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“In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist is a feature documentary that reveals the true 30-year odyssey of the most wanted environmentalist in the world today. Captain Paul Watson is hailed as a rebel, rogue and anarchist and has recently emerged as the modern day cult hero of Animal Planet’s critically acclaimed “Whale Wars.” But long before those wars, Watson fought his own personal battle. In 1966, he founded Greenpeace, but his uncompromising passion to protect our planet and his unconventional methods of resistance created dissent and controversy among the very group he had created. Captain Paul Watson with filmmaker Peter Brown Ultimately he was expelled from the organization. Now, freed The result is a harrowing, eye-opening adventure, and an from the politics and bureaucracy, this renegade eco-warrior arresting tale, of heart-pounding, cloak-and-dagger action. A forged his own personal Armada called The Sea Shepherd personal story of humanity, humor and heroism, Confessions of Society, a small vigilante organization dedicated to protect an Eco-Terrorist is a unique documentary that reveals how one the aquatic life of the planet…at all costs. Risking their man with a mission can inspire future generations to believe in freedoms and their lives, Captain Paul Watson and his band their own power. of dedicated environmental pirates combat those who seek to pillage or profit from the destruction of the ocean and its inhabitants. Patrolling the world’s waters they target kill- happy poachers and covert corporate cabals unlucky enough to be caught in their path. Through their guerilla tactics they boldly, even jubilantly terrorize and provoke confrontation, all whilst flying the skull and crossbones flag of their fleet. Using “manufactured awareness” and Strategic Media Traps, Watson defies convention as he brilliantly navigates his fleet by ramming vessels to inflict damage to whalers, drift-netters, long-liners and seal hunters that operate illegally world-wide. Bob Hunter Their heroic deeds, nothing short of mythic, were all dutifully Among those fighting along with Captain Paul Watson documented by a man on the inside, filmmaker Peter Jay and featured in the film is Bob Hunter, first president of Brown. Brown a very visible star of Whale Wars, recognized Greenpeace, eco-author and journalist. He was bent on their exploits for what they were, history in the making. In changing the world with what he termed “media mindbombs” his role as cinematographer, deckhand, quartermaster, zodiac – a consciousness of words and images to blast around the driver, officer and even captain in Watson’s absence, Peter world in the guise of news. Brown gave us an intimate and honest look at what really went on, behind the scenes, on some of the world’s most infamous environmental campaigns ever. For 28 years Brown recorded the breathtaking beauty of the life aquatic in all its glory, as well as the anguishing despair, witness the brutal slaughter of the helpless. Contact: Robbie Little Clay Epstein The Little Film Company info@thelittlefilmcompany.com (818) 762-6999 1 the environment for profit” to the opposite “they terrorize corporations for attention” to “What will they think of next?” What cannot be denied is that it is an invention of the media. There are two camps of thought on this issue. On the one side, we have those who feel confident they know what an eco-terrorist is. They know because the television told them. Generally, they’re okay with letting others define words for them. On the opposite end of this spectrum, or perhaps cruising around on a different spectrum all together, are those who do not engage with the media as a consumer. This persnickety group has a perpetual beacon alerting them to Some of the 4000 volunteers Volunteer with baby seal pulling up drift nets anything that may be attempting to access their mind and mimic their own thoughts or faculties of judgment. Looking The adventures of Paul Watson could have never happened within this group, we find crowds and mobs and coliseums without the thousands of dedicated individuals, the crew, who full of people who have never even heard anyone use the volunteered over the years. Ex-military, ship welders and term “eco-terrorist,” let alone witnessed its evolution or the engineers, college students, hippies and bums... but the most considerable debate it has engendered. memorable by far were the vegans. Vegans flocked to the early It is here, this place of departure, where the genius of Peter Sea Shepherd campaigns as they are passionate eco-radicals Brown as a storyteller is revealed. Because whether you think and animal lovers. They found camaraderie in numbers and you know what an eco-terrorist is, or not, he manages to reveal soon took over the galley. Rice and beans was their diet, which a totally new essence of it. He masterfully places this lurid was perfect as it was cheap and easy to keep at sea. If not for and loaded term, “eco-terrorism,” within a playful exchange. the heroic efforts of so many volunteers, Confessions of an He demystifies its dark magic that masks the humanity of Eco-Terrorist would be a very different story. the people it’s attached to. Through his eyes we see how this deadly serious, dehumanizing, coded slur has come to exist within a theater of the absurd. It doesn’t, after all, magically transform a human into a demon, or a corporation into a doomsday machine, or a political system into a genocidal cabal. And those using it in a ‘serious’ way are just children who like the feel of ‘wielding’ its dark properties and, of course, that everyone looks at them when they say it. Brown sees through these games we’re playing out in front of the cameras. As he so aptly states: “It’s all just street theater.” Sea Shepherd ship taking on the Japanese That is how Brown engages us in a new way in the same old environmental discourse we’ve been having for years. In Just what IS an Eco-Terrorist? an era where there is a camera in every phone and our civil At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was exchange has escalated into a deadly serious, un-fun way to quoted as saying, “There’s nothing wrong with being a live, Brown emerges from the rank and file of the old-school terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history.” hard-core environmentalists to give us tools and methods that Shock reverberated. “Terrorist” is a dangerous word these days. no other environmental advocate has offered: how way we The question is – do they really exist? Or is it just rhetoric? can use play to get to a solution, together. The “eco-terrorist” is a pretty new invention. Ask anyone to That is truly revolutionary. That is the work of a visionary define it – and you will hear everything from “they terrorize at play. Contact: Robbie Little Clay Epstein The Little Film Company info@thelittlefilmcompany.com (818) 762-6999 2 great whales throughout the world’s oceans. The commercial whaling era killed millions of whales and made them into lamps, oil, lubricants, cosmetics and meat. Today, some whale species are barely recovering from the whaling industry, while others have increasing numbers. Whaling isn’t the only danger they face. Global warming, ozone depletion, pollution, loss of food sources, loss of habitat, climate change, toxic substances, being entangled in or ingesting plastic, sonar testing, net entanglement, and ship strikes also threaten whale populations worldwide. Sea Shepherd about to ram Japanese whaling ship Signed on December 2, 1946 in Washington, D.C. the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned A quick intro to whales and whale hunts commercial whaling so that stocks might recover. The main All Whales are either Baleen or Toothed, and there are plenty of duty of the IWC is to keep under review and revise as necessary differences that set them apart. Of course the Toothed Whales the measures laid down in the Schedule to the Convention are those that have teeth while the Baleen ones don’t. So how do which governs the conduct of whaling throughout the world. Baleen Whales consume food? They have a filtering system that These measures, among other things, provide for the complete is built into their lower jaw area. They can graze through the protection of certain species; designate specified areas as whale water at low speeds and take in plenty of water and food. The sanctuaries; set limits on the numbers and size of whales which water is removed from it and they swallow the food. Here are may be taken; prescribe open and closed seasons and areas for the most common species in each of the two whale categories: whaling; and prohibit the capture of suckling calves and female whales accompanied by calves. The compilation of catch reports BALEEN WHALES TOOTHED WHALES and other statistical and biological records are also required. Blue Sperm Gray Narwhal In 1961, the Antarctic Treaty was conceived in the aftermath Bowhead Pilot of the very successful International Geophysical Year (1957) Fin Right which involved scientists from 67 countries. The Treaty governs Humpback Beluga human activities in Antarctica (south of latitude 60° S) retaining Minke it for peaceful purposes and preserving the environment. The Antarctic Treaty was a significant step forward in the Whales collectively inhabit all the world’s oceans and once recognition of international responsibility for the environment, numbered in the millions, with annual population growth and yet it was conceived at the height of the Cold War.