The name Agent Orange became synonymous with the horrors of modern chemical warfare. Between 1961 and 1971 the U.S. military used an estimated 20 million gallons of the toxic cocktail to destroy the dense foliage of the Vietnamese rainforest, with devastating results for the people who lived there. But its use did not end there. Surplus from the Agent Orange stockpile was used back home in the U.S. even after Congress banned its use in Vietnam..
“Philly D.A.”, “The Donut King” join ‘Independent Lens’ spring slate PBS’s ‘Independent Lens,’ presented by ITVS, has laid out its spring slate of documentary programming, including the premiere of Ted Passon and Yoni Brook’s eight-episode docuseries Philly D.A.
This spring will . April 8, 2021
PBS’s ‘Independent Lens,’ presented by ITVS, has laid out its spring slate of documentary programming, including the premiere of Ted Passon and Yoni Brook’s eight-episode docuseries
Philly D.A.
This spring will also see additional programming under the strand’s recently announced Stories For Justice public media partnership.
Through a five-year pipeline of content centered on the issue of criminal justice, ‘Independent Lens’ and PBS will premiere more than 20 documentary films and docuseries cente
By ROBERT ABELE | Los Angeles Times | Published: March 4, 2021 (Tribune News Service) The name Agent Orange has become synonymous with the destructive legacy of the Vietnam War. The U.S. military s use (12 million gallons) of the toxic herbicide not only did lasting ecological damage to a nation s jungles and crops, but it left human victims on both sides with corrosive health effects that have been passed on to subsequent generations. Accountability for its deployment by our government and the chemical companies (Dow, Monsanto) that continue to spray one of Agent Orange s key, still-dangerous components as an approved defoliant in U.S. parks and forests is the animating thrust of the investigative documentary The People vs. Agent Orange, from filmmakers Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna.
Philippe Lacote begins his spellbinding fable with the scenic aerial vista of a Jeep making its way through a verdant landscape to a large, imposing building. The young punk in handcuffs accompanied by armed soldiers can’t admire the view or appreciate the sweet air; he’s too anxious about his destination at the end of the rutted road.
The lad arrives at the dank Ivory Coast prison at an auspicious time, as the inmate who runs the place subject to the arbitrary rule of the brutish authorities, of course is nearing the end of his reign. He christens the newcomer Roman and appoints him storyteller for the evening, which the lad (played by Bakary Koné) prolongs to dawn via a procession of centuries-spanning chapters drawn from the seemingly disparate realms of folk tales and slum reality.