Film Discussions 3: The Burning Season

For a full participation in this discussion, you must watch the documentary, answer the following question, and respond to two answers from your classmates. Make sure to provide thoughtful comments in your responses.

Film: The Burning Season (2008) on Youtube Links to an external site.

Question: 

1. How does the documentary expand the network of actors involved in orangutan conservations illustrated in Juno Parreñas’ book?
2. One way to transport the orangutans is through tranquilizer shots. What is your take of this method? Would you suggest a different method?
3. In the documentary, local farmers are portrayed as the forest burners, against the government regulations. Achmadi, one of the farmers, even visited the local environmental organization (Walhi) to consult about his plan to burn trees on his own land. Local farmers like Achmadi claimed burning trees is necessary for their family and small profits, and they even compared their roles in deforestation to big companies’ roles. What is your take of this? Can you relate this idea with Jason Moore’s concept of Capitalocene?
4. Can you explain in simple words the business concept that Dorjee Sun is proposing? What is your take of solving industrial problems with a capitalistic method?
5. While one of the ultimate goals of Dorjee Sun’s business model is to save the orangutans, orangutans and conservations are not mentioned anywhere in the model or in his dialogues with world leaders or local governors. What do you make of this? Is it fair to say that orangutan conservation is not an appealing business model?
6. The business design was illustrated creatively using shadow puppets. This is a traditional performance familiar in Southeast Asia, primarily in Java and Bali. In this performance, spectators watch the puppets’ shadows, instead of the puppets, and a puppet master was on the other side of the screen (unseen by the spectators) responsible for making the puppets come into live through stories and plots. It is kind of “invisible hands” from the eyes of the spectators. Why do you think the director intentionally chose to illustrate the whole capitalistic idea behind the effort to save the forest and orangutan using this performance?

Post your answer before July 3, 2024, 23:59PM.
Post your responses before July 6, 2024, 23:59PM.