watch the trailer [2 min]

title:
Terra Blight

website:
www.terrablight.com

director:
Isaac Brown

executive producers:
Isaac Brown, Ana Paula Habib

director of photography/editor:
Isaac Brown

assistant editor/cinematographer:
Ana Paula Habib

producers:
Eric Flagg, Ana Paula Habib

co-producers:
Jolene Pinder, Nadia Ramoutar

animator:
David Montgomery, Isaac Brown

year produced:
2012

runtime:
55 minutes

synopsis:
Terra Blight is a 55-minute documentary exploring America’s consumption of computers and the hazardous waste we create in pursuit of the latest technology.

Terra Blight traces the life cycle of computers from creation to disposal and juxtaposes the disparate worlds that have computers as their center. From a 13-year-old Ghanaian who smashes obsolete monitors to salvage copper to a 3,000-person video game party in Texas, Terra Blight examines the unseen realities of one of the most ubiquitous toxic wastes on our planet.

By the film’s end, the audience will never look at their computer the same way again.

awards:
Official Selection, Slamdance Film Festival
Best Science Communication Film, Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival
Official Selection, Eugene International Film Festival
Official Selection, Mountainfilm in Telluride
Official Selection, Maui Film Festival
Official Selection, New Orleans Film Festival
Official Selection, Chesapeake Film Festival
Official Selection, San Francisco Green Film Festival
Official Selection, Costa Rica International Documentary Festival
Official Selection, Docutah Film Festival
Official Selection, Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival
Official Selection, Wild & Scenic Film Festival

reviews:
"Great film!!! Gigantic story superbly told, urgent theme delivered with punch and finesse, brilliant filmmaking in every dimension. Deserves and needs to be seen everywhere." - Jonathan Demme

"A film of brutal contrasts and profoundly disturbing conclusions. Terra Blight forces viewers to wonder when conscientious Americans deliver obsolete electronics to “recyclers” on community waste collection days, where do those toxic wastes really end up? Why would any nation permit 21st century toxic waste to be managed by 19th century standards? Highly recommended and a must have for all programs dealing with environmental issues ." - Educational Media Reviews Online

"Juxtaposing footage of toxic trash of old PCs with scenes of the newest machines networked in a giant video-game tournament makes for a disturbing and thought-provoking image of the environmental costs of rapid obsolence." - Video Librarian

" This eye-opening documentary will stir debate in classrooms."– School Library Journal

outreach:

Isaiah Atta--star of TERRA BLIGHT--recieves support to attend school.