CLICK HERE for news clips of the event
CLICK HERE for the poster of the event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
John Weisheit of Living Rivers - 435-260-2590
Bradley Angel of Greenaction - 415-722-5270
Indigenous & Community Voices to Protect the Colorado River, Its Tributaries, People and Sacred Places
What: Upstream Downstream Short Film Festival and Forum
When: Tuesday May 24th at 7pm
Where: Grand Center (182 N 500 W, Moab, Utah)
Admission: Free (donations welcomed to help cover costs)
Moab, Utah – In the face of ongoing threats to the Colorado River, its tributaries, people and sacred places, the “Upstream – Downstream Film Festival & Forum” will be held in Moab, Utah on Tuesday, May 24th at 7 pm.
The evening will feature four short films as well as speakers from tribes in Utah and Arizona. Concerned about the proposed Green River nuclear power plant and funding cuts in the cleanup of radioactive uranium tailings next to the Colorado River, tribal leaders and Elders from the Colorado River Indian Tribes will be traveling nearly 600 miles to Moab from their home along the river in Parker, Arizona for the film festival and forum.
They will be joined by tribal members from the White Mesa Ute Community, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and Uintah Ouray Ute Tribe who will discuss efforts to protect the rivers, people and sacred sites from destruction and desecration. Local Moab residents and grassroots groups concerned about pollution, climate change and protection of indigenous sacred sites are organizing the film festival and are working to bring together “upstream and downstream” communities and tribes in Utah and Arizona to strengthen ongoing efforts.
The films to be screened are:
Half Life - the story of American's last uranium mill
In southeast Utah lies America's last remaining Uranium Mill. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe worries that lax regulations and the mill’s aging infrastructure threaten their water supply and way of life.
Marking of a Milestone
- The Colorado River Indian Tribes are working to protect the river and sacred sites, and are facing challenges from industrial scale solar power projects in the Mojave Desert.
Defending the Sacred -
Story of the long battle by the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance and environmental justice allies that defeated a nuclear waste dump proposed on sacred land at Ward Valley near the Colorado River.
Bears Ears: The Movement to Protect a Cultural Landscape -
Hear about the effort by Native Nations to protect the Bear’s Ears area, a place rich in indigenous history and culture in a landscape of canyons, mesas, arches, red rocks and the Bear’s Ears twin buttes.
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This event is sponsored by Canyon Country Rising Tide, Uranium Watch, Greenaction, and Living Rivers.
