Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden
|
|
Amy Brost, Director
Harvey Wang, Director; Producer, 6:08 mins.
|
3:30pm Saturday SOH
|
| In 1975, on the crime-ridden Lower East Side of New York City, Adam Purple started a garden behind his tenement home. By 1986, The Garden of Eden was world famous and had grown to 15,000 square feet. For Adam--a social activist, philosopher, artist, and revolutionary--The Garden was the medium of his political and artistic expression. It was razed by the city in 1986 after a protracted court battle. |
Amazon Alive - Part 3: Forest of the Future
|
| Christian Baumeister, 44:27 mins. |
7:22pm Saturday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| It is hard not to feel despair at the overwhelming images of rainforest destruction. But while documenting the region's remarkable wildlife for the making of AMAZON ALIVE, film-maker Christian Baumeister has also witnessed a changing mood: a growing belief that it is more valuable as a living forest than being stripped for its wood and minerals. Christian discovers that an increasing respect for the Amazon's natural wonders can translate into hope for the future. |
America's Wildest Refuge
|
| Lisa Oakley, 55:25 mins. |
2:45pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| Tucked into a remote corner of Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a place where wilderness is experienced on an epic scale. Meet the early conservationists who helped establish the refuge, the Alaska Natives who rely upon it for their subsistence way of life, and those who look to it for economic sustenance. Get to know the refuge's wildest residents, including caribou, bears, musk oxen, and the scientists studying them. Leave with a visceral sense of place, of the refuge's natural bounty, of the crosscurrents that forged its past, and the challenges shaping its future. |
Among Giants
|
| Chris Cresci, 13:42 mins. |
8:30pm Saturday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| As clearcutting continues to ravage California's coastal redwood region, Farmer, an environmental activist decides to tree sit to defend the McKay Tract. A hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation as he fights for a sustainable future. |
Bag It
|
| Caitlin Boyle and Lucy Flores, 79:00 mins. |
1:00pm BCLSA Sunday Afternoon
|
| Try going a day without plastic. In this touching and often flat-out-funny film, we follow "everyman" Jeb Berrier as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic's effects on our oceans, environment, and bodies. We see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us...and what we can do about it. |
Bird Island
|
| Sara Poisson, 38:47 mins. |
1:45pm SOH Saturday Afternoon
|
| There is a magical island unlike any other on Earth. Less than a quarter of a square mile, Isla Rasa is so small it is difficult to find on a map. Some creatures, however, do not need a map. Generations of seabirds have found a way to this enchanted isle of Eden in the heart of Mexico's Gulf of California. For three months every spring this flat and barren rock comes to life as over a half a million birds gather on one tiny island to multiply. Soon hundreds of thousands of chicks will greet the world head on, learn how to live, struggle to survive and eventually take to the sky-- a bird's eye view of the circle of life. |
California Forever
|
| David Vassar, 75:00 mins. |
8:45pm Saturday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| This 75 minute documentary celebrates the beauty, drama and sweeping history of California State Parks, the most magnificent and diverse collection of state parks in the nation. |
Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction
|
| Monte Thompson and Chera Van Burg, 60:00 mins. |
12:30pm SOH Saturday Afternoon
|
| All over the world species are becoming extinct at an astonishing rate, from 1000 to 10,000 times faster than normal. The loss of biodiversity has become so severe that scientists are calling it a mass extinction event. Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction is the first feature documentary to investigate the growing threat to Earth's life support systems from this unprecedented loss of biodiversity. It tells the story of a crisis not only in nature, but also in human nature, a crisis more threatening than anything human beings have ever faced before. |
Charcoal Burners (Polish Title: Smolarze)
|
| Piotr Zlotorowicz, 15:00 mins. |
7:00pm Saturday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| Every summer, Marek and Janina work as charcoal burners in the Bieszczady Mountains. Farfrom civilization, in the heart of the mountains, they live according to the rhythm set by nature.The documentary joins the man and the woman from dawn till dusk, observing the slow passageof time. A visual anthem to the beauty of life. |
Chasing Water
|
| Pete McBride, 19:00 mins. |
12:30pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| The Colorado River is the seventh largest river in the U.S., supplying water to over 30 million people. It is also one of the most diverted, silted, and heavily litigated rivers in the world. The farmers and residents of the rapidly growing western states rely on the river for irrigation, drinking water, and electricity. This demand has permanently altered the river's ecology. The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict shows us the river's entirety—from its headwaters in the Colorado Rockies to the dry riverbed that once reached the Sea of Cortez—in an oversized, full-color, photo essay format. |
Climate Refugees
|
| Justin Hogan and Michael Nash, 86:00 mins. |
7:03pm BCLSA Saturday Night
|
| There is a new phenomenon in the global arena called "Climate Refugees." A climate refugee is a person displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters. Such disasters result from incremental and rapid ecological change, resulting in increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, cyclones, fires, mass flooding and tornadoes. All this is causing mass global migration and border conflicts. For the first time, the Pentagon now considers climate change a national security risk and the term climate wars is being talked about in war-room like environments in Washington D.C. |
Corner Plot
|
| Ian Cook, 10:14 mins. |
7:05pm SOH Thursday Night
|
| Amid the tangle of commuter traffic, shopping malls and office buildings that define life inside the beltway rests a one-acre piece of farmland under the care of 89-year-old Charlie Koiner. With the help of his only daughter, Charlie continues to work his land, share his produce, and enjoy the farm life he's always known. Corner Plot explores one man's steadfast authenticity in a changing world. |
Creatures of the Lagoon
|
| Peter Schriemer, 51:00 mins. |
12:00pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Family Theater
|
| Host Peter Schriemer leads young viewers on an exploration of Florida's Indian River Lagoon, a richly diverse156-mile long inland waterway which serves as a nursery for many species of marine life. The film immerses viewers in the endangered world of the creatures at the bottom of the aquatic food chain. These small animals seek the sanctuary of the lagoon's sea grass beds and mangrove forests to hide from voracious predators before heading back into the ocean to begin the cycle of life anew. After the film, Peter himself will be present to take the audience exploring on a backyard safari! |
Dissolving Destinies
|
| Brandon Strathmann, 6:30 mins. |
1:45pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Family Theater
|
| This film highlights an important but widely unknown issue, Ocean Acidification. Following a little crab through the coral reef, we see the effects of ocean acidification and learn that what we do on land affects what happens to the oceans. This educational environmental film has a message of hope, and its endearing characters help remind us how important it is to be aware of our daily actions and how they will impact our future. The film is animated in 3D using Autodesk Maya. |
Duck!
|
|
Danny Ledonne, 61:00 mins.
|
4:15 BCLSA Sunday Afternoon
[Sneak Preview at Federal Duck Stamp Contest at NCTC October 29]
|
| They swim, they waddle, and they fly. They are the subjects of art, science, history, and popular entertainment. They are cartoons, stamps, carvings, pets, livestock, urban neighbors, and even dinner. They are ducks! Across America, quirky and often comical interactions can teach us about our feathery neighbors, our planet, and ourselves. |
Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time
|
| Steve & Ann Dunsky, 73:30 mins. |
1:00pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, Green Fire highlights Leopold's extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. Leopold remains relevant today, inspiring projects all over the country that connect people and land. |
If a Tree Falls: A Story of The Earth Liberation Front
|
| Marshall Curry, 85:00 mins. |
3:36pm SOH Saturday Afternoon and 6:15 SOH Sunday Night
|
| In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front -- a group the FBI has called America's "number one domestic terrorism threat." Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thrilller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group. And along the way it asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism. [Warning: Rough Language] |
John Muir in the New World
|
| Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur, 84:32 mins. |
2:30pm BCLSA Sunday Afternoon
|
| Preservationist, naturalist, author, explorer, activist, scientist, farmer, John Muir (4/21/1838 — 12/24/1914) was all these things and more. Nearly a century after his death, this Scottish American is remembered and revered as the father of the environmental movement and the founder of the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. This film delves into Muir's life and influences with reenactments filmed in high definition throughout the majestic landscapes he visited: Wisconsin, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra Valley of California, and the glaciers of Alaska. |
La Mirada Circular
|
| Pablo Menéndez, 12:15 mins. |
12:00pm SOH Saturday Afternoon
|
| A conventional family. A wonderful place. A nice day. A perfect nightmare. [Warning: Disturbing Images - Not for Children] |
Libangbang
|
| Chia-chi Tseng, 4:37 mins. |
7:00pm BCLSA Friday Night
|
| Through the lens of poetry, this animated short is inspired by the Flying Fish of Orchid Island. |
Mother Nature's Child
|
| Camilla Rockwell, 57:00 mins. |
3:00pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Family Theater
|
| Mother Nature's Child explores nature's powerful role in children's health and development through the experience of toddlers, children in middle childhood and adolescents. The effects of "nature deficit disorder" are now being noted across the country in epidemics of child obesity, attention disorders, and depression. The film asks: Why do children need unstructured time outside? What is the place of risk-taking in healthy child development? How is play a form of learning? Why are teachers resistant to taking students outside? How can city kids connect with nature? What does it mean to educate the 'whole' child? |
Mother: Caring for 7 Billion
|
| Joyce Johnson, 53:00 mins. |
9:30pm SOH Friday Night and 12:00pm BCLSA Sunday Afternoon
|
| The population is turning 7 billion in 2011. Mother breaks a 40-year taboo by bringing to light an issue that silently fuels our most pressing environmental, humanitarian and social crises - population growth. Population was once at the top of the international agenda, dominating the first Earth Day. Since the 1960s the world population has nearly doubled, adding more than 3 billion people. At the same time, talking about population has become politically incorrect because of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding the topic – religion, economics, family planning and gender inequality. Yet it is an issue we cannot afford to ignore. |
Mountain Man
|
| Alexandra Santoro, 13:47 mins. |
7:15pm SOH Thursday Night
|
| There are countless organizations and activist groups in Orange County that aim to protect our environment. Naturalist for You headed by Joel Robinson takes a unique approach that focuses on personal inspiration over political activism. He believes that connecting individuals to nature first hand is much more powerful than signing petitions and lobbying congress. Driven by breathtaking scenery of Orange County's 'unknown' canyons and waterfalls, 'Mountain Man' will take the audience on a journey through the natural beauty in their own backyard. |
Nature's Matchmaker
|
| Smithsonian, 46:00 mins. |
4:00pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Family Theater
|
| The business of the birds and the bees gets more complicated when it comes to the endangered species of the world. Female giant pandas are only fertile once a year, for 48 hours. Male Clouded Leopards often try to kill their mates. But when nature fails, science steps in. Join us as we follow Dr. JoGayle Howard, matchmaker, surgeon and reproductive sleuth on her mission to stave off extinction one litter at a time. |
Peak to Peak
|
| Jeremy Roberts, 7:19 mins. |
7:15pm Saturday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| Researcher Jack Hogg has studied bighorn sheep for over 30 years. In that time, he has come to know the species like few other people ever will. Follow Jack on a delightful journey watch baby bighorn lambs at play, as he discusses what a changing climate might mean for the animals. Produced by Conservation Media. |
Rise of the Jelly Fish (3D)
|
| Carsten Oblaender, 60:00 mins. |
7:00pm Friday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| Our oceans are under siege. The invaders: An army of brainless, bloodless phantoms from the deep, billions strong – and growing stronger every year. They're destroying fisheries, plunging cities into darkness and poisoning beaches. "Rise of the Jellyfish" takes you on a journey into the mysterious world of jellyfish and into scientist's battle against a worldwide takeover. Filmed in stunning 3D, "Rise of the Jellyfish" places the audience right in the middle of gigantic jellyfish swarms. This state-of-the-art technology allows for an up-close and personal encounter with some of the world's most dangerous creatures. |
Secret Life of the Rainforest (3D)
|
| Julian Thomas, 50:00 mins. |
9:00pm Friday Night NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| "At the crossroads between South and North America, Panama is the perfect place to see evolution in action and understand how animals and plants interact. Nowhere can this interaction be seen more vividly than on Barro Colorado Island. Every year scientists descend on the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. By scaling the treetops from canopy to forest floor, they investigate how animals and plants have adapted and sometimes manipulate each other for survival. SECRET LIFE OF THE RAINFOREST reveals ants that fly, the sleep secrets of sloths, bats that hunt ringtones and many other marvels of evolution, all in gorgeous 3D." |
Seeing Death Valley
|
| Rory Banyard, 19:07 mins. |
7:40pm BCLSA Thursday Night
|
| Seeing Death Valley is a visual exploration of one of America's most extreme desert landscapes. The film explores the geology, natural history and cultural hisotry of Death Valley and highlights the different ways the Valley has been seen over time. Seeing Death Valley is narrated by Donald Sutherland. |
Struggle for Existence
|
| Laurie Sumiye Filiak, 21:52 mins. |
7:00pm SOH Saturday Night
|
| In 2025 only five rare Palila birds survive in the wild and a woman journeys to Hawaii, known as "the Extinction Capital of the World," to see the bird before it becomes extinct. She reflects on the fate of three other Hawaiian birds, and how they were preserved by man as each species neared extinction. |
The Big Fix
|
| Josh Tickell, 88:00 mins. |
7:05pm SOH Friday Night
|
| THE BIG FIX begins as a comprehensive investigation into the massive Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill but then digs even deeper to reveal a darker and more unsettling truth about the world we live in today. By exposing the root causes of the spill, filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell uncover a vast network of corruption that not only caused one of the greatest environmental catastrophes of all time but may also lead to something that could be even more damaging to life as we know it; an inevitable global currency collapse. |
The City Dark
|
| Ian Cheney, 84:00 mins. |
8:45pm BCLSA Friday Night and SOH Sunday Night
|
| The City Dark chronicles the disappearance of darkness. When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves to New York City and discovers skies almost completely devoid of stars, a simple question – what do we lose, when we lose the night? – spawns a journey to America's brightest and darkest corners. Astronomers, cancer researchers, ecologists and philosophers provide glimpses of what is lost in the glare of city lights. Blending a humorous, searching tone with poetic footage of the night sky, what unravels is an introduction to the science of the dark and an exploration of the human relationship to the stars. |
The Garden
|
| Jason Stefaniak, 4:32 mins. |
7:00pm SOH Thursday Night
|
| A young girl discovers the majestic qualities of nature in a fast-paced urban environment. |
The Gorilla Whisperer
|
| Thomas Behrend, 60:00 mins. |
4:00pm Saturday Afternoon NCTC Byrd Auditorium
|
| This is the story of a silverback gorilla called Makumba who has reigned supreme in the forests of the Congo for more than 10 years. Life in the jungle is a running battle with rivals to hold on to his crown - and his family. He defends them with terrifying displays of power, but has let down his guard to one scientist, Angelique Todd, who has spent a decade earning his trust. Her mission is to infiltrate the home and hearts of his troop to decode the mysteries surrounding this most private and secretive species. |
The Green Tunnel
|
| Kevin Gallagher, 4:37 mins. |
7:00pm SOH Friday Night
|
| Green Tunnel- A six month journey along the 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail, condensed and reinterpreted into five minutes of stop-motion. |
The Last Mountain
|
| Bill Haney, 95:00 mins. |
7:30pm Thursday SOH and 4:15pm SOH Sunday Night
|
| In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of Big Coal. The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal. |
The Polar Explorer
|
| Mark Terry, 60:00 mins. |
9:00pm BCLSA Saturday Night
|
| From the winners of the 2010 ACFF Audience Choice Award comes a new film on the latest climate change discoveries being made at both ends of the earth - The Arctic and Antarctica. Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, Canada's Northwest Passage was first navigated by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1903–1906. In the recent past, Arctic sea ice prevented regular marine passage, but climate change has reduced this ice, making the waterways more navigable. The Polar Explorer explores the Passage on a three-week scientific expedition taking place on the aptly named icebreaker, the Amundsen. |
The Species Problem
|
| Christina Choate, 16:00 mins. |
12:15pm SOH Saturday Afternoon
|
| These days the term 'species' is thrown around as if it were a definite unit, but the realities of defining a species are much trickier, and more contentious, than they seem. |
There Once Was an Island
|
| Briar March and Lyn Collie, 80:00 mins. |
7:05 BCLSA Thursday Night
|
| Three people in a unique Pacific Island community face the first devastating effects of climate change, including a terrifying flood. Will they decide to stay with their island home or move to a new and unfamiliar land, leaving their culture and language behind forever? [Warning: partial nudity] |
Vanishing Act
|
| Jeremy Hung, 2:55 mins. |
7:00pm BCLSA Saturday Night
|
| A young boy meets a magician to find out what happens to our trash after we dispose of them. |
Warriors of Qiugang
|
| Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, 39:13 mins. |
7:00pm BCLSA Thursday Night
|
| Villagers in central China take on a chemical company that is poisoning their land and water. For five years they fight to transform their environment and as they do, they find themselves transformed as well. Academy Award Nominee - Best Documentary Short Subject |
Waste Land
|
| Lucy Walker, 99:02 mins. |
7:20pm SOH Saturday Night
|
| Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys to the world's largest garbage dump on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores"—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz's collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. The film offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit. Academy Award Nominee - Best Documentary Feature |
When Eagles Dream
|
| Rob Owens, 13:21 mins. |
1:50 Saturday Afternoon NCTC Family Theater
|
| Filmmaker Rob Owens crafts a beautiful and moving documentary of the lives of the eagles at the National Conservation Training Center. With its incredible and up-close footage, When Eagles Dream brings you into the eagle nest, allowing the audience to witness nature and the eagle pair as they care for their eaglet. |
White Water Black Gold
|
| David Lavallee, 64:00 mins. |
2:15pm SOH Saturday Afternoon
|
| White Water, Black Gold is an investigative point-of-view documentary about David Lavallee's journey down the Athabasca River and across western Canada in search of answers about the battle between water and oil. Following an imaginary drop of water, and later an imaginary drop of oil, he discovers the threats to the third largest watershed in the world and two separate oceans. White Water, Black Gold is a film about the inextricable link between water and oil in our modern world. |
Windfall
|
| Laura Isreal, 83:00 mins. |
8:15pm BCLSA Thursday Night
|
| Wind power... it's sustainable... it burns no fossil fuels... it produces no air pollution. What's more, it cuts down dependency on foreign oil. That's what the people of Meredith, in upstate New York first thought when a wind developer looked to supplement the rural farm town's failing economy with a farm of their own — that of 40 industrial wind turbines. Attracted at first to the financial incentives, a group of townspeople grow increasingly alarmed as they discover the impacts that the 400-foot high windmills could bring to their community as well as the potential for financial scams. |
| SOH is The Shepherdstown Opera House |
