Raising Resistance

Raising Resistance (DVD) (*)

~~$27.99~~ $21.97

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Subtitles )
Polish ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Germany ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
84 min + 60 min extras

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Deleted Scenes
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2011 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )
Switzerland ( Germany, Central Europe )

Directed By:
David Bernet
Bettina Borgfeld

Written By:
Christin Stoltz
David Bernet

Actors:
Geronimo Arevalos ..... Himself
Nelson Arevalos ..... Himself
Silvia Arevalos ..... Herself
Roger N. Beachy ..... Himse
Clemente Busanello ..... Himself
Antonio Cabrera ..... Himself
Jorge Cabrera ..... Himself
Christoph Eibl ..... Himself
Valirio Eichelberger ..... Himself
Juana Gonzales ..... Herself
Luis Alberto Gonzales ..... Himself
Marcos A. Gracietti ..... Himself
Presidente Fernando Lugo Mendez ..... Himself
Silvio Peralta ..... Himself
Alain Sailland ..... Himse

Synopsis:

***ATTENTION***Original language audio with English, German, Spanish, French & Polish subtitles***The ground in Paraguay is perfect for the cultivation of soy. In recent years, countless acres of forest have been chopped down to make room for the growing of this protein-rich bean. The land of a farmer named Geronimo is now completely surrounded by soy plantations. These are generously sprayed with pesticides - poison that only the genetically modified soy plants are immune to. Unfortunately, the pesticides spread farther than the boundaries of the soy fields. So not only is there less and less land for the campesinos, or local farmers like Geronimo, but it also becomes impossible for them to cultivate healthy crops themselves. In Raising Resistance, Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet capture the campesinos as they revolt against the enormous soy business in their country. Led by the ever-friendly Geronimo, they squat a section of farmland, try to stop the spraying of pesticides, and make their voices heard in the media. The filmmakers also give the floor to the large landowners.

Beautifully shot and interweaving interviews with scenes from soy fields in Paraguay, Raising Resistance explores Latin American farmers' struggle against the expanding production of genetically modified soy in South America. Biotechnology, mechanisation, and herbicides have radically changed the lives of small farmers in Latin America. For farmers in Paraguay this means displacement from their land, loss of basic food supplies, and a veritable fight for survival. Geronimo Arevelos and a group of small farmers stand defiantly in a corporate-owned soy field adjacent to his own, blocking a tractor from spraying herbicides that will decimate his crops and expose nearby families to toxic chemicals. As corporate farms seize farmland and rapidly expand production of genetically modified soy, Geronimo and the campesinos find themselves in a life and death struggle. Raising Resistance illustrates the mechanisms of a global economy that relies on 'monocrop' agriculture and corporate ownership of land. In telling the story of Paraguay, Raising Resistance poses the larger question of whether the global community wants to go on living with a system that allows one crop to prosper at the expense of all others.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 16 May, 2013.