About the Films: to view trailers click the links
Friday August 17th
Carpa Diem
Sergio Cannella
Before sleeping, a child in her apartment is lovingly watching a fish in the aquarium. In the meantime her younger brother is being mindless of the open tap the water flowing out of the washbasin ... a waste that could turn into a tragedy. Many awards, including: Best Short, Vatavaran FF; Best Spot, Festival International Du Film Sur L'Énergie de Lausanne. (Italy, 2006, 2min) www.sergiocannella.it
Papalotzin: Flight of the Monarch Butterfly
Gregory Allen
Every year, fifty million tiny Monarch butterflies fly a mind-blowing 6,000 km route to their winter sanctuaries in the Oyamel forests of Central Mexico, only to be confronted by extreme dangers. This film chronicles the extraordinary adventure of pilot Vico Gutierrez, whose passion for the Monarchs consumes his entire existence. In his ultra-light plane camouflaged with the colors of this majestic butterfly, Vico embarks on an expedition from Canada that reveals the fragile life of the Monarchs and discovers butterfly fanatics who are protecting this migration for future generations. (Mexico, 2006, 57min) www.cactusfilm-mexico.com www.papalotzin.com www.themonarcheffect.org
Trees, Water, People
Channel G
There is a global firewood shortage amongst people in third world countries who rely on firewood for cooking; chronic respiratory troubles and other diseases are directly related to smoke from open fires; 15 trees are being cut for every one planted in Central America; a simple solution being carried out is working with villagers to build efficient. (USA, 2007, 4min) www.channelg.tv
Guardians of the Selva Maya
Rana Lee Araneta
Through joyful and heart-warming imagery, this film reflects a Southern Yucatan community's sincere understanding of the importance of protecting the forest and "planting trees in the hearts of children." This project is an integral component of Rainforest2Reefs' effort to protect over 300,000 acres of pristine rainforest land in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and ensure that the local communities can thrive economically through conservation friendly economic activities. (USA, 2007, 11min) www.rainforest2reef.org
For The Price of a Cup of Coffee
Hypatia Porter
Follow the life cycle of a paper cup and the environmental repercussions of a society reliant on convenience. Filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area with interviews from local activists and experts. Maybe you'll remember now to bring your own cup to the cafe! Best Documentary Epidemic Student Film Festival, Best Environmental Documentary, Cabbagetown Short Film Festival, Toronto. (USA, 2007, 15min) www.sfenvironment.org
A Forest Returns
Jean Andrews and Steve Fetsch
The Success Story of Ohio's Only National Forest as told By Ora E. Anderson Documentary that presents an inspirational message about citizen participation and forest advocacy during the 1930's Depression era. Film producer, Jean Andrews, was inspired by Ora Anderson, a storyteller featured in documentary, as he traces the rebirth of a forest in Southeastern Ohio after generations of clear-cutting and farming. The project came about through her friendship with Anderson and her academic interest in the historical geography of Appalachian Ohio. Ninety-three year-old Ora Anderson, an Athens-area resident, nature writer, and radio commentator, was a journalist living in Southeastern Ohio during the Great Depression. In the video, Anderson vividly recalls the environmental and social conditions that led to the establishment of the Wayne National Forest. This video illustrates our evolving relationship with the land through Anderson's movingly personal account, archival photographs, 1930s newspaper reports, "then and now" imagery, and features music composed and performed by Southeastern Ohio musician Bruce Dalzell. (USA, 30min.) www.ohiolandscape.org
Saturday August 18th
Oil and Water Project (People's Choice Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008)
Seth Warren
Two kayakers embark on an endless summer-style 35,000 km road trip from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-outfitted Japanese fire truck without a single drop of petroleum. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on everything from pig lard to palm pulp and they traveled for 9 months in pursuit of the best whitewater in the Americas. The pair coordinated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Best Environmental Film, Taos Mountain Film, Everest Award Recipient for Advocacy. (USA, 2007, 34min) www.oilandwaterproject.org
Climate: A Crisis Averted
Free Range Studios
Looks back from the year 2056 and recounts how ordinary citizens in 2006 -- realizing that global warming was a scientific fact and not a climatic theory -- take action to demand clean energy and other planet-friendly options. Produced by Free Range Studios in Washington, DC and Berkeley, CA, the piece describes how a movement called RenewUS effected real change with an action plan, a 'call-to-arms' about global warming. (www.freerangestudios.com, USA)
A Land Out Of Time (Spirit of Activism Award- Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008)
Mark Harvey
The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are leasing millions of acres to the gas and oil industry and issuing tens of thousands of permits to drill for natural gas all over the heart of the West. The wild places of America's Western geography are being rendered into an industrial landscape. And for what? A few days or weeks supply of natural gas, spread over the next couple of decades. This film introduces you to the faces and unconventional partnerships behind the fight to save the landscapes of the West. Best Environmental Documentary, Taos Mountain Film. (USA, 2006, 53min) www.alandoutoftime.com
The Good Fight
Mark Fraser
Martin Litton at 90 is still hard to follow; he flies his plane, navigates mighty rivers, attends film festivals and advises Senators in Washington D.C. on how to manage our forests. The Good Fight chronicles an extraordinary man's efforts in saving the Grand Canyon from being ruined with dams and his ongoing struggle to preserve the Giant Sequoias from the axe of the Forest Service. Martin has been an active force for preservation since 1934. (USA, 2006, 20min)
Pulp, Poo & Perfection
Angel Marin
This short documentary investigates two issues threatening water quality and public health in Chile: Pichilemu's sewage pipeline and forestry industry pollution. Told through the perspective of local surfers, fishermen, and lovers of the ocean, this film features mythical waves, surfing, inspired activists, fishermen, environmental problems and sharky corporate executives woven into a classic South American tale of environmental action and ecological solutions. Best Environmental Surf Film, Preios Anuales Demolicion, Chile. (Chile, 2007, 16min) www.greensurfingstory.blogspot.com, www.savethewaves.org www.greensurfing.blogspot.com.
Sunday August 19th (This is the day to bring your kids if you can only bring them to one day)
Rita (Young Filmmakers Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008)
Alison Teal Blehert-Koehn
This film is a true story about Alison, a seven-year-old girl who has been dragged around the world by her adventure travel guide/photographer/yoga-teaching parents and longs to be a kid and stay in one place long enough to have friends and go to school with children her own age. Unexpectedly, during one of the family's expeditions high in the Himalaya of Nepal, she befriends a seven-year-old Sherpa girl named Rita. Alison sneaks out to join Rita and they embark on a wild and touching adventure over an 18,000 ft. pass near the base of Mt. Everest-a journey that plops them right in Alison's dream world. Kid's Choice, Telluride Mountain film, Best Family Short, Boulder Adventure FF, Nominated for MTV Movie Award. (USA, 2006, 6min) www.alisonteal.com
Fridays at the Farm (Honorable Mention – Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008)
Richard Power Hoffman
Feeling disconnected from their food, a photographer/filmmaker and his family decides to join a community-supported organic farm. Moving from passive observer to active participant, the filmmaker photographs the natural processes of food cultivation. Featuring lush time-lapse and macro photography sequences compiled from nearly 20,000 still images, this personal essay is a meditation on the miracles of life. Best Short, Green Film Festival, Seoul, Korea. Best Documentary, Sapporo Short Film Festival, Japan. (USA, 2006, 19min) www.coyopa.com
Water Loving Doggies
Will Kier
There are places in this world and moments in time when PARADISE does exist ... join some furry friends down on the Yuba. (USA, 2007, 5min)
Hybrid.Pedal
Dan Austin
Environmentalists and road bikers make a thousand-mile ride from Portland, Oregon, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to draw attention to endangered wildlands in the Western United States. Along the way, riders rode through seven threatened areas and discussed the issues of each place with representatives from grassroots groups seeking to keep them wild. They meet with the local groups on the ground in those ares working to get areas designated as federal wilderness. (USA, 2007, 28min) www.conservationalliance.com
Carpa Diem
Sergio Cannella
Before sleeping, a child in her apartment is lovingly watching a fish in the aquarium. In the meantime her younger brother is being mindless of the open tap the water flowing out of the washbasin ... a waste that could turn into a tragedy. Many awards, including: Best Short, Vatavaran FF; Best Spot, Festival International Du Film Sur L'Énergie de Lausanne. (Italy, 2006, 2min) www.sergiocannella.it
The Story of Stuff
Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios
Film that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture-from resource extraction to iPod incineration. Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about "all our stuff-where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away." Leonard examines the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The Story of Stuff examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of "planned obsolescence" and "perceived obsolescence" -and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today. (www.storyofstuff.com, www.freerangestudios.com , USA)
Antarctica ... the End? (Children's Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008)
Sam Lowe-Anker
Seen through the eyes and voice of a 13-year-old boy, Antarctica looks at how climate change and human impact is affecting the frozen continent. Best Youth Environmental Film, Telluride MountainFilm, 2006 (USA, 2006, 10min) www.savethewhales.org www.savethealbatross.org www.stopglobalwarming.org
Save Our Snow (SOS)
Josh Murphy, Mike Parziale
Hilarious but with a serious message, this film follows two snowboarders as they tour around in a waste vegetable-powered RV and spread awareness about the realities of climate change. It's an adventure but at its essence "SOS" is a buddy film that pits Mike and Luke against the constant dilapidation of their old friend and traveling partner Soy George [the RV]. (USA, 2007, 30min) www.clifbar.com www.greasenotgas.com
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