While filming for his new documentary in El Salvador last month, Jamie unintentionally came across the mysterious disappearance and murder of anti-mining environmental activist Marcelo Rivera. Rivera's murder coincides with Canadian mining company Pacific Rim's lawsuit against the government of El Salvador for opposing their plans to establish a gold mine in the impoverished San Isidro area. The government and activists like Rivera are concerned that the proposed mine would contaminate San Isidro's already limited water supply. These environmental and human rights concerns have fueled severe resistance in the community against Pacific Rim and their practices.

Here's a Philly City Paper article on the film crew's trip to El Salvador and the murder mystery that found us and which we intend to help solve.

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2009/07/30/jamie-moffett-el-salvador

We'll have a documentary short on this topic up in just a bit. Working as fast as we can to get this to you. Please check back soon!

For more info, photos, video and to pre-order the feature documentary, visit http://returntoelsalvador.com

We've been in El Salvador for a week now to complete filming for Return to El Salvador over the rest of the month. Things have been crazy and we're working hard, but we're super excited about all the stories, interviews, and gorgeous scenery we'll get to share with you at the film's premier in October! In the midst of recent Latin American political unrest, we have filmed interviews with Luis Romero, an AP photographer who documented events during and after the war; Dr. Salvador Menendez-Legal, a legal advisor who commented on the recent disappearance and possible political assassination of anti-corporate mining activist and environmentalist Marcelo Rivera; and Wilfred Medrano, a lawyer at Tutela Legal, which documents cases like Archbishop Oscar Romero's assassination and brings them to court. They also contain the most important photos related to the tens of thousands of murdered and disappeared Salvadorans, which we had the awesome opportunity to film and photograph. You can find these exclusive photos plus special behind-the-scenes stills of all our interviews and filming locations on our official Flickr album.

The days have been growing longer, hotter, and lazier, but our friends at The Simple Way have been working hard knitting together the second issue of Conspire! Magazine. Volume 1, Number 2: Sacred Subversions is now available through the Another World is Possible! store. The summer 2009 issue focuses on revolution, sharing stories of creative acts of resistance against "business as usual," both across communities and on an individual level.

Conspire! is the collective quarterly publication of communities across the country that shares stories of community, revolutionary love, and creative new visions. Individual issues can be ordered through the Another World is Possible! website. To contribute or join the project as a co-conspirator, visit Conspire! Magazine's website at www.conspiremagazine.com.

No doubt you've noticed some big changes going on. And if youre really astute, you may even notice that some things look a bit... off. But bear with us! Rest assured that we're working hard to debug and make the new website experience nice and smooth.

There's a lot going on at our little shop these days, so a few weeks ago, Jamie and I decided that it was time to start reflecting that to all our friends. As tends to happen around here, one idea led to another, and to another... and soon, we had a full-scale overhaul on our hands. It's been worth it though - the results have been great. The site is built on a robust and expandable base that will last us for years to come, and we're excited to finally be able to keep you all up to date on everything we do here.

Our friends and partners from the El Salvador Partners Mission Group at Central Baptist Church posted an article about our film on their blog. They enabled our first trip to El Salvador as Election Observers in March and have maintained extensive relationships with communities there beginning in 1984, when the congregation voted to participate in the Sanctuary Movement providing shelter and assistance to war refugees.

Read their article here: Documentary film will feature Ruth and Alex

Visit the main site of their blog to find out more about their operations here.

The editing for The Ordinary Radicals: Special Topics is underway here in Kensington! The multi-disc DVD set will include thematically-organized, hugely expanded presentations of many of the same interviews you saw in the feature film (Tony Campolo, Lisa Sharon Harper, Brian McLaren, John Perkins, Ron Sider, Shane Claiborne, etc.) along with some new ones we're shooting. We promise you hours of great new content!

As with The Ordinary Radicals, we're again looking for music to underscore segments on the DVD. Silver and gold we have not (just like last time), but in exchange for your talents we will feature your name in the credits (to hopefully generate unending dividends of fame and glory for you) and send you a copy of the film when it's available.

Interested in contributing? Here's the deal:

You need to have full ownership of the song and fill out a music release form allowing us to use it, which we’ll distribute in whatever ways we can (theatrical, DVD, online, via space ship, etc).

The fewer vocals, the better. Keep in mind that we're looking to underscore the interviews and footage. If you have a great tune with vocals and can go back to the masters and get us a copy without vocals, that would be super useful to us.

The deadline: We need the music as soon as possible, as we've already begun the editing process.

Here’s how to send us your music:

• Fill out The Ordinary Radicals music release form.
• E-mail it back to us completed and signed at musicforfilm@theordinaryradicals.com

You can then upload your song(s) via FTP to:

• ftp://upload-music.theordinaryradicals.com
• username: musicforfilm
• password: radicals

New to FTP? Here’s a great application for Apple users and here’s one for Windows users

If the music file is small enough, you can also email it as an attachment to musicforfilm@theordinaryradicals.com.

We're extremely grateful to those who contributed tracks to the feature film, and we look forward to hearing from some new talent, too!

The Ordinary Radicals will be featured at Flickerings @ Cornerstone Festival in Marietta, IL on Wednesday, July 1st at 4:00 p.m. Cornerstone Festival is a five-day-long event featuring a large selection of Christian music artists from a wide variety of genres, seminars on numerous challenging topics, as well as film screenings at its Flickerings showcase. For tickets and more information, visit the Cornerstone Festival website.

Jamie's heading back to El Salvador this summer to collect more footage and interviews for the upcoming Return to El Salvador. Putting this film together to tell the bold and compelling stories of this struggling nation takes a lot of money, so we'd really appreciate it if you would help support us by pre-ordering the DVD in our store!

May 1st, immigrants from all over Latin America come together on the streets of the US.

But, have you ever wondered where they came from?

In the United State’s media, the visual imagery of immigrants have been labeled aliens and demonized. What is really the truth about their culture, their language, and their family values? Their families have been torn apart because of a greater hope. It is a hope that we believe in. We want to tell the story of the smallest, yet most populated country in Central America. Thirty percent of their population resides within our country’s borders; they cook for us, they clean for us, and they take care of our children. Have you ever asked yourself, what are their stories? They aren’t that much different from ours.

Imagine: 700 people per day leave El Salvador - a country the size of Massachusetts. Most head for the United States, hoping for a better life. At this very moment, 2.7 million Salvadorans live in the U.S. 7 million live in El Salvador. Now consider this: throughout the Salvadoran civil war (1980-92), the U.S. government backed the Salvadoran military with intensive training and 1 million dollars a day. As a result, an estimated 70,000 civilians were killed and disappeared.

If any of this is new to you, you’re not alone. This summer, we return to El Salvador 17 years after the war to hear the human stories connected to these facts and figures. We listen and learn from the lives of those who suffered, survived, and rebuilt their country after the war, and who continue to fight for justice and peace.

Return to El Salvador is an independent film, which means that we are raising every dollar ourselves - which is, you guessed it, where you come in. We’re hoping that you will join our adventure - it is as simple as making a $20 investment to pre-order a DVD. You’ll get your very own copy of the film in mid-December (in time for the holidays!), but more importantly, you’ll make this project possible. We literally can’t do this without you.

If you can’t wait that long to see the Return to El Salvador, go ahead and buy a ticket to the Philadelphia premiere in mid-october. We would love to see you there! And there are, of course, many other ways to join us. Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted through our website. To take a more active role, consider joining us as an associate producer - click on the link above for more information.

These are not stories that it’s possible to witness without being changed by them.

We’re convinced that when you encounter them, you will be compelled to learn, to listen, to act. Help us to make this film a reality!