NaturePlay

NaturePlay

Daniel Stilling/2015/52 min/Environmental Advocacy

Sunday, March 12, 1 p.m. [South]
St. James Church, Chicago

CHICAGO PREMIERE. FILM DESCRIPTION: Natureplay features the most endangered species in the wild today - our children, and devises ways to save humanity's connection to nature in the next generation. Filmed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the USA, Natureplay portrays the Scandinavian method of teaching, living and enjoying nature, juxtaposed with the high stakes testing/high stress Edu culture of "rigor." Featuring Matt Damon.

Planetary

Planetary

Guy Reid/2015/42min/Climate Change

SOLD OUT!
Sunday, March 5, 12:30 p.m. [Downtown]
Adler Planetarium, Chicago

FILM DESCRIPTION: Planetary is a provocative and breathtaking wakeup call – a cross continental, cinematic journey, that explores our cosmic origins and our future as a species. It is a poetic and humbling reminder that now is the time to shift our perspective. Planetary asks us to rethink who we really are, to reconsider our relationship with ourselves, each other and the world around us – to remember that we are PLANETARY.

A Plastic Ocean (One earth film fest 2017)

A Plastic Ocean (One earth film fest 2017)

Craig Leeson/2016/100 min/Waste

Friday, March 10, 6:30 p.m.
[Lake County][VR]
College of Lake County, Grayslake

SOLD OUT!
Saturday, March 11, 3 p.m. [Downtown]
Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago

FILM DESCRIPTION: In the center of the Pacific Ocean gyre our researchers found more plastic than plankton. A Plastic Ocean documents the newest science, proving how plastics, once they enter the oceans, break up into small particulates that enter the food chain where they attract toxins like a magnet. These toxins are stored in seafood’s fatty tissues, and eventually consumed by us. 

Power to the Pedals

Power to the Pedals

Bob Nesson/2014/32 min/Transportation

Wednesday, March 8, 7 p.m. [South]
Harper Theater, Chicago

CHICAGO PREMIERE. FILM DESCRIPTION: The film portrays the transformative vision and extraordinary efforts of Wenzday Jane, a woman whose mechanical skills and innovative actions are reshaping her community. Wenzday goes to the heart of the sustainability issue by offering solutions, and suggests that things don’t have to be the way they are.

A self-taught innovator and revolutionary community leader, she heads an urban movement to replace trucks with cargo bicycles for local delivery, municipal waste-hauling for the city of Cambridge, and agricultural distribution.

Seed, The Untold Story

Seed, The Untold Story

Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz/2016/93 min/Food-Agriculture

Monday, March 6, 6:30 p.m. [North]
North Shore Country Day, Winnetka

FILM DESCRIPTION: In our modern world, seeds are in grave danger. In less than a century of industrial agriculture, our once abundant seed diversity—painstakingly created by ancient farmers and gardeners over countless millennia—has been drastically winnowed down to a handful of mass-produced varieties. Under the spell of industrial “progress” and lust for profit, our quaint family farmsteads have given way to mechanized agribusinesses sowing genetically identical crops on a monstrous scale. 

Shark Loves the Amazon

Shark Loves the Amazon

Mark London and Cidney Hue/2012/60 min/Social Justice

Saturday, March 11, 10 a.m. [South]
Harper Theater, Chicago

CHICAGO PREMIERE. FILM DESCRIPTION: After 30 years of experience in the Amazon, author and lawyer Mark London shares a unique perspective on an issue with global consequences: Can twenty-one million people and the rainforest share the same space? With levels of deforestation approaching the point of no return at an alarming rate, London poses a provocative alternative to the age-old mantra, “Leave the forest untouched.” Learn more at Shark Loves Amazon.

Shifting Sands (One Earth Film Festival 2017)

Shifting Sands (One Earth Film Festival 2017)

Lee Botts and Pat Wisniewski/2016/57 min/Conservation

Monday, March 6, 7 p.m. [South]
Pullman National Monument Information Center, Chicago

Thursday, March 9, 7 p.m. [West]
Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park

Saturday, March 11, 2:30 p.m.
[Lake County]
Waukegan Public Library, Waukegan

FILM DESCRIPTION: Shifting Sands tells the story of how one region, where rare plants grow in the shadows of smokestacks, sparked a movement for a national park; a movement which eventually led to game-changing environmental policies with worldwide impact and unique partnerships on the path to a more sustainable world.

A Small Good Thing

A Small Good Thing

Pamela Tanner Boll/ 2015/71 min/ People-Culture

Sunday, March 5, 12:30 p.m. [W Suburbs]
St. Giles Catholic Church, Oak Park

Sunday, March 5, 3:30p.m. [North]
Wilmette Theatre, Wilmette

CHICAGO PREMIERE. FILM DESCRIPTION: For the longest time, we’ve been living as though the more we have—the more money, the more goods, the more territory—the happier we’ll be. Surprisingly, over the last fifty years as our standard of living has improved, our happiness has not. A Small Good Thing examines how our ideal of the American Dream has come to the end of its promise. The film tells the stories of people moving away from a philosophy of ‘more is better’ toward a more holistic conception of happiness — one based on a close connection to their bodies and health, to the natural world, and to the greater good.

Sonic Sea

Sonic Sea

Michelle Dougherty and Daniel Hinerfield/2016/60 min/Wildlife

SOLD OUT!
Thursday, March 9, 7 p.m. [North]
Institute of Cultural Affairs, Chicago

FILM DESCRIPTION FROM DISCOVERY.COM: "Sonic Sea travels beneath the ocean's surface to uncover the damaging consequences of increased ocean noise pollution and what can be done to stop it. Narrated by Academy Award-nominated actress Rachel McAdams and featuring interviews with marine ecologists, ocean life experts, and wildlife activists, including Grammy-Award winning musician, human rights and environmental activist Sting, Sonic Sea highlights how noise from a range of man-made sources has affected whales in recent years, including the mass stranding of whales around the planet."

Sustainable

Sustainable

Matt Wechsler/2016/92 min/Food-Agriculture

Saturday, March 4, 10 a.m. [W Suburbs]
Lake Theatre, Oak Park

FILM DESCRIPTION: A vital investigation of the economic and environmental instability of America’s food system, from the agricultural issues we face — soil loss, water depletion, climate change, pesticide use — to the community of leaders who are determined to fix it. Sustainable is a film about the land, the people who work it and what must be done to sustain it for future generations.

Tierralismo

Tierralismo

Alejandro Ramirez Anderson/2014/60 min/Social Justice

Saturday, March 11, 12 p.m. [Pilsen]
Lincoln United Methodist Church, Pilsen

SPANISH SOUNDTRACK WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES: In the district of Alamar, a 26-acre farming co-op provides employment for dozens of workers, while producing vegetables and medicinal plants for the local community and beyond. What began as necessity—farming without pesticides and chemical fertilizers—has become a source of provision to coop members. They fertilize with compost and cow manure, raise their own insects for biological pest control, and have even created a fully biodegradable alternative to the plastic bag for use with seedlings.

Time to Choose

Time to Choose

Charles Ferguson/2015/94 min/Climate Change

JUST ADDED
Sunday, March 5, 10 a.m. [Dupage County]
Elmhurst College, Elmhurst

SOLD OUT!
Sunday, March 5, 1 p.m. [Dupage County]
Elmhurst College, Elmhurst

FILM DESCRIPTION: Oscar-winning documentary director Charles Ferguson captures the urgency and innovation of this critical moment in his new film.

Time to Choose also features world-renowned innovators, and thought leaders who point the way to a better world. Dr. Jane Goodall connects climate to the places and animals we love. Governor Jerry Brown urges leaders to join the path to sustainability and Chinese wind and solar manufacturers discuss how they’ve built some of the largest renewable energy installations in the world. 

Tomorrow (Demain)

Tomorrow (Demain)

Melanie Laurent and Cyril Dion/2015/115 min/Environmental Advocacy

Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m. [South]
Windsor Park Lutheran Church, Chicago

CHICAGO PREMIERE. FILM DESCRIPTION: Showing solutions, telling a feel-good story… this may be the best way to solve the ecological, economical and social crises that our countries are going through. After a special briefing for the journal Nature announced the possible extinction of a part of mankind before the end of the 21st century, Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent, together with a team of four people, carried out an investigation in ten different countries to figure out what may lead to this disaster and above all how to avoid it.

Toxic Chemicals: Kids in Danger

Toxic Chemicals: Kids in Danger

Martin Boudot/2016/55 min/Health-Environment

Saturday, March 11, 3 p.m. [W Suburbs]
Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park

FILM DESCRIPTION: Is our dependence on pesticides harming the health of our children? Every day, children are exposed to up to 130 chemical pollutants from pesticides. All around the world, scientists and doctors are raising the alarm, linking increases in child cancers, birth defects and even the explosion of autism with exposure to chemicals in pesticides. 

Years of Living Dangerously: A Race Against Time

Years of Living Dangerously: A Race Against Time

David Gelber, Joel Bach and more/2016/50 min/Energy

Saturday, March 11, 12 p.m. [West]
Loretto Hospital, Chicago

Saturday, March 11, 3 p.m. [South][VR]
Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago

FILM DESCRIPTION: David Letterman travels to India for the first time to find out what the world’s soon-to-be most populous country is going to do to expand its inadequate energy grid. “Saturday Night Live” cast member Cecily Strong travels to Florida and Nevada to investigate what’s blocking the growth of solar energy in the U.S.

Years of Living Dangerously: Uprising (one earth film fest 2017)

Years of Living Dangerously: Uprising (one earth film fest 2017)

David Gelber, Joel Bach and more/2016/50 min/Energy

Sunday, March 5, 5 p.m. [Lake County]
Christ Episcopal Church, Waukegan

FILM DESCRIPTION: America Ferrera journeys to Waukegan, Illinois, where tension has developed over an active coal plant between those who suffer from health effects and those who depend on it for their livelihood. Sigourney Weaver explores China’s explosive economic growth and the impact it is having on the environment, not only locally but on a massive global scale.

Young Filmmakers Contest: Winner Screenings, Awards + Reception

Young Filmmakers Contest: Winner Screenings, Awards + Reception

Saturday, March 4, 3 p.m. [Downtown]
Columbia College Chicago, Music Center, Chicago

Join us to see the premier screenings of top films from the Young Filmmakers Contest. Students in grades 3 through college submitted a 3 to 8-minute film about one of six sustainability topics: energy, food, transportation, waste, water. or open space and ecosystems. 

Cash prizes will be awarded at the elementary school ($75), middle school ($100), high school ($250), and college levels. Each winner will also donate a matching gift to the sustainability organization of their choice.