Doing it Yourself - My first Documentary

We are screening it on Thursday 6th December, the day I get back from Berlin.

Here's a teaser clip. It's rough around the edges, and suffers from lack of experience, zero budget and not enough time - but I'm fucking proud of it.

I'm off to Berlin for a while for some fear and loathing. In the meantime I'll leave you with the clip, the blurb is below.


Rio Blanco: The Mine and the Farmer (preview) from donshades on Vimeo.


On the 21st of April 2004 5000 farmers from Huancabamba province, Northern Peru, marched to protest against a proposed mine in their area. Farmers feared possible contamination of their fresh water sources and were angry they had not been consulted over the project. Although meetings had been prearranged for the 21st of April to start a process of dialogue, representatives from the Peruvian government and the mining company failed on two occasions to arrive at the specified times (the mining company is Monterrico Metals, based in London). On the 22nd of April the farmers arrived at the mining site and were again told to wait for the representatives from the Government and the mine. While waiting and without forewarning, a group of police started firing tear gas at the protestors. In the ensuing chaos a protestor, Reemberto Herrera Racho died; according to the police he fell down a hill; according to eyewitnesses he was hit in the head by a tear gas bomb.

Rio Blanco, The Man and The Mine is an investigation into these two days. It draws from footage shot at the time, interviews with protestors on the march and press coverage of the event to build up a picture of what happened and how it was portrayed afterwards in the national and international media. The documentary highlights the top-down way in which many multinational companies operate in the developing world and the conflicts that arise from the lack of dialogue between company and community.