[hepr-vn] FOR YOUR INFO FILMS TO BE SHOWN NEXT WEEK

[vern weitzel]

On May 6, 2011, at 5:59 AM, TOM FAWTHROP wrote:

We are pleased to welcome journalist/filmmaker Tom Fawthrop to Hanoi
Cinémathéque on Monday and Tuesday evening to present two extraordinary
documentaries: SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE (on the Cuban health system) and
KILLING THE MEKONG – DAM BY DAM (on the Mekong River dams).

These screenings are open to the public, but Hanoi Cinematheque members may
make reservations in advance (as usual) by phoning Hanoi Cinematheque, daily
from 14:00 – 21:00. (Tel: 3936 2648) Please provide your membership number
when reserving.

Requested donation: Cinematheque members VND 50,000. Non-members VND 60,000.


SCHEDULE

Monday, May 9
19:00 SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE
Followed by Q&A with director Tom Fawthrop

Tuesday, May 10
19:00 WHERE HAVE ALL THE FISH GONE ( Killing The Mekong – Dam By Dam )
Followed by Q&A with director Tom Fawthrop


TOM FAWTHROP

A London-born journalist, Tom Fawthrop has extensively covered the
developing world. He has been working in South-East Asia for the past 28
years and is currently based in Chiangmai, Thailand.

He first reported from Phnom Penh in December 1980. A Guardian journalist in
Manila in the mid-1980s, during the revolt against the Marcos dictatorship,
he also covered the region for the Irish Times and other media.

His reports included a number of historic events: the People Power
revolution that finally ousted President Marcos in 1986, the UN peacekeeping
mission (1991-93) and the UNTAC election in Cambodia, the militia death
squads run by the Indonesian military in East Timor, the referendum and
another UN mission (1999-2001).

His work has frequently appeared in the Economist, the Age (Melbourne), the
Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald and the London Sunday Times.

He also contributed to news features on Cambodia and Vietnam for SBS TV
Australia, Dutch, Swedish and Spanish television. He is co-author of Getting
away with Genocide, the history of the Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Tribunal.


FILM NOTES


SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE
Directed by Tom Fawthrop 47 minutes
English only. No Vietnamese translation

If there is one thing of which Fidel Castro can be unequivocally proud, it’s
Cuba’s health system. Enviable life expectancy and infant mortality
statistics speak for themselves; innovative approaches towards conventional
medicine, alternative therapies and primary healthcare are all largely to
thank for this.

But the Caribbean island’s impact on world health is a more extraordinary
and little told story. This is globalization with a radical difference.
Currently some 30,000 Cuban doctors are providing high-quality care in over
70, mainly poor, countries. Cuban medical teams were among the first to
respond to Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake – and the few to stick around after
the snows came.

On the island itself, medical training is provided for would-be doctors from
abroad, including, surprisingly, many from the US. One such trainee doctor–
not wealthy enough to afford medical training back home – remarks that
no-one had ever mentioned ‘health as a right’ to her until she came to Cuba.
Thoroughly researched and with heart-warming personal accounts,

Tom Fawthrop’s SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE is an inspiration; a timely
reminder of what public health is meant to be all about. Essential viewing
for healthcare professionals – and users – anywhere in the world.



KILLING THE MEKONG - DAM BY DAM
Directed by Tom Fawthrop 25 minutes
English only. No Vietnamese translation

The Mekong, one of world’s great rivers providing sustaining the lives of 65
million people is under dire threat from a cascade of hydro-electric dams.

Four have already been built along the Chinese stretch of the Mekong.11 more
dams have been mapped out downstream in Laos and Cambodia. Rare species -the
Giant Catfish and the Irrawaddy Dolphins will almost certainly be wiped out
if all these dams go ahead.

The unique ecosystem of the Mekong, the flood pulse that in rainy season
produces the 'miracle' of the Tonle Sap changing course and reversing its
flow to and from the great lake is unlikely to survive the impact of dams
slated from Xayaboury in Laos to Stung Treng and Sambor in Cambodia.

The Mekong is the world's largest freshwater fishery. Dams are a threat to
fish migration, and will produce devastating losses to food security in
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

This film looks at the risks and dangers of this headlong rush into dams and
asks key questions about who really benefits from this so-called
development? A Cambodian NGO activist asks who will benefit from the dam
construction .... "development for Whom?"

This documentary includes very recent developments including the current
battle over the Xayaburi Dam.



-----
Also: hung74vn at gmail.com


--- On Thu, 5/5/11, TOM FAWTHROP <tomfawthrop at gmail.com> wrote:

From: TOM FAWTHROP <tomfawthrop at gmail.com>
Subject: URGENT
To: "Ho Quoc Hung" <quochung74vn at yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, May 5, 2011, 1:52 PM

PLEASE SEND PUBLICITY INFO re FILM :

KILLING THE MEKONG -
DAM BY DAM
director Tom Fawthrop

Tuesday May 10th