LEONARD GRAY

PHOTO: FILMMAKER LAURA DUNN, at right, responds to questions about the making of her film, “Green,” shown Thursday to a St. Charles Parish audience. (Staff Photo by Leonard Gray) NEW SARPY – As the video ended the small audience in House of Prayer Baptist Church was hushed, emotions struggling to surface. What they had just seen was a 47-minute film on “Cancer Alley,” and they were struck to the core. Several of the 20 in attendance at Thursday’s screening of “Green,” a film by University of Texas-Austin graduate student Laura Dunn, had appeared in the film. Nevertheless, as Norco activist Margie Richard said, “It touched you.” “Green” talks about the region between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, dotted with scores of petrochemical plants, and the impact of pollution on the residents. It opens with a woman casually discussing her cancerous tumors, a recurring theme. Children suffering from asthma, women with reproductive problems and teen-agers with brain cancer – all are included in the film. Dunn also spoke with industry representatives, such as Lily Galland of Motiva in Norco and Betsey Baker Miller of the Louisiana Chemical Association. Also on hand are DEQ Secretary J. Dale Givens and Department of Economic Development Kevin Reilly. From Gov. Mike Foster’s inaugural address, where he promises a cleaner Louisiana, the filmmaker swings into a helicopter view of the region, flying over hundreds of acres of smokestacks. The Shintech controversy in Convent is also brought in, with opponent Pat Melancon calling the attempt to locate a plastics plant within a mile of two lower-income schools “environmental genocide.” The film wraps up with a review of a toxic landfill site in New Orleans (out of Cancer Alley itself) and shows Mayor Marc Morial declaring that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “has not been an ally of the people.” The film, produced, directed and edited by Dunn, has been screened from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, largely before university students and low-income black audiences, with stirring results. Dunn said the Baton Rouge screening drew a few 100 people, while only seven showed up in Plaquemine, 25 in Gonzales and 15 in Convent. Despite the small audiences, those who saw the film were deeply affected, recognizing their families, friends and neighbors. “In Convent, the screening was very draining emotionally,” Dunn recalled. Richard helped to break the long silence after the film ended, saying the filmmaker had “brought out all the points” in her effort. “Now, they’re going to start opening their eyes,” she said. Dunn said the film will make the rounds of film festivals, and copies would be made available through her website, twobirdsfilm.com. “I’m hoping it will be used for educating and organizing,” she continued. “It’s a work in progress.”