September
12th marks the debut of Las Vegas' own Radical Movie Night, hosted by the
Sunset Activist Collective. This will be a monthly free showing of either a
documentary or a movie with significant social value.
The
location where Radical Movie Nights will take place is The Sci Fi Center, which
many locals already know from its longstanding tradition for showing
independent movies and cult classics that are often not available in a large
screen setting. (Disclaimer: the Sci Fi Center is not actually involved in the
Radical Movie Nights, outside of permitting us to use it as a venue for showing
movies.)
In
order to coincide with actions against the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (for
more info about the AETA and local actions in response to it, see:www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/07/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act_n_5659893.html beginning in September, the first movie that will be shown is " If A Tree
Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," a documentary about the
Earth Liberation Front, in general, and one of its members, Daniel G. McGowan,
who was characterized as a terrorist by the US government after his arrest for
environmental activism actions, in particular.
About
the Movie www.ifatreefallsfilm.com/
"In
December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide
sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front-- a
group the FBI has called America's "number one domestic terrorism
threat."
For
years, the ELF—operating in separate anonymous cells without any central
leadership—had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they
accused of destroying the environment: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild
horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge at Vail, Colorado.
With
the arrest of Daniel and thirteen others, the government had cracked what was
probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the group responsible
for the very first ELF arsons in this country.
IF A
TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT tells the remarkable story of
the rise and fall of this ELF cell, by focusing on the transformation and
radicalization of one of its members.
Part
coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, the film interweaves a
verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a
dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group.
And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and
the way we define terrorism.
Drawing
from striking archival footage -- much of it never before seen -- and intimate
interviews with ELF members, and with the prosecutor and detective who were
chasing them, IF A TREE FALLS explores the tumultuous period from 1995 until
early 2001 when environmentalists were clashing with timber companies and law
enforcement, and the word "terrorism" had not yet been altered by
9/11."
Tomorrow
at 6:00pm - 8:00pm
The
Sci Fi Center
600 East
Sahara Ave Suite 13, Las Vegas, Nevada 89104
