This is the 2nd time DRC has hosted the Wild and Scenic Film Festival and we are happy to be hosting it with NDSU in Fargo this year! Below is a list of the films and descriptions. Admission to the film festival is free! Please come and enjoy a great night of films!
Film Lineup:
1. The Story of Change
Can shopping save the world? The Story of Stuff Project teamed up with Free Range Studios to create “The Story of Change” because shopping your values is a great place to start, but a terrible place to stop. In this video Annie Leonard walks through key ingredients for successful change-making: a big idea, commitment to work together, and citizen action. Watch this short animation and learn how you can flex your citizen muscle! www.storyofchange.org (USA, 2012, 6min)
2. Public Lands, Private Profits
www.interactives.americanprogress.org/projects/2012/public-lands (USA, 2012)
-Public Lands, Private Profits: A Grand Threat
The Center for American Progress, in partnership with the Sierra Club, undertook a series of video mini-documentaries that revealed three places held in the public trust threatened by pending proposals to mine and drill in or around them. In Part One, we head to the Grand Canyon, where a Canadian company is using outdated environmental studies to bring uranium mining back to the one of the world’s most extraordinary natural wonders. (6min)
-Public Lands, Private Profits: Boom or Bust
The Center for American Progress, in partnership with the Sierra Club, undertook a series of video mini-documentaries that revealed three places held in the public trust threatened by pending proposals to mine and drill in or around them. In Part Two, we look at a fight brewing in a small Utah town over the expansion of a nearby coal mine and its effects on majestic Bryce Canyon National Park. (6min)
-Public Lands, Private Profits: Too Special To Drill
The Center for American Progress, in partnership with the Sierra Club, undertook a series of video mini-documentaries that revealed three places held in the public trust threatened by pending proposals to mine and drill in or around them. In Part Three, natural gas drilling would bring an ignoble end to Wyoming’s spectacular Noble Basin and its residents’ exceptional way of life. (6min)
3. Man Who Lived on His Bike, The
I love being on a bike. It helps me feel free. I get it from my dad. After 382 days spent riding through the streets of Montreal, being sometimes quite cold, sometimes quite hot – and sometimes quite scared, I dedicate this movie to him. Best Short Film, Francophone FF; Jury, Boston Bike FF; People’s Choice, Bike Reel FF. (Canada, 2012, 3min)
4. TIMBER
I used MY natural resources to make a film about OUR natural resources! This short animated film uses the trimming of a beard to make a point about irresponsible
5. Ernest
Ernest Wilkerson is struggling to hold onto an independent lifestyle while facing a changing world and his own advancing age. Born in 1924, this humble mountain man cherishes his active life: “I cannot picture myself just sittin’ around doing nothin’.” A local legend in Monte Vista, Colorado, Wilkerson learned to fend for himself at a young age, becoming a government-hired wildlife trapper, taxidermist, conservationist and teacher of backcountry survival skills. His specialty is snow caves, but he says, “Your best survival tool is your brain.” (USA, 2012, 5min)
6. Streams of Consequence
In summer 2010, photographer James ‘Q’ Martin and conservation biologist Chris Kassar started an organization called Rios Libres. The organization uses multi-media to join the fight to protect the wild lands of Patagonia from proposed dams that threaten two of the most pristine rivers in one of the world’s most spectacular regions.
Last April, Q traveled south once again and landed in the thick of some of the largest anti-dam protests the country has ever seen. He captured historic footage of the protests, then spent nine weeks traveling the length of the country talking to gauchos, scientists, activists and the public in search of answers. The result is a solution-based film that addresses the hard questions that remained unanswered in Rios Libres’s first film: “What does an alternative energy model look like?” “How do the Chileans feel about it?” and “Could Chile become a global leader by gaining energy independence via green technology?” www.rioslibres.com (USA, 2012, 25min)
7. Young Voices for the Planet, Olivia’s Birds and the Oil Spill
Olivia loves her New York forest and the Louisiana gulf coast where her grandparents live. When the BP Oil Spill devastates the coast, Olivia creates 500 paintings of her feathered friends to raise funds for Audubon’s bird rescue. (7min)
8. Tailings
Just outside the snowy, crumbling town of Grants, New Mexico, is a 200-acre pile of toxic uranium waste, known as tailings. After 30 years of failed cleanup, the waste has deeply contaminated the air and water near the former uranium capital of the world. While those in town want the prosperity that new uranium mining would bring, the 200 residents who live near the tailings pile have had enough of the uranium legacy. TAILINGS is a cinematic, Gasland-esque investigation into the little-known conflict that is a grim reminder of the past, and a timely notice for the future of nuclear energy. Best New Mexico Short Film, Santa Fe Independent FF. www.tailingsfilm.com
9. Wild Things
Native carnivores balance ecosystems and keep wilderness healthy. But they are also seen as a threat to livestock, and for decades ranchers and government trappers have slaughtered them. The Wildlife Services program within U.S.D.A. kills a hundred thousand coyotes, wolves and other native carnivores annually. It is a battle against nature that is costly, brutal, and not very effective. Does the battle really need to be fought? Wild Things introduces audiences to progressive ranchers learning to peacefully coexist with these animals and features scientists, conservationists and even former Wildlife Services trappers, who believe it is time for a major change in the way we treat our magnificent native carnivores. www.nrdc.org (USA, 2012, 39min)
9. Quest for Energy
Four million off-grid Indians are ready to save their precious World Heritage site with sustainable ways of living. They are already living virtually carbon-free in the world’s most unique and largest wetland. Two of their islands have vanished because of rising sea levels due to the effects of climate change. Low-cost coal or kerosene produces a carbon-footprint; fossil fuels are not a viable option. Instead, solar panels, hybrid power plants, and cow manure are local solutions. With 1.3 billion people still looking to get electricity in the world, these sustainable options may just save our planet. www.questforlight.net (USA, 2012, 10min)
10. How The Kids Saved The Parks
You know those movies where the kids get together and do something awesome? When they unite to overcome insurmountable odds? Maybe win the championship from the favored bad guys. Maybe embark on an epic quest to stop the grown ups from doing something stupid. This is one of those movies, except this one really happened. This is the story of a group of great kids that worked day and night to save the California State Parks that they love – this is ‘How The Kids Saved The Parks’. www.plusmproductions.com (USA, 2012, 14min)