Johan Carlisle
Independent Filmmaker, Journalist, Investigative Reporter
Johan Carlisle is an independent filmmaker living on the Central Coast of California. His first film, Thinking Like A Watershed, was made in 1998 and distributed by The Video Project. He is currently writing an original screenplay which he plans to produce as a narrative feature film about how our civilization has evolved to the point of global ecological and social crisis and how we can change our culture and avoid total ecological collapse.
He studied filmmaking at the Film Arts Foundation and the Bay Area Video Coalition in San Francisco. Johan’s interest in making films about ecological issues grew out of his work from 1983-1994 as an investigative journalist working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His initial focus on civil liberties and intelligence issues while working with Pacifica Radio led to a life-long focus on propaganda and the environment.
JOHAN’S JOURNALISTIC CAREER & ACHIEVEMENTS
Johan was a contributing editor with Propaganda Review Magazine from 1986-1994 and publisher and managing editor from 1991-1994. He won three Project Censored awards for articles about President Reagan’s Attorney General Ed Meese in 1984; the LaPenca bombing cover-up in 1990; and the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton’s devious role misleading Congress and the American public leading up to the first Gulf War in 1993. This journalistic work eventually lead to investigation of governmental and corporate attacks on radical ecology groups like Earth First!.
In addition to writing about this subject, Johan worked as an investigator with Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney on their lawsuit against the FBI and the Oakland Police. On June 11, 2002, a federal jury returned a stunning verdict in favor of Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney in their landmark civil rights lawsuit against four FBI agents and three Oakland Police officers. The jury unanimously found that six of the seven FBI and OPD defendants tried to frame Judi and Darryl in an effort to crush Earth First! and chill participation in Redwood Summer. That was evident in the fact that 80% of the $4.4 million total damage award was for violation of their First Amendment rights to speak out and organize politically in defense of the forests.
Johan Carlisle
Award-Winning
Documentary Filmmaker
Thinking Like A Watershed
International Wildlife
Film Festival 1998:
Finalist Award
Merit Award for Educational Value
Merit Award for Inspirational Value
Canadian International Film
& Video Festival:
2nd Best Independent Documentary Overall
EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival 1998:
Winner: Water Quality/Watersheds
KPFA Radio Crafts Fair
1998 Featured Documentary
Society for Ecological Restoration,
Annual Conference 1998,
San Francisco
Featured Documentary
Study Guide to
“Thinking Like a Watershed”
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Johan received a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio and was accepted, but did not attend, the Star King School of Theology in Berkeley, California. Johan grew up in Clearwater, Florida, attended Georgetown University for two years before transferring to Antioch in 1970. His two years in Washington D.C. allowed him to become deeply involved in the Anti-War movement and later to become a Conscientious Objector
AVOCATION & LEISURE
Johan spent years building and repairing wooden boats. He lived aboard and sailed wooden sailboats in the San Francisco Bay Area, Maine, the Chesapeake, Florida, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. He was a charter boat captain in St. Lucia in the late Seventies. From 1980-1981 he served as Dean of Students and Boatyard Manager at the Bay Area Marine Institute in San Francisco. An avid musician, Johan has augmented his love of sailing with his lifelong pursuit of sublime musical tone on both acoustic and electric guitars.
REFERENCES:
http://www.judibari.org/#History
http://www.ringnebula.com/project-censored/1994/1994-story14.htm
http://www.ringnebula.com/project-censored/1976-1992/1990/1990-story23.htm
http://www.ringnebula.com/project-censored/1976-1992/1984/1984-story9.htm
http://www.tayvaughan.com/writings/marine/whaleboat.html
http://www.brontaylor.com/environmental_books/dgr/green_religion_ch_7.html