FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES
PLEASE CONTACT:

Isaac Brown | 904-415-2089 jellyfishsmack@gmail.com

or

Ana Paula Habib | 352-278-2287 anaphh@gmail.com

25-word synopsis:

Terra Blight is a 55-minute documentary exploring America’s consumption of computers and the hazardous waste we create in pursuit of the latest technology.

100-word synopsis:

Terra Blight is a 55-minute documentary exploring America’s consumption of computers and the hazardous waste we create in pursuit of the latest technology.

Terra Blight traces the life cycle of computers from creation to disposal and juxtaposes the disparate worlds that have computers as their center. From a 13-year-old Ghanaian who smashes obsolete monitors to salvage copper to a 3,000-person video game party in Texas, Terra Blight examines the unseen realities of one of the most ubiquitous toxic wastes on our planet.

By the film’s end, the audience will never look at their computer the same way again.

 

200-word synopsis:

Terra Blight is a 55-minute documentary exploring America’s consumption of computers and the hazardous waste we create in pursuit of the latest technology.

Terra Blight traces the life cycle of computers from creation to disposal and juxtaposes the disparate worlds that have computers as their center. From a 13-year-old Ghanaian who smashes obsolete monitors to salvage copper to a 3,000-person video game party in Texas, Terra Blight examines the unseen realities of one of the most ubiquitous toxic wastes on our planet.

The film employs a style similar to Gimme Green(director’s prior film), whereby the audience encounters many dynamic characters and accesses the problem through subtle humor and identification with subjects on-screen. Shot in crisp HD, Terra Blight navigates surreal landscapes with a sensitive cinema vérité lens that conveys the unique point-of-view of each character.

Terra Blight examines the intricacies of American consumerism through the story of the computer.  It exposes some of the harms of its existence, but it also celebrates the positive changes it has brought to us.

By the film’s end, the audience will never look at their computer the same way again. 

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW
FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE

Ana Paula Habib films in the Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Isaac Brown, left, films Mike Anane in Accra, Ghana. Anane is a renowned environmental journalist in Ghana.

Ana Paula Habib films a pile of empty computer shells in the Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Isaac Brown films young children burning the plastic coating from copper wires in the Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.The toxic chemicals released from the burning is extremely caustic to developing bodies.

Ana Paula Habib films container ships on the coast of Ghana, West Africa. Much of the e-waste brought over from the United States will pass through this port.

Isaac Brown films a young man disassembling a computer at Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Isaac Brown plays some of the day's footage for the computer scrappers at Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Isaiah Atta, a young computer scrapper, spends some time on the other side of the camera at the Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Isaac Brown films a young computer scrapper as he pulls apart a circuit board in Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Mike Anane, a journalist in Ghana, questions why the United States is sending their end-of-life electronics to his country; Isaac Brown films him in Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.

Mike Anane, who was raised in Accra, Ghana, says he has seen the environmental degradation firsthand. The Agbogbloshie dumpsite used to be a thriving wetland like the one pictured here. Isaac Brown films his remarks.

Isaac Brown films an old computer that Mike Anane found at Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana.
Its label reads:
"US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION"

Ana Paula Habib and Isaac Brown pose with the Accra, Ghana-based band FASO YIRIBA CULTURE. These musicians recorded several of their original tracks to be used in Terra Blight.

Eric Flagg operates Steadicam at QuakeCon in Dallas, Texas. The 3,000-person lan party is the largest in North America.

Isaac Brown films at QuakeCon, the largest lan party in North America.

Ana Paula Habib and Jolene Pinder interview a video gamer at QuakeCon.

Jolene Pinder films at QuakeCon, the largest video game party in North America.

Eric Flagg operates Steadicam at QuakeCon. The Steadicam rig permits a long, fluid shot of the thousands of computers hooked up for gaming.

Ana Paula Habib films at CompUSA in Jacksonville, Florida during Black Friday.

Isaac Brown and Ana Paula Habib film computers being manufactured at Ibyte in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Ana Paula Habib and Isaac Brown film the assembly line of a computer manufacturing plant in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Isaac Brown looks much smaller through the wide angle adapter. He is filming the thousands of monitors piled at an e-waste recycling facility in Dallas, Texas.

Isaac Brown films George Laurer, the inventor of the UPC symbol, at his home in Wendell, North Carolina. Laurer spent many years as an engineer with IBM.

Isaac Brown films Mark Bacon outside his home in Endicott, NY. This town is the birthplace of IBM. There are 480 homes that sit on a contaminated plume of TCE, a chemical that leaked out during the many years of circuit board manufacturing there. Bacon points to the ventilation system that is supposed to accumulate the toxic vapors in his basement and release them into the air above his roof.

 

Kyle Anderson operates a jib at Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina. This rig allows the camera to gracefully swoop down from the sky or easily get a higher vantage point from which to film.

Kyle Anderson operates a jib at Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina. Anderson is quite adept with this piece of machinery.

Ana Paula Habib films in Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Ana Paula Habib works the jib at Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Isaac Brown and Ana Habib film the e-waste processing machine named "David II" at Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina. The machine was named in reference to the Goliath amount of e-waste being created in the United States.

Isaac Brown and Ana Habib film Brian Diesselhorst, vice president of marketing at Creative Recycling, in Morrisville, North Carolina.

The images below are frame grabs
taken from TERRA BLIGHT

Workers at iByte in Fortaleza, Brazil assemble desktop computers.

Isaiah Attah, a 13-year-old boy, smashes a computer monitor with a rock so he can obtain the metal frame, which has value to local recyclers. Isaiah works in the dumpsite to make money for school.

Shoppers test out computers at Comp USA in Jacksonville, Florida.

At Creative Recycling in Morrisville, North Carolina, electronics of all types are shredded, sorted, and bundled together into usable commodities.

QuakeCon is the largest Local Area Network (LAN) party in North America; over 3,000 gamers bring their computers to take part in what is known as the "Woodstock of Gaming."

A young man in Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Accra, Ghana, looks for metal in computer scrap to make money.

Workers with Atlanta Recycling Solutions stack old computer monitors in Atlanta.

Mark Bacon's home (as well as 479 other homes in Endicott, NY) sit atop a toxic plume of chemicals left by IBM's manufacturing of circuit boards.

produced by:
Jellyfish Smack Productions