The documentary tells a timely story of political action and environmental beliefs at loggerheads. This reconstruction of the recent history and unraveling of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is a fascinating exploration of a modern revolutionary movement and its efficacy. Fusing fervent concerns about ecological imbalance and capitalism run amok, ELF members and sleeper cells employed economic sabotage by destroying facilities involved in deforestation to remove the profit potential from companies wreaking environmental destruction. Focusing on Oregon-based activist Daniel McGowan, Curry relates the tale of a mild-mannered, middle-class citizen driven to extremes and brought to trial on charges of terrorism for his participation in ELF-related arson plots. Detailing activists’ past disillusionment with public protest – and the police brutality and inertia that often followed – the film poses difficult questions about the possibility of effecting change from either within or without the system and examines the changed stakes for revolutionaries today in a world fixated on branding all dissenters as terrorists.
Marshall Curry is a director, producer and writer. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College where he studied Comparative Religion. He was also a Jane Addams Fellow at Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, where he wrote about the history, philosophy, and economics of non-profits. Prior to filmmaking, Marshall taught English in Mexico, and worked in public radio. In 2005 Marshall was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of "25 New Faces of Independent Film". In 2006 his documentary Street Fight was nominated for an Academy Award and Emmi. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Duke, NYU, and other colleges. He has also served on juries for the International Documentary Association and Hot Docs Film Festival.
Street Fight (2005), Racing Dreams (2009), If a tree Falls (2011): A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Sam Cullman graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1999 where he majored in urban studies and visual arts. In 2006 he founded the production company Yellow Cake Films.
