{{short description|Israeli filmmaker}} {{Infobox person | name = Micha Peled | honorific_suffix = | native_name = מיכה פלד | native_name_lang = he | image = | image_size = | caption = Micha X. Peled | birth_name = | birth_place = Israel | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Film Director, Screenwriter | years_active = 1993−present | known_for = Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town <br> China Blue <br> Bitter Seeds | spouse = | children = | awards = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Micha Peled''' ({{Langx|he|מיכה פלד}}) or Micha X. Peled is a San Francisco based Israeli film maker.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Specter|first=Michael|title=Seeds of Doubt|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/25/seeds-of-doubt|access-date=2021-06-12|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref> He is known for his ''Globalization Trilogy'', a series of three films including ''Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town,''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/store-wars-when-wal-mart-comes-to-town/Film?oid=1053342|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Chicago Reader|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=FROM THE EDITORS|url=http://www.aems.illinois.edu/publications/enewsletters/newsandreviews_fall2015.html|access-date=2021-06-12|website=www.aems.illinois.edu}}</ref>''China Blue''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Devaney|first=Susan|title=6 Documentaries On Sustainability That Will Make You Think Twice|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/best-documentaries-sustainability-consumers|access-date=2021-06-12|website=British Vogue|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Krich|first=John|title=Touchy topics to avoid in Asia|url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20141028-touchy-topics-to-avoid-in-asia|access-date=2021-06-12|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}</ref> and ''Bitter Seeds''<ref>{{Cite web|agency=Press Trust of India|title=Acclaimed film on farmer suicides shown in Vidarbha|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/acclaimed-film-on-farmer-suicides-shown-in-vidarbha/article23083950.ece|access-date=2021-06-12|website=@businessline|language=en}}</ref>''.''
== Biography and career == Peled was born and raised in Israel from where he moved to US by hitchhiking.<ref name="Gordon">{{Cite web|last=Gordon|first=Sarah|title=Micah Peled - Logan Nonfiction Program|url=https://logannonfiction.org/projects/micah-peled/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=|language=en-US}}</ref> In the US, he became a trader of imported hammocks and sheepskin jackets. He consequently explored the job of a prison guard and then became a freelance journalist. Peled then got actively involved in the Nuclear Freeze Campaign and was one of its directors. He became the executive director of the organization called Media Alliance, a media watchdog agency based in San Francisco.<ref name="Gordon"/> During this time, he directed his first television documentary.<ref name="About {{!}} Teddy Bear Films">{{Cite web|title=About {{!}} Teddy Bear Films|url=https://teddybearfilms.com/about/|access-date=2021-06-13}}</ref>
Soon he directed his first film - ''Will My Mother Go Back to Berlin?'' in 1993. After his first film, Peled left his full time job and became a film maker.<ref name=":1"/> He directed his second film Inside God's Bunker next year and then You, Me, Jerusalem in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UNAFF 2013: Films: Bitter Seeds|url=http://www.unaff.org/2013/f_bitter.html|access-date=2021-06-12|website=www.unaff.org}}</ref> His first three films are themed on different conflicts and situations related to contemporary Jewish diaspora and Jewish population in Israel. In 1999, he founded Teddy Bear Films, a non-profit organization for promoting film making and story telling art.<ref name="About {{!}} Teddy Bear Films"/>
Peled directed Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town in 2001 which is the first film in his ''Globalization Trilogy.'' The film is based on the real situation at Ashland, Virginia, US where a dramatic situation evolved as Walmart announced to build its megastore in the town. The film was premiered in South by Southwest Film Festival in 2001 and won CINE Golden Eagle Awards and Golden Gate award in San Francisco International Film Festival.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Awards {{!}} ITVS|url=https://itvs.org/about/awards|access-date=2021-06-12|website=itvs.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Micha X. Peled {{!}} dafilms.com|url=https://dafilms.com/director/8640-micha-x-peled|access-date=2021-06-12|website=dafilms.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-07-06|title=CN&R • Business • Business • When Wal-Mart comes to town • May 31, 2001|url=https://www.newsreview.com/chico/content/when-wal-mart-comes-to-town/4277/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Chico News & Review|language=en}}</ref> His second film in the ''Globalization Trilogy'' series is China Blue in 2005. The film focuses on the sweatshop conditions in factories in China and the growing importance of China as an exporting country on a global scale. At the 2005 Amnesty International film festival, it won the Amnesty International-DOEN Award.<ref>{{Cite web|title=China Blue {{!}} La Strada Documentation Center about Human Trafficking|url=https://documentation.lastradainternational.org/doc-center/1563/china-blue|access-date=2021-06-12|website=documentation.lastradainternational.org}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=China Blue|url=https://www.cinemapolitica.org/film/china-blue|access-date=2021-06-12|website=cinema politica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Argot Pictures - China Blue - Synopsis|url=https://argotpictures.com/film/china-blue/synopsis|access-date=2021-06-12|website=argotpictures.com}}</ref> His third film of ''Globalization Trilogy'' is Bitter seeds, which is also his last film as on 2021. The film is about the biotech (Bt) farming in India which analyses the general impact of farming genetically modified cotton, specifically on Indian farmers. The film focuses on the suicide rate of over a quarter million Bt cotton Indian farmers per year due to financial difficulties caused by the massive crop failure in addition to the price of Monsanto's Bt seeds. The film won Green Screen Award (2011) and the Oxfam Global Justice Award (2011).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bitter Seeds {{!}} Bullfrog Films: 1-800-543-3764: Environmental DVDs and Educational DVDs|url=http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/bitter.html|access-date=2021-06-12|website=www.bullfrogfilms.com}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Citation|title=Bitter Seeds|url=https://www.filmfestival.gr/en/movie-tdf/movie/3952|language=en-gb|access-date=2021-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mitchell |first=Wendy |date=2011-11-26 |title=Planet of Snail wins top prize at IDFA|url=https://www.screendaily.com/festivals/planet-of-snail-wins-top-prize-at-idfa/5035078.article|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Screen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bitter Seeds|url=https://www.filmplatform.net/product/bitter-seeds/|access-date=2021-06-12|website=FILM PLATFORM - Educational Rights and Screening Licenses|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Film !Awards !By !References |- |1993 |''Will My Mother Go Back to Berlin?'' |Best Documentary |Hawaii International Film Festival |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uncategorized {{!}} Teddy Bear Films|url=https://teddybearfilms.com/category/uncategorized/page/2/|access-date=2021-06-12}}</ref> |- |1994 |''Inside God's Bunker'' |Special Screening |San Francisco Jewish Film Festival |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Inside God's Bunker|url=https://jfi.org/watch-online/jfi-on-demand/inside-gods-bunker|access-date=2021-06-12|website=jfi.org|language=en}}</ref> |- |1995 |''You, Me, Jerusalem'' |Special Screening |San Francisco Jewish Film Festival |<ref>{{Cite web|title=You, Me, Jerusalem|url=https://jfi.org/watch-online/jfi-on-demand/you-me-jerusalem|access-date=2021-06-12|website=jfi.org|language=en}}</ref> |- |2001 |Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town |Golden Gate award |San Francisco International Film Festival |<ref name=":0" /> |- |2005 |China Blue |Amnesty International-DOEN Award |Amnesty International film festival |<ref name=":2" /> |- |2011 |Bitter Seeds |Oxfam Global Justice Award |Oxfam International |<ref name=":3" /> |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|nm0670794}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peled, Micha}} Category:Israeli film directors Category:Israeli male screenwriters Category:Israeli film producers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people