Toxic Tears 2011
Distributed by The Video Project, PO Box 411376, San Francisco, CA 94141-1376; 800-475-2638
Produced by Tom Deiters and Hilbert Kamphuisen
Directed by Tom Deiters and Suzanne Nievaart
DVD, color, 25 min.
Jr. High - General Adult
Agriculture, Asian Studies, Bioethics, Economics, Food
Date Entered: 12/05/2012
Reviewed by Barb Bergman, Minnesota State University, MankatoThe Green Revolution that brought modern agriculture to India was supposed to help food production and reduce poverty in developing countries. Instead, the need to buy the genetically modified seeds, plus pricey fertilizers and pesticides – all provided by the same companies developing the seeds – have created an epidemic of suicide by hopelessly indebted farmers as well as environmental degradation.
Toxic Tears provides a succinct overview of the serious situation of agriculture in India. Subtitled “the darker side of the Green Revolution, Toxic Tears is conveniently divided into 5 minutes chapters that effectively cover the issues: Green Revolution, debt, suicide, globalization, and hope.
Bitter Seeds provides a lengthy view of this same topic. The filmmaker follows a village through a growing season. We meet people such as a farmer going through the agony of borrowing money for the year’s crops and realizing the shame of not being able to pay back the loan. Manjusha is young woman challenging gender roles in her village in her quest to be a journalist and report on this devastating issue. Bitter Seeds is beautifully shot. The viewer does gain a feel for the farms and small towns in rural India. Unfortunately the length and almost exclusive use of subtitling made it difficult to remain focused on the film. Even explanatory text is displayed as additional titling rather than done more effectively through voice-over narration.
Dr. Vandana Shiva, outspoken opponent of GMO seeds and advocate for the farmers, is interviewed in both films, but is better highlighted in Toxic Tears.
Both films are recommended for courses discussing bioethics, GMOs, rural life in developing countries, economic development in developing countries, or advocacy, but the briefer Toxic Tears will likely be more useful for classroom settings.
Related film reviews in EMRO: Bullshit: Vandana Shiva
Bitter Seeds is marketed as the final film in Peled’s Globalization Trilogy. The 2 previous films are Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town and China Blue.