WE DON’T PLAY GOLF HERE – and other stories of globalization

WE DON’T PLAY GOLF HERE – and other stories of globalization

    Price: $210.00

    Code: 2296

    Directed by Saul Landau
    2008, 33 minutes
    Purchase: $210 Classroom Rental: $125

    What can the construction of a golf course in Mexico teach us about globalization? Using Mexico as an example of what much of the developing world has experienced in recent years, this disarmingly engaging documentary offers a primer on how ‘free market' economics can distort both culture and the environment.

    In the first story, the residents of the small town of Tepoztian face off against federal troops in attempting to halt the construction of a corporate golf course and country club. As the town mayor explains, "we don't play that sport here." Maintaining a golf course, he contends, would drain farming water and with the necessity for chemicals and pesticides pollute the town's aquifers.

    In the second story, "ecological peasants" tortured by Mexican army personnel describe in detail their efforts to stop Boise Cascade (the company behind OfficeMax) from clear-cutting forests in Guerrero. The third story focuses on Tijuana residents who tell how the US owner of a battery recycling plant allowed dangerous chemicals to seep into their water supply. When local authorities refused to condemn the plant's practices, the residents took it upon themselves and marched on the factory.

    Directed by veteran documentary filmmaker Saul Landau (whose previous films Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos, Syria: Between Iraq and a Hard Place, Iraq: Voices from the Streets, and The Sixth Sun: The Mayan Uprising in Chiapas are available here), We Don't Play Golf Here - and other stories of globalization is a concise exploratory depiction of the negative side of globalization, and the extremes that everyday people go to in order to save their land and communities.

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    Reviews

    “A clear eyed, unexpected and important look at our Mexican neighbor.” – Gore Vidal

    “This half-hour film works, in classic Landau style, by means of wry, engaging images and interviews, to show us the real casualties of first world greed – the hard-working poor of Mexico. Required viewing. Exposes the ugly underbelly of the new economic order.” – Christina Waters