Independent Film 'Power Lines' Premieres May 21 in Flagstaff, Arizona

Independent Film 'Power Lines' Premieres May 21 in Flagstaff, Arizona

Powerlines: A Diné Relocation Refugee Coming of Age Story

By Klee Benally, writer and director
indigenousaction@gmail.com
www.powerlinesmovie.com
French translation by Christine Prat at:
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=2655
Censored News
May 9, 2016

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Independent feature film Power Lines will premiere Saturday, May 21 in Flagstaff at the Orpheum Theatre located at 15 W Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, Arizona. Written and directed by Klee Benally, Power Lines is a coming of age story about a young Diné (Navajo) poet who runs away and finds home.

Doors for the premiere screening open 7:30pm, the event will begin at 8:00pm and will be followed by a Q&A session with cast and crew members as well as a panel discussion on current impacts of coal mining and forced relocation. Poetry and music will also be shared by Sage Bond and slam champion Rowie Shebala.

Tickets for the event are $11 and can be purchased in advance at Rainbow's End, Animas Trading Company and online at orpheumflagstaff.com as well as at the door night of show. A portion of the proceeds from the screenings will go directly to Black Mesa families impacted by recent livestock confiscations.

Halee (Nezbahe Ragdoll) is a 16 year old Diné relocation refugee who uses poetry to escape from her painful past and present. When Halee's abusive father (Tony Skrelunas) crosses a line, her best friend Selma (Kayla Dailey) helps her runaway. Their journey to Halee's homeland takes a turn when she discovers her father has been hiding a secret that has the power to change Halee's life forever.

Power Lines is written, directed, edited, and scored by Klee Benally and filmed with the talents of Outta Your Backpack Media (OYBM) mentors Shelby Ray, Steven Toya esq., Hillary Abe, and Keemara Bahe. OYBM is a Flagstaff based non-profit that offers free filmmaking workshops to Indigenous youth. The film features local Flagstaff actors Nezbahe Ragdoll, Kayla Daily, Tony Skrelunas, Belinda Ayze, Sam Minkler and poetry from by Rowie Shebala and Layla June Johnston.
Power Lines was filmed partially in Las Vegas and throughout Northern Arizona on a limited budget that was completely crowd-funded.

"The social impacts of forced relocation at Black Mesa on the Diné Nation have not been addressed in a feature dramatic narrative before." states filmmaker Klee Benally, "I wanted to share a fictional story that focused on social and cultural impacts that are often ignored."

Benally has produced documentaries including the award winning feature, "The Snowbowl Effect" which addressed ski area desecration of the San Francisco Peaks, which are held sacred by more than 13 Indigenous Nations. Power Lines is his first feature narrative.

"Working in narrative fiction is liberating but also an incredible challenge." states Benally, "Our production team worked hard to to apply a mix of media justice with the rawness of punk rock and a strong independent Do It Yourself ethic. This story and filmmaking process is at once a collective and political journey, and I hope that comes across in an entertaining, challenging, and activating way."

More info and trailer: www.powerlinesmovie.com

*****

Production Company: Indigenous Action Media, Outta Your Backpack Media
Cast: Nezbahe Ragdoll, Kayla Daily, Tony Skrelunas, Belinda Ayze, Sam Minkler

Director-Screenwriter, Editor, Music: Klee Benally

Executive Producers: Princess Benally, Crystal Zevon

Cinematography: Shelby Ray, Hillary Abe, Steven Toya, esq., Klee Benally, Taylor Hall

Sound recordist: Steven Toya, esq.

Production Assistant, Set Design, Catering: Roland Begay

No rating, 75 minutes (Parents please be advised that there is explicit language)
*****

Photos
1. powerlines-PROMO.jpg (left Nezbahe Ragdoll, right Kayla Daily) - credit Klee Benally
2. Powerlines-still1.jpg (left Nezbahe Ragdoll, right Kayla Daily) - credit Steven Toya esq.
3. cast-director.jpg (left to right: Kayla Daily, Sam Minkler, Nezbahe Ragdoll, Belinda Ayze, Tony Skrelunas, Klee Benally - credit Princess Benally

###

Indigenous denouce United Nation's REDD and false Green Economy

Carbon Offsets cause Conflict and Colonialism Indigenous Peoples denounce at United Nations; Demand Cancellation of REDD+

By Indigenous Environmental Network
Censored News

May 18, 2016

NEW YORK -- A false solution to climate change known as REDD+ causes conflict and is a new form of colonialism and must be immediately canceled, Indigenous Peoples denounced at the United Nations. REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) is a carbon offset mechanism that uses Nature as a sponge for greenhouse gas pollution instead of cutting emissions at source.

“The sacred air we breathe is being sold to the highest bidder. We implore the UN to have compassion for humanity and Mother Earth by immediately canceling carbon trading, carbon offsets, and REDD+ projects in or near Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories,” said Calfin Lafkenche of the Mapuche Nation in Chile.

“We are here today in the UN to stop the offensive of the Green Economy and its market systems of carbon trading, carbon offsets, the Clean Development Mechanism, and REDD+, which constitute a new form of colonialism and have caused conflicts, forced relocation, threats to the cultural survival and violations of the rights of Indigenous peoples, especially the rights to life, to lands and territories, and to free, prior and informed consent,” said the Mapuche leader.

Over 1,500 native leaders are attending the 15th session of United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is addressing conflict and climate today. 

“For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have suffered from colonialism and genocide. Now the United Nations itself is promoting false solutions to climate change that imperil the very survival of our peoples and Mother Earth. We are on the frontlines of protracted conflicts with governments and extractive industries that want to steal our land, territories and resources. We are also on the frontlines of climate change and the false solutions to climate change like REDD.  As Guardians of Mother Earth we should be protected and honored not persecuted and threatened with new forms of genocide,” said Tom BK Goldtooth, Executive Director, of Indigenous Environmental Network.

“To really address the issues of conflict, the UN needs to heal its relation with Mother Earth and stop promoting false solutions to climate change that threaten the survival not only of our peoples but of all of humanity.  The UN’s Paris Agreement on climate does not cut emissions at the source and treats Nature as capital with no real nor effective safeguard mechanisms that could guarantee the prevention of land grabs and the protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples. The Paris Agreement is a crime against humanity and Mother Earth.”

“The Paris Agreement is a trade agreement, nothing more. It promises to privatize, commodify, and sell forest and agriculture lands as carbon offsets in fraudulent schemes such as REDD+. These offset scams provide financial laundering mechanisms for developed countries to launder their carbon pollution in the Global South. Case-in-point, the United States’ climate change plan includes 250 million megatons to be absorbed by oceans and forest offset markets. Essentially, those responsible for the climate crisis not only get to buy their way out of compliance but they also get to profit from it as well,” says Alberto Saldamando, human and Indigenous rights expert and attorney with the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Contact: 
Tom BK Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network, + 1 218 760 0442, ien@igc.org 
Alberto Saldamando, human rights lawyer, + 1 415 656 9198 (English/Spanish)
Juan Antonio Correa Calfin, Mapuche leader, Chile  juanantoniocorreacalfin@gmail.com (Español) 

Hoopa Tribe sues U.S. over inadequate protections for juvenile salmon

Hoopa Tribe Sues Federal Government over Inadequate Protections for Juvenile SalmonBy Hoopa Valley Tribe

By Hoopa Valley Tribe

Censored News

May 17, 2016

The Hoopa Valley Tribe has filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and NOAA Fisheries for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 

Failure by these federal agencies to reinitiate consultation on the flawed 2013 Klamath Project Biological Opinion (BiOp) will simply add to the millions of sick and dead juvenile salmon already lost due to the Klamath Irrigation Project.
High infection prevalence of the deadly salmon parasite Ceratomyxa nova has been directly linked to the Project and its effect upon natural flows in the river.

“The juvenile fish kills in 2014 and 2015, while not as noticeable to the naked eye as dead adults on the banks, are as devastating to Hupa people as the 2002 adult fish kill,” said Ryan Jackson, Chairman, Hoopa Valley Tribe.  

The BiOp limited the number of fish that could be harmed or killed by the Project. This threshold was knowingly violated in 2014 and 2015, with nearly 100% infection rates of juvenile salmon in those years.
"Tribal and non-tribal fisheries will be substantially depressed as adult salmon which out-migrated in 2014 return in record low numbers this year and next," said Mike Orcutt, Hoopa Fisheries Director. 
BOR and NMFS have refused to take appropriate actions to make sure this does not happen again and have clearly violated the ESA by not reinitiating consultation.
Continued catastrophic losses of salmon can be expected in the Klamath Basin given this inaction by the agencies.  
“Despite numerous attempts to make this right with the agencies, their lack of action has required us to take legal action to protect our fishery and way of life," said Jackson.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe inhabits the largest reservation in California and is one of only two tribes in the state with federally reserved fishing rights, entitling the tribes to 50% of the allowable harvest of Klamath River fish.
"Since time immemorial, Klamath Basin has been the lifeblood of the Hupa people.  We will continue to stand up for the fish of the Klamath Basin,” concluded Jackson.

Contact: Chairman Ryan Jackson (530.249.8653) Mike Orcutt (707.499.6143) Tom Schlosser (206.386.5200)

Israeli Apartheid Contractors on Arizona Border: Elbit and G4S

G4S is known globally for torture, abuse of prisoners, and the imprisonment of Palestinian children

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, NAIS, at:
http://www.denaisgazet.be/nieuws/israeelische-aannemers-aan-de-arizona-grens-elbit-en-g4s

Israel's Apartheid contractor Elbit Systems received the US border contract from US Homeland Security. Elbit is now targeting Tohono O'odham burial places, on the sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation, with spy towers. Gu-Vo District has said, "NO!"

Ofelia Rivas at home on Tohono O'odham land

Elbit Systems is one of two corporations responsible for Apartheid security and abuse in Palestine. The other is G4S. Both are now on the Arizona border.

Ofelia Rivas, O'odham living on the border on the Tohono O'odham Nation, said, "It is outright disgusting of the US government to continue is legacy of global genocide of Indigenous Peoples, especially here on my homelands."

The global human rights abuser G4S, known for its abusive prisons, bought Wackenhut Transportation in the US. Now the G4S buses snake along the Arizona border, profiteering by detaining and transporting migrants, with a US border contract. The G4S home office is in London, England.

The bus of human rights abuser Wackenhut at Three Points, Arizona, 

before Wackenhut was purchased by global human rights abuser G4S.

The London based corporation G4S now profiteers with the US 

contract to detain and transport migrants on the Arizona border.

Photo Brenda Norrell

Both Elbit and G4S are known globally for human rights abuses. So why are these two Apartheid contractors now on the US border in Arizona?

Earlier, Wackenhut split into two companies for maximum profiteering from misery. Wackenhut split into Wackenhut Transportation, and GEO private prisons which profiteers from migrant prison dollars. Wackenhut also once operated the security around Peabody Coal on Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation.

Read more about G4S torture and the imprisonment of Palestinian children at: http://g4sfacts.org/

Elbit Systems has targeted burial places on the Tohono O'odham Nation with "integrated fixed towers" for surveillance.

Responding to the proposed construction of spy towers on sacred land, Tohono O'odham in the Gu-Vo District said in a statement, "The Gu-Vo District opposes these proposed tower sites to protect cultural sites on the holy mountain now called the Ajo Mountain Range. The mountain holds human remains of our people and also places of our cultural practices (medicine bundles) home and home of the ceremonial deer and bighorn sheep and mountain tortoises that are protected under the Endangered Species Act."

Read more at Censored News: US Elbit spy towers target Tohono O'odham with 15 new spy towers: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2015/09/us-israeli-pact-targets-traditional.html

US Homeland Security awarded Elbit Systems the $145 million border surveillance contract in 2014. The contract was celebrated at Elbit's home office in Israel.

Read more about the contract at Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-elbitsystems-arizona-contract-idUSBREA2104K20140302

Copyright Censored News