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Documentary, 2011, 85 Minutes, United States
WEBSITE
SYNOPSIS
On December 7th, 2005, federal agents conducted a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front — an organization the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.”
IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT is the remarkable story of the group's rise and fall, told through the transformation and radicalization of one of its members, Daniel McGowan. Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, the film interweaves a chronicle of McGowan facing life in prison with a dramatic investigation of the events that led to his involvement with the ELF. Using never-before-seen archival footage and intimate interviews — with cell members and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them — IF A TREE FALLS asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.
About the Director
Marshall Curry got his start shooting, directing, and editing the documentary, STREET
FIGHT, which followed Cory Booker's first run for mayor of Newark, NJ and was nominated
for an Academy Award and an Emmy.
The critically praised film was called "extraordinary" by David Denby (The New Yorker), "vastly entertaining" by John Anderson (Variety), and "filmmaking of the first order" by
Scott Foundas (L.A. Weekly).
After STREET FIGHT, Curry was the Director and Producer, as well as one of the
Directors of Photography and Editors of the feature documentary, RACING DREAMS.
RACING DREAMS follows two boys and a girl who dream of one day racing in
NASCAR, and the film won numerous awards including the 2009 Tribeca Film Festiva
Award for Best Documentary. RACING DREAMS was called "The best movie of the year,"
by Scott Feinberg (The L.A. Times – "The Envelope") and "Absorbing… one of the rare documentaries you leave wishing it was a little longer, " by Stephen Holden
(NewYork Times).
Dreamworks is currently adapting RACING DREAMS for a fictional remake.
Both STREET FIGHT and RACING DREAMS are included in the top 30 of Rotten Tomatoes' list of Best Reviewed Documentaries.