Cursed for Gold
Encyclopedia
Cursed for Gold is a 2008
french documentary film
written and directed by the french writer and novelist Olivier Weber
, former war correspondent
, dealing with the new gold rush destroying the rainforest of Amazonia.
As a result, a gold ingot cycle has developed—with its batch of insolvents, prostitutes, godfathers, traffickers, whether in French Guiana, Brazil or Suriname. Gold has brought upon disease, mercury, crime, alcoholism. Gold has turned creeks and rivers into dumping grounds.
This cycle is that of the destruction of men by men. Whereas the Amazonian rainforest releases 300 tons of gold each year, it receives 120 tons of mercury. An uneven trade: treasure against poison. And as the backdrop, all sorts of traffics are arising: people, weapons, drugs.
In the depths of this borderless jungle also lies the tragedy of the Wayanas, a Native American tribe from Guiana, who are being poisoned by mercury, the element essential to gold mining. The Wayanas are doomed by a looming disappearance. Congenital malformations have already been observed in children. The elderly are developing neurological disorders and cancers. Along with the outrage that is mercury comes another massacre of Indians.
The New Eldorado is enduring one of the world’s worst globalization disasters.
The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
for a special screening and received the 2008 Trophy of Adventure. Top 10 of the best films on ecology
with Darwin's Nightmare
and Unbelievable Truth
.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
french documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
written and directed by the french writer and novelist Olivier Weber
Olivier Weber
Olivier Weber is an award-winning french writer, novelist and reporter at large. War correspondent for twenty-five years, specially in Afghanistan, Africa, Middle-East and Iraq. Assistant professor at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, president of the Prize Joseph Kessel, he is today...
, former war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
, dealing with the new gold rush destroying the rainforest of Amazonia.
Overview
A new gold rush is sweeping through the Amazon rainforest where scores of women and men hunt for nuggets and specks of gold. But this race for gold is bringing on the destruction of one of the last earthly paradises, the world’s largest tropical forest, the lungs of our planet, where everything and anything can be paid in gold.As a result, a gold ingot cycle has developed—with its batch of insolvents, prostitutes, godfathers, traffickers, whether in French Guiana, Brazil or Suriname. Gold has brought upon disease, mercury, crime, alcoholism. Gold has turned creeks and rivers into dumping grounds.
This cycle is that of the destruction of men by men. Whereas the Amazonian rainforest releases 300 tons of gold each year, it receives 120 tons of mercury. An uneven trade: treasure against poison. And as the backdrop, all sorts of traffics are arising: people, weapons, drugs.
In the depths of this borderless jungle also lies the tragedy of the Wayanas, a Native American tribe from Guiana, who are being poisoned by mercury, the element essential to gold mining. The Wayanas are doomed by a looming disappearance. Congenital malformations have already been observed in children. The elderly are developing neurological disorders and cancers. Along with the outrage that is mercury comes another massacre of Indians.
The New Eldorado is enduring one of the world’s worst globalization disasters.
The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
for a special screening and received the 2008 Trophy of Adventure. Top 10 of the best films on ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
with Darwin's Nightmare
Darwin's Nightmare
Darwin's Nightmare is a 2004 French-Belgian-Austrian documentary film written and directed by Hubert Sauper, dealing with the environmental and social effects of the fishing industry around Lake Victoria in Tanzania. It premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, and was nominated for the 2006...
and Unbelievable Truth
Unbelievable Truth
Unbelievable Truth were a British rock band, led by Andy Yorke, with Nigel Powell, Jason Moulster and Jim Crosskey. Their sound has been described as "slow, melancholy, country-tinged ballads, wrapped in a soft blanket of acoustic guitars and minor chords"....
.
Awards
- Trophy of Adventure, 2008
- Prize Terra Festival, 2010
- International Festival of Francophone Film, 2009
- Festival Grand bivouac, 2010
- Festival Amazing Travellers (Étonnants Voyageurs), 2011
- Top 10 of films on ecology.