Environment
- Visions of Utopia: Experiments in Sustainable Culture
- Natural Connections
- Escape from Affluenza
- Buy-ology – Science of Buying & Selling (How They Sell)
- Buy-ology – Science of Buying & Selling (Why We Buy)
- Save Our Lands, Save Our Towns
- Flouridation: Do We Need It?
- A Lot In Common
- The Next Industrial Revolution
2006 Film Series
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Feb 24, 2006: Vanishing Ice The world's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, diminishing the earth's fresh water supply and threatening to kill millions in the next few decades. Stunning images of Alberta's ice fields and interviews with activists sound an urgent call for conservation. (19 min, 2005) Eugene Cordero, professor at San Jose State University, Michael Murray, Research Associate at Global Footprint Network and Heidi Melander, President, Northern California Recycling Association will speak and lead a discussion after the film.
Sarah Dotlich, Africa Program Director at IDEX will speak and lead a discussion after the film.
“One of the most informative, brilliant and hopeful films about the transformation of industrial and economic activities that will lead to a healthy, just, socially stable and environmentally sustaining society for all current and future generations.”
October 6, 2006: An
Inconvenient Truth Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the
world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major
catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic
destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and
killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced. Al Gore
does a great job in exposing the truths and misconceptions behind global
warming and with bracing facts and future predictions shows that we are
reaching a tipping point leading to catastrophic environmental change.
(100 mins, 2006)
Eugene Cordero, professor in the Meteorology Department at San Jose State University will lead a discussion after the film. Dr. Cordero's research focuses on global climate change, ozone depletion and atmospheric dynamics. 2005 Film SeriesMarch 7, 2005: Velorution: One City's Solution to the
Automobile - When the USSR collapsed, Cuba lost 80% of their oil
supply. This movie documents how they bought 1.2 million bicycles,
switched 5 bus factories to bicycle manufacturing, educated riders on
how to ride, changed the city of Havana to accommodate bikes, posted
bicycle signs, did job swaps to reduce length of commutes and in the
process created more human interaction and community A truly
inspiring video. 30 mins,
1996
 Also
on March 7, 2005: Greening
of Cuba - When trade relations with the socialist block collapsed
in 1990, Cuba lost 80% of its pesticide and fertilizer imports and
half its petroleum - the mainstays of its highly industrialized
agriculture. Challenged with growing food for 11 million in the face
of the continuing U.S. embargo, Cuba embarked on the largest
conversion to organic farming ever attempted. Told in the voices of
the women and men - the campesinos, researchers, and organic gardeners
- who are leading the organic agriculture movement, The Greening of
Cuba reminds us that developed and developing nations alike can choose
a healthier environment and still feed their people. 38 mins,
1996
Ana Perez - Director, Cuba Program Global Exchange, will lead a discussion after the film.
David Room – Communications Director, Post Carbon Institute will speak and lead a discussion after the film. 2004 Film Series Nov
29, 2004: Future of Food
offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth
behind the unlabeled GMO products that have quietly filled grocery store
shelves over the past decade. From the test tube, to the farm field,
to the supermarket, the film follows the personal stories of the farmers
in the U.S., Canada who have been sued by large multi-national
corporations for continuing the time-honored tradition of saving seeds; of
the scientists in the U.S. and Europe who have been censored for raising
serious public and environmental health concerns; and finally, of the
consumers, who are beginning to question why this has escaped the
attention of both the media and the Federal agencies in charge of keeping
our food safe. THE FUTURE OF FOOD unravels the complex web of market
and political forces that are changing the nature of what we eat. Food has
gone from being a basic need to part of a larger billion dollar battle to
control the world's food production. 2004
Deborah Koons Garcia – Director, Writer, Producer of the film will be present and lead a discussion after the film.
First prize at the 2003 IDFA-Amsterdam Silver Wolf Competition. Nominated for the 2003 Guldbaggen, the "Swedish Oscar", as best documentary film. Award best use of sound and music at the 2004 One World documentary Film Festival, Prague Czech Republic. Jurys mention at the 2004 DocAviv, Documentary Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel. Second bestshort film at the 2004 Ecocinema International Film Festival, Rhodes, Greece First prize as "greatest of all productions" at 2004 FICA, the International Festival of Environmental Film, Goias, Brazil. Kevin Danaher, Co-founder of Global Exchange will speak and lead a discussion after the film. 2003 Film SeriesDecember 16, 2003: Visions
of Utopia: Experiments in Sustainable Culture 94
mins, 2002 Many
people are looking to bring more community into their lives and this
video tells the story of ordinary people with extraordinary visions of
living and working together to build a better world.
The program takes the viewer on a tour from the history of
shared living to seven very different and vibrant intentional
communities: Ananda
Village, Breitenbush Hot Springs, Camphill Special School, Earthaven,
Nyland Cohousing, Purple Rose Collective and Twin Oaks. December 9, 2003: Natural
Connections,
46 mins, 2000 Uses interviews with well-spoken scientists, beautiful photography, top quality graphics, and original music to underline the importance of maintaining biodiversity, if we as a species want to survive and thrive on our home planet. Introduces the basic concepts of biodiversity, and takes a close-up look at salmon, rainforests, and marine ecosystems as examples. Many programs call for us all to consume less in order to leave enough room for other species, on whom ultimately our survival depends. Few do it so effectively and positively. 5
Emmy Awards December 2, 2003: Escape from Affluenza, 56 mins, 1998 Shows audiences how to declare their independence from the epidemic of rampant consumerism and materialism ailing Americans and our environment by adopting the practices of simple living. Uses expert commentary, thought-provoking vignettes and humor to show how people can reduce their consumption and simplify their lives. Honorable
Mention, Columbus International Film & Video Festival November 25, 2003: Buy-ology – Science of Buying & Selling (How They Sell) 51 mins, 2001 Reveals the strategies being used to ensure that wallets and purses remain open for business and shares insights into the importance of advertising, store design, product placement, and buyer behavior analysis—all underlying aggressive new approaches that have redefined consumers as targets. Produced by BBC. November 18, 2003: Buy-ology – Science of Buying & Selling (Why We Buy) 51 mins, 2001 Places consumers under a microscope to quantify
the psychological spectrum of buying, focusing on a variety of topics,
including the biochemistry of shopping, the intersection of branding
and lifestyle, consumerism as a way of life, and compulsive shopping
disorder. Produced by
BBC. November 4, 2003: Save Our Lands, Save Our Towns, 57 mins, 2001 Taps into the growing concern of urban sprawl and gives logical reasons why America's towns can be rebuilt and its countryside preserved from strip malls and subdivisions. The program is designed to be engaging and personal -- a voyage of discovery, rather than a mere recitation of facts, with moments of revelation, humor and emotion. Best
of Category, EarthVision International Environmental Video Festival October 28, 2003: Flouridation: Do We Need It? Presenting both sides of the controversial fluoridation issue. On the pro side is a 10 minute video from the American Dental Association on the benefits of fluoridation and on the opposite side is a 30 minute video from Flouride Alert upon the risks and the dangerous health effects of toxic fluoride in our water. October 7, 2003: A Lot In Common 76 mins, 2003 Meet your extraordinary neighbors: Ruthe the psychic, Roosevelt the grandpa, Joan the single mom, Karl the community organizer. Witness them take over an abandoned lot in Berkeley, California, and transform it over a five-year period into a disarmingly beautiful community garden and commons area, a vibrant space alive with kids, neighborhood events, lush planting beds, eco-friendly demonstration projects and stunning public art. Interviews with urban planning visionary Jane Jacobs, PBS reporter/author Ray Suarez, environmentalist Paul Hawken, and Urban Habitat co-founder Carl Anthony, lend context and background to the discussion of the Commons. September 30, 2003: The Next Industrial Revolution, 55 mins, 2001 Architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart bring together ecology and human design, taking nature itself as our guide for reinventing technical enterprises to be as safe and ever-renewing as natural processes. “One of the most informative, brilliant and hopeful films about the transformation of industrial and economic activities that will lead to a healthy, just, socially stable and environmentally sustaining society for all current and future generations.” The Chris Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival Film Producer/Writer, Shelley Morhaim will be present for the screening. September 23, 2003: Fed Up!Genetic Engineering, Industrial Agriculture and Sustainable AlternativesSeptember
16, 2003:Empty Oceans, Empty Nets
August 19, 2003: Koyaanisqatsi
- Directed by Godfrey Reggio,
87 mins, 1982 Even more pertinent today, then when it was released 20 years ago, the film, whose title means “life out of balance,” is an apocalyptic vision of the collision of two different worlds: urban lifestyle and technology versus the environment. With a haunting musical score by Phillip Glass, the film presents a metaphor for modern life which is increasingly alienated from nature which is seen as just a resource to be subjugated to serve technology and our human needs. Special Event, 20th New York Film FestivalAudience Choice, Best First Feature LA Filmex July 8, 2003: Drumbeat
for Mother Earth - Directed
by Joseph Di Gangi, and Amon Giebel,. 54 mins, 2000 Explores
how toxic chemicals contaminate the traditional food web, violate treaty rights,
travel long distances, pass from one generation to the next during pregnancy,
cause cancer, learning disabilities, and other serious health problems and are
the greatest threat to the survival of indigenous people. Best
Environmental/Social Justice Film, EarthVision Environmental Film Festival June 1, 2003: Global Banquet, Politics of Food - Directed by Ann Macksoud and John Ankele, 50 mins, 2001 Details how several large multi-national corporations have come to dominate the food production business, driving small family farmers both in the US and developing world out of existence, controlling markets, destroying the ability of developing nations to feed themselves and perpetuating the structures which promote poverty and hunger.
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