Waking the Green Tiger

I am currently trying to obtain a DVD copy of Gary Marcuse’s recent film Waking the Green Tiger so I can review it for this site. The film examines the recent development of environmental organizing in China.  Hopefully, I will have a more detailed review soon. In the meantime here is a trailer and filmmakers’ description of the film, which screened earlier this year at the DC Environmental Film Festival, which I plan to attend someday.

“Waking the Green Tiger tells the dramatic story of the rise of the first major grassroots environmental movement in China, a significant development that could reshape the country. Seen through the eyes of farmers, journalists, activists and a former government insider, the film traces the historical evolution of the movement and highlights an extraordinary campaign to stop a huge dam project slated for the Upper Yangtze River in southern China.

Featuring archival footage never seen outside China, and interviews with insiders and witnesses, the documentary portrays the fifty year history of Chairman Mao’s campaigns to conquer nature in the name of progress. Mao mobilized millions of people in campaigns that reshaped China’s landscape, destroyed lakes, forests and grasslands, and unleashed dust storms. Despite the evident consequences, critics of this approach were silenced for decades.”