Karuara, People of the River

A devastating mercury spill by the world's richest gold mining corporation transforms a quiet peasant village in Peru's Andean mountains into a hotbed of civil resistance. A courageous young mayor emerges to lead his people on a quest for health care and justice. But powerful interests conspire to thwart the villagers at every turn in this 2-year epic chronicle of the real price of gold.

We go back in time to the moment when the mighty Kukama God created the Amazon's rivers with his bow and arrow.

The charismatic Father Marco Arana, named a Hero of the Environment in 2009 by Time Magazine, has been so effective in advocating against the US-owned Yanacocha mine that he's code-named "the Devil" and targeted in a campaign of harassment and terror.When one colleague is threatened with rape and another is killed, the activists fight back, capture a spy, and uncover a military-scale operation of surveillance and violence that shocks even them. When billions of dollars are at stake, just how far are corporations willing to go to protect their bottom line?

Tambogrande is a town in North Peru. Over the years, the inhabitants have taken great pains to transform this initially barren area into a fertile valley. This is where the majority of the national fruit production comes from, including mangoes and limes. The relative affluence of Tambogrande became endangered in 1999, when foreigners began exploring a gold deposit beneath the town. The Canadian firm Manhattan Minerals made plans for a huge mine that would eat up a large part of the town and bring the danger of serious soil and water pollution. The people of Tambogrande preferred mangoes over gold, so they revolted. A grim struggle ensued, documented over the course of several years. In Tambogrande the filmmakers give an account of a murder and show how the government of President Fujimori falls into discredit. Eventually, the inhabitants of Tambogrande manage to achieve some success in their cause and the story of their mainly peaceful protest is heard all over the world.