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The Herakles Debacle

From its very name, American-owned SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon, Ltd. (SGSOC) presents a pro-environment, pro-resources image. This is supported by an impressive-sounding partnership with an NGO by the name of All for Africa and as a package typifies the kind of convoluted modern-day foreign investment going on in Africa. It is sadly all too familiar to communities on the ground. They are unimpressed with promises of infrastructure and jobs, and angry about their loss of land and livelihoods. It is also part of a strategy to deceive the public into believing that there is logic to cutting down rainforests to make room for palm oil plantations.

Read more about Herakles Farms in Cameroon

 

Meet the Filmmaker
Paris-born filmmaker Franck Bieleu grew up in Cameroon. He graduated from London Metropolitan University with a film studies degree and decided to move back to Cameroon to produce films that address social issues. His first feature documentary, What Hope for the African Youth? (2008), was screened in prime time on France O (a national television station) and at the African World Documentary Film Festival, St. Louis. The Big Banana, his second feature length documentary, was nominated for the jury's prize at the 2012 Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival, Doha, Qatar. The film was screened in Paris, Washington DC, St. Louis, and at the European Parliament. The Herakles Debacle is his third feature-length documentary.