Sneak preview & California Premier of The Naked Option, a film about the Nigerian women’s movement

7PM Saturday May 21st
Victoria Street Theatre
2961 16th Street, San Francisco
Q&A with Naked Option Director Candace Schermerhorn and Emem Okon from the Niger Delta
Tickets $10

THE NAKED OPTION reveals the inspiring story of an organized group of Nigerian women who use the threat of stripping naked in public, a serious cultural taboo, in their deadly struggle to hold the oil companies accountable to the communities in which they operate. The women, at the risk of being raped, beaten or killed, are trained and armed, but not with anything you can see. Through the leadership of the courageous, charismatic, and inexhaustible Emem J. Okon, these women are taking over where men have failed, peacefully transforming their ‘naked power’ into 21st century political action and mobilization. THE NAKED OPTION celebrates the perseverance and power of an organized group of women! A Q&A will follow the screening with film director Candace Schermerhorn, women’s rights activist Emem J. Okon, and Laura Livoti founder and director of Justice in Nigeria Now (JINN).

Presenting Partners: Justice In Nigeria Now, CounterCorp; Partner and Funder: Global Greengrants; Fund Coalition Partner: Women’s Earth Alliance; Special thanks to Rainforest Action Network, The True Cost of Chevron Network and the Global Fund for Women.

The Naked Option: A Last Resort

A work in progress by Candace Schermerhorn

credit: Candace Schermerhorn

Join: Justice in Nigeria Now for a 20 minute screening of The Naked Option: A Last Resort a film about 600 Nigerian women who peacefully protested Chevron’s human rights and environmental abuses with only the threat of publicly stripping naked– a serious cultural taboo. The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the true cost of oil in Nigeria and what Chevron should do about it.

Panelists include: Filmmaker Candace Schermerhorn, Nigerian activist Ayo Ajisebutu and Cindy Cohn, attorney in the upcoming litigation happening this fall in San Francisco against Chevron – Bowoto v. Chevron

When: Thursday, August 7, 2008 7pm

Where: First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall
305 N California Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Map

Contact: Sarah Dotlich, Coordinator at JINN for more information
sarah(at)justiceinnigerianow.org or 415-575-5521
www.justiceinnigerianow.org

Co-Sponsored by The Peninsula Peace and Justice Center and Global Exchange and Priority Africa Network