POWER IN THE DESERT Documentary Film Screening and Discussion

Power in the Desert is a documentary that lifts up voices from communities impacted by new lithium developments in Argentina, Chile, and California, highlighting some of the dilemmas, challenges, and opportunities in this moment. This virtual event will be the first public release of the full 55-minute documentary.

Presenters include:

• Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch, Film Director/Producer
• Daniela Flores, Executive Organizer at Imperial Valley Equity & Justice
• Chris Benner, Director of the Institute for Social Transformation at UC Santa Cruz
• Manuel Pastor, Director of the Equity Research Institute (ERI) at the University of Southern California

The Lithium story is not just confined to Imperial Valley. For the last year, book co-authors, Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor, have been collaborating with Argentine filmmaker and documentarian Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch to create a dialogue between the experience of Lithium Valley in California and the so-called “Lithium Triangle” in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. Their conclusion: the future of these regions may be uncertain but the communities there that have too often been left behind and kept behind are linked in their concerns for people and the planet.

Watch the trailer here.

Panelists

Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch—a risk communications and behavioral science expert—is a director at the risk communications agency Pacifico. He has led and overseen risk communications projects in more than 40 countries affected by disasters. He worked on these diverse initiatives in partnership with the World Bank, the United Nations, NASA, IDB, CDEMA and CEPREDENAC. His campaigns were internationally awarded, including a Gold Lion at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Emiliano produced three documentaries—”Tsunami Ladies,” “The Girl and The Tsunami,” and “Forget Me Not”—sponsored by the United Nations, which highlight the role of women in post-disaster recovery. He has a Masters Degree in Behavioral Science at the London School of Economics.

Daniela Flores is co-founder and Executive Organizer of the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition (IVEJ). Born in Brawley and raised in her hometown of Calexico, she is deeply committed to the Valley and its people. Having earned a Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley in 2018, she returned to Calexico in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the disparities and challenges facing her community. She and IVEJ are part of an exciting new coalition called Valle Unido that seeks to secure Community Benefits Agreements to protect the environment, guarantee local hiring, respect indigenous rights, and ensure transparency and accountability.

Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor have co-authored six books on topics ranging from labor justice to regional equity to movement organizing. Their latest effort, Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future, is an in-depth look at the equity and environmental challenges around lithium extraction in California. Telescoping from broad issues of just transition to specific struggles in the auto industry to the challenges and opportunities facing frontline communities, the book tries to offer a vision of and plan for “green justice.”