GreenPeace Operation Plutonium: DVD release

[Christophe]

April 18 will release the documentary on DVD
"GreenPeace Operation Plutonium". It is a documentary "neutral" (ie neither pro nor anti Greenpeace) of a journalist having "infiltrated" Greenpeace (with the agreement of the latter).



This documentary was broadcast on Arte in January 2006 and is made up of 5 episodes of 26 minutes recounting actions carried out in 2005:

1) High voltage at sea

Cherbourg. Two boats loaded with American plutonium are expected on a date kept secret by the authorities. At the Greenpeace office, Yannick Rousselet is preparing a large-scale action. Under the eyes of the cameras, Greenpeace's canoes and zodiacs will forcibly take over the quay where the plutonium must be landed.

2) Cherbourg on red alert

Off Cherbourg, the Greenpeace boat the Esperanza patrols in an attempt to locate the American boats. In Cherbourg, the activists play hide-and-seek with the police and mobilize an anti-nuclear flotilla. The navigator Eugène Riguidel decides to enter with his small dinghy in the forbidden zone of the arsenal ...

3) Arm wrestling on the road

American plutonium is approaching Cherbourg. Greenpeace decides to start blocking the road that the convoy must take: a truck, fifteen activists and several police cars face each other before the eyes of the cameras ...

4) Convoy under high surveillance

In the Cherbourg court, Areva and Greenpeace clash with lawyers. American plutonium finally arrives at night in the harbor of Cherbourg. In the port under siege, the deployment of military forces is impressive. A Greenpeace Zodiac tries to take journalists to film the arrival of the boat but the boat is boarded by the French navy ...

5) Confrontation with the Long Island

While the trial of Eugène Riguidel is being held in Cherbourg, Greenpeace is monitoring the factory where nuclear waste is processed. In Brest, the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace ship, is mobilized in front of the Long Island, the largest military nuclear site where the 288 nuclear warheads constituting the French arsenal are stored.

Why am I presenting this documentary to you when "I" am far from defending the methods and facts of Greenpeace (see the last subject on the question: Greenpeace infiltrates nuclear power plant)?

1) First of all because the publisher ( http://www.editions33.com/ (which bug with me ??) and http://www.program33.com/ ) came to us and kindly sent us a preview of the DVD with the press review (there are still advantages to being a webmaster lol).

2) Because this DVD puts a big drawback on the actions, ways of proceeding and the obscurantism of the organization. Something that "we" defend perfectly. See the article in progress to come.

[Christophe]

Here is an excerpt from the director's remarks:

Note from the director Eric Guéret

“Greenpeace smells of sulfur,

Why? Mainly because the association embodies a radical commitment, without concessions, and that it attacks the most powerful lobbies. Because she maintains a learned vagueness on the inner workings of the organization, and on its strategies.


A culture of secrecy which goes hand in hand with a very "professional" use of mass media: Greenpeace bases all of its communication on surprise, spectacular actions, which impose absolute secrecy during their preparation for maximum media impact.

(...)

But how do you film Greenpeace? What look on it? What is the correct distance between the desire to share a bit of their struggle and the refusal to blindly adhere to all of their ideas and methods?

There is a force in the total commitment of the men of Greenpeace that attracts me, but I am not sold to their cause. My film hears shows as they are: complex, endearing, sometimes disturbing ...
My gaze on Greenpeace and its members is exactly that.

I would not want to film them if I found them extraordinary in all respects, they would not have accepted that I filmed them if I saw only their faults.

It took me three years to get them to agree to open the doors of all their offices to me, to film the meetings, the strategy, the preparations for the operations, the training of the activists, the actions in the field, the briefings and internal debriefings ... everything that was never really possible to film.

Our relationship and our agreements are simple: I will not betray them by turning the montage "against" them, but I would not make an activist film, a hagiography of Greenpeace either. They agree to share their secrets with me, to let me shoot and edit the film I want.

The way I look at them will be "critical" to the extent that it is completely free. I share with Greenpeace the desire to live in a world protected from destruction, but we are far from agreeing on all means and alternatives. We are aware of our respective positions and we decided to take the risk of this film together. (...) “

[Christophe]

I finally found a moment to view the series of 5 episodes. It confirms exactly what I thought about Greenpeace: they spend monstrous energy on denounce instead of proposing solutions ...

At one point we wonder even if they are not simply trying to go against the economic interests of France. Indeed, for them it is better to bury military plutonium rather than to recycle it into fuel ... Surprising on the part of environmentalists, right?

Finally there are "media-psychosés". Action without the media is inconceivable for them. It is quite obvious throughout the DVD ... are they more interested in their simple image than the impact on the industrialists of their action? Astonishing ...

Nevertheless, we could have expected more commitment from the director (voice-over) but let's not forget that the series had to be "controlled" by the ecological organization before broadcast ... Normal ...

In short, a DVD to see.

Here is the teaser: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ofm7 ... -plutonium