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Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
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Rainforest Partnership clearinghouse for films
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Films for the Forest, a production of the nonprofit Rainforest Partnership led by Austinite Niyanta Spelman, presented its latest series of films on Sunday. Spelman told the Austin Monitor, “This is the 10th screening of Films for the Forest. We’ve become conveners of content, of stories and films for other NGOs – people standing up for trees and forests around the world.” Among the films being honored was a Brazilian film titled “Forest People,” by Rafa Calil and Tito Sabatini, which is about the struggle of indigenous rainforest tribes and Chico Mendes, the leader of the union of indigenous rubber tappers in the Amazon who was assassinated in 1988. According to the NGO Global Witness, more environmental activists are killed in Brazil than in any other country. Calil described his decadelong journey to make the film and bring attention not only to the trees but to the people who live in and care for and protect the forest. Films for the Forest will be playing at the EarthX Festival in Dallas in April. The Rainforest Partnership is assisting in the production of “Forest People” by translating the film, which is in Portuguese, into English, French and Spanish. “Forest People” is scheduled to be released in April in Brazil.
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