RAZING APPALACHIA explores the
controversial issue of mountaintop re-
moval mining by following a grassroots
fight to stop the process in West Vir-
ginia. Set in Pigeonroost Hollow, a val-
ley in the town of Blair in the misty folds
of the Appalachian Mountains, the film
follows the journey of several families
as they struggle to protect their land.
Pigeonroost, with its narrow creek and
crawdads, its wild ginseng and rac-
coons, looks as it might have a century
ago: a woody haven tucked away from
the march of time and technology.
But for how long? And at what price?
The fortunes and history of the people
of West Virginia are virtually inseparable
from coal mining. RAZING APPALA-
CHIA follows the story of the people
and the l and being affected by moun-
taintop removal.
TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wan-
gari Maathai tells the story of Kenya’s
Green Belt Movement, a grassroots
organization encouraging rural women
and families to plant trees in commu-
nity groups, and follows Maathai, the
movement’s founder and the first envi-
ronmentalist and African woman to win
the Nobel Prize.
Maathai discovered her life’s work by
reconnecting with the rural women with
whom she had grown up. They told
her they were walking long distances
for firewood, and that clean water was
scarce. The soil was disappearing from
their fields and their children were suf-
fering from malnutrition. “Well, why not
plant trees?” she suggested.
Using archival footage and first-per-
son accounts, the film documents
dramatic political confrontations and
captures Maathai’s infectious deter-
mination and unwavering courage.
TAKING ROOT captures a world view
in which nothing is perceived as im-
possible.
On the outskirts of Cairo lies the world’s
largest garbage village. A labyrinth of
narrow roadways camouflaged by trash,
the village is home to 60,000 Zaballeen,
Arabic for “garbage people.” The Zabal-
leen have survived for centuries by recy-
cling Cairo’s waste. Members of Egypt’s
minority Coptic Christian community,
these entrepreneurial garbage workers
recycle nearly all the trash they collect,
maintaining what could be the world’s
most efficient waste disposal system.
Filmed over four years, GARBAGE
DREAMS follows three teenage boys
born into the Zaballeen’s trash trade:
17-year-old Adham, 16-year-old Osama,
and 18-year-old Nabil. Laila, a commu-
nity activist who also teaches the boys
at their neighborhood Recycling School,
guides the boys as they transition into
adulthood at a time when the Zaballeen
community is at a crossroads.
DIRT! The Movie tells the story of Earth’s
most valuable and underappreciated
source of fertility, from its miraculous
beginning to its tragic degradation. This
insightful and timely film tells the story
of the glorious and unappreciated ma-
terial beneath our feet.
Narrated by Jaimie Lee Curtis, DIRT!
The Movie introduces viewers to dirt’s
fascinating history. Four billion years of
evolution have created the dirt that re-
cycles our water, gives us food, and pro-
vides us with shelter.
The filmmakers travel around the world
to capture the stories of global vision-
aries who are discovering new ways to
repair humanity’s relationship with soil.
DIRT! The Movie brings to life the en-
vironmental, economic, social, and po-
litical importance of soil and suggests
ways we can create new possibilities for
all life on Earth.