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We have a lot of resources available for use by students and campus groups. Please look over the list below and contact Ryan Bodanyi for questions or scheduling information.
"We are not Flowers, We are Flames!", a photo exhibition by Raghu Rai and Maude Dorr, is on tour and available for exhibition on your campus.
The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, known as the "Hiroshima of the chemical industry," remains the worst industrial disaster in human history. The people in Bhopal know the meaning of chemical terror and have lived with its aftermath ever since. "We are not Flowers, We are Flames!" documents both the horror of the disaster and the perseverance and determination of those who survived to demand justice, corporate accountability, and their basic human right to an environment free of chemical poisons. The full exhibit includes 24 pieces, and the cost of shipping it, including insurance, is usually close to $120 (one-way, as it's always in rotation). We ask for three weeks' notice if you'd like to host the exhibit, but it's sometimes available on shorter notice. Individual pieces are two feet by eighteen inches, and are light enough to be hung easily with painters' tape applied to the back. Thumbnails of the exhibit are available below, but the full exhibit includes descriptions.
Raghu Rai is internationally recognized as India's most distinguished photographer. His photographs have appeared in such publications as India Today, Time, The New York Times, Paris Match, and National Geographic, and he has won the Nikon Photo Award numerous times. The images that he took in Bhopal on Dec. 3rd, 1984, the morning after the gas disaster, documented the horror and captured a community in trauma.
In 2002, Greenpeace commissioned him to record the continuing tragedy and mounted an exhibit of his photographs which traveled extensively in Europe and South America. In conjunction with the exhibit Greenpeace also published a book of Rai's photographs entitled Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime. Some of Rai's photos have been generously donated to this exhibit by Greenpeace. The color photographs and collages were created by Maude Dorr, an artist and writer, who visited Bhopal in Nov/Dec of 2002. Since December 2003, "We are not Flowers, We are Flames!" has been exhibited at Princeton University, Wheaton College, Penn State, the University of Colorado, Johns Hopkins University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Houston, the University of Minnesota, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Washington, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Vintage High School. To request an exhibition at your school, contact Ryan Bodanyi.
An excellent documentary and campaign video, ideal for classroom presentations, conferences, and other educational events! (17 minutes, 2004) Available in VHS, DVD, and online at http://bhopal.strategicvideo.net.
The powerful new film LITIGATING DISASTER explores how Union Carbide successfully manipulated both the US and the Indian legal systems against each other, to avoid having to defend its record in any court. Featuring Raj Sharma, the attorney for the Bhopal victims, the film follows the case he brought in front of the Federal District Court in New York. Constructed as Sharma’s case would be presented to a jury, the film presents the compelling evidence assembled against Union Carbide, including never-before-seen documents, exclusive interviews with former Union Carbide officers, powerful archival material, and scenes filmed in and out of the abandoned plant. As the story unfolds, the film makes it clear the real culprit is the lack of any international law or tribunal to govern the activities of multinational corporations. Read more about the film here. (60 minutes, 2004) Through the testimony of key witnesses, this documentary reveals the events as they unfolded and how Union Carbide responded to the crisis. It also gives a picture of the survivors today and their continuing health effects from the toxic gas. The film is available in VHS, DVD, and online from the BBC. (60 minutes, 2004)
"In December 1984, a toxic cloud of gas from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, silently enveloped the surrounding city, leaving thousands dead. For almost 20 years, the survivors of the disaster have sought punishment for those they hold responsible, and they start at the top. They're targeting the American chief executive of the company - the now-retired 82-year-old Warren Anderson. So where does the buck stop when it comes to culpability for the world's worst industrial tragedy? Amos Cohen reports on the hunt for Warren Anderson." The documentary is also available online. (35 minutes, 2003)
"In 1984, the city of Bhopal in India was the site of one of the world’s most devastating chemical disasters. Over the ten years since the gas leak from the Union Carbide factory, the death toll stands at 20,000 and more than 600,000 personal injury suits have been filed. Although the signs of the poisoning are still clearly visible on the streets and people are still dying in scores, the victims have received little compensation for their suffering. This program returns to the scene of the accident and uncovers a story of secrecy, corruption, mismanagement, and misinformation on the part of both Union Carbide and the Indian government. This thoughtful and moving program shows how much of the suffering in Bhopal could have been avoided." (52 minutes, 1995)
"Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro narrate the moving human and technological adventure which led to the tragedy of Bhopal. It was five past twelve on the night of the 2nd to the 3rd of December 1984. A dazzling cloud of toxic gas escapes from an American pesticide factory built in the ancient India city of Bhopal. The result: thirty thousand dead and five hundred thousand injured. A true story." Gondwana Films. (53 minutes, 2001)
The film explores the haunting human cost of a multinational polluter. Its subjects articulate their desperate need for the truth. Bhopal is a wound that continues to worsen. Beyond the initial horror and devastation of the gas tragedy is the spreading damage of environmental and genetic assault. At stake is more than fair compensation and long-term rehabilitation for the afflicted – “Bhopal” has become a rallying cry for post 9/11 concerns about chemical industry security and industrial pollution. Ultimately, the horrific gas leak at Union Carbide imposed a "chemical trespass" of the human body that demands greater regulation by governments and responsibility from multinational corporations. For more information about the film, see http://www.onf.ca/bhopal/. (60 minutes, 2004)
"The Long Shadow details the dioxin controversy in 2002, from public notification by agency whistleblowers in January to the failed bailout in December. The story highlights the plight of three floodplain families concerned about their health, their property values, and the corporate and government forces that acted against them. The story is told through contemporary videography, historical photos, and interviews with floodplain residents, environmental advocates, key government officials, and state lawmakers. The Long Shadow exemplifies the need for citizens to be fully engaged in the democratic process, and the danger in assuming that government officials are always acting in the best interest of the public they are charged to serve and protect." (Available in DVD, 90 minutes, 2003)
Although the US Government, under pressure from war veterans, recognized some 10 diseases directly related to dioxin contamination and began compensating US veterans of the war, neither the US government nor manufacturers such as Dow Chemical have yet accepted any responsibility for the 3 million Vietnamese people poisoned by Agent Orange. This film contains interviews with Vietnamese, Canadian and American scientists, US war veterans, and the victims themselves as they tell their heartwrenching story. Battle’s Poison Cloud has won numerous international film awards, including the Grand Prize at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Battle's Poison Cloud can also be ordered directly from the filmmaker at www.tambutifilms.co.uk/video.htm. (53 minutes, 2003)
Taking as its subject the formal and political strategies of Harun Farocki's 1969 black and white film "Inextinguishable Fire", What Farocki Taught is literally and stubbornly a remake - that is, a perfect replica, in color and in English, of Farocki's astute, some would say crudely-made film, produced in Germany at the height of the Vietnam War. In 1969, Farocki attempted to make "visible", and thus comprehensible, the physical properties of Napalm B, and to show how the company's employees were able to manufacture such an unethical product. Farocki's film is radical in technique - taking up one of the hottest of political questions - the production of terror - and cooling it down to frank, rational substance through the strategy of "under-representation", refusing the pornography of documentary "evidence" and replacing it with Brechtian reconstruction and demonstration. Because Farocki's "Fire" was never distributed in the U.S. at the time of its making and even today is unavailable to American audiences, Godmilow's What Farocki Taught was conceived as much as a gesture of film distribution as it was a homage to Farocki. (30 minutes, 1997)
Bhopal Express, the only feature film ever made about the Bhopal tragedy, is available for screening in your community or on your campus. The film explores the true story of one of the world's largest industrial disasters. Championed by David Lynch and featuring Naseeruddin Shah and Zeenat Aman, the tragedy is revealed through the experiences of newlyweds Verma (Kay Kay), a foreman at the Carbide plant, his wife Tara (Nethra Raghuraman) and their friend Bashir (Shah). Resolutely political, the film explores the events leading up to the disaaster, relives the crucial moment of the gas leak, the devastation left in its wake and the Union Carbide Corporation's refusal to accept responsibility for the tragedy. Director: Mahesh Mathai Bhopal Express has been shown at over a dozen college campuses across the country, and is usually followed by a discussion and Q & A session about the Bhopal tragedy. More information about the movie can be found in this review.
Corporate Watchdog Radio, a new half-hour radio broadcast and podcast delivers breaking news, analysis, and commentary on corporate ethics and power. CWR's hosts and co-producers are nationally-respected environmental and business ethics attorney Sanford Lewis, and journalist Bill Baue of SocialFunds.com. In the current show, host Sanford Lewis interviews some of the crucial voices in the fight for justice in Bhopal against Dow Chemical (the owner of the former Union Carbide plant): Sathyu Sarangi, director of the Sambvhvana Clinic in Bhopal, who describes the health crises of Bhopal survivors and their children, and the remarkable international struggle of Bhopali women to call Dow Chemical to account; Diane Wilson, author of the celebrated new autobiography, An Unreasonable Woman. A poor Texas fisherwoman who became a crusader against the chemical companies polluting the Gulf Coast waters of her livelihood, Diane is hot on the trail of Warren Anderson, the man at the helm of Union Carbide when its Bhopal plant exploded. Anderson is a fugitive from Indian criminal courts. Corporate Watchdog Radio interviews Diane from the road; Jayanthi Reddy, a University of Michigan student leader who wants Dow Chemical-headquartered in Michigan-to clean up its act; Rick Hind, director of Toxics Programs for Greenpeace, and a world authority on how easy it would be for a Bhopal-scale disaster to occur in the US, either by accident, negligence, or terrorist intent; Lois Gibbs, the former Buffalo housewife who brought the toxic outrage of Love Canal to national attention; This edition of Corporate Watchdog Radio is available beginning November 28th, 2005. It is licensed for non-commercial broadcast and available for commercial licensing.
Diane Wilson and Warren Anderson are both fugitives. Fisherwoman Diane Wilson has been charged with criminal trespass for hanging a banner at a Dow Chemical/Union Carbide facility that said "Dow - Responsible for Bhopal". She received a six month jail sentence for that, which she is due to serve. Warren Anderson was the CEO of Union Carbide back in 1984 when the Carbide plant in India spewed toxic gases into the surrounding community and killed more than 20,000 people. He visited Bhopal shortly after the incident, and agreed to return for any legal proceedings. After leaving, he was charged, along with Union Carbide, with manslaughter for those thousands of deaths. However, Anderson and Carbide have refused to return to India to face trial. In the eyes of the Indian courts, they are fugitives from the law. Wilson has now pulled a similar maneuver to Anderson's. For now, she has refused to return to Texas to serve her sentence. Instead, on November 15 she began a search for Warren Anderson - to discuss their common fate, and to "try to talk some sense into him."
We have several PowerPoint Presentations about the Bhopal disaster available, including: ..........• This
presentation (11 MB) recounts a firsthand visit to Bhopal in
April 2005 by a member of the AID Boston chapter.
The availability of these speakers varies. Generally, they request as much advance notice as possible, particularly for those likely to have extensive prior commitments. In all cases, airfare and some form of lodging are required; honorariums are only occasionally necessary. Campaigners:
Ryan is available to conduct several Bhopal-related workshops at conferences and other events. These include: a. What Happened in Bhopal? b. The Implications of Bhopal In December 1984, a toxic cloud of gas from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, silently enveloped the surrounding city, leaving thousands dead. Twenty years later, the survivors are still fighting for justice. Learn more about their struggle against two of the largest corporations on earth, and its implications for corporate accountability, environmental justice, and human rights.
Aquene is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied sustainable development in Madagascar. There she organized multicultural events for two years with Wisconsin Union Directorate, and also co-founded and coordinated WISPIRG’s Big Red, Go Green campus energy campaign.
Morehouse has written or edited some 20 books, including The Bhopal Tragedy; Abuse of Power: The Social Performance of Multinational Corporations; Worker Empowerment in a Changing Economy; and The Underbelly of the U.S. Economy. He is co-founder of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal and Communities Concerned About Corporations, a network of workers, community activists, victims of industrial disasters, and socially concerned investors fighting corporate power. He is also a member of the regular panel of jurists for the Permanent People’s Tribunal headquartered in Rome. A former academic, Morehouse taught Political Science at New York University and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Lund in Sweden and the Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad. He has also been a consultant to various United Nations agencies, including UNESCO, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), and the Center on Transnational Corporations. He is based in western Massachusetts. Activists:
Following a visit to Bhopal, Diane has become one of the most active supporters of the campaign for justice. Her activism includes: ..........• A protest outside the home of Warren Anderson, Union Carbide’s former CEO and a man wanted for culpable homicide in India, after his location was discovered by Greenpeace… ..........• A fast for 29 days outside Dow’s Seadrift, Texas facility, demanding justice for the people of Bhopal… ..........• Chaining herself to a 70-foot chemical tower inside the Dow Seadrift facility with a banner that reads “Dow: Responsible for Bhopal." This ten days after ending her fast… Also, watch this short film about Diane and her activism, and read her new book: An Unreasonable Woman. She is based in Seadrift, TX.
Special Speakers:
In addition to his work as an international lawyer, Mr. Sharma is an author, political activist and one of the most provocative political and social commentators writing today. A seasoned lecturer, Mr. Sharma has been interviewed on radio and television frequently. He has appeared on BBC News World Report and Public Radio's Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. His work on the Bhopal case is the subject of a film documentary entitled Litigating Disaster by Ilan Ziv. He is based in New York, NY.
Gary Cohen is Executive Director of the Environmental Health Fund in Boston, and a founder and co-Executive Director of Health Care Without Harm. He is the author of Fighting Toxics (Island Press, 1990) and the groundbreaking report, "The U.S. Military'sToxics Legacy". He served for many years as the Executive Director of the National Toxics Campaign Fund and is a founder of the Military Toxics Project, which addresses the public health legacy of the U.S. military. In 1994 he consulted with the Gorbachev Foundation to assist it in developing its "Environmental Legacy Project." He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, India, which provides free medical care to the survivors of Union Carbide's gas disaster. He has been working on environmental health issues for over 20 years and has published numerous articles on environmental health issues in the United States and India.
Kim Fortun’s first book, Advocacy After Bhopal (University of Chicago, 2001), examines response to the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India, in the United States and in the international arena. Moving from hospitals and courtrooms in India to meetings with engineers, lawyers, and environmental justice activists in the U.S., the book examines how a variety of stakeholders responded to increasing concern about toxic chemicals in the 1990s. In 2003, Advocacy After Bhopal was awarded the biannual Sharon Stephens Prize by the American Ethnological Society. Building on her research focused on the Bhopal disaster, Fortun’s current research examines the development of information resources to support environmental science and governance. One focus is on the effects of “right-to-know legislation” (passed in the mid 1980’s as a response to the Bhopal disaster), which has dramatically increased the quantity and quality of environmental risk information available to the public. Another focus is on the development of information resources to support the environmental health sciences, particularly as they intersect with genetics research. Kim Fortun is an associate professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer, and director of the Center for Ethics in Complex Systems. She is also editor of the journal Cultural Anthropology. Fortun received her PhD from the Department of Anthropology at Rice University in 1993. She is based in upstate New York.
"POWERFUL. Thought-provoking and stimulating." "Devraj, an Indian businessman trained at the knee of Andersen, the American CEO of Karbide International, returns to his native country to head up Karbide’s Bhopal plant. A man of missionary zeal, he comes armed with a purpose: to introduce India to the miraculous properties of Karbide Thunder, the latest chemical weapon in the arsenal against pests. He will feed his starving nation, while sharing with its poor the benefits of western-style industrial development. "Sonya Labonté, a Canadian doctor, is suspicious. People near the plant are getting sick. Babies are being born with horrible abnormalities. With the patience of a Sherlock Holmes, she gathers evidence and mounts her case. The final piece of evidence? A young baby named Zarina. "The play Bhopal tells the story of how complex forces struggled to bury the truth, expose it, or shape it to the needs of self-interest, and how an unspeakable disaster ended all speculation. Ultimately, though, it is about—and for—those without means or influence, whose voices are seldom heard and yet who are made to pay the cost." Originally from India, Rahul Varma has lived in Canada since 1976. He co-founded Teesri Duniya Theatre in 1981 and has served as its artistic director since 1986. A prolific playwright, his repertoire also includes Job Stealer (with Helen Vlachos and Ian Lloyd George), Isolated Incident (with Steve Orlov), Equal Wages, No Man's Land (with Ken McDonough), Counter Offence, and L'affair Farhadi. Bhopal was first produced in Montreal by the Teesri Duniya Theatre at the Montreal, Arts Cultural, from November 15 through December 9, 2001.
"Dow Double Standards" Fact Sheets:
"Torture Me" series:
"Dow Clean Up Bhopal Now" series:
"The Inhuman Element" - a spoof on Dow's own $30 million "Human Element" advertising campaign:
"Mask" series by Paul Phare - a response to Dow's "Human Element" advertising campaign:
"Terror Twins" & "Chemical Brothers"
"Dead Child" series:
Old Posters from Bhopal:
March to Delhi Posters:
Miscellaneous Posters:
"No More Bhopals"
Dow-Carbide logos:
About Dow:
About Bhopal:
We have Bhopal tee shirts available! Produced in India, these high-quality shirts make a powerful statement. Available in one size only (a cross between a medium and a large US size; incorrectly labeled XL in India) they nevertheless fit nearly everyone. Ask for yours today! A $20 donation is requested. (Check out the front and back.)
We have several useful props available for FREE, including: Bhopal Water Dow-brand Grim Reaper Bhopal Photo Banners - top - Biohazard Suits Pinocchio Noses
Jhadoos Jhadoo, v. To shame a prominent official responsible
for creating or perpetuating the suffering of the Jhadoos have been delivered to Dow executives and officials all over the world, and have become a symbol of the survivors’ demand for justice. Deliver one to a Dow official near you. ..........• Check out this list
of Bhopal slogans! Great for banners!
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Photo Exhibit
Bhopal Documentaries
Speakers 
Related Documentaries
Bhopal Plays & Skits
Feature Films
Bhopal Music
Audio & Online Clips
PowerPoint Presentations
Props 
Posters
Tee Shirts
Graphics
Other Action Materials
Twenty
Years Without Justice by Sanford Lewis
Litigating
Disaster by Ilan Ziv
One
Night in Bhopal by Steven Condie and the BBC
The
Betrayal of Bhopal 
Dateline:
'Hunting Warren Anderson'
The
Seduction of Dr. Loya by Priya Krishnaswamy
Bhopal:
The Second Tragedy by Mark Tully
Bhopal:
License to Kill by Shoba Sadogopan, Reena Mohan, and Ranjan
Palit
Chemical
Valley by Mimi Pickering and Anne Lewis Johnson
"On
December 3rd, 1984, the worst industrial accident in history occurred
when a toxic gas known as MIC leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide
plant in Bhopal, India. The tragedy brought international attention
to the predominantly African-American community of Institute, West
Virginia, site of the only Union Carbide plant in the United States
that manufactured MIC. Chemical Valley begins with Bhopal
and the immediate response in the Kanawha Valley, an area once dubbed
by residents, 'the chemical capital of the world.' The program follows
events over the next five years, exploring issues of job blackmail,
racism, and citizens' right to know and to act as it documents one
community's struggle to make accountable an industry that has all
too often forced communities to choose between safety and jobs."
(58 minutes, 1991)
Closer
to Reality by We for Bhopal
India
& Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal by Pavithra Narayanan
60
Minutes: Bhopal
The
Goldman Awards by the Goldman Foundation 
A
short documentary narrated by Robert Redford which briefly recounts
the events of "that night" and the stories of Rashida
Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, two gas-affected women and leaders of
the international campaign for justice who were jointly awarded
the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in April of 2004. Also
available online at 
No
More Bhopals by Greenpeace
Michael
Parker's Dinner Party by ICJB 
This
short video 
Unraveling
the Tragedy at Bhopal by Union Carbide
Cloud
over Bhopal by Gerardo Olivares
and Larry Levene 
The
Heart Becomes Quiet by Robin Schlaht and David Christensen
Bhopal:
The Search for Justice by Peter Raymont and Lindalee Tracey
water
sources; gas widows trying to survive on inadequate settlements;
the possibility that second and third generation children are growing
up with genetic abnormalities caused by the gas.
Setting
the Record Straight by CorpWatch 
has
become more dangerous and less safe as savage cost-cutting
has trimmed skilled labor, safety training, and maintenance to the
bone. The film proves its point with shocking footage of chemical
plant accidents, and extensive interviews with community activists,
environmental health advocates and government officials. The film
is particularly critical of "Responsible Care" and other
public relations initiatives crafted by the industry to protect
itself from government regulation and public pressure. Although
the industry may have created the illusion of concern for the environment,
its workers and communities, it's not able to regulate itself--as
Bhopal and the many near-misses in the United States have shown.
(46 minutes, 1992)
Since
the war Vietnam has recorded extraordinarily high numbers of birth
abnormalities. Serious birth defects and malformations are now been
seen in the grandchildren of those exposed during the war, and at
least a dozen dioxin “hotspots”, discovered by Canadian
researchers, remain a source of constant contamination.
depended
on the bay for their livelihood. “A fisherman with three kinds
of cancer handed me an [Associated Press] article saying that my
county was number one in the nation for toxic disposal,” she
said. “I had never had that kind of information before.”
Bhopal
is a rich and complex play that explores the human and political
reality behind the Bhopal gas disaster. Built around a wide range
of characters including company executives, Indian government officials,
a Canadian doctor and a destitute slum dweller, Bhopal is a moving
play that bears witness to the asymmetry of suffering and the shadow
of globalization. You can hear (
Bhopali
people, most often executives or officials of the Dow Chemical Company,
with the delivery of a jhadoo. 
The international student campaign to hold Dow
accountable for Bhopal, and its other toxic legacies around the world.
For more information about the campaign, or for problems regarding this
website, contact Ryan
Bodanyi, the Coordinator of Students for Bhopal.
WE
ALL LIVE 
IN
BHOPAL
"The year 2003 was a special year in the history of the campaign for justice in Bhopal. It was the year when student and youth supporters from at least 30 campuses in the US and India took action against Dow Chemical or in support of the demands of the Bhopal survivors. As we enter the 20th year of the unfolding Bhopal disaster, we can, with your support, convey to Dow Chemical that the fight for justice in Bhopal is getting stronger and will continue till justice is done. We look forward to your continued support and good wishes, and hope that our joint struggle will pave the way for a just world free of the abuse of corporate power."
Signed/ Rasheeda Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Employees Union
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
This is what the www.studentsforbhopal.org site looked like in early 2008. For more recent information, please visit www.bhopal.net.