2016 Films A-Z
John Murray/ 2015/ 74 min/ Food & Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: A Farmer’s Road is a documentary about changing the American food system one meal at a time. At the heart of A Farmer’s Road is a story of how two PhD soil scientists traded the security of academic tenure at a major research university for the relentless challenges and economic uncertainty of operating a Grade A goat dairy and farmstead creamery in central Illinois.
Deia Schlosberg/ 2013/ 28 min/ Energy
FILM DESCRIPTION: Energy companies pursue increasingly difficult methods of fossil fuel extraction at increasing costs to the people and the environment. “Backyard” examines four states that are presently in different stages of hydro-fracking development. The results are several powerful stories of people at odds with the natural gas extraction occurring around them.
Dennis Delestra & Sandrine Feydel/ 2014/ 52 min/ Social Justice: Economy
FILM DESCRIPTION: Banking Nature is a provocative documentary that looks at the growing movement to monetize the natural world—and to turn endangered species and threatened areas into instruments of profit. It’s a worldview that sees capital and markets not as a threat to the planet, but as its salvation—turning nature into “natural capital” and fundamental processes such as pollination and oxygen generation into “ecosystem services.”
Bea Johnson/ 2015/ 8 min/ Waste, Recycling
FILM DESCRIPTION: Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home raises questions such as, how much do you throw away each year and how about each day? The numbers are mind boggling, but what if the waste you produced in a single year fit into a quart size jar? That’s what one family of four is doing!
Fredrik Gertten/ 2015/ 88 min/ Transportation
FILM DESCRIPTION: From bike activists in Sao Paulo and Los Angeles, who are fighting for safe bike lanes, to the City of Copenhagen, where forty percent commute by bike daily, Bikes vs Cars will look at both the struggle for bicyclists in a society dominated by cars and the revolutionary changes that could take place if more cities moved away from car-centric models.
Maarten van Rouveroy/ 2013/ 53 min/ Social Justice, Youth (Middle School +)
FILM DESCRIPTION: When the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise set sail to protest the first ever oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, none of the people on board could have known what was coming. Seized at gunpoint by Russian special forces, the ‘Arctic 30’ were thrust into headlines all over the world, facing up to 15 years in prison and finding themselves at the centre of a bitter international dispute. Black Ice is a film about social justice and attendance is acceptable for middle school + aged viewers.
Jon Bowermaster/ 2015/ 7 min/ Energy
FILM DESCRIPTION: For many years, the Hudson river, like so many waterways, was treated like an infinite waste barrel, a receptacle for poisonous chemicals, hazardous waste and trash of all descriptions. However, in the past forty years, thanks to a committed group of environmentalists and their agencies (Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson, Clearwater and more) the river has become markedly cleaner. While it is still an under-utilized natural resource, increasingly it is used by boaters, kayakers, even swimmers as a recreational playground. But the river has had a “foot on its neck” for one hundred years and still today, despite the efforts to clean it up, there are environmental risks and concerns.
Mark Titus/2014/ 85 min/ Water
FILM DESCRIPTION: When fishing guide and filmmaker Mark Titus learns why wild salmon populations plummeted in his native Pacific Northwest, he embarks on a journey to discover where the fish have gone and what might bring them back. Along the way, Titus unravels a trail of human hubris, historical amnesia and potential tragedy looming in Alaska – all conspiring to end the most sustainable wild food left on the planet. Visit The Breach‘s official site.
Shalini Kantayya/ 2013/ 75 min/ Energy
FILM DESCRIPTION: Through the stories of workers and entrepreneurs in the U.S. and China, Catching the Sun is a feature length documentary that explores the global race to a clean energy future. Catching the Sun follows the hope and heartbreak of unemployed American workers seeking jobs in the solar industry and sheds light on the path to an economically and environmentally sustainable future.
Susan Rockefeller/ 2014/ 22 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: A short documentary film, Food for Thought, Food for Life, educates people about the negative impact our current methods of agriculture have on the earth. In addition to providing vital information, the film gives viewers the necessary tools to make a difference in their own lives. It explores the connection between the planet and our health and suggests that strengthening that connection will only benefit our future.
Jeff & Jennifer Spitz/ 2014/ 73 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: A midwestern mother whose son nearly died from contaminated food embarks on a roller coaster journey to understand the food industry and improve her family’s eating habits. Surprising, funny, and poignant, this personal film unfolds from one family’s story into a powerful consumer movement. Food Patriotsfeatures food advocates from all walks of life who are trying to hatch a revolution to change the way Americans eat and buy food and educate the next generation of consumers.
JLove Calderón/ 2015/ 13 min/ Food & Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: Organic gardener and vegan chef Ietef Vita is an award winning international recording artist and activist who uses Hip-Hop culture to inspire young people to connect to the earth by teaching them how to grow food and cultivate healthy eating habits. Through his lyrics and gardens, Ietef is planting the seeds of the food movement extending from his hometown of Denver, Colo., toacross the globe.
Oliver Hodge/ 2007/ 87 min/ Architecture & Building
FILM DESCRIPTION: Garbage Warrior features the epic story of radical Earthship eco-architect, Michael Reynolds, and his fight to build off the grid, self-sufficient communities.
Dana Nachman/ 2013/ 80 min/ Health & the Environment
FILM DESCRIPTION: The Human Experiment lifts the veil on the shocking reality that thousands of untested chemicals are in our everyday products, our homes and inside of us. Simultaneously, the prevalence of many diseases continues to rise. From Oscar® winner Sean Penn and Emmy® winning journalists Dana Nachman and Don Hardy, The Human Experiment tells the personal stories of people who believe their lives have been affected by chemicals and takes viewers to the front lines as activists go head-to-head with the powerful and well-funded chemical industry. These activists bring to light a corrupt system that’s been hidden from consumers… until now.
Costa Boutsikaris/ 2015/ 92 min/ Wildlife
FILM DESCRIPTION: Inhabit is a feature length documentary introducing permaculture: a design method that offers an ecological lens for solving issues related to agriculture, economics, governance, and more. The film presents a vast array of projects, concepts, and people, and it translates the diversity of permaculture into something that can be understood by an equally diverse audience.
Jen Rustemeyer/ 2014/ 75 min/ Food & Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: An award-winning documentary about the staggering amounts of food that go to waste in households and farm fields, “Just Eat It” was one of three audience favorites in the online balloting that began the weekend of One Earth Film Festival 2015. A five-person jury screened three films, reaching the decision to select “Just Eat It” as One Earth Film Festival 2015 First Choice winner.
Brad Allgood, Alejandra Amarilla/ 2015/ 84 min/ Waste, Recycling
FILM DESCRIPTION: Landfill Harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a paraguayan musical youth group of kids that live next to one of South America’s largest landfills. This unlikely orchestra plays music from instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. With the guidance of their music director, they must navigate this new world of arenas and sold out concerts. However, when a natural disaster devastates their community, the orchestra provides a source of hope for the town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.
Gary Paul Nabhan/ 2015/ 8 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: What goes on behind the scenes of the food system in the United States? What problems do we face? Man in the Maze showcases a diverse group of people, throughout the US borderlands, who come up with innovative solutions to mend our broken food system.
Petri Luukkanen/ 2013/ 52 min/ Waste, Recycling
FILM DESCRIPTION: Petri Luukkanen, 26, is amidst an existential crisis when he begins filming My Stuff. He arrives at the idea that his happiness might be found by rebuilding his everyday existence. What does he really need – and what about all that stuff? See what he discovers about himself and the “stuff” he really needs
Nelson Campbell/ 2015/ 95 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: The documentary film Plant Pure Nation tells the story of three people on a quest to spread the message of one of the most important health breakthroughs of all time. After renowned nutritional scientist and bestselling author, T. Colin Campbell, gives a stirring speech on the floor of the Kentucky House of Representatives, his son, Nelson, and Kentucky State Representative, Tom Riner, work together to propose a pilot program documenting the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Once the legislation goes into Committee, agribusiness lobbyists kill the plan.
Tonje Hessen Schei/ 2010/ 82 min/ Health & the Environment
FILM DESCRIPTION: 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 a journalist, sociologist, environmental writer, educator, neuroscientist, parks advocate, and geneticist, Play Again investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature and encourages action for a sustainable future.
Louie Psihoyos/ 2015/ 90 min/ Climate Change & Community Response
FILM DESCRIPTION: Racing Extinction follows a team of artists and activists who expose the hidden world of extinction with never-before-seen images that will change the way we see the planet forever. See what could be going extinct right in front of our eyes.
Louie Psihoyos/ 2015/ 90 min/ Climate Change & Community Response
FILM DESCRIPTION: Racing Extinction follows a team of artists and activists who expose the hidden world of extinction with never-before-seen images that will change the way we see the planet forever. See what could be going extinct right in front of our eyes.
Sandy McLeod/ 2013/ 77 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Seed banks around the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation and rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are affecting farmers globally. Communities of indigenous Peruvian farmers are already suffering those effects, as they try desperately to save over 1,500 varieties of native potato in their fields. But with little time to waste, both Fowler and the farmers embark on passionate and personal journeys that may save the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds. Visit Seeds of Time official site.
Peter Byck/ 2014/ 12 min/ Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: Meet Allen Williams, Gabe Brown and Neil Dennis – heroes and innovators! These ranchers now know how to regenerate their soils while making their animals healthier and their operations more profitable. They are turning on their soils, enabling rainwater to sink into the earth rather than run off. And these turned on soils retain that water, so the ranches are much more resilient in drought. Soil Carbon Cowboys is an amazing story that has just begun.
Justin Cerone/ 2015/ 22 min/ Architecture & Building
FILM DESCRIPTION: The Sustainable is a documentary about a couple in Upstate New York and their decision to design and build their home to produce its own electricity. Watch the trailer to see their home’s amazing transformation and how this project changed their lives.
Lisa Merton and Alan Dater/ 2008/ 81 min/Food, Agriculture
FILM DESCRIPTION: Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy—a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.
Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis/ 2015/ 89 min/ Climate Change & Community Response
FILM DESCRIPTION: Filmed over 211 shoot days in four years, nine countries and five continents, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. Directed by Avi Lewis, and inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller, This Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.
Andrew Morgan & Michael Ross/ 2015/ 92 min/ Waste, Recycling
FILM DESCRIPTION: The True Cost is about the clothes we wear, the people who make them and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing?