Free Screening: The People vs. Agent Orange
The Agent Orange catastrophe did not end with the Vietnam War. A primary chemical of that defoliant still controls weeds today on farms and timberland, in parks and playgrounds, and along railbeds and roadways, including here on the Oregon Coast. It can wreak havoc on the human genome, causing birth deformities and deadly cancers.
Sierra Club Oregon is hosting a free screening of the documentary The People vs. Agent Orange on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., in the Doerfler Family Theater at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center on Newport’s historic Bayfront. The evening ends by 8:00 p.m. Emerald Curtain Collective volunteers are helping put it together.
About the film
This 90-minute investigative documentary traces the history of herbicide use from the Vietnam War to present-day Oregon, and follows two women leading a worldwide movement to hold the chemical manufacturers accountable. In France, Tran To Nga spent seven years pressing a lawsuit against the American chemical industry for poisoning her and her children during the war. In Oregon, Carol Van Strum spent decades gathering a trove of internal corporate documents exposing the knowing production of toxic herbicides and their use over civilian communities.
Incriminating documents disappear. Activists are threatened. A helicopter technician secretly films the contamination of reservoirs. The film was directed and produced by Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna, and it won the 2021 Jury Award at the Eugene Environmental Film Festival. You can watch the trailer here.
Live Q&A with local forest defenders
After the screening, stay for a live panel with Carol Van Strum, Deb Fant, Eron King and Loren Wand. Carol is featured in the film, and she will read from, sell and sign copies of her book A Bitter Fog, which tells the true stories of Oregon Coast residents fighting to protect their families from aerial chemical spraying.
If you have survived pesticide spraying, you are warmly encouraged to come and share your experience during the community discussion. These are our neighbors’ stories, and the room is for them.
Content warning
The film deals with ecological destruction, birth defects and serious health impacts. Viewer discretion is advised.
Admission
Admission is completely free. No ticket and no RSVP are needed, so you can simply come. If you would like to let the organizers know you are coming, Sierra Club Oregon has an optional registration page.
Go deeper
- Filmmakers show how the Agent Orange catastrophe did not end with the Vietnam War, from PBS Independent Lens
- Kate Taverna, Alan Adelson and Veronique Bernard in conversation, from the Maysles Documentary Center
- An interview with Carol Van Strum on KYAQ, our local community radio station
- The Poison Papers, the document archive Carol Van Strum helped bring to light
- Resources from the filmmakers
Event poster designed by Sierra Club volunteer Luna Bartleson, who is @moon.and.stone.works on Instagram.