Witness to the Future

Witness to the Future

Branda Miller
1996, 50 min, color, sound

Description

In this activist documentary, Miller exposes the realities of what she terms the 'silent holocaust': the poisoning of American citizens by chemical industries. Miller conducts case studies of three towns in Washington, Louisiana, and California. Residents give accounts of lives lost to cancer caused by exposure to nuclear waste and pesticides, as well as of their struggles with corporate and government agencies. Collaborating with her subjects, Miller produces a tool for education, empowerment, and resistance.

Witnesses,Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Sonja Anderson, Inex Austin, Tim Bailie, Ed Bricker, Russel Jim, Judith Jurgi, Gary Lekvold; Cancer Alley: Darnell Dunn, Amos Favorite, Sr., Chris and Kay Gaudet, Elexia Henderson, Mona Jacob, Zeb Mayhew, Florence Robinson, Darrel and Ramona Stevens; San Joaquin Valley: Paul Buxman, Buttonwillow Residents, Lupe Martinez, George Raub, Marta Salinas, Camelia Yarborough-Nunes, Tha Yang. Associate Producer: Robid Reidy. Hanford Regional Producer: Robin Reidy. Director of Photography: Mary Oppenheimer. Produced at 911 Media Arts Center. Post-Production Supervisor: Alan Pruzan. Staff support: Christine Booker, Susan Glen. Cancer Alley Regional Producer: Rebecca Drake. Director of Photography: Sheldon Jones. Additional Camera: Arlen Speights. Produced at New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC). Additional Footage: Chris Bedford, Organizing Media Project. Staff: Tim Watson, Kevin Goodman. Production Assistant: Sm'mek Phillips. San Joaquin Valley Regional Producer: Elisa Galdo. Director of Photography: Jules Backus. Additional Cameras: Camelia Yarborough-Nunes, Elisa Galdo, Arlene Speights. Additional Footage: Abigail Grossman, Greenpeace Media Dept. Sound: Dan Meyers. Production Assistant: Dave McFarland. Edited at iEAR Studios, Integrated Electronic Arts and Rensselaer. On-line editor: Jonathan Kozzi. Post Production associate producer: Adriene Jenik. Digital audio post production: Joseph Giroux, Jonathan Kozzi, Donna McCabe. Graphics: Patti Abt, Adriene Jenik. Additional post production and transcripts supervisor: Rick Thiebault, Karthik Bala, Kristopher Daniel, Denise Duffy, Marc Eigner, Mimi Hui, John Kim, Christopher Lohr, Eric Zittel, Bowzher Moran, Hurlin' T. Moran. Music Consultant: Steve Pierce. Funded by: The Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Funding Exchange/Paul Robeson Fund for Film and Video, Art Matters, Inc., Experimental Television Workshop Finishing Funds, New York State Foundation for the Arts, Paul Beer Trust Fund.