Richard Linklater to co-host fundraiser and film screening for Austin-based rainforest nonprofit

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct 27, 2009 -
Austin, TX - On November 5, Director Richard Linklater (Detour Filmproduction) and     Elizabeth Avellán (Troublemaker Studios) will co-host a fundraiser for the Austin-based nonprofit Rainforest Partnership, featuring the screening of a new short film by Michel O. Scott.

"I support Rainforest Partnership because it represents everything that is great about Austin: creativity,    collaboration and commitment,” Linklater said.  “Rainforest Partnership's unique bottom-up approach allows for funds to be put where they are most needed--in the communities themselves, not in wasteful marketing and expensive overhead.”

Rainforest Partnership is a two-year-old Austin nonprofit that fights climate change by working to preserve existing rainforests in Latin America.  “Tropical rainforest deforestation accounts for about 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, more than from every car, boat, plane, and train put together,” said the group's executive director and founder, Niyanta Spelman.

Up-and-coming Austin filmmaker Scott has received rave reviews for his 2009 documentary film, The Horse Boy, at both the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest.  Scott's new film tells the story of Rainforest Partnership's efforts to save thousands of acres of rainforests in Peru and Ecuador by partnering with indigenous communities and coming up with innovative economic solutions that allow them to keep their forests standing.

“We help people who live in and near rainforests figure out how to produce enough income to provide for their basic needs, in a way that doesn't require cutting down trees,” Spelman said.

The fundraiser and screening celebrate the one-year anniversary of the funding of Rainforest Partnership's first major undertaking, the preservation of 9,000 acres in the Chipaota community in Peru.

During the past year, Rainforest Partnership’s team of forestry engineers in Peru worked with the indigenous Chipaota community on harvesting palm tree fibers without decimating the rainforest.  The Chipaota residents sell the fibers to others, who use them to make brooms.  The community's previous method of palm fiber    harvesting involved cutting down some trees and overharvesting others.  With Rainforest Partnership's assistance, the community of Chipaota can now harvest more fibers and earn more money than before, in a sustainable way.

Money from the fundraiser will go toward continuing Rainforest Partnership's existing projects and beginning new ones.

The event takes place Thursday, November 5, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Barr Mansion.  It will feature a full organic dinner, wine, and pisco sours—the national drink of Peru.  Along with the Scott film, entertainment will include a performance by Latin American folk band Chaski.

Individual tickets are $100.  Tickets and event sponsorships may be purchased by calling Maurine Winkley at (512) 420-0101 or at the website www.rainforestpartnership.org.

Contact: Niyanta Spelman
Executive Director, Rainforest Partnership
(512) 294-3331 or (512) 420-0101