A Moment of Clarity

2008 FESTIVAL.
A visually impressive film from New Zealand student Sarah Cowley and Louise Davidson, this first person natural history account chronicals the rat population of New Zealand, all from the perspective of the rat.
[Student Filmmakers]

A Place to Land

2008 FESTIVAL
30 min.
American University student Lauren DeAngelis examines the difficulties of owning pet parrots by exploring parrot rescue groups, including Virginia-based Phoenix Landing.
[Student Filmmaker]

American Outrage

2008 FESTIVAL
56 min.
Two grandmothers, Carrie Dann and Mary Dann, have been at the forefront of the Western Shoshone Nation’s struggle for land rights and sovereignty for nearly 40 years. American Outrage documents their fight against the U.S. government’s unlawful attempts to take over traditional Shoshone land in Nevada, part of 60 millions acres guaranteed to them in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. The  Dann sisters have endured steady harassment from the Bureau of Land Management and squared off against international gold mining corporations and the nuclear industry. Their courage and perseverance in asserting the rights of indigenous peoples won them the 1993 Alternative Nobel Prize and the International Right Livelihood Award.

Beyond the Blue

2008 FESTIVAL
8 min.
A sensational world premiere exploring the magic of underwater fluorescence and the ability of marine animals to transform themselves from one color to another.  Some of the most breathtaking underwater cinematography ever seen.

Burning the Future: Coal in America

2008 FESTIVAL
89 min.
Writer/director David Novack examines the troubling forces behind the conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by a U.S. energy policy and West Virginia government that critics say genuflects to the coal industry, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, residents of coal counties take their battles beyond the Mountain State’s borders to the halls of power and centers of commerce and culture.

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

2008 FESTIVAL
10 min.
A moving examination of the cultural and natural history of this unique corner of West Virginia.  This unique ecosystem recently became the 500th National Wildlife Refuge. After viewing this film you will understand why.

Carpa Diem

2008 FESTIVAL
2 min.
An apartment.  Bedtime.  A little girl lovingly watches her fish swimming in the aquarium, while her younger brother is playing in the bathroom, listening to music and letting water run into the sink.  A waste of water that could turn tragic. . . a brilliant short from Italy’s Sergio Cannella.

China: A Memoir of Our Future

2008 FESTIVAL
12 min.
A group of students from Eastern Connecticut State University travel to China to discover its economy, culture, history and environment.  In the process they discover the unexpected.

Colour Talks

2008 FESTIVAL
8 min.
In a teeming social world of camouflage and display, marine animals talk in a language we do not yet understand  In a groundbreaking step toward learning to listen, Colour Talks unravels the mystery of funderwater color, and brings a revolutionary understanding of the language of fish.

Dope Spider

2008 FESTIVAL.
Natural history meets pyschedelia in this hilarious short. (some PG-13 Language)