Dam/age

Arundhati Roy, the 1998 winner of the coveted Booker Prize (for her acclaimed novel The God of Small Things) takes on formidable opponents--the government and corporate lions of her native India--in an effort to prevent the Narmada Valley dam project, a massive hydroelectric undertaking that would drown fertile farmlands and displace over a million people. A controversial figure who also happens to be successful, eloquent, and arrestingly attractive with her bright eyes and optimistic outlook, Roy speaks passionately about her cause, and filmmaker Aradhana Seth effectively combines Roy's compassionate testimony with urgent documentary footage of the people and places that would be devastated by the Narmada project's completion. A moving, vividly potent film about the destructive effects of corporate greed and unchecked globalization, as well as the story of one woman's bold, admirable decision to place the needs of her country above her own, Dam/age is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Shannon)