Educational Media Reviews Online

Who Bombed Judi Bari? is a passionate documentary exploring the still unsolved case of a horrific car bombing incident on May 24, 1990, that nearly killed Bari and gravely injured Darryl Cherney, who produced this film. Bari and Cherney were prominent environmental activists organizing the Redwood Summer campaign to halt the massive logging of northern California’s redwood forests. Following a barrage of death threats, a nail-filled pipe bomb exploded in their car while they were driving, yet the Oakland Police and FBI promptly accused them of planting the bomb themselves. This film features footage from before, during, and after the bombing, with numerous interviews including Bari’s deposition seven years later as she lay dying from breast cancer. Despite the weighty context, there is a great deal of joy in this film as well, especially in the music and footage from the environmental movement in the 1980s and 1990s.

This film is certainly both a tribute and a memorial to Judi Bari, as an intimate portrait of a remarkable woman who devoted her life to activism. It is also a relevant historical lesson for environmentalists and activists. The film brings up important questions about freedom of speech and the rights of activists, the expanded rights of corporations, and the role of law enforcement. In light of the anti-fracking and Occupy movements in the United States today, activists still face the same struggle against the interests of faceless and self-serving corporate entities and complicity with government and law enforcement agencies.

The film makes a clear case that the bomb was intended to assassinate Bari, that justice was not served, and that law enforcement officials were complicit. In 2002, years after Bari’s death, a court found both the Oakland Police and FBI guilty of falsifying evidence to discredit the environmental activists and violating Bari’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. In 2015, the question of the title still stands: who bombed Judi Bari?

Who Bombed Judi Bari? is an important film for environmentalism and a new generation of activists. This film is highly recommended for general public and undergraduate academic library collections, and could easily find a place in high school classrooms studying the environment, ethics, or constitutional rights. For a different perspective focusing on the court case, see the 2006 documentary The Forest for the Trees.

Awards

• CINE Golden Eagle Award for Documentary Feature
• Special Jury Award at the Long Island Film Festival
• Best Documentary at the Malibu International Film Festival
• Best Documentary at the Santa Cruz Film Festival
• Best Documentary at the Desert Rocks Film Festival
• Best Feature Film at the Davis Film Festival