Directed by: Various – APRIL 17 1:30 PM
Bonus Screening Day
Sunday, April 17
The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital will screen a selection of 2011 EFF films on its Bonus Screening Day. All the films had their D.C. premiere at our March Festival. In celebration of Earth Day, the films will be shown FREE of charge on Sunday, April 17 at the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P St., NW.
1:30 p.m. – The Economics of Happiness
2:45 p.m. – Into the Cold
4:30 p.m. – Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
6:15 p.m. – Truck Farm
7:15 p.m. – Journey of the Universe
THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS(USA, 2011, 60 min.)
1:30 p.m.
Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict; climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment. There are personal costs too. For the majority of people on the planet, life is becoming increasingly stressful. We have less time for friends and family and we face mounting pressures at work. The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, an unholy alliance of governments and big business continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people all over the world are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance – and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization. Featuring Vandana Shiva, Bill McKibben, David Korten, Michael Shuman, Juliet Schor, Richard Heinberg, Rob Hopkins, Andrew Simms, Zac Goldsmith and Samdhong Rinpoche. Written and directed by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page. Produced by Helena Norberg-Hodge.
INTO THE COLD(USA, 2010, 86 min.)
2:45 p.m.
Commemorating the centennial of Admiral Peary’s historic reach of the North Pole in 1909, this film retraces a dramatic expedition to the Pole by Sebastian Copeland and Keith Heger, two men who covered more than 400 miles on foot in sub-zero temperatures. A personal and harrowing journey of endurance and commitment, Into The Cold tests the soul against the backdrop of the magnificent Great North. Very few have walked such distance to reach the Pole on foot in the last century. The film documents this rapidly vanishing environment: a hundred years from now, there will be no bicentennial expedition on foot to the North Pole, for the ice there will have long since disappeared. Seventy percent of North Pole expeditions, considered by experts as the toughest in the world, have met with failure. The film celebrates Man’s communion with nature, conveying one poignant message: if the Great North goes, so does humanity. Directed and produced by Sebastian Copeland.
FORCE OF NATURE: THE DAVID SUZUKI MOVIE (Canada, 2010, 93 min.)
4:30 p.m.
A distinguished environmentalist, scientist, writer, communicator and thinker, David Suzuki is a household name in Canada. The acclaimed host for the past 32 years of the long-running Canadian TV program, “The Nature of Things,” Chair of the David Suzuki Foundation devoted to environmental conservation, author of 48 books and recipient of 24 honorary degrees, David Suzuki, at age 75, shows no signs of slowing down. By all measures Suzuki is extraordinary, with his unrivalled passion for science, natural history and the environment. But what drove him to become the phenomenon he is? This engrossing documentary guides us through his life and reveals the key events and people that shaped him. The occasion for the film is Suzuki’s return to the University of British Columbia to deliver his legacy lecture to a sold-out audience. A biography of ideas, the film interweaves Suzuki’s stirring and insightful address with candid interviews to create a captivating portrait. In these interviews, Suzuki shares his deeply personal reflections and stories, revealing a previously unseen side to this extraordinary person. (Agata Smoluch Del Sorbio, Toronto International Film Festival) Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson. Produced by Janice Tufford, Sturla Gunnarsson and Yves J. Ma. Winner of the People’s Choice Documentary Award, 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.
TRUCK FARM (USA, 2010, 47 min.)
6:15 p.m.
Filmmaker Ian Cheney devised a mobile garden he called a truck farm and, since its initial planting, the movable Brooklyn farm has been very busy. The film uses the story of this mobile farm to expand to a much larger story about urban agriculture, determined young farmers and the challenge of growing food when there is no land available. Written by Ian Cheney and Simon Beins. Directed by Ian Cheney.
JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE(USA, 2011, 60 min.)
7:15 p.m.
One day on a Greek island and your perception of the universe will change forever. The epic Journey of the Universe is a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, acclaimed author and cosmologist Brian Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago to the invisible frontiers of the human genome, as well as to our current impact on earth’s evolutionary dynamics. The film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis. Share a wondrous view of cosmic evolution as a process based on immense creativity, connection and interdependence, while marveling at the mystery, complexity and connectivity that have permeated our planet and universe from the very beginning. The film project has been created by an acclaimed team of internationally recognized scientists, scholars and award winning filmmakers. Written by Brian Thomas Swimme & Mary Evelyn Tucker. Directed and produced by Patsy Northcutt & David Kennard. Co-produced by Catherine Butler.
Ticket/Reservation Info:
FREE, first-come, first-served. No reservations required. Please note saving seats is not allowed.
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