Shark Loves the Amazon 2011
Distributed by The Video Project, PO Box 411376, San Francisco, CA 94141-1376; 800-475-2638
Produced by Mark London
Directed by Cidney Hue and Adrian Vásquez de Velasco
DVD , color, 60 min., English & Portuguese
Jr. High - General Adult
Amazon River, Deforestation, Rain Forest Ecology
Date Entered: 11/14/2014
Reviewed by Barbara Butler, University of Oregon Institute of Marine BiologyThe title is a bit of a mystery until you learn that Mark London is a lawyer and thus the “shark” who loves the Amazon. The film chronicles his 30-year involvement in Amazonian rain forest preservation. It is a compelling story with a very positive ending—the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation and the Rio Juma Reserve which protects 1.4 million acres of rainforest. The 3,000 residents of the reserve have agreed to not deforest the land and the foundation helps to create a sustainable living for them by building schools and medical facilities, and providing stipends.
Viewers are provided with a great deal of historical background and will leave with a better understanding of the political and economic decisions that led to the current environmental concerns in the Amazon drainage. The film is divided into ten chapters and may be useful in a classroom setting. It would be appropriate for school, public and college libraries and was an official selection at both the Environmental Film Festival and the World Sustainability Forum (Brazil). However, the film is a bit long and suffers from choppy editing. There are a number of videos available on the subject of the Amazon River and rain forest ecology and viewers may find a more succinct treatment of the topic elsewhere. Recommended with reservations.