Polluting Paradise

Note: This can be purchased on Amazon.de under the title "Mull Im Garten Eden" - it has English subtitles

I'm a long time fan of the Turkish/German film-maker Faith Akin, so I tracked down a copy of this documentary. I was glad I did.

Filmed over a number of years this is a solid, sometimes poetic, very sad film about the building of a garbage dump in the picturesque sea-side Turkish town of Camburnu, and how it slowly destroyed the town and its way of life. Eco horror stories like this are nothing new, but Akin's humanist approach makes us care by letting us get to know and like some of the crucial people of the town – like the mayor – who are fighting an endless uphill battle against the damage the lying and disinterested central government is wreaking on them.

These people are no rural rubes – they seem to know more about the law and even the engineering flaws of the dump's construction than the pathetic men who are supposed to be in charge. Inspiring at times, depressing and defeating at others, it's not the first film to show how greed and indifference is undermining our world, but it's a strong and human example.