'Savanna and the Mountain' Movie Screening

Description

Join us for a special film night in central Brussels on December 12th! We'll be screening "Savanna and the Mountain," a powerful documentary about a community fighting to protect their land from lithium mining. Enjoy drinks, nibbles, and great conversation from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Space is limited to 100 seats, so book your spot now!

Seven years ago, the community of Covas do Barroso in Northern Portugal discovered that the British company Savannah Resources planned to build one of the largest open-pit Lithium mines in Europe next to their houses.

Faced with this imminent threat, the community decided to organize and expel Savannah from their lands. After several years of latent conflict, the Portuguese Government attributed a favourable environmental declaration to the project, a political decision that downplayed its most dire consequences. As a result, Savannah reinitiated prospecting activities and the community responded by blocking their access to the land.

The environmental declaration acknowledged the negative impacts on the population and Nature caused by noise, dust and vibrations from explosions and truck activity, the permanent destruction of underground water sources and diverting streams. It also said the project is incompatible with the United Nations’ recognition of the Barroso region as the sole Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in Portugal (and one of the few in Europe). The GIAHS acknowledges a unique interaction between human populations and their environment that represents a true and concrete path to tackle climate change. Losing the GIAHS would have dire economic consequences for the region, but also for the local identity and the possibility of envisioning a sustainable future.

Savannah says these impacts can be mitigated through monetary compensation, but the local populations say no money can pay for the loss of their quality of life and the threat the project poses to their future.

This mine would be the first among several mining projects that intend to turn the Centre and North of Portugal into a supplier of lithium minerals for Electric Vehicles. They are part of a monolithic narrative advanced by the Portuguese Government, the European Union and mining companies where new Lithium mines are an inevitable path to decarbonization in the transport sector. Instead of promoting a social and environmentally just transition by fostering structural changes in current mobility patterns, these actors chose to serve the interests of the car and mining industries and to sacrifice new regions at the altar of profit-making. “Savanna and the Mountain” is inspired by the Covas do Barroso people’s refusal of this narrative and their resistance against a strong (but not unbeatable) enemy.




Événements suggérés

Anora
05jan.
-
21jan.
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get t
Lorsque l'entraîneur qui pourrait la propulser vers les sommets est suspendu soudainement et qu'une enquête est ouverte, tous les joueurs du club sont encouragés à partager leur histoire. Mais Juli
Fish Tank
05jan.
-
25jan.
Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum Joanne brings home a new boyfriend Conner. He encourages Mia to pursue her interest in dance. As the boundaries of the relationships become blurr
Ingrid and Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.<
Ingrid et Martha, amies de longue date, ont débuté leur carrière au sein du même magazine. Lorsqu’Ingrid devient romancière à succès et Martha, reporter de guerre, leurs chemins se séparent. Mais d
𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧/𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 | 𝐝𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐛 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐢 | 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 | 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 | 𝟏𝐡𝟎𝟏 | 𝐕𝐅 | 𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝟑 𝐚𝐧𝐬
Le documentaire « Souls In Transit » retrace l'histoire d'un génocide largement méconnu. En 1915, environ 3 millions de chrétiens ont été tués par l'Empire ottoman. Le film raconte l'histoire de ce