April 22nd, 2013 (Mon)
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
“Waking the Green Tiger”
Website Link: http://www.beyondtheclassroom.umd.edu/btccalendar.php
"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. The documentary also portrays the earlier 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. The green movement emerged when a new environmental impact law was passed in 2004. For the first time in China's history, ordinary citizens gained the right to speak out and take part in government decisions. Green activism grew into a larger movement as local villagers and urban activists joined forces to oppose a massive new dam at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Upper Yangtze that would have displaced 100,000 people. Their extraordinary campaign is a primary focus of the film.
"Waking the Green Tiger" also gained unprecedented access to Qu Geping, the former director of China's Environmental Protection Agency, who provides a candid look at the state of the environment in China from Mao until now, and discusses how environmental law and the green movement have a key role to play in the evolution of democracy in China.
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