Focusing on a landmark and highly controversial legal case pitting a dozen Nicaraguan banana plantation workers against Dole Food Company, BANANAS* uncovers the alleged usage of a banned pesticide and its probable link to generations of sterilized workers.  Central to both the film and the case is Juan "Accidentes" Domingues, a Los Angeles-based personal injury attorney who is unquestionably facing the biggest and most challenging case of his career.  At stake in this classic David vs. Goliath story are
the futures of generations of workers and their families as well as the culture of multinational business. If successful, the case could rock the economic foundations of Dole and open US courts to other global victims, representing a new day in international justice.

"Offers a front-row seat to a landmark Erin Brokovich style trial...an incredibly polished film." –Variety

Discussion: Following the showing there will be a short presentation by Tom Broderick, Chicago Fair Food, Q & A and open discussion.

Organizational co-sponsor: Chicago Fair Trade

Light refreshments are served.

87 min. 2009.  www.bananasthemovie.com

Where Soldiers Come From offers an intimate look at some of the young men who fight our wars and the families and towns they come from. Returning to her hometown, director Heather Courtney gains extraordinary access, following these young men as they grow and change from teenagers stuck in their small snowy Michigan town to 23-year-old veterans facing the struggles of returning home from the war in Afghanistan.

Light refreshments are served.

91 min. 2011.

http://wheresoldierscomefrom.com

or www.pbs.org/pov

This internationally acclaimed film triggered a federal investigation into uranium contamination. The prize-winning documentary directed by Jeff Spitz, reunited a Navajo family and triggered a federal investigation into uranium contamination. The film chronicles the extraordinary chain of events, beginning with the appearance of a 1950s film reel, which lead to the return of a long lost brother to his Navajo family.

This film reveals the impact of uranium mining on the Navajo of Monument Valley. It highlights the story of Elsie Man Begay, whose history in pictures reveals an incredible and ongoing struggle for environmental justice.

Discussion: The film will be followed by a short panel presentation with Jeff Spitz, director of THE RETURN
OF NAVAJO BOY, Jennifer Amdur Spitz, co-founder of Groundswell Films, and Joseph Podiasek, Executive
Director of the American Indian Center, President of NUIFC (National Urban Indian Family Coalition) and
Commissioner, City of Chicago Human Relations. Q&A and open discussion will follow the panel presentation.

Light refreshments are served.

59 min. Epilogue 15 min. 2009
For more information: www.navajoboy.com or face book.com/returnofnavajoboy.com

Co-sponsoring organizations: Citizens Act to Protect Our Water (CAPOW!) and Nuclear Energy Education Service (NEIS)

Both hard-hitting and inspiring, THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS demonstrates that countless initiatives are happening around the globe united around a common cause: rebuilding more ecological, participatory, local and human scale economies – the foundation of an “economics of happiness.”

The film features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change, including David Korten, Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, Rob Hopkins, Richard Heinberg, Juliet Schor, Michael Shuman, Helena Norberg-Hodge, and Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of Tibet’s government in exile.

Following the film there will be a conversation café, led by Sally Stovall of Green Community Connections.

Light refreshments are served.

63 min. 2011 For more information, see: http://www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org.