Total Denial

Gutsy, crudely realized and ultimately graceful, Milena Kaneva’s galvanizing doc tracks the progress of a lawsuit filed by Burmese villagers forced to toil (and worse) on a pipeline funded by American and French oil companies, including Unocal. With its focus on seemingly fearless activist Ka Hsaw Wa, the film provides gratifying proof that individual action isn’t fruitless, and that justice and the law aren’t yet mutually exclusive. Like its disparate protagonists, Total Denial maintains a fierce clarity without resorting to easy despair.