The world leader in developing and selling genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the St. Louis-based Monsanto is one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. From Agent Orange to PCBs to bovine growth hormones, Monsanto has left a trail of environmental and human destruction in its wake, and acts as if it is responsible to no one–all the while, claiming they are a life sciences company devoted to sustainable development.
In this shocking film based on her best-selling investigative book, French muckracker Marie-Monique Robin pieces together the story of Monsanto, focusing on a look at its domination in the field of agricultural products–with the pesticide “Roundup” and the seeds it modifies to resist Roundup’s effects. To piece together the hidden truth, Robin relies on classified documents and first-hand accounts of scientists, lawyers, politicians (on both sides of the issue) and victims of the company’s toxic activities. A three-year journey through the American Midwest, South America, France, and India, the film tells the tale of an industrial empire that, thanks to misleading reports, collusion with the US government, pressure tactics, and attempts at corruption (in Canada, no less) has become the world’s largest seed manufacturer (with their seeds planted in about 50 countries worldwide).
As well as an information-filled look at the way multinational corporations are often free to act without governmental regulation or even testing, Robin’s film (co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada) is a call to action: demand the labelling of GMOs on your food products before it’s too late.
The film has been brought to Vancouver and Toronto by Mongrel Media, a boutique Canadian theatrical distributor for Sony Pictures Classics, whose films are at the cutting edge of Independent Cinema from America and around the world.
Now showing in Vancouver:

• Dates: August 6 – 7, 2008

• Times: 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

• Theatre: Vancity Theatre, Vancouver International Film Centre, 1181 Seymour Street

For more info, go to: http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/vifc/filmguide/event.php?EventNumber=1477

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