GROUND WAR
An intensely personal piece, Andrew Nisker's Ground War is an investigation into the death of the filmmaker's father. Harold Nisker was a “health nut,” a man who exercised diligently. For decades, Harold played golf every day except for winter: it kept him fit and he loved the game. It was only after his father's shocking death by lymphatic cancer that Andrew began to wonder why the golf course he played in was so uniformly green and manicured. His discovery that one of the chemicals used at the course was part of Agent Orange, the notorious “defoliant” that killed countless Vietnamese during the Vietnam War sets Nisker on a journey that takes him to the original quite weedy and bumpy Scottish golf course, Donald Trump's Americanized version of it, and a look at chemical pesticides as a potential cause of cancer. To find out more about Ground War please visit http://groundwar.org.
“Nisker’s Ground War strips away the marketing façade that pesticides are a harmless and necessary tool for manicuring golf courses and playing fields. His personal narrative of his father’s death combined with investigative reporting puts a fine point on the dangers of toxins on our greenways that can’t be ignored and will empower viewers to take action.”
-Priscilla Feral
President, Friends of Animals
“Ground War is a powerful and deeply personal exploration about the links between cancer and cosmetic pesticides. By starting close to home for answers to the causes of lymphoma in his father-an avid golfer-filmmaker Andrew Nisker travels to Scotland and into a golf industry trade show to find answers and alternatives to toxic chemicals. He interviews parent activists in Montgomery County, Maryland fighting for protection from toxic chemicals on lawns and in parks. It’s an inspiring story, with an interactive film website to help find activists near you.”
-Alan Cohen
Safe Grow Montgomery
President, BioLogical Pest Management Inc.
DAD AND THE DANDELIONS
Environmental filmmaker Andrew Nisker is proud to call himself an environmental activist. After the death of his father, from the blood cancer Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Andrew starts hunting for answers to his many questions about why this particular cancer, and where it came from. His search, to his surprise, takes him into the manicured world of golf. In this world of pearl white bunkers, and putting greens that look and feel like velvet, Andrew discovers that these “green spaces” are anything but. There’s a lot more than nature at work creating these perfect carpets. At a golf industry trade show he sees the array of chemicals on offer to achieve that championship perfection.
Andrew’s father’s had a passion for health and fitness. He loved to eat right, he took pride in sharing his knowledge about his healthy discoveries. But he rarely made the connection between environmental issues and personal health. To him, playing golf was a natural, healthy hobby. Walking the course with his bag on his back, taking in the sun, and breathing fresh air amongst the trees was his happy place.
Andrew’s journey reveals to him how little we know about the complex causes of cancers and how to assess the risk factors for those cancers. As he follows up on his hunt to find out more about pesticide use on golf courses, he asks: Can golfers themselves learn to kick the chemical habit? Can they learn to love dandelions a little more?
DARK SIDE of the CHEW
Dark Side of the Chew is a cinematic first – seen by audiences around the globe, this feature documentary blew the lid on what the gum industry didn’t want you to know about everyone’s favourite sticky habit. Director Andrew Nisker reveals the hidden – and shocking – truths about the impact gum has on our economy, health, and our planet. Premiering on TVO in Canada, the film has also had an iOS app created for it – the GumShoe Map App. The app is a first – it lets its users join a global community of citizens who will use the app to help quantify gum pollution worldwide.Watch Now
ORANGE WITNESS
Orange Witness documents the marginalized voices of people who have been exposed to, and affected by Agent Orange. The film paints a bleak picture of the damage caused by the use of herbicides 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T and TCCD internationally. Historically, Agent Orange has been associated with war, but the industrial and domestic of use of the chemical is a story that has yet to reach the masses, until now. The film has been seen by over 1 million viewers through broadcasts on CBC DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL and film festival screenings where it garnered two awards in 2013.
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CHEMERICAL
'Chemerical' explores the life cycle of everyday household cleaners and hygiene products to prove that, thanks to our clean obsession, we are drowning in a sea of toxicity. An average North American family try to turn a new leaf by creating and living in a toxic free home. Seen by over 3 million viewers through NETFLIX, CBC AND SUPER CHANNEL and winner of the audience choice award at Whistler Film Festival. Its outreach program has inspired the removal of over 20,000 toxic cleaning products from homes, helping to clean up watersheds and create safer toxin free environments for hundreds of thousands of children in their homes and schools.
GARBAGE! THE REVOLUTION STARTS AT HOME
Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home is a documentary about how the family household has become one of the most ferocious environmental predators of our time.
Concerned for the future of his son, writer and director Andrew Nisker takes an average urban family, the McDonalds, and asks them to keep every scrap of garbage that they create for three months. He then takes them on a journey to find out where it all goes and what it’s doing to the world.
From organic waste to the stuff they flush down the potty, the plastic bags they use to the water they drink out of bottles, the air pollution they create when transporting the kids around, to using lights at Christmas, the McDonalds discover that for every action there is a reaction that affects them and the entire planet.
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