The+Forest+For+the+Treeschambers

1. Title, director and release year? //The Forest For the Trees// (2006)  Director: Bernadine Mellis

 2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?  The film is about the civil action lawsuit case of Judi Bari vs the FBI. Judi Bari was an activist working for protecting California's Redwood forests from the logging industry. She saw that the logging companies (such as Maxxan and Lousiana Pacific) were benefited by activists working with logging workers.Judi promoted using non-violent civil disobedience in peaceful protesting against the loggers. She convinced the EarthFirst followers to renounce tree-spiking, a way to harm logging workers by putting a metal spike through trees. In the midst f these meetings, a bomb went off in her car and she became severely injured. She was a victim of a tempted assassination attempt. However, she was arrested shortly after she received medical attention.

 The FBI insisted that the bomb was placed there by Judi, and they convicted her of being a terrorist. She launched a civil suit against the FBI and the local police. She never got a fair trial before she died of breast cancer five years before this film was made. Essentially, the FBI framed her and she was claimed to be a leader of a "violent terrorist organization". She was denied her first and fourth amendment rights. It is painfully evident that this arrest and bomb was plotted against her by the logging industry. The bomb was put there because she was threatening to their "progress."

 EarthFirst members carry the case for Judi in this film.The film-maker's father, Dennis Cunningham, is the lawyer defending Judi's case. This is her father's most important case. Once in court, the seven defendants from the FBI and Oakland Police have to prove that Judi and Daryl were planning a terrorist attack. They argued that the bomb was visible to Judy because it was on the back seat of the floorboard. However, the end of the movie uncovers that the bomb was actually hidden from plain view.

 Judi Beri was effective and helped protect the earth, air, water, and logging workers. The verdict of the trial was that Judi Beri was the victim of an assassination attempt by the FBI and the defendants won $4.4 million dollars from the lawsuit.

 3. What sustainability problems does the film draw out?  The logging industry took down a larger percentage of the Redwood forest, yet Judi Beri and EarthFirst saved the remainder of the forest. This activist organization promoted sustainable logging.

 4 + 5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?  The film shows how individual civil action can override the abuses of the government power. It is both compelling, yet frightening that these things happen. Complacency has to be upset in order to make social changes. It is really disturbing, yet not surprising, that the FBI and police do not always protect us. If something upsets their interests, they will make excuses to attack certain individuals. How can peaceful activist groups be stripped away of their first amendment right?

 6. What audiences does the film best address? Why? This film would most likely be viewed by a environmental sociologists, yet it is a critical film that I feel most people should watch because it really displays the government's ability to strip away human rights at any given time. It parallels the Patriot Act of today. Any organization (not even a terrorist organization) can be labeled as so and prosecuted under the law without probable cause.

 7. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? I would have liked to learn more about the ecology of the Redwood Forest ecosystem. Even though this wasn't the main point of the movie, it would still have been interesting.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 8. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The film suggests that bringing a civil action lawsuit against an abusive power. The FBI's intent for the false arrests was to interfere with the political activism with Earth Frirst. It seems that bringing this case to court is the only action besides peaceful protesting that can be effective. Also, it is also very important to publicize the information to the public to educate people on the story to perhaps embarrass the FBI and weaken their position.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 9. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The film mentions CoIntelPro. It is a part of the FBI's counterintelligence program aimed to "disrupt, misdirect, isolate and neutralize" radical groups in the U.S.. The bombing of Judi Bari is was organized by this program. The man in charge of the Cointelpro actions against Judi and EarthFirst was Richard Held. He was in charge of the San Fransico FBI office. He was also involved in the framing of the Black Panther Geronima jiJaga. The Black Panthers later broke into an FBI office and revealed their files to the public. These tactics still remain, as evidenced by the bombing. Private corporations use it as well to try and discredit these political activism groups. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was also interested in the Redwood Forest Ecosystem. It is considered to be an old-growth forest. The distribution occurs throughout a narrow belt near the coast of central and northern California. They used to be much more abundant in the Tertiary period, as redwood fossils are found throughout the west. Recent research has found that Redwood abundance is correlated with fog-cover. The largest Redwoods are those that are found furthest from the coast.