May 2005

Tawana Jacobs
[email protected]
202-557-3422
240-893-2725 (cell)
Population Action Council

Population Action International to premiere award-winning film in Washington, D.C. on May 31

Finding balance: Forests and family planning in Madagascar documents innovative approach to conservation

With 90 percent of its forests already destroyed, the need for balance in Madagascar's fragile ecosystem is great. Population Action International's (PAI) award-winning film, Finding Balance: Forests and Family Planning in Madagascar, draws attention to the impact of rapid population growth on the country's rural villages and emphasizes the vital links between population pressures, reproductive health needs, and environmental sustainability.

This 9-minute documentary-filmed entirely in Madagascar-explores the work of Voahary Salama, an innovative local organization that works to reduce pressure on the environment while improving the health of the country's population, and features rare interviews with local women who reveal their desire to have smaller families.

View an excerpt of Finding Balance: Forest and Family Planning in Madagascar on the Web at www.populationaction.org

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:
  • 2005 D.C. Premiere Event (Woodrow Wilson Center) - May 31, 2005
  • 2005 Boston International Film Festival (Boston, Massachusetts) - June 22-26, 2005


    • NOTABLE RECOGNITIONS RECEIVED:
  • Received Honorable Mention at 2005 Media That Matters Film Festival
  • 2004 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand-International Preview


    • WASHINGTON, D.C. PREMIERE

    Finding Balance: Forests and Family Planning in Madagascar


  • Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2005

  • Time: 3-5pm

  • Meet the filmmaker Daniele Anastasion

  • Discussion on Population and the Environment with
    Robert Engelman, vice president for research for PAI
    Eckhard Kleinau, former project director of Voahary Salama and a current senior environmental health advisor with John Snow, Inc.

  • Location: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,
    One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
    1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
    6th Floor Auditorium Washington, D.C.