Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Wangari Maathai is the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, an organization that spreads environmentalism by encouraging women across the country to plant trees. Dr. Maathai narrates her story with grace and humor in this documentary by Alan Dater and Lisa Merton. The film traces the inception of environmental destruction in Kenya to the days of British colonialism, and weaves the activist’s story into the turbulent history of her country. Unlike many similarly themed documentaries, Dater and Merton do not focus on environmentalism to the exclusion of other social issues, and Matthai connects the destruction of forests in Kenya to issues of human rights, public health, and women’s rights. A moving testimony to the power of grassroots political change, this inspiring film has garnered awards across the festival circuit, including the Audience Award at the Hot Docs Festival, and the Amnesty International Human Rights Award at the Durban International Film Festival.


Photographed by Alan Dater (81 min. Marlboro Productions). Presented with support from the Goldman Environmental Prize.