What People Are Saying:
"Wow, I love it. This is a powerful film that I would highly recommend for courses on public health, environmental science, and policy. Challenging concepts like preemption and hydrology are explained by having real people narrate their lived experiences of being sacrificed for pipeline construction. I am not only planning to show this to my classes, but to hold a department-wide showing."
–Sasha Adkins, Ph.D., MPH, Lecturer,
Public Health & Environmental Studies,
Loyola University Chicago
"Through his directorial lens, McDermott conveys the startling need for urgency in the conservation of linguistic treasures on the cusp of extinction. He provides the audience with a personal portal into the truth behind endangered languages, demonstrating that their loss would greatly diminish our understanding of North America’s first peoples."
–Cultural Survival
"We Are All Related Here is a beautiful film about our urgent need to support coastal communities as they adapt to enormous environmental challenges in the U.S. The film was incredibly useful for teaching about the impacts of climate change and environmental policy within indigenous communities to my undergraduate Human Ecology class. Students were enthralled, engaged, and walked away wanting to know what they can do to support the people of Newtok. I highly recommend this potent and picturesque film."
–Nathan Jessee, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, Temple University
"Marathon for Justice powerfully reveals the heart of environmental justice and activism. Brian McDermott successfully puts human faces on devastating environmental issues by sharing the voices of the people who are rooted in land and place. This film is a critical work calling us to move toward a sustainable future for humanity and the planet."
–Chie Sakakibara, Assistant Professor
Environmental Studies, Oberlin College
"Brian McDermott’s film Marathon for Justice tackles hard issues concerning humanity's right to clean air and water from Philadelphia to the Navajo reservation, and how that right is strategically denied less privileged minorities. Marathon for Justice is a film well-suited for high school and college-aged viewers as it documents the dynamics of development and privilege, and comes at a time when “Water Protectors” in North Dakota fight to protect that right."
–Neyooxet Greymorning, Professor,
Departments of Anthropology and Native American Studies, The University of Montana
"Half Mile, Upwind, On Foot is an inspiring account of courageous individual and community activism that challenges the strong-arm corporate tactics that produce unimaginable threats to human and social health stemming from fracking. Yet a single elderly woman, willing to be jailed and even isolated in solitary confinement, may in turn provoke unimaginable outrage and further commitments to do whatever it takes to live more harmoniously with our environmental surroundings that sustain all of life.
–James Loucky, Ph.D., Professor
Department of Anthropology,
Western Washington University
"Half-Mile, Upwind, On Foot is a relevant, timely, and compelling story of pipeline development in Pennsylvania that highlights the complexity involved in environmental issues.Told from the perspective of different communities and following their grassroots efforts, the film addresses the social, ethical, political and economic consequences of these pipelines that crisscross neighborhoods and backyards from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.”
–Lisa J. Rodrigues, Ph.D., Associate
Professor and Department Chair, Geography and the Environment
Villanova University
"Moving is always included as one of the top three of life’s most stressful events. But imagine how much more stressful it would be to move because the ground under your home is being washed into the sea; or because you have very little or no control in deciding when you move; or when moving puts your cultural and social underpinnings at risk. Brian McDermott’s film, We Are All Related Here, introduces you to the people of Newtok who are resolutely moving under these conditions. Not one of your typical climate victim exposés. Highly recommended."
–Mervyn Tano, President, IIIRM
"Marathon for Justice is a must-see documentary for all people who believe that we each have the human right to clean air and water and that the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples must be respected."
–Robin Bronen, Executive Director of Alaska Institute for Justice and Senior Research Scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
"'Language Healers'" is one of the best documentaries I've found for teaching students in introductory Social Anthropology courses about language and culture. The film provides students with powerful, concrete examples of the relationship between language and identity, while also increasing their awareness of the ongoing struggles of Native Peoples to protect and revitalize their cultural and linguistic heritage."
–Tate LeFevre, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Franklin & Marshall College
"A powerful statement about the connections among language, culture and identity."
–Jeanne M. Rubin
Festival Director, Denver Indigenous
Film & Arts Festival