James Cameron writes to the president of Brazil to try to stop the Belo Monte Dam project. Here’s how the letter opens:
April 8, 2010
Your Excellency, President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva,
I am writing to you as a concerned citizen of the Earth and on behalf of my children and future generations all over the world. I am not a political or business leader, I am a film maker whose last two movies have been the two highest grossing films in history. The most recent, “Avatar” has made US$ 2.7 billion so far at the box office, almost a billion more than my previous “Titanic.” As you may know, “Avatar” is a film about the destruction of the natural world by expanding industrial interests, and the consequent impact to Indigenous populations. The film asks us all to examine our values, and to reconnect with each other and with the natural world. Its unprecedented success indicates the extent to which people, all over the world, are thinking about these issues as never before. In fact “Avatar” is the highest grossing film ever in Brazil, as well as many other countries.
Andrew Revkin tweets on the potential backlash:
James Cameron and Avatar stars press hard in Brazilian dam fight: http://j.mp/AvatLula Beware Brazilian nationalism-style backlash, however.
Avatar 2: The Battle for Brazil! Stay tuned . . .