Film Archives

Year:  2017  |  2016  |  2014  |  2013  |  2012  |  2010  |  2009  |  2008  |  All
 
 

10,000 Trees

Directed by Sarah Ginsburg & Sarah Berkovich

In 2001, Victor Kaufmann looked at his plot of land in Lyle, Washington and realized that something was missing: trees.  10,000 Trees is the story of Victor actualizing his vision and finding fulfillment, eighty-five years young.  It doesn’t bother Victor to know his age will prevent him from witnessing his trees become a grand forest.  Instead, he sees himself as “a friendly observer as life grows the plant.”  This film makes us ask ourselves what we aim to grow in this lifetime, and it’s Victor who gently teaches us that it’s never too late to begin. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Amazonia

Directed by Sam Chen

In the eat-or-be-eaten world of the Amazon Rainforest, a little treefrog named Bounce sets out on a normal day to find a meal but quickly learns that the proverbial hunter becomes the hunted. Unable to catch his meal, Bounce is punished relentlessly by his prey to the breaking point until his chance encounter with a blue-bellied treetoad named Biggy. Biggy quickly takes Bounce under his wing and shows him the ways of the perilous jungle until the little treefrog begins to regain his mojo to hunt again. Eventually Bounce musters enough confidence to pursue an easy target. So does he finally catch his meal? Or will he forever be hungry? Find out in this fun and hilarious animation set to Beethoven’s Symphony No.8. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Animal Beatbox

Directed by Damon Gameau

This film was a joy to make. It involved my girlfriend and my mother and 3 days of being children again building sets and cutting out animal pictures. It cost 80 Australian dollars to make and has now screened at over 20 festivals around the world and used in children’s classrooms everywhere. Its intention was to wake people up for a second and embrace their spirit again. And also to lovingly appreciate the wonderful world we live in in a fun, insignificant way. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Anna, Emma and the Condors

Directed by Katja Torneman

In a world of climate change and environmental catastrophes, two sisters Anna and Emma and their companions, the California Condors, stand out as a beacon of hope. Together with their father, Chris Parish, the director of the Peregrine Fund at Vermillion Cliffs, and their mother, Ellen Parish, teacher and leader for the environmental organization Roots and Shoots, they fight for the survival of the California Condors. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Blood in the Mobile

Directed by Frank Piasecki Pouson

We love our cell phones and the selection between different models has never been bigger. But the production of phones has a dark, bloody side. The minerals used to produce cell phones come from the mines in Eastern Congo, home to a civil war that human rights organizations claim is the bloodiest conflict since World War II. By buying these so-called conflict minerals and phones we therefore contribute to the financing of this war, which for the last 15 years has claimed the lives of more than 5 million people, and during which 300,000 women have been raped. Blood in the Mobile shows the connection between our phones and the civil war in the Congo, and exposes the extent to which contemporary technologies are needlessly perpetuating slavery and child labour in the world today. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

BUCK

Directed by Cindy Meehl

“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Chasing Water

Directed by Pete McBride

Follow the Colorado River, source to sea, with photographer Pete McBride who takes an intimate look at the watershed as he attempts to follow the irrigation water that sustains his family's Colorado ranch, down river to the sea. Traversing 1500 miles and draining seven states, the Colorado River supports over 30 million people across the Southwest. It is not the longest or largest U.S. river, but it is one of the most loved and litigated in the world. Today, this resource is depleted and stressed. Follow its path with an artistic, aerial view on a personal journey to understand this national treasure. McBride teamed up with his bush-pilot father to capture unique footage and also shadowed the adventure of Jon Waterman who became the first to paddle the entire length of the river. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Don't be a Trash Can!

Directed by Tatiana Moshkova

Film made by 13 year old children within the framework of the social project "Cartoons for Health." Directed by Tatiana Moshkova. Ideas and animation by Alina, Nastya, and Gasika. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Drying for Freedom

Directed by Steven Lake

From Northern America to London and Mumbai, DRYING FOR FREEDOM exposes the inconvenient truth about clotheslines.The film explores how certain challenges to freedoms are affecting our fight to save the planet by revealing the story of our love affair with energy, the people who are campaigning against it and those who fight to pass Right-To-Dry legislation, making it illegal to ban clotheslines. Director Steven Lakes’ journey shows how corporate America sold the dream of electric bliss to post-World War America, creating electric consumption which disregards the carbon impact on the planet. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

eel*water*rock*man

Directed by Hal Clifford and Jason Houston for Orion magazine

A short documentary vignette celebrating nature’s cycles, contentedness, and the last man on the east coast who still fishes for eels using an ancient stone weir. Narrated by artist and author, James Prosek. A film by Hal Clifford and Jason Houston. Produced by Orion magazine. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Food Stamped

Directed by Shira Potash and Yoav Potash

Food Stamped is an informative and humorous documentary film following a couple as they attempt to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet on a food stamp budget. Through their adventures they consult with members of U.S. Congress, food justice organizations, nutrition experts, and people living on food stamps to take a deep look at America’s broken food system. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Directed by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

On December 7th, 2005, federal agents conducted a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front — an organization the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.”  This is the remarkable story of the group’s rise and fall, told through the transformation and radicalization of one of its members, Daniel McGowan. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

India Explains Solar Power to Rudy

Directed by Anita George

A four-and-a-half year old girl, India, shares her thoughts on solar power. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Journey to the Forest (Reise zum Wald)

Directed by Joern Staeger

A poetic exploration of a German myth – the forest. As if in trance, the camera’s gaze glides over tunnel-like avenues of woodland monocultures, leading the viewer through green spaces created by humankind, ensnarling itself in the chaotic structures of primeval forests and eventually finding its way out via an artificial clearing. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Leonids Story

Directed by Rainer Ludwigs

A Soviet family searching for a modest paradise is swept into an immense disaster. This magically animated film combines drawing, photography and documentary video to capture the surreal emotions of the too-real tragedy: Chernobyl 1986. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

On the Beat - Soatá (No Baque - Soatá)

Directed by Carlon Hardt

The joys of Brazilian music and dance are explored through a unique animation of natural elements. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Our Tomorrow

Directed by Sarah Jackson

The environmental problems of the world are overwhelming and terrifying, yet something about this fear seems so familiar. Are we living in The End Times? Should we simply give up and admit defeat? In a staggeringly fascinating mix of interviews, images and animation, "Our Tomorrow" muses on the fate of the natural world and the Apocalypse. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Papiroflexia

Directed by Joaquin Baldwin

An origami tale of a skillful paper folder who could shape the world with his hands. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Paradise Saved

Directed by Michael Allen for WAGA-TV

For the first time at EcoFocus, we present an environmental selection from the George F. Peabody Awards Collection housed at the University of Georgia Special Collections Library. In 1981, the National Park Services drew up a new management plan for Cumberland Island Seashore. Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island, restricted to 300 visitors a day, was slated to have its attendance increased to more than 1400 a day. This program examined the sides of the argument, public reaction to the proposed changes, and the unique botanical, ecological, and historical characteristics of the island. In this 1982 Peabody Award-winning documentary, photographer George Gentry has captured on film the magnificence of one of Georgia's most beautiful barrier islands. At the same time, Don Smith and Forrest Sawyer teamed up to produce a telling documentary which examined the pros and cons of a National Park Service's decision to increase the visiting limits. Thus, viewers of WAGA-TV's "Paradise Saved" were treated to a quality of visual beauty not often seen on television and, at the same time, were informed, enlightened, and challenged concerning the problems of retaining a great natural heritage and a diminishing resource-the unspoiled beauty of the Atlantic Coast. Directed by Michael Allen for WAGA-TV. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Pipe Dreams

Directed by Leslie Iwerks

Across the heartland of America, farmers and landowners are fighting to protect their land, their water, and their livelihood in what has become the most controversial environmental battle in the U.S. today: The Keystone XL Pipeline. Routed from Hardisty, Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, this tar sands pipeline is set to cross the country's largest freshwater resource, the Ogallala Aquifer, and the fragile Sandhills of Nebraska, posing devastating consequences to human health, livestock, and agriculture. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Potato Heads

Directed by Larry Engel

Do you cherish french fries? Eat mashed potatoes with peas and ketchup? Slather sour cream on baked potatoes? Or are you one who simply boils them and adds a bit of butter and dill? Do you know that you’re not alone? The potato happens to be one of the most widely consumed foods in the entire world. Turns out, we owe a debt of gratitude to the ancient Incas of the high Andes for the ubiquitous spud. Whether you love, hate or ignore potatoes, come to a screening of a short film all about them. Join filmmaker and AU professor Larry Engel as he journeys from the Andes of Peru to the northern plains of Minnesota in pursuit of the culture, science, and history of this marvelous little tuber. We guarantee that after watching the film, you’ll change the way you look at the potato and, for that matter, everything else on your plate! Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Propositions for an Uncertain Future

Directed by John Paul Tansey

A selection of two films from a five film series documenting how five artists respond to the notion of "a fountain without water". Using a decommissioned fountain located in the heart of Melbourne, Australia as their canvas, the artists take very different approaches the task. The resulting films capture the artistic intent and the public reactions to the finished public works. "Propositions for an Uncertain Future" is provocative and inspiring and sure to invite a range of reactions to a most timely theme. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Protect Downtown Athens - Athens Raise Your Voice

Directed by Bryan Redding

Downtown Athens, Georgia is renowned for its rich cultural history, creative artistic community, local businesses and world famous music scene. Athens has earned its nickname the "Classic City." At the end of 2011, a massive downtown development proposal that included a 94,000 square-foot Walmart retail store threatened (and continues to threaten) to alter Athens irrevocably. In this film, several Athenians raise their voices and underscore the importance of protecting their unique town. The film was made to inspire Athenians to work together to come up with a vision for downtown development that will better benefit the local citizens and enhance the long term viability of Athens. Directed by Bryan Redding, executive produced by Dan Jordan. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Revenge of the Electric Car

Directed by Chris Paine

Behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and Tesla Motors, Revenge of the Electric Car film tells the story of the global resurgence of electric cars by following the major car makers jumping to produce new electric models and to be the first, the best, and to win over the public. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Ride of the Mergansers

Directed by Steve Furman

The Hooded Merganser is a rare and reclusive duck found only in North America. Just 24 hours after hatching in a nest perched high in the trees, 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. This film 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.' Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Riding Bikes with the Dutch

Directed by Michael Bauch

Filmmaker Michael Bauch's light-hearted and intriguing film recaptures the fun of biking for the everyday person and the positive ramifications for our families and society at large. The film weaves through the beautiful streets of Amsterdam to show the variety of bikes and diversity of people that carry on daily life throughout the city. By doing a home exchange with another family in Amsterdam, Michael, his wife and young son are able to document the bicycle-centered lifestyle of the Dutch through the eyes of residents actually living in the city. When Bauch returns home to Long Beach with his family he begins to see the amazing transformation of his own city. Has the biking lifestyle followed them home? Is Long Beach the next Amsterdam? Come along for the ride! Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Second Hand

Directed by Isaac King

The term "second hand" refers to the ticking hand on a clock; it also describes re-used items. Would you rather save time? Or save stuff? This film examines the imbalance and waste created by these modern obsessions. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Semper Fi: Always Faithful

Directed by Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon

As a drill instructor he lived and breathed the “Corps” and was responsible for indoctrinating thousands of new recruits with its motto Semper Fidelis or “Always Faithful.” When Jerry’s nine-year old daughter Janey died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed.  As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened.  His search for answers led to the shocking discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history. Semper Fi: Always Faithful follows Jerry’s mission to expose the Marine Corps and force them to live up to their motto to the thousands of soldiers and their families exposed to toxic chemicals.  His fight reveals a grave injustice at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Shark Riddle

Directed by Laura Sams and Robert Sams with the Save Our Seas Foundation

The second episode in The Riddle Solvers series, The Shark Riddle is a half-hour shark film for the whole family. Follow siblings Laura and Robert on an adventure through the pages of a magical journal to solve a mysterious riddle about shark teeth. Meet a raucous group of singing sea lions, experience the underwater game show Are You a Shark?, hear a shark lullaby and discover the powerful and magnificent world of sharks. Featuring high-definition footage of 20 different shark species from around the world, this charming and hilarious look at the ocean’s top predators has received ‘two fins up’ from sharks everywhere. A film by Laura Sams and Robert Sams and the Save Our Seas Foundation. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Solartaxi - Around the World with the Sun

Directed by Erik Schmitt

What began as a childhood dream is now an epic 18-month adventure that spans the globe. More than a few have embarked on an ‘around the world’ adventure; some have even completed it, but no one has ever done so powered exclusively by the sun. Meet Louis Palmer and his home-made “Solartaxi”. Full of surprises and apparently insurmountable obstacles, his journey begins in the summer of 2007. Along the way, Louis and his Solartaxi meet princes, movie stars, politicians and scientists, but most importantly,he encounters ordinary people, showing them: Solar energy is functional, efficient, and most importantly, reliable. A car with zero emission is not a dream. This film is proof. The first entirely green road movie. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Song of the Spindle

Directed by Drew Christie

In this animated, humorous, and informative conversation between a sperm whale and a man, each tries to convince the other that his brain is bigger. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

Sushi: The Global Catch

Directed by Mark Hall

Sushi, a cuisine formerly found only in Japan, has grown exponentially in other nations, and an industry has been created to support it. In a rush to please a hungry public, the expensive delicacy has become common and affordable, appearing in restaurants, supermarkets and even fast food trailers. The traditions requiring 7 years of apprenticeship in Japan have given way to quick training and mass-manufactured solutions elsewhere. This hunger for sushi has led to the depletion of apex predators in the ocean, including bluefin tuna, to such a degree that it has the potential to upset the ecological balance of the world’s oceans, leading to a collapse of all fish species. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

The City Dark

Directed by Ian Cheney

The City Dark is a feature documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night sky. It premiered in competition at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize for Best Score/Music. After moving to light-polluted New York City from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks: “Do we need the dark?” Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawai’i, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights—including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, philosophers, historians, and lighting designers, The City Dark is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

The Clean Bin Project

Directed by Grant Baldwin

Is it possible to live completely waste free? Partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least landfill garbage in an entire year. Their light-hearted competition is set against a darker examination of the sobering problem waste in North American society.  Even as Grant and Jen start to garner interest in their project, they struggle to find meaning in their seemingly minuscule influence on the large-scale environmental impacts of our “throw-away society”.  Featuring interviews with renowned artist, Chris Jordan and marine pollution expert, Captain Charles Moore, The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humour, and inspiration for individual action. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

The Last Sun

Directed by Daniel Kuipers

A local Norwegian girl rides her dog sled to a vantage point from where she can observe the last sunset of the year, before the winter darkness reigns. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

The Okra Planter (O Plantador de Quiabos)

Directed by Santa Madeira Collective

An okra farmer must choose which bicycle to purchase: a utilitarian model or the pink one desired by his daughter. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film

This Way of Life

Directed by Thomas Burstyn

A film about a family. Mum, dad, six kids and 50 horses, a beach, a mountain and a burnt down house. In their early 30’s Peter and Colleen Karena have six kids and 50 horses. Against the backdrop of a remote New Zealand mountain range and a hidden beach camp we explore the Karena’s connection to nature, their survival skills and intimacy with each other and their horses as they attempt to navigate the discord between Peter and his father. Despite hardships, the family cultivates the magic in the everyday. Untamed and unafraid, the idea of risk is alien to the Karena children. Uniting philosophy with circumstance, This Way of Life is a modern parable of how to live well with little. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

Timber

Directed by Adam Fisher

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 usage of everything the Earth has to offer. Trailer and screening times >>

Short Film, EcoKids Film

Urban Roots

Directed by Mark MacInnis

The industrial powerhouse of a lost American era has died, and the skeleton left behind is present-day Detroit. But now, against all odds in the empty lots, in the old factory yards, and in-between the sad, sagging blocks of company housing, seeds of change are taking root. A small group of dedicated citizens, allied with environmental and academic groups, have started an urban environmental movement with the potential to transform not just a city after its collapse, but also a country after the end of its industrial age. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

With My Own Two Wheels

Directed by Jacob Seigel-Boettner and Issac Seigel-Boettner

For many Americans, the bicycle is a choice. An expensive toy. An eco-conscious mode of transportation. For countless others across the globe, it is much more. For Fred, a health worker in Zambia, the bicycle is a means of reaching twice as many patients. For Bharati, a teenager in India, it provides access to education. For Mirriam, a disabled Ghanaian woman, working on bicycles is an escape from the stigma attached to disabled people in her community. For Carlos, a farmer in Guatemala, pedal power is a way to help neighbors reduce their impact on the environment. For Sharkey, a young man in California, the bicycle is an escape from the gangs that consume so many of his peers.  With My Own Two Wheels weaves together the experiences of these five individuals into a single story about how the bicycle can change the world—one pedal stroke at a time. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip

Directed by Ben Evans

Fifty States. One Year. Zero Garbage? Called to action by a planet in peril, three friends hit the road - traveling with hope, humor, and all of their garbage - to explore every state in America (the good, the bad...and the weird) in search of the extraordinary innovators and citizens who are tackling humanity's greatest environmental crises. As the YERT team layers outlandish eco-challenges onto their year-long quest, an unexpected turn of events pushes them to the brink in this award-winning docu-comedy. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film

You’ve Been Trumped

Directed by Anthony Baxter

What happens when an American billionaire celebrity developer tries to displace Scottish villagers to build, “the world’s greatest golf course?” YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED passionately documents the fight that ensues after the Scottish government gives Donald Trump permission to bulldoze one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast to make way for a luxury resort. Troubling, amusing, and rousing all at once, this film documents the clash between a deeply rooted Scottish community and the jet-set, media-hungry, and controversial tycoon, while a growing eco-disaster looms on the horizon. Trailer and screening times >>

Feature Film