
Independent Lens
Belly of the Beast
In California’s women prisons, incarcerated people who were sterilized without their consent fight for justice.
Two women, one American and one Vietnamese, fight to hold the chemical industry accountable for the devastation caused by Agent Orange and other toxic herbicides.
Alan Adelson (Director, Producer, Writer) has overlapping careers in documentary film and fiction and non-fiction writing. His film credits include One Survivor Remembers (HBO), European Production Coordinator, winner of the Best Short Documentary Oscar and three Emmy Awards. As producer, co-director and writer teaming up with Kate Taverna: Lodz Ghetto,… Show more
Kate Taverna (Director, Producer, Editor) has edited more than 50 independent feature docs, shorts and broadcast films over a career spanning more than 35 years for PBS, ARTE, BBC, HBO, A&E, etc. Asylum (2004) and Killing in the Name (2011) were both Academy Award nominees in Best Short Documentary category. Pray the Devil Back to Hell won Best… Show more
Véronique Bernard (Producer) is an independent non-fiction film and television producer, director and senior executive whose experience includes WNET Culture & Arts Documentaries, Sundance Channel Original Programming, New York Times Television, National Geographic Television, ABC News Productions and SBS Television in Australia where… Show more
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The dioxins present in Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War, continue to leave a legacy of death, deformity, and disability for generations. This investigative documentary includes painstaking historical research and interviews with whistleblowers, researchers, and the people who have lived through contact with the poison in both Vietnam and the United States. The film follows Vietnamese activist Tran To Nga, who, in a French court, is suing the American chemical industry for poisoning her and her family in Vietnam. And in Oregon, Carol Van Strum battles to stop the ongoing spraying of toxins by the timber industry. Both women, joined in their mutual pain, resist intimidation and threats, bringing to light the ongoing, intergenerational catastrophe of chemical warfare and toxic herbicides.
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