BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"\;Total Denial"\; - Film Screening - Earth Rights Interna tional DTSTART:20080215T190000Z DTEND:20080215T210000Z UID:TALK10758@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:8112 DESCRIPTION: \n"Total Denial" is the story of a historic lawsuit: Fiftee n villagers from the jungles of Burma bringing suit against a giant oil co rporation for human-rights abuses\, in U.S. courts. After ten years of fie rce legal battles\, the impossible victory. \n\n\nFor five years producer/ director Milena Kaneva\, has been documenting abuses of Burmese villagers caused by the Yadana pipeline. Her guide during this journey was Ka Hsaw W a\, introduced by Kerry Kennedy in her book "Speak Truth to Power" as "... A man of such incredible courage and commitment and with the firm belief t hat one man can make a difference." \n\nEthnic Karen\, Ka Hsaw Wa is one o f the leaders of the student movement for democracy in Burma in 1988. He h as been hiding in the jungle for more than seven years. Wanted by the poli ce both in Burma and Thailand \, Ka Hsaw Wa has gathered the evidence of t housands of victims of human rights and environmental abuses. \n\nIn 1995\ , along with the co-founder of Earth Rights International\, Katie Redford\ , Ka Hsaw Wa brought this precedent-setting lawsuit to the U.S. courts. \n \nIn 1992\, two Western oil companies - French TOTAL and UNOCAL\, then bas ed in California embark on a joint venture with the Burmese military regim e\, to build a gas pipeline. The Burmese army\, hired by the companies to provide security for the project\, forces many in the local population int o slave labor. Burned villages\, raped women\, tortured and killed porters \, hundreds of thousands of men\, women and children hiding in the jungle is the picture of a silent genocide. Total Denial was shot in Burma\, Thai land\, Europe\, and the U.S. courts between 2000-2005. \n\nThe identity of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and in the film are protected under the Cal ifornia state law. Their faces and voices are distorted for their security . The images shot in the US court rooms are exclusive. \n\nAs a freelance producer and journalist\, Milena Kaneva has reported from many of the worl d's hot spots. She has been worked in Africa\, Asia\, and South America\, reporting for World Wide Television News( WTN\, later APTN)\, for RAI( Ita ly)\, PBS and National Geographic Television\, among others. Her reports w ith HH the Dalai Lama during the Kalachakra Iniatiation in India\, and her interview with the Nobel Prize laureate for Peace\, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi\ , kept under house arrest by the Burmese military junta for the last fifte en years were broadcast around the world. This Kaneva's experience in Burm a marked her interest into the destiny of of this beleaguered country fore ver. \n\n"Total Denial" has been awarded the special prize for Human Right s by former Czech President Vaclav Havel during the One World Festival in Prague(March 2006). The film has been selected for the Toronto Hot Docs fe stival ( April 28-May 7 2006). \n\n \n LOCATION:Law Faculty\, TBC (see www.cuid.org) END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR