Mine Your Own Busines premieres today in Washington, D.C. -- and environmental groups are not at all happy about it. Eighty NGOs across the world have signed a statement protesting the existence of Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney's hardhitting account of how environmentalist groups have worked to prevent economic development in the world's poorest areas; the statement focusses on Rosia Montana, Romania, where environmental activists are keeping a Canadian mining operation from bringing money and jobs into the community, and where McAleer and McElhinney center their documentary about environmentalism's dark side.
From the statement:
The film "Mine Your Own Business," by Phelim McAleer and his wife Ann McElhinney, purports that "foreign environmentalists" oppose the project and accuses them of "exaggerations and misleading claims." This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, local opposition to the mine is strong and organized. Alburnus Maior, a local association based in Rosia Montana, represents families that oppose the mine and refuse to sell their lands.
To read the rest of the statement, and to see the list of signatories--which includes EARTHWORKS, Friends of the Earth, MiningWatch Canada, Greenpeace US, Greenpeace in Romania, Greenpeace Hungary, Green Transylvania, and Rosia Montana's own Alburnus Major--go here.
In a press release issued jointly by several of the signatory organizations, Alburnus Major's Eugen David calls Mine Your Own Business "a propaganda film paid for by Gabriel Resources which wants to make a lot of money from all this destruction." No mention is made of the fact that McAleer and McElhinney accepted funding from Gabriel Resources on condition that the company give up all claim to editorial control over the film; likewise, David was happy not to have his own activist affiliations advertised when the BBC interviewed him for a piece on the mining controversy.
The press release also quotes Stephanie Roth, who accepted the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize two years ago at Washington's National Geographic Theater--the same venue that will be screening Mine Your Own Business tonight. Echoing the censorious sentiments of Greenpeace USA's executive director John Passacantando, Roth deplored the theater's willingness to allow an alternative viewpoint on environmentalism to be shown on its screen: "It is sad and outrageous that such a renowned center of environmental research has agreed to screen this anti-environmental film. It aims to manipulate the public and does not reflect the values of the National Geographic Society," she said.
The agitation of Roth, David, and the 80 NGOs that signed the statement objecting to Mine Your Own Business is revealing in its own right--but it becomes all the more telling when viewed in light of the letter the citizens of Rosia Montana have issued to protest the way environmentalists are portraying them to the world. "Message from the People of Rosia Montana" reads as follows:
To all those interested in the fate of Rosia Montana.
To those who pretend to represent the community of Rosia Montana.We strongly protest against the messages coming from Ms. Stephanie Roth, Alburnus Major, Greenpeace, Earthworks, Friends of the Earth, Mining Watch Canada, Rainforest Action Network, Halifax Initiative, regarding the Rosia Montana project. They do not represent the views of the community, its will and the reality of Rosia Montana.
Moreover, such messages are misleading and present a distorted view about us and our families, who support the mining project and who represent the majority of the people in Rosia Montana.
All those truly interested in our fate should come to Rosia, to see our way of life, our needs and our history.
You should not listen to those pretending to know us and who speak on our behalf!
The people of Rosia Montana can speak for themselves! You have only to listen to us!
The letter is signed by 160 citizens of Rosia Montana.
The people of Rosia Montana can think for themselves--and so can the public. The groups that oppose Mine Your Own Business want, quite transparently, to tell people who have not seen the film what to think--and they also quite transparently do not want people to have the chance to see the film. Hence their objections to the National Geographic's decision to screen the film and let people make up their own minds about it.
Mine Your Own Business premieres tonight at National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, D.C., starting at 7 p.m. Afterward, the audience will have an opportunity to meet McAleer and McElhinney and to ask questions. RSVP if you wish to attend--and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.