An interview with ‘Sweet Home Monteverde’ director and the Democratic Presidential Debate

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. Later in the program we’ll hear excerpts from that fiery Democratic debate last night in Las vegas. The first one featuring billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

First up today we’re going to discuss a new film which will have its premier this weekend in St. Petersburg about a group of Quakers from Indiana and Alabama who were forced to leave the US in the early 1950’s because of their anti-war views.

The film ‘Sweet Home Monteverde’ traces the journey of nine Quaker families from rural Fairhope, Alabama, who, during the Korean War, immigrated to Costa Rica, a country that had just abolished its army.

tape

The film follows them to the mountaintop village they named Monteverde and documents their environmental stewardship, their creation of the largest cloud-forest reserve in Central America, their pioneering work on ecotourism, their early calls to fight climate change — and the legacy of their activism as passed down to succeeding generations.

The film’s director, Robin Truesdale joins us now. Her previous films include

Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels: A Haven in Havana;

A Beautiful Equation, Einstein, Bohr & Grandmothers

It will be screening it at the Conference on World Affairs in St. Pete at 2 pm on the 21st. The screening will take place here:

Kate Tiedemann College of Business Auditorium

USFSP

700 4th St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

https://sweethomemonteverde.com/