Official Selection - Toronto International Film Festival
Opening Night Film - One World Film Festival, Ottawa

See the Toronto International Film Festival listing for this film, and the film's own website.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A discussion with the director and two protagonists of the film from the Intag community in Ecuador.

Malcolm Rogge was born in Winnipeg and studied at the University of Manitoba before completing an M.A. at York University and a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. His experimental, short fiction and non-fiction films and videos have been exhibited in festivals and galleries across Canada. Under Rich Earth (08) is his first feature documentary.

Marcia Ramirez is a 25 year old woman activist from the Junin area of Intag, Ecuador. She is current president of the Junin Women's Group; president of the Youth Distance Education Group, and President of the Junin Ecological Tourism Group. She is also secretary of the Community Development Council. The CDC is a very small grass-roots organizations working with communities closest to the mining area in the area of human rights, sustainable development, and is an important front line of defense in keeping the mining companies out of the region.

 

Carlos Zorrilla has lived in the Intag region of Ecuador since 1978. He is owner of the Intag Cloud Forest reserve, where, together with his family he developed a small-scale ecotourist business, and produces shade-grown coffee. He is founder and co-founder of several environmental and farming organizations, including DECOIN -Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag. Mr. Zorrilla is recognized as having played a leading role in the struggle to keep mining companies out of the Intag area of Ecuador ever since he helped found DECOIN in 1995, where he is current executive director.

"Magnificent... a thrilling and revealing portrayal of the search for justice"
Alberto Ramos, Signis

“Gripping and disturbing...”
**** Eye Weekly

“Gracious and uplifting.”
NOW Magazine

"Hair-raising"
Playback Magazine

"An outstanding work of hard journalism."
Michael Sauve, Canadian Film Programmes Blog

"A startling exposé... a graceful, well-made vérité doc."
Marc Glassman 96.3 FM

"While so many documentary filmmakers can only capture the aftermath of a big event, Toronto's Malcolm Rogge had the advantage of being right in the thick of the action when a dispute between heavily armed representatives of a Canadian mining company and a group of Ecuadorean farmers and eco-activists very nearly turned deadly in 2006. At stake was the fate of farmland that would likely be ruined if mining concerns had their way. Gripping and disturbing, Rogge's Under Rich Earth reveals the extent to which corporations (yes, even Canadian ones) are willing to go to get what they want, as well as the determination and savvy that is required of those who oppose them"

Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly ****

"Unarmed and unprotected, the poor farmers in a tiny mountain community in Ecuador face down and detain armed mercenaries hired by Canadian mining company Ascendant Copper. Canadian documentary maker Malcolm Rogge caught some amazing footage to build a story about corporate malfeasance and how the undertrod overcame the superior forces of might, money and political manipulation."

Susan Walker, Toronto Star