For celebrated activist/filmmaker Judith Helfand, exposure to toxins has not only altered her personal life forever, but her film career as well.
Showing tonight at 7 p.m. in the Center For the Arts Screening Room, her award-winning film, "Blue Vinyl," documents the hazardous effects common materials items like vinyl, can have on one's health and environment. Thanks to the UB Green Office, the acclaimed filmmaker will accompany today's screening to have a candid talk with the audience.
"Blue Vinyl" was conceived during Helfand's previous award-winning film, "A Healthy Baby Girl" - an autobiographical account of the filmmaker's bout with cancer. Her disease was caused by DES, a synthetic estrogen and anti-miscarriage drug prescribed to her mother when Helfand was still in the womb. The film served as a video diary of how science, medical ethics and corporations can influence the most intimate of familial relationships.
In a phone interview, Helfand reflected on how turning the camera on herself during a personal crisis translated into art.
"I think sometimes you are lucky when catastrophe occurs. It's disastrous but also universal. To be able to harness your art is really amazing," she said.
Thankfully, her cancer has been in remission for 14 years now.
However, Helfand's first-hand and near-death experience with the devastating effects of supposedly "safe" chemicals led her to question if vinyl (also called PVC), a material loaded with synthetic chemicals, posed risk. With this inquiry, "Blue Vinyl" was born.
This especially hit home when Helfand's parents chose to put vinyl siding on their own home.
Starting from her home, the film travels all over, even to the unlikely city of Venice, witnessing how devastating exposure to PVC can be.
Not only a social change film, "Blue Vinyl," the winner of a Sundance Film Festival Award is loved because of its quirky humor.
"It's important to infuse comedy in anything really scary and didactic," says Helfand. "If you are trying to appeal to constituents that are not already with you, you can't just use anger. You have to offer a sense of hope. Humor and hope are similar."
UB Green's environmental educator, Erin Carla, is looking forward to the screening. She has seen the film multiple times before, on HBO.
"It's a funny movie," she says. "Not just gloom and doom."
UB Green hopes that the film is appreciated but also that it elicits true change.
"Basically, we hope to connect people with the Citizens' Environmental Coalition. They hope to start a campaign to faze out PVC," says Carla.
This is especially significant in the Buffalo area because of the local PVC plant in Cheektowaga. Other cities have had extremely adverse effects because of proximity to PVC plants, as documented in the film. Concerned citizens oppose the same phenomenon happening here.
"We are not opposed to new jobs in Buffalo," said Carla. "We are opposed to dirty jobs."
A university setting is ideal for a film like this, Helfand realizes. She is looking forward to the impact "Blue Vinyl" may have on UB and Buffalo as a whole.
"It's important to go to universities because students have power. You are part of a community that has a footprint and makes an impact. You can be leaders in the SUNY system and Buffalo," said Helfand.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
