Jeffrey Smith & Institute for Responsible Technology/2012/85 min
Shocking. Life-Changing. You won’t look at food the same way again. Genetic Roulette exposes the dirt behind Big-Biotech’s Big failed experiment.
Never-Before-Seen-Evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn.
Monsanto’s strong arm tactics, the FDA’s fraudulent policies, and how the USDA ignores a growing health emergency are also laid bare. This sometimes shocking film may change your diet, help you protect your family, and accelerate the consumer tipping point against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Don’t miss this film!
AWARDS: Solari Best Film of Year 2012; nominated for AwareGuide Top Transformational Film for 2012 ( won by a landslide!among a long list of films)
Illuminating the vital role water plays in our lives, exposing the defects in the current system and depicting communities already struggling with its ill-effects, Last Call at the Oasis features activist Erin Brockovich and such distinguished experts as Peter Gleick, Alex Prud’homme, Jay Famiglietti and Robert Glennon.
Developed, financed and executive produced by Participant Media, the company responsible for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, FOOD, INC. andWAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”, Last Call at the Oasis presents a powerful argument for why the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century.
Water's journey from streams entering Lake Superior to the mouth of the Saint Lawrence Seaway takes 350 years. Waterlife follows the epic cascade of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. From the icy cliffs of Lake Superior to the ornate fountains of Chicago to the sewers of Windsor, this documentary tells the story of the last huge supply (20 per cent) of fresh water on Earth.
The source of drinking water, fish and emotional sustenance for 35 million people, the Great Lakes are under assault by toxins, sewage, invasive species, dropping water levels and profound apathy. Some scientists believe the lakes are on the verge of ecological collapse.
Filled with fascinating characters and stunning imagery, Waterlife is an epic cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking it for granted.
The film is narrated by The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie and features music by Sam Roberts, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, Robbie Robertson and Brian Eno.
AWARDS: Official Selection at Toronto International Film Festival 2011.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Cheap Energy Step inside the energy capital of the world, to hear the hard truth about oil, straight from the Texas oilmen themselves. For decades American presidents have warned of our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. See just how the U.S. Energy Policy turned into a strategy of defense, not offense; the
recent Gulf disaster, an inevitable tragedy.
Today, in the midst of unsolvable wars, global warming, recession, peak oil, and oil spills, the
world’s energy demand continues to skyrocket. The U.S. energy demand alone is predicted to go up
50% in the next 20 years. Hear the confessions of oilmen, who work in the trenches every day,
scrambling to feed America’s ferocious appetite. Globally, the gloves are now off. Aggressive
strategies for securing crude go to the highest bidder or the biggest bully. 80% of the world’s oil is
owned by governments who hate us, and yet every year we spend over 700 billion dollars on foreign
oil. Will this addiction be our demise?
As Americas become more and more fed up with corporate lies and powerless politicians, we stand
at the crossroads. See birth of the clean energy revolution and 21st century “Wildcatters” who are
leading the way. HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM brings both sides together, seeking solutions,
making it clear that we must embrace all forms of alternative energies in order to save the planet and
ourselves.
Saturday, Mar 2, 12:30P/William Beye Elementary Schoool, Oak Park - Tickets
Steve Furman/2006/11 min
The Hooded Merganser is a rare and reclusive duck found only in North America. Every spring, in the Great Lakes region, the wary hen lays and incubates her eggs in a nest high in the trees. Just 24 hours after hatching, the tiny ducklings must make the perilous leap to the ground below to begin life in the wild.
This age-old rite is rarely observed by humans. 'Ride of the Mergansers,' an 11-minute wildlife documentary, brings this hidden drama to the screen. Filmed entirely in northern Minnesota, 'Ride of the Mergansers' is a heartwarming blend of natural history, humor, and suspense. You'll be entertained, educated, and inspired - and leave with a newfound appreciation of the phrase 'leap of faith.'
AWARDS: Kids First! Film Festival, May 2011, Independent Short Ages 5-12 EcoFocus Film Festival, Athens, GA, October 2008, "Audience Award, Children's Favorite" EarthVision Int'l Environmental Film Festival, Santa Cruz, CA, March 2008, "Kids Power Hour"
Saturday, Mar 2, 10A/William Beye Elementary School - Tickets
Laura Sams; Robert Sams/2011/15 min (clip)
Set in the vivid fall season, the movie is a heartwarming, hilarious tale filled with stunning wildlife footage and original music (including a groundhog, chipmunk and woodpecker’s ode to fall). Based on the book First Snow in the Woods, by Carl Sams II and Jean Stoick. In a pumpkin patch surrounded by the reds and golds of fall, a worried scarecrow watches the animals prepare for winter.
AWARDS: Winner of 13 awards, including the Parents' Choice Gold Award for DVDs, Best Original Music at the International Wildlife Film Festival and a KiDS FIRST! Best of the Year Award.
The Age of Stupid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, The Usual Suspects, Brassed Off) as a man living in the devastated future world of 2055, looking back at old footage from our time and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Launched at a Guinness World Recording-winning solar-powered premiere in London's Leicester Square, the film was released in cinemas worldwide, topped the UK box office (by screen average), became one of the most talked-about films of 2009 and garnered sensational reviews: The Telegraph called it "Bold, supremely provocative and hugely important", the News of the World described it as "A deeply inconvenient kick up the backside", ABC Australia said "So tightly constructed and dynamic you leave the cinema energised rather than terrified... hits home like a hammer blow" and the LA Times said "Think 'An Inconvenient Truth', but with a personality".
Multi-award-winning documentary director Franny Armstrong (McLibel, Drowned Out) and Oscar-winning producer John Battsek (One Day In September, Restrepo) pioneered the now ubiquitous "crowd-funding" model to finance the film, and then spent four years following seven real people's stories to be interweaved with Pete Postlethwaite's fictional character: an Indian entrepreneur struggling to start a new low-cost airline, a Shell employee in New Orleans who rescued more than 100 people during Hurricane Katrina, an 82-year-old French mountain guide watching his beloved glaciers melt, two Iraqi refugee children searching for their elder brother, a young woman living in desperate poverty in Nigeria's richest oil area and a windfarm developer in Britain battling the NIMBYs who don't want his turbines to spoil their view.
The Age of Stupid led to the formation of the 10:10 carbon reduction campaign which now operates in 45 countries (www.1010global.org). Recognising the film's unique contribution to independent filmmaking, the Huffington Post said that it "represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing".
Across the heartland of America, farmers and landowners are fighting to protect their land, their water, and their livihood in what has become the most controversial environmental battle in the U.S. today: The Keystone XL Pipeline. Routed from Hardity, Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, this tar sands pipeline is set to cross the country's largest fresh water resource, the Ogallala Aquifer and the fragile Sandhills of Nebraska, posing devastating consequences to human health, livestock and agriculture.
Visit the Pipe Dreams website to view the trailer.
One generation from now most people in the U.S. will have spent more time in the virtual world than in nature. New media technologies have improved our lives in countless ways. Information now appears with a click. Overseas friends are part of our daily lives. And even grandma loves Wii.
But what are we missing when we are behind screens? And how will this impact our children, our society, and eventually, our planet? At a time when children play more behind screens than outside, Play Again explores the changing balance between the virtual and natural worlds. Is our connection to nature disappearing down the digital rabbit hole?
AWARDS: BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM, Ecofilm, Prague 2010. BEST OF FEST, Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2010. Official Selection, DC Environmental Film Festival. Official Selection, Bioneers Moving Image Film Festival. Official Selection, Reel Earth Film Festival.
This moving and humorous documentary follows six teenagers who, like the “average American child,” spend five to fifteen hours a day behind screens. PLAY AGAIN unplugs these teens and takes them on their first wilderness adventure – no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no virtual reality.
Through the voices of children and leading experts including journalist Richard Louv, sociologist Juliet Schor, environmental writer Bill McKibben, educators Diane Levin and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, neuroscientist Gary Small, parks advocate Charles Jordan, and geneticist David Suzuki, PLAY AGAIN investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature and encourages action for a sustainable future.
Where we are coming from
Seventy years ago, the first televisions became commercially available. The first desktop computers went on sale 30 years ago, and the first cell phones a mere 15 years ago. During their relatively short tenure these three technologies have changed the way we live. Some of these changes are good. Television can now rapidly disseminate vital information. Computers turned that flow of information into a two-way street. Cell phones enable unprecedented connectivity with our fellow human beings. And the merging of cell phones and the internet has even allowed protest movements around the world to organize and thrive.
But there’s also a down side. For many people, especially children, screens have become the de facto medium by which the greater world is experienced. A virtual world of digitally transmitted pictures, voices, and scenarios has become more real to this generation than the world of sun, water, air, and living organisms, including fellow humans.
The average American child now spends over eight hours in front of a screen each day. She emails, texts, and updates her status incessantly. He can name hundreds of corporate logos, but less than ten native plants. She aspires to have hundreds of online friends, most she may never meet in person. He masters complicated situations presented in game after game, but often avoids simple person-to-person conversation. They are almost entirely out of contact with the world that, over millions of years of evolution, shaped human beings — the natural world.
The long-term consequences of this experiment on human development remain to be seen, but the stakes couldn’t be higher. By most accounts, this generation will face multiple crises — environmental, economic and social. Will this screen world — and its bevy of virtual experiences — have adequately prepared these “digital natives” to address the problems they’ll face, problems on whose resolution their own survival may depend?
As we stand at a turning point in our relationship with earth, we find ourselves immersed in the gray area between the natural and virtual worlds. From a global perspective of wonder and hope, PLAY AGAIN examines this unique point in history.
The average American child now spends over eight hours in front of a screen each day. She emails, texts, and updates her status incessantly. He can name hundreds of corporate logos, but less than ten native plants. She aspires to have hundreds of online friends, most she may never meet in person. He masters complicated situations presented in game after game, but often avoids simple person-to-person conversation. They are almost entirely out of contact with the world that, over millions of years of evolution, shaped human beings — the natural world.