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SILAS

By Anjali NAYAR, Hawa ESSUMAN

NATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AFRICA (NFVF) - as PROMO

Documentary - Completed 2017

Festivals
& Awards

Toronto - TIFF 2017

TIFF Docs

- Year of production
- 2017
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- CANADA, SOUTH AFRICA, KENYA
- Languages
- ENGLISH, AFRIKAANS
- Duration
- 80 mn
- Director(s)
- Anjali NAYAR, Hawa ESSUMAN
- Synopsis
- Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman profile the life of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation.
  
  Liberian activist Silas Siakor is a tireless crusader against illegal logging. He's watched multinational corporations wreak havoc on the environment while enriching themselves and impoverishing Liberians. This kind of corruption has gone on for so long that it can induce fatigue. But Silas is a tribute to the power of citizens to fight back.
  
  Filmmakers Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman chronicle Siakor's life over five years. He comes from a family of modest means but he is rich in determination and ingenuity. After living through 25 years of civil war and upheaval, he established the Sustainable Development Institute to advocate for protecting the country's resources. He and other activists venture to remote areas to document abuses with their cellphone cameras. (The film's co-director Nayar created the information-sharing app TIMBY that has aided their work.)
  
  Siakor's investigations shed a critical light on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who came to power in 2006 on a wave of international goodwill. Siakor once shared hopes about her presidency but grew dismayed by ties between her relatives and logging interests.
  
  While other documentaries take a global perspective on environmental threats, Silas gains power from its specific focus on one country. Siakor and his acupuncturist wife, Marlay, make an impressive partnership, displaying humour and resilience, exemplifying a new generation of resistance.

SILAS

Festivals& Awards

Festivals
& Awards