Bluebird Man

12 Minutes
Filmmakers: Matthew Podolsky and Neil Paprocki
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Bluebird Man is the story of 91-year-old Al Larson, a self-taught conservation hero who has committed the last 35 years of his life to saving North America’s bluebirds. Breathtaking scenery, intimate conversations, and stunning footage of all three species of bluebird create a powerful film with the goal of inspiring our next generation of citizen scientists.

Screens on Sunday, October 23 during Block 9, which begins at 6:00 pm at the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies the Shepherd University Campus.

EO Wilson: Of Ants and Men

2016 ACFF GREEN FIRE AWARD
ACFF 2016 Green Fire Winner Laurels Large 2016
92 Minutes
Filmmaker: Graham Townsley
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Follow the extraordinary scientific odyssey of one of America’s greatest living thinkers, E.O Wilson. Often dubbed “a Darwin for the modern day,” his lectures at Harvard were picketed and he was even physically attacked on stage at a scientific conference, all because he suggested that human nature could be studied scientifically. Time has borne Wilson out, and sociobiology has become a well-established and accepted part of the humanities. The film culminates in a rapturous finale about his work in the great national park of Mozambique, Gorongosa, once torn apart by civil war, now being restored to its former glory.

Two Screenings!  Screens on Saturday, October 22 during BLOCK 4, which begins at 2:15 pm at the National Conservation Training Center. Encore screening on Sunday, October 30 during BLOCK 16, which begins at 6:00 pm at the Frank Center on the Shepherd University Campus.

How to Change the World

2016 ACFF GREEN SPARK AWARD – INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATIONACFF 2016 Green Spark Laurels large110 Minutes
Filmmaker: Jerry Rothwell
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In 1971, a group of friends sail into a nuclear test zone and their protest captures the world’s imagination, giving birth to Greenpeace and defining the modern green movement. Media savvy from the beginning, these pioneers captured their activist adventures on 16mm film. From this vivid archive and narration by Robert Hunter, an early guiding force of the organization, Jerry Rothwell has created a thrilling, sometimes terrifying film. When youthful energy comes up against the complexities of a growing organization, and idealism meets compromise, the group finds that their battle to save the planet forces them also to fight each other. This film is also a vibrant, moving reflection on the struggle to balance the political and the personal.

Screens on Friday, October 21 during BLOCK 1, which begins at 6:00 pm at the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies on the Shepherd University Campus.  Encore screening on Saturday, October 29 during BLOCK 12, which begins at 5:00 pm at the Frank Center on the Shepherd University Campus.

Muir

4 Minutes
Chandler Ellison
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This animated short film reflects on both the love and legacy of the naturalist John Muir, a man who spent much of his life promoting and advocating for the importance of the wilderness in people’s lives as well as its protection. His writings, a product of his own love and devotion to America’s wild places, eventually helped lead to the creation of the National Parks. Muir pays homage to his reverence and devotion to that idea.

Pale Blue Dot

4 Minutes
Filmmaker: Chin Li Zhi

Pale Blue Dot 2Set to the words of Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot situates human history against the tapestry of the cosmos through an eclectic combination of art styles woven seamlessly together through music and visuals, seeking to remind us that regardless of our differences, we are one species living on Earth.

Screens on Friday, October 21 during BLOCK 1, which begins at 6:00 pm at the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies on the Shepherd University Campus.

The Power of One Voice: A 50 Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson

52 min

Filmmaker: Mark Dixon

Rachel Carson is widely regarded as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Her talent as a writer, combined with her deep knowledge of the natural world, made her a potent advocate for the use of precaution when working with biological systems. In 1962, her best-selling book, Silent Spring, awoke the environmental consciousness of America with poignant words of caution in the face of rapidly advancing scientific progress.  This documentary film pulls insights from a variety of speakers at a 50 year anniversary celebration of Silent Spring.

7:40 pm on Thursday at the NCTC Byrd Auditorium

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Aerial America: Wilderness

2014 FESTIVAL
51 min.
Filmmaker:  Smithsonian Channel
See the wild places that fueled artists, inspired presidents, and started movements.  An aerial tour reveals America’s most breathtaking natural landscapes protected by the Wilderness Act of 1964.
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Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek

2014 FESTIVAL
56 min.
Filmmaker:  Leah Mahan
This film follows the journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice.
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DamNation

2014 FESTIVAL
94 min.
Filmmakers:  Ben Knight, Travis Rummel, Matt Stoecker
Dam removal has gone beyond the Monkey Wrench Gang and gone mainstream. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other fish the right to return to spawning grounds. DamNation’s majestic cinematography moves through rivers and landscapes altered by dams. It also captures a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.
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Emptying the Skies

2014 FESTIVAL
75 min.
Filmmakers:  Douglas Kass, Roger Kass
Songbird populations have been drastically declining for several decades, and a number of species face extinction. Based on Jonathan Franzen’s article in The New Yorker, Emptying the Skies chronicles the rampant poaching of migratory songbirds in southern Europe. This film follows an intrepid group of bird-lovers who risk their lives waging a secret war against poachers and the illegal trapping of songbirds.
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