remarks by [|**John Schidlovsky**], Director, International Reporting Project (IRP). Discussion with filmmakers [|**Van Maximilian Carlson**], [|**Ed Robbins**] and [|**Jacob Templin**]. Reception follows screening.