If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

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Movie
Original title If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 2011
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director Marshall Curry
Sam Cullman
script Matthew Hamachek
Marshall Curry
music James Baxter

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front is an American / British documentary directed by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman . The film deals with the origins, motives and organization of the Earth Liberation Front and ecoterrorism in general. The film premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival , at which the film also received the Documentary Film Editing Award . On June 22, 2011, the film opened in selected US cinemas. On January 24, 2012, the film was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best documentary .

action

With Operation Backfire of the Federal Bureau of Investigation , 14 members of a cell of the Earth Liberation Front were arrested in December 2005 and charged with ecoterrorism. The group was viewed by the FBI as "the greatest domestic threat". Daniel McGowan was among those arrested . The documentary shows the history of the cell based on McGowan. Accused of arson and arson conspiracy, he was sentenced to 7 years in prison and $ 1.9 million in damages . McGowan describes his views and motivations that led to participation in the cell. The film also deals with the arrest and trial of cell members. He deals with the question of whether the description of the members as terrorists is correct and how effective traditional forms of peaceful protest are.

reception

Reviews

Critics of If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front were mostly positive. Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said the film "rightly viewed [...] both sides of the debate". Even Stephen Holden , editor of the New York Times , praised the "sobriety" and called the arguments of the movie "carefully balanced" Even a review of Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe described the film as "impressively thoughtful," but called the main character of the documentary, Daniel McGowan, a "not very convincing figure". Walter Addiego of the San Francisco Chronicle made a similar statement . He almost saw the film as a “defense” for the cell's activities and called it “depressing”. Rotten Tomatoes has a total of 31 reviews, 27 of which are positive and 4 negative to the documentation. This corresponds to an average rating of 7/10 points. The Metascore is 65 out of 100 points based on 14 different reviews.

Awards

In addition to the Documentary Film Editing Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, the film received other awards. The documentary won the Environmental Film Award at the 2011 Santa Cruz Film Festival , the Best Documentary Feature category at the 2011 Nashville Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2011 Dallas International Film Festival . At the Miami Film Festival , the film took second place in the Grand Jury Prize . In addition to being nominated for an Oscar in 2012, the film has also been nominated for the WGA Award of the Writers Guild of America in the category Best Documentary Screenplay .

success

After its launch in select US theaters on June 22, 2011, the film grossed a total of $ 61,794. For the first weekend, revenues were $ 5,634 at two theaters showing the film. A total of five cinemas in the USA showed the film to the public.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eric Hynes: 2011 Festival Awards , Sundance, January 29, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012
  2. ^ Henry Schuster: Domestic terror: Who's most dangerous? ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , CNN, August 24, 2005, accessed February 1, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / articles.cnn.com
  3. ↑ a b Stephen Holden : Movie Review: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011) , New York Times, June 21, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012
  4. ↑ Gary Goldstein: Capsule movie reviews: 'If a Tree Falls' , July 15, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012
  5. ↑ Mark Feeney: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 29, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / articles.boston.com  
  6. ^ Walter Addiego: ' If a Tree Falls' review: ELF doc less than fair , July 15, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012
  7. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011) , accessed February 1, 2011
  8. ^ Metacritic: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front , accessed February 1, 2012
  9. ↑ Box Office Mojo: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front , accessed February 1, 2012
  10. ^ IMDb: Box office / business for If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front , accessed February 1, 2012