Peter Jay Brown "Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist"
CONFESSIONS OF AN ECO-TERRORIST is a feature documentary that reveals the true 30-year odyssey of the most wanted environmentalist today, Captain Paul Watson, the cult hero of Animal Planet’s critically acclaimed “Whale Wars”. The founder of Greenpeace, Watson was eventually ousted from the organization for his uncompromising passion to protect the planet and his unconventional methodology. Free of bureaucracy and politics, Watson forged his own personal Armada, The Sea Shepherd Society, a small vigilante organization dedicated to protect the aquatic life of the planet at all costs.
Filmmaker Peter Jay Brown, a highly visible star of “Whale Wars”, documented the mythic deeds of The Sea Shepherd Society, while acting as the cinematographer, deckhand, quartermaster, Zodiac driver, officer and even captain in Watson’s absence. Brown gave us an intimate and honest look at what really went on behind the scenes on some of the most infamous environmental campaigns ever. For 28 years, Brown has recorded the breathtaking beauty of the life aquatic in all its glory, as well as anguishing despair, bearing witness to the brutal slaughter of the helpless.
Risking their freedoms and their lives, the renegade eco-warrior and his band of environmental pirates combat those who seek to pillage and profit from the destruction of the ocean and its inhabitants. Using guerilla tactics, they boldly, even jubilantly patrol the world’s waters targeting kill-happy poachers and covert corporate cabals, terrorizing and provoking confrontation while flying the skull and cross-bone flag of their fleet. Watson’s use of “manufactured awareness” and Strategic Media Traps, defies convention as he brilliantly navigates his fleet by ramming vessels, inflicting damage to whalers, drift-netters, long-liners and seal hunters who operate illegally world-wide.
The journey of Watson has included thousands of individuals, crew, and volunteers over the years. Everyone from ex-military to ship welders and engineers, college students to hippies and bums, and the vegans who took over the galley have flocked to Sea Shepherd campaigns. The efforts of each and every one of them made the story of CONFESSIONS OF AN ECO-TERRORIST what it is.
“You negotiate,” says Brown. “I’ll ram ships.”
CONFESSIONS OF AN ECO-TERRORIST is a harrowing, sometimes amusing, eye-opening adventure and an arresting tale of cloak-and-dagger action. Delving into what “manufactured awareness” really is and how radical measures are deemed necessary to resolve an issue or institute change, CONFESSIONS also revels in the humor of a situation and presents an uninhibited look at the lives of the men and women looking to change the world. Its uniqueness lies in how Brown has been able to demystify the work and ideas of “eco-terrorists”, a term taken from a quote by Watson, who suggested that “there’s nothing wrong with being an eco-terrorist, as long as you win.”
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