The Athens International Film + Video Festival to screen documentary on Parkersburg's DuPont plant
Photo courtesy of: College of Fine ArtsStill from "The Devil We Know"
The Athens International Film + Video Festival (AIFVF) is excited to announce the feature documentary “The Devil We Know,” director Stephanie Soechtig’s alarming portrait of the potential consequences of unchecked corporate use of chemicals that permeate the living world. Two screenings are scheduled for April 14-15 at the Athena Cinema.
An investigative documentary with stakes both personal and looming, director Stephanie Soechtig and co-director Jeremy Seifert weave together first-hand stories of those affected by DuPont’s Parkersburg, West Virginia, plant.
A compelling and ultimately terrifying watch that will make you question everything in your kitchen, this documentary lays out the history of the DuPont corporation’s use of the chemical C8, examines its environmental and health impact, and the company’s awareness of that impact, and celebrates the everyday whistleblowers and fact finders who helped bring this crisis to the public’s attention.
In 1945, DuPont introduced Teflon to the marketplace and changed millions of American households. Today, the chemical, sporting an extremely long half-life, used in the creation of those products is in the bloodstream of 99 percent of all Americans.
In 2018, the state of Ohio filed a lawsuit against DuPont, seeking restitution and cleanup of toxic chemicals they produced over extended periods of time, with massive environmental impacts.
“In some ways, C8 already is the tobacco of the chemical industry — a substance whose health effects were the subject of a decades-long corporate cover-up.” – Sharon Lerner, The Intercept
“Soechtig again expertly weaves together all the complicated pieces and science to present a compelling case within a documentary structured like a suspense film.” -Kim Voynar, Movie City News
The festival plans two screenings of “The Devil We Know,” Saturday, April 14, 3:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 15, 3:45 p.m.
Founded in 1974, the Athens International Film + Video Festival has been presenting the best in international film for 45 years. Known globally as a festival that supports cinema from independent, underground and marginalized populations, the AIFVF represents the values that we share as a community. It is a champion of justice and provides a voice for underrepresented artists and viewpoints on a global level. For over four decades, the AIFVF has embraced experimental, narrative, short-form, feature length and documentary films from every corner of the globe.
The Athens International Film + Video Festival is presented by The Athens Center for Film and Video, a project of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University. This year’s festival takes place April 9–15, 2018, at the historic Athena Cinema and other locations in and around downtown Athens.
The full 2018 schedule and ticket information is available at the Festival website: www.athensfest.org.
Photo courtesy of: College of Fine ArtsStill from "The Devil We Know"