a film by Julian T. Pinder SEVENTH ART RELEASING 6579 Pickwick St. Los Angeles, CA 90042 phone (323) 259 8259 fax (323) 474-6371 Seventhart@7thart.com www.7thart.com
Synopsis 27 Words When three inexperienced yet determined gringos try to build cheap tropical resort destinations in politically volatile Nicaragua, they find the land under their feet becomes terribly unstable. 176 Words LAND is a true Wild West story, delving in to the tumultuous topic of land ownership and development in politically volatile Nicaragua. The year is 2006, where Nicaragua is viewed as the new land of opportunity. Newspapers and magazines hail it as The New Cancun, The Next Florida. Fred, Sean and Keith, three naive Americans wide eyed at the prospects of finally making it big, set up shop and start constructing resorts for tourists next discount tropical vacation. What these inexperienced developers don't know is that the seemingly inexhaustible cheap manual labour is about to run out. The natives are restless and starting to see through this new form of imperialism. When former revolutionary leader Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas sweep back to power, legitimately or otherwise, not one of our Gringos is left unscathed. Dreams of plane loads of vacationers and pool side margaritas give way to death threats and armed assaults. In a story of tourism vs. terrorism, one is never quite sure who has the upper hand nor if anyone is telling the honest truth.
Director sstatement I fell in love with Nicaragua because of its lawlessness. A truemodernday WildWest. BeforeThereWas Land Yearsbeforethisstorybegins,Idecidedtopurchaseasmallbeach frontpropertyonthe untouchedsouthcoastofnicaragua.butdowntherethingsworksomewhatdifferently. Basically,itgoessomethinglikethis: You buy the land from a farmer who claims he owns it, whereupon a local judge learnsofthesaletoagringo(i.e.you).thisjudgethenproceedsto steal your propertyfromyou.youquicklylearnhowthingswork(atthelocalbar),soyoudulypay themanoffbyofferingtohaveawelldugononeofhismanyotherproperties,followed byamultitudeofsmallergiftslikeagednicaraguanrum,cigars,orwhateverelsemight suityourparticular judge s discerningtaste. Butattheendoftheday,forthepriceofausedFordTaurus,youownyourown littlepieceofparadise. OrsoIthought. Inthe developedworld wetakethingslikepropertyandownershipasaconstant.ina placelikenicaraguatheonlyconstantisinstability.whoyouareandwhatbelongsto youisalwaysbeingquestioned,belittled,threatened,andeventuallytaken. SoIbegantoquestionexactlywhatlandmeant. I dseentheeffectsofwarbeforeonapopulation.itwaswhiletravellingasastudent filmmaker in Kosovo and Bosnia that I first realized that land was the only tangible connection people have to nationhood, identity, pride, history. Yet on the other hand landisalsointimatelytiedtoexploitation,wealthandpower. Theconundrumintriguedme. As dangerous and shocking as they are sometimes, for the adventure seeker hailing from a regulated, law abiding country like Canada, places like Bosnia can offer a welcomerelease. For me Nicaragua was such a place. And then some! You could simply feel the world changingaroundyou.
ButthisbackwatercountrythatIgrewtolove,theseoff the beaten trackvillages,were fast becoming developed by outside forces. Gringos like me were flocking down and buying up the place, but the purpose behind the purchase was changing: resort developers, wide eyed at the prospect of finally making it big were rapidly replacing peoplelikemeinsearchofourownpersonallittleparadise. Beforemyeyes,NicaraguabegantotransformintoFloridaovernight. Iguessthat swhenthepotstartedtoboilover. Within a few weeks of each other, a foreign developer I knew personally was gunned downmaliciouslyoverapettypropertyfight.andthendanielortegadeclaredhisbid for Presidency. Despite the events having nothing to do with each other, I realized nothinggoodwouldcomefromthepossibleunionofthesedisparateworlds. Yet there I was, a gringo landowner caught smack dab in the middle. So in defence, I guess, I picked up my camera and started shooting. Hiding behind my lens, I tried to walkthethinlinethroughthegatheringstorm. InKosovoaGeneraloncesaid, themoreyouthinkyouknowaboutthesituation,the lessyouactuallydo. Andwasheright.
Cast TheLocals SEANJACKSONisanAmericandeveloperplanningavastcondominiumhigh risetower resort in a small traditional fishing village on the south Pacific coast of Nicaragua. A former skateborder from California, Sean arrived in the country at a most opportune time:landwascheapandlabourrateswerelow.seancharacterizesagrowingfactionin contemporary Nicaragua: an American model of uber capitalism, which seems to be grapplingcompetitivelywithwidespreadsocialistsentiment. KEITH GRIEF &MARIAGRIFFITHretiredinNicaragua.Theyopenedasmallrestaurant then began partnering up with developers. After allegedly appropriating the local baseballdiamondtomakeaparkinglotfortheirnewresort,thecoupleranintoaspot oftroublewhentheytriedtosetupaschooltoteachthelocalshowtoservegringosa properlyblendedmargarita. ZACH LOPEZ lives in Gigantes, in a small concrete home with his family. They are not lookingforwardtotheproposedhigh risecondominiumtoweringabovethehouse.he livesdirectlybesidesean stolatowersproject.zachhasissueswithcertaindevelopers, particularly Grief.Zachhasbeenmis treated,under paid,andfiredmorethanonce. Zach argues that the jobs these developers bring in are just a modern form of enslavement.hedoesn tseeanybenefitscomingtothevillage. DEAN, Sandino, orsometimes Sardino,isconstantlydrunk.He sinhismid50s,and he sbeensubsistingforthebetterpartofhislifethankstoamodesttrustfund.most dayssandinowalkstotownearlyinthemorningandintheeveningstaggershomeafter alongdayofrumandbeer.foryearshe sbeenmovingaroundtheworld,drinkinghis wayfromonepristinetropicalcoasttoanother,lookingfortheperfectplace.hehates beingconfusedwiththeassholedevelopers.ifthingsdon tchange,he llhavetopackup andmoveagain. CAMPESINODANIELhasfarmedinthemountainsjustupfromthebeachesforyears. Helivesaprimitivelifeinasmallshackwithoutelectricityoramenities.Heemploysa large number of workers to cultivate his beans, corn, and cane. Nobody confuses him withtheunwanteddevelopers.theonlywaytoreachdanielisfourhoursbyhorseback on a small mountain path. His shotgun and machete hang by the side of his jet black horse.still,danielisfrustratedbytherecentdevelopmentandwhathefearsmaycome inthenearfuture. FREDGOLDFARBisanAmericanfellowwhosesisterisanadvocateforsocialjusticein Latin America. How fitting, then, that Fred decided to come down to Nicaragua and build resort condos using cheap, unregulated local labourers. But Fred s conscience
weighs heavy, and he knows deep down that he can t quite come to terms with the disparate reality of what he s doing, and the dream of living in paradise. But he also can taffordtojustgiveuphisinvestment CHRISBERRYisaresortdeveloperwithoneoftheveryfewup and runningresortsin Nicaragua.ButnotallisrosyinChris garden.aftersellingofflargetracksofproperty parcelstoamericantourists,anumberoflandtitleclaimsfindhimincourt. SEBASTIEN RAMOS NARVAEZ is a poet who fought in the revolution. Back in the day, Sebastienwasoneoftherevolutionarycomrades.In1957heroomedwithErnestoChe Guevera for a time. More than 50 years on, Sebastien now watches the political and social landscape from the sidelines, carefully constructing abstract poetry from it. It s beenalongtimesincehefeltlikehetruly lived. BigShots COMANDANTEDANIELORTEGA,theleaderoftheSandinistaParty(FSLN),whoin1979 overthrew the Somoza dictatorship dynasty that had held power in Nicaragua since 1939.10yearslater,Ortegahimselfwasdefeatedina1990election.Hewouldreturnto thepoliticalscenein2006inaquesttorecapturethepresidency. COMANDANTEZERO(akaEdenPastora)wasarebelleaderduringtherevolution,who foughtboththesandinistasandthecia fundedcontras.sincethenhehasbeenmaking adecentlivingfishinglakenicaragua ssharksandsellingthemtothejapanesefora tidyprofit.dueinlargeparttohisefforts,theworld sonlyknownfresh watersharkis nowvirtuallyextinct.zeroalsoreturnedtothepoliticalscenein2006whenheranfor PresidentofNicaragua. JIMMYCARTER.WeallknowJimmy.
FilmmakerBios JULIANT.PINDER Director/Co Producer JulianPinderdirectedtwoexperimentalwardocumentariesinBosniathenKosovowhile stillinhisteens.afterfilmschool,julianworkedcloselywithdirectorhelenshaver(law and Order, The Unit, Medium), followed by three years as a producer with Sarrazin CoutureEntertainmentinToronto.Aroughtravellerwithaninterestintheseedierparts of the world, he brings a knowledge of filmmaking, a proclivity for story, and a keen sense of the other side to his films. Pinder s debut feature doc, LAND, premiered to sold out audiences at the prestigious Hot Docs festival has been widely released, receivingravereviewsacrosstheboard. PAULSCHERZER Producer SincefoundingSixIslandin1998,PaulScherzerhasproducedahostofaward winning featuresincludingtheensemblepieceawake(cannesperspectivescanada;cast: NicholasCampbell,MarthaBurns),theromanticcomedySABAH(Cast:ArsinéeKhanjian, ShawnDoyle;Dir:RubaNadda[CairoTime];EP:AtomEgoyan),plusthefestivaldarlings KHALED(TIFFFIPRESCI,CanadaTopTen,KarlovyVaryBestDirector),andNOMORE MONKEYS(VIFFBestDirector).Paulalsoco wroteandepdthetvdramarosefor CityTV. IndocumentaryPaulproducedthefeaturedocsLAND(HotDocs),andANJAR(DocuDays andarpa),alongwiththe6x60eco seriescodegreenforcbcandthe13x30doc seriesurbannitesforctv.paulalsolpdmanyacclaimedfeaturedocsincludingthe SundanceandTIFFfavouriteMANUFACTUREDLANDSCAPES. ALEXSHUPER Editor One of the most sought after editors, Alex Shuper has worked on many of the most interestingcanadiandocumentariesanddramafilmsoverthepast10years. Featuring a list of Who s Who in the film editing biz from Alex s award winning documentary EDGE CODES: The Art of Motion Picture Editing enjoyed a theatrical releaseincanadaandtheusaswellasfestivalscreeningsaroundtheglobe. Other documentaries include THE LAST MOGUL a crackling biography of powerful Hollywood agent and executive Lew Wasserman, the funny doc COMEDY GOLD featuringahistoryofcanadiancomedy,andthe2008title,theultimatejew:jackie MASON,pennedbyMasonhimselfanddirectedbyTheLastMogul sbarryavrich.
IVANBARBOTIN Composer IvanBarbotinwasborninSt.Petersburg,Russia,July29,1972.Hebeganpianostudies attheageof5,guitarat10.in1988,justbeforethecollapseofthesovietunion,a16 year oldivanjoinedrussia'sfamousrockbandforumasleadguitarist.withforumhe toured the country to sold out audiences. The rock group was one of Russia's top ten andtheirsongsarepopulartothisday. During the same time, Ivan took a great interest in classical composition and studied privatelywiththecomposeralimametov.movingtocanadain1990,hecontinuedhis music studies and experimented extensively with combining contemporary classical musicwithmodernelectronicsounds.hewrotehisfirstballet,thevelveteenrabbit,in 2000.
Quotes Intimate,captivating...LANDtellsauniversalstory." THEGLOBE&MAIL****4STARS(outof4) engrossingandwrylyfunny" EYEWEEKLYTORONTO****4STARS rich,withlushimagery,quirkycharactersandpoliticalquandaries." TORONTOSTAR***3½STARS(outof4) "Landfeelslikeasnapshottakenfromamovingcar,clearlyfascinatingand beautiful..." NATIONALPOST