POISON WIND is an official selection of the WSIFF, taking place in Las Cruces, NM, the weekend of April 23-26. “Las Cruces, NewMexico, February 22, 2009—The 5^th Annual White Sands InternationalFilm Festival (April 23-26, 2009) announced today that due to its previous years’ success, it will expand into Las Cruces, NM. This expansion into a larger market will enable the festival to retain its commitment to bring high quality festival programming while intensifying arts education in the region. The festival once more promises to attract numerous visitors from around the world with its enigmatic films, informative panels and special events. ”

“WSIFF brings the artistic insight of eminent filmmakers to New Mexico in order to heighten audiences’ appreciation for the art of cinema and attractinternational visitors to the region. WSIFF screens outstanding short andfeature length documentaries and narratives of all genres from around theworld. WSIFF also has a special focus on Latino and New Mexican filmmakers and other filmmakers who choose the scenic backdrop of New Mexico for its locations. Some noted past guests include the legendary Mexican filmmakerArturo Ripstein; director of the award winning “Bella”, Alejandro Monteverde;and actor Wes Studi of “Last of the Mohicans”.”

I just returned from Washington DC, where POISON WIND was shown on Friday Feb 27th. Actor James Cromwell and Beyond Nuclear, a group dedicated to environmental issues and human rights violations, hosted the screening. I am happy to mention that POISON WIND was shown to a packed room. We were honored to have Physicians for Social Responsibility (a group awarded the 1985 Noble Peace Prize) in attendance and Senator Russ Feingold’s staff came to view the film, along with many other concerned citizens who are want to learn more about the contamination and human rights violations on our Earth. Manny Pino and I had a chance to address the audience afterwards with a Q&A. There were also 2 clips shown focusing on the subject of uranium mining and resulting devastation in Africa. One of our fellow panelists, Sidi-Amar Taoua (Touareg from Niger) spoke on this to the audience. Sidi has worked hard to focus attention on the environmental situation in Niger and preserve the rights of the Touareg nomadic people in the Sahara Desert.
One of the highlights of he trip was a whirlwind of politicking on Capitol Hill Friday afternoon.
There were appointments scheduled with 5 US Representatives and one Senator. Everyone on Capitol Hill received a copy of POISON WIND and a dvd of our clip from the upcoming WOMEN and the MINES, which addresses the health issues women endure as a result of these human rights abuses.
Our group was divided into two teams. You basically have 5 minutes each to present information on your subject and hopefully educate someone on the topic of uranium mining on
Indigenous lands. As Manny Pino said, “We’ll have 5 minutes to present 50 years!”
Backtracking a bit Beyond Nuclear held a press conference, Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington, where there was an opportunity to speak out on these issues. Surreal is the only way to describe being in DC like this!
Actor James Cromwell attended all of the events and his passion as a humanitarian and environmental rights activist is nothing short of inspiring. Forever dedicated to this work and speaking out about land and human rights abuses. One quickly forgets he is an actor and views him only as a fellow human rights campaigner who cares deeply about our planet and the treatment she endures.
I met some wonderful people! Our panel included: 2 powerful women (Natalie Wasley and Mitch) from Australia who are dedicated to saving Aboriginal Homelands, Indigenous people and the lives of those who are most affected by enviornmental contamination. Also joining Beyond Nuclear was Dr. Bruno Chareyon, who is a Nuclear Physicist from France, Sidi-Amar Taoua (an activist from Niger), Robert Tohe “who is a Diné leader, advocate, and environmental justice organizer” and Manny Pino from Acoma Pueblo, NM, who received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in 2008 in Munich, Germany. It was an honor to be with this passionate and
focused group.
The POWERSHIFT ’09 Conference took place on Saturday at the DC Convention Center. Over 11,000 youth from all over the world represented and enthusiastically attending workshops and panel discussions. The energy was high and focused on the future of our planet. Obama speaks to them, whether he is present or not. What a difference a President and new administration can make! Hope Lives!
Our panel had a room, that seats 500 people and it was packed, with the convention center turning people away due to fire regulations. The other discussions and workshops experienced the same overflow.
I ran into fellow filmmaker Myron Lameman who had attended the POISON WIND screening, in San Francisco, during our showing at the 33rd Annual American Indian Film Festival in NOv of 2008. He is getting ready to shoot a feature in Canada and recently appeared in Cowboy SmithX’s film CHANCE, which also screened in the same category as our film.
The 5 days are still a blur but what a fantastic one! Once I stepped on the conveyor belt at the airport, it felt as if I never got off until placing my feet back in my driveway.
A wild ride and hopefully the bottom line is that we made a difference.

On Friday, February 27, Beyond Nuclear will be bringing together a very special group of people at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC, for a film screening and discussion. The event takes place 5:30pm–7:30pm and is free and open to the public. If you live in the area or are visiting from out of town, please consider joining us!

Hosted by the actor James Cromwell — most recently seen in the Oliver Stone movie W — the evening will begin with a screening of POISON WIND,

The film screening forms part of a series of events on uranium mining, human rights, and indigenous people, hosted over three days by Beyond Nuclear. The Busboys and Poets evening will feature:

James Cromwell (actor); Manny Pino (Acoma Pueblo) and Norman Brown (Navajo), leading Native American activists; Jenny Pond, director, Poison Wind; Mitch (she uses no last name), an Australian aboriginal anti-dumping and uranium mining activist; Issouf Maha or Bilalane Ouguet, Touareg leader from Niger; Dr. Bruno Chareyron, director of the French investigative lab that has conducted radiological testing at nuclear sites in France and around the world; and Nat Wasley, an activist from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative (Australia).

We hope you will join us for this important film, enjoy a delicious meal available from the menu at Busboys, and participate in a thought-provoking discussion about the human rights violations caused the world over by deadly uranium mining.

Busboys and Poets is located at 2021 14th St. NW (at V Street), Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 202-387-7638.

For more information about the Beyond Nuclear tour of indigenous activists, please contact Linda Gunter at 301-270-2209 ext. 2.”

Thursday’s Gallup Independent featured front page news about POISON WIND, Interviews with CoProducers Jenny Pond and Norman Patrick Brown

Read the online article here: POISON WIND Presents oral history of uranium victims

Poison wind is also screening this weekend at Northern Arizona University

Saturday November 15th, at the Cline Lubrary, NAU, 5:30PM-8:00PM: Uranium Film Screening: A legacy of Destruction, showing three films: POISON WIND, HOMELAND, and A RIVER THAT HARMS. Followed by discussion with community members impacted by uranium mining and with activists fighting the resurgence of mining in the region.

There is lots of news, that we’d like to share with everyone. First our experience at the 33rd Annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, this past weekend, was nothing short of terrific.

POISON WIND looked & sounded great in its Beta SP format and the audience’s response was VERY positive. We had an estimated 150 people for our screening, which led to an energetic question & answer period afterword. The film which followed ours is entitled SHADOW OF THE SALMON and the director, Michael Pearce of 360 Productions, thanked us for our film and complimented our work before his film began. I return that now by having a chance to say his film was quite powerful in its story about the water rights issues for the Salish Tribes of the Pacific NW. It was a TRUE honor to have been included at this festival. We are all very grateful.

My next blog will be posted sometime tomorrow with photos, links and information about the music video Paul DeNigris and I shot for CLAN II DESTINE out at Papago Park on November 3rd. It was a great day for filming and the film’s song ‘Breeze in the Wind’ is well honored by this amazing and dedicated band.
In the meantime..time is of the essence for our Mother and her Heart…The Grand Canyon.

Manual Pino will be receiving the Nuclear-Free Future Award on October 24 in Munich, Germany for his work in helping to educate people, on a global basis, about the effects of uranium mining on the Environment, Indigenous People, Former Miners and Communities. Manny is a an integral part of our film POISON WIND and we are also grateful, that the film will be shown on October 26th in Munich along with THE RETURN OF NAVAJO BOY (Jeff Spitz) . This is our 2nd screening in Germany and we congratulate Manny on this prestigious award and for all the work he is doing for Environmental Justice! (Photo of Manual Pino taken by Claus Biegert)

POISON WIND will be screening at the American Indian Film Institute festival November 8th at 11am in San Francisco. This is all pretty great. I can’t forget how much it sucked to get rejection after rejection from festivals. And now things have swung back around and we are getting accepted all over the place. I love it. We basically made the classic rookie mistake, Sending a movie off to festivals before it was ready. After a bunch more months of refining the film. It’s being taken much more seriously.

I would like to share some good news with everyone! POISON WIND has been accepted into the line-up at the 33rd Annual American Indian Film Festival (American Indian Film Institute), which takes place in San Francisco, on Nov 7-15. The film screens on Saturday, November 8th at noon and further information will be available on the 220-productions website this week. 
The Nuclear-Free Future Awards, taking place in Munich, Germany on October 26th will be playing the movie at the event. Also we are further honored to have the Sierra Club of Flagstaff showing the movie on November 15th. They are hoping to arrange a panel discussion, speakers on uranium mining afterward. Plus there was good news last night from Washington State and the Yakama Film Festival, who emailed last night to let us know the film had been accepted to play at their festival in March/2009.
Aside from the festival news: communities in the NW, Canada, Australia and Alaska are writing for copies to share with their own impacted areas. That is the sole purpose of POISON WIND. To educate and inform through the stories of those most affected. We are grateful for all these opportunities.
I will be updating again soon with more information on all of this and Clan/destine II
and their new CD OPERATION PEACE!

My name is Jenny Pond and, along with Norman Patrick Brown, I am producing a documentary about uranium mining and the devastating effect that it has on the people, livestock, water and agriculture in New Mexico and Arizona. This film has been in production since late January and will be filming through July of this year. It came about through a chance meeting, which took place in November of 2006, some 5,000+ feet down in the Grand Canyon when I first met one of the principals in our film…Damon Watahomigie. He approached me with information concerning uranium mining on the Kaibab Plateau and the current onslaught of interest by mining companies seeking to drill for ore on the Havasuapi’s scared sites…as well as in the canyon itself. Pre-production for the film began soon after we first spoke and since then we have interviewed members of the Navajo Nation (Diné), Shoshone of Nevada, Acoma Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo. The impact of this holocaust can be felt throughout the Indigenous lands here and reverberates in countries such as Brazil, India and in places such as the Amazon. These concerns were addressed last year at the Indigenous World Uranium Summit at Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona), USA (see links) when activists from all over the world came to express their concerns over the dangers of uranium mining. 
Our goal is bring this film to the public by submitting it to film festivals throughout the country and abroad. We hope to raise the level of awareness concerning the hideous tactics used by mining companies in relationship to the actual mining of this monster and the lack of compenstation. Please feel free to contact us at any time with information or interview requests. Thank you.