For Schedule, Location, and Times - click here
Switch Off
Manel Mayol, Spain, documentary, 87 min., 2005
(Spanish with subtitles)
 The construction and operation of the world’s third largest dam along the BioBio river in Chile, has been described as genocide against the Pehunche-Mapuche. Switch Off is an elegant and angry epistle against ENDESA, the Spanish hydro electrical company behind the dam. ENDESA’s corporate leadership has engineered what is described as large scale land theft with the support of the Chilean government. Since the dam project was announced in 1997, the Pehunche-Mapuche have organized civil resistance against the destruction of their homeland. Indigenous leaders have been persecuted and jailed under ‘anti-terrorism’ laws for protecting their land. Shot on film, with interviews from Pehunche-Mapuche activists and frustrated attempts by the filmmaker to interview elusive ENDESA representatives. – M.S.L
Manel Mayol studied Fine Art in Barcelona University and Photography at Huddersfield Technical College. He has been making documentaries on culture and political denunciation. Mayol’s work has been shown in several European cities as well as the United States.
|
