Educational Media Reviews Online

French Guiana: Rockets in the Jungle begins by introducing the audience to French Guiana’s leading industry: providing a launching ground for sending European satellites into orbit. The film points out that the launching facility does not employ any Guianese. The Guianese farmers have protested the facility, pointing to the launch operations’ ecological consequences and the lack of nationwide economic benefits from the launchings.

While the film provides many interesting facts about French Guiana, these facts do not have a unifying theme. When one reads the title of this documentary, one would be inclined to believe that the documentary would be solely devoted to the topic of French Guiana’s rocket launchings. This is not the case. The film spends significant amounts of time discussing the history of French Guiana, prison life in the former French prison colony called Devil’s Island, details regarding the technical procedure of the rocket launches, and the process by which a satellite opens shortly after arriving in orbit.

I cannot recommend this film based on its disjointed nature. The transitions between topics are not smooth and the lack of unity is sorely obvious. Furthermore, the documentary never offers counter arguments on the part of the government of French Guiana. The audience is never given the opportunity to weigh the importance of these launchings to French Guiana’s economy.