BRATTLEBORO — As part of its Spotlight film series, Latchis Arts and the Windham World Affairs Council present Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, a documentary that celebrates the life of the first African woman and environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The screening, a benefit for the Wangari Maathai Foundation, takes place on Thursday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre.
Local Windham County filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, through TV footage and chilling first person accounts, document the dramatic social and political confrontations of the 1980s and '90s in Kenya and capture Maathai's infectious determination and unwavering courage.
Cinema verité footage of the tree nurseries and the women and children who tend them bring to life the confidence and joy of people working to improve their own lives and ensure the future and vitality of their land.
Taking Root has won 14 international film festival awards, including Amnesty International's Durban Human Rights Award at the Durban International Film Festival, and Audience Award Winner at the HotDocs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
The film captures a world-view in which nothing is perceived as impossible and presents an awe-inspiring profile of Maathai's 30-year journey of courage to protect the integrally connected issues of the environment, human rights, and democracy.
“In Wangari's story, we could see an evolutionary path that linked seemingly disparate realms,” noted the filmmakers in a release. “As her story unfolded, it became clear that each step she had taken could not have been taken without the ones before.
“Her path was a blueprint of her developing understanding, and hence, our understanding, of the nature of holistic change and the inextricable linkages between a healthy environment and healthy communities, good governance and peace. We were compelled to tell her story.”
The filmmakers said that it was “not only what Wangari had accomplished that was stunning, it was also the way she had done it. She had had a way of choosing the right issue at the right time and not letting anything or anybody get in her way. Her story was organic; her rural roots connected her deeply to the earth, and despite her education and years in academia, she had never lost that connection.”
As a part of the celebration of Windham World Affairs Council's 60th anniversary, WWAC is highlighting the work of local filmmakers who take on global issues. The life and legacy of Maathai, who was also a Trustee for the School for International Training near Brattleboro, are more relevant than ever.
“It's timely to be showing Taking Root again in Brattleboro so close to the 10th anniversary of Wangari's death on Sept. 12, 2011,” said Merton. “Now more than ever, we need her integrity, courage, and vision as the climate crisis becomes a clear existential threat for all life on earth. The increasing understanding among the general population of the critical role forests play in mitigating global warming and biodiversity loss is encouraging to see.”
A $10 suggested donation will be accepted at the door, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Wangari Maathai Foundation. A live discussion with the filmmakers will follow the screening.