“Powerful and poignant…This is a film that all Americans should see.”

—Scott Laderman, Professor of History, University of Minnesota-Duluth

ETERNAL HARVEST

Directed by Jerry Redfern

72 minutes | SDH captions | 5.1 Surround Sound

Scene Selection

Between 1964 and 1973, in an offshoot of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military dropped 4 billion pounds of explosives on Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country per capita on the planet. Up to 30 percent of those bombs did not detonate, and they remain in the Laotian soil today as unexploded ordnance (UXO), contaminating more than one-third of surface area of the country. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and injured in UXO accidents since the war officially ended. The first bombs fell more than 50 years ago, and still today, more Laotians are hurt and killed.

Eternal Harvest introduces Laotians who lived through the bombing campaign and those who live with bombs in their fields today. The film features local and foreign experts who explain the scope and hazards of the problem as well as how UXO is removed safely.

Hundreds of Laotians work daily to clear bombs from their country. Only a handful of Americans have ever joined them. One, Jim Harris, is a retired school principal from Wisconsin. He has returned year after year for more than 20 years—to atone for the incredible devastation committed by his government.

Eternal Harvest is available on DVD with public performance rights for school and library purchase or rental. Academic streaming can be licensed from Docuseek. Campus and community groups interested in hosting a community screening can book now through Bullfrog Communities.

“This is a captivating and accessible documentary that captures the seriousness and urgency of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos resulting from US bombing. By focusing on multiple locations, stories of those effected, and stories of those helping to solve the issue, the film provides faces and voices to this problem and will be engaging for students. Eternal Harvest is a good addition not only to classes on the Vietnam War but also to classes dealing with the ethics of war, US international relations, and contemporary global issues courses.”

—Katy Doll, Assistant Professor of History, Nova Southeastern University

“In stark contrast to Americans’ grand tradition of historical amnesia, this remarkable documentary forces viewers to confront a difficult moral question: What does the United States owe to the people devastated in American wars, and what can individuals do when the state fails to live up to its obligations? Accessible, compassionate, and surprisingly inspirational, Eternal Harvest is sure to spark the interest of history students, ROTC cadets, budding philosophers and ethicists, future Peace Corps volunteers, even STEM majors looking to come up with workable solutions to seemingly impossible environmental problems."

—John M. Kinder, Associate Professor of American Studies and History, Oklahoma State University, Author, Paying With Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran, Co-editor, Service Denied: Marginalized Veterans in Modern American History

To order Eternal Harvest on DVD with public performance rights for educational use,

visit the Bullfrog Films online catalog.

Order by phone at (610) 779-8226

or email us at [email protected]

Bullfrog Films is the oldest and largest publisher of documentary films about the environment in the United States. We define "environment" broadly, and our catalog includes programs on ecology, energy, agriculture, indigenous peoples, women's studies, environmental justice, international relations, sustainable development, anthropology, economics, ethics, and conflict resolution.