UWS 52B: Environmental Justice / Climate Justice

A documentary about Versailles, a community in eastern New Orleans first settled by Vietnamese refugees. After Hurricane Katrina, Versailles residents impressively rise to the challenges by returning and rebuilding before most neighborhoods in New Orleans, only to have their homes threatened by a new government-imposed toxic landfill just two miles away. It recounts the empowering story of how this group of people, who has already suffered so much in their lifetime, turns a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.

Wars of the future will be fought over water, not oil, as the source of all life enters center stage on the global political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments all vie for control of our dwindling fresh water supply. Is there enough water for everyone? Based on the groundbreaking book by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke and narrated by Malcolm McDowell.

Presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana's Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein's narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.