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Bernardine Mellis |
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Abstract: The documentary is an intimate look at an unlikely team of young activists and old civil rights workers who come together to battle the U.S. government. Filmmaker Bernadine Mellis is the daughter of 68-year-old civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham. Dennis started out his career representing the Black Panthers and the Weathermen. Judi Bari was an Earth First! leader who was one of the first to place as much importance on timber workers' lives and families as she did on the legacy and future of the trees. But that strategic relationship was too much of a threat. Her car was bombed in 1990, and three hours later, she was arrested as a terrorist--charges that were later dropped. Convinced it was a ploy by the FBI to discredit her and Earth First!, Judi decided to sue. Cunningham took on Judi's case and after 12 years, Judi Bari v. the FBI finally gets a court date. Knowing this is one of her father's most important cases, Mellis is there at strategy meetings, at breakfast, driving to and from the court, documenting her morally driven, very tired dad. Not your typical "Take your daughter to work day," The film offers access into a unique father-daughter relationship, the painfully short yet extraordinary life of Judi Bari, and a piece of U.S. history that everyday grows increasingly resonant as once again the lines between dissent and terrorism are being intentionally blurred. Production Date: 12/15/2005 Distributor: Bullfrog Films P.O. Box 149 Oley, PA 19547 Phone: 610-779-8226 Fax: 610-370-1978 Email Website: winnie@bullfrogfilms.com http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/fftt.html Running Time: 57 Medium: DVD Film Credits: Executive Producers: Judith Helfand and Julia Parker Benello; Editor: Susan Korda; Camera: Bernardine Mellis; Sound: Bill Seery; Music: Jodi Berggren; Narrator: Bernardine Mellis. Film Purpose: The purpose of the film is to focus attention on the story of the fight to clear Earth First! activist Judi Bari's name after her car was bombed and she was arrested as a terrorist. The intent is to demonstrate a sense of both the beauty and the costs of a life of activism. Film Audience: The intended audience includes students of American Studies, Anthropology, Environment, Environmental Ethics, Forests, Geography, History, Human Rights, Law, Social Psychology, Sociology, and Women's Studies. Filmmaker: Bernardine Mellis, Redbird Films Keywords: environmental activism, Earth First, Bari, Judi |
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