[All] Environmental Films at Guelph Festival of Moving Media: THIS WEEKEND (Nov. 5-7)!

[Rob Case]

The Guelph Festival of Moving Media (GFOMM), a non-profit project of the Guelph International Resource Centre (GIRC), is proud to present this year's program of films, running Friday November 5 through Sunday November 7 (with pre-festival screenings on Thursday Nov. 4th). Films and panel discussions on culture and music, grassroots democracy, globalization, environmental issues and more. 

Full program details, with links to trailers, at www.festivalofmovingmedia.ca.

On an environmental theme, GFOMM this year presents the following films:

>From Salary to Celery (15 min; 2010; Canada)
Earthkeepers (82 min; 2009; Canada)
A Different Path (96 min; 2010; USA)
Waterlife (109 minutes; 2009; Canada)
Into Eternity (75 min; 2010; Denmark
I Bought a Rainforest (58 min; 2010; Sweden

See you at the movies!

Rob Case, GIRC volunteer

>From Salary to Celery
Nora Abouguendia, Reyn Lauer & Sarah Loewen
15 minutes; 2010; Canada
Thurs Nov 4 7pm Everdale Organic Farm
Following the journey of thirty-something Paul Loewen, From Salary to Celery is an honest and inspiring portrayal of the challenges and rewards that one man faces as he follows his heart.  It begins with a bold move by Paul who breaks away from his chosen career path as an engineer where his days are spent monotonously in front of a computer.  Left feeling unfulfilled, he pursues what he believes will make him happy - life as a market gardener.  Told in a funny and poignant way, this film brings to light the strength of character that allows Paul to face the risks that come from following his dream.

Earth Keepers
Sylvie Van Brabant
82 minutes; 2009; Canada (www.earthkeepersthefilm.com)


Thurs Nov 4 7pm Everdale Organic Farm
Sat. Nov. 6  1pm Alma Gallery, Wyndham Street, Guelph


At the urging of his mentor, pioneering Canadian environmentalist Christian de Laet, young activist Mikael Rioux begins an international quest. He meets seven visionaries implementing innovative projects with concrete solutions to environmental and social problems. Among others, we meet India's Ashok Khosla of Development Alternatives, the world's largest alternative development NGO, and Kenya's Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement.  Director Sylvie Van Brabant uses Rioux's encounters (and the words of slam poet Ivy) to create both a sense of urgency and the possibility of real change when, as de Laet says, "citizens re-appropriate their own power".

A Different Path
Directed by Monteith McCollum
96 minutes; 2010; USA


U of G - Thurs Nov 4 8pm
Alma Gallery - Sun Nov 7 3pm


www.thirtymilesfromanywhere.com


Where communities are replaced by commutes, and pedestrians get lost in parking lots, activists are working against the "100-year old problem" of car-centric city planning. 

A Different Path follows a sidewalk activist Senior, a Critical Mass Trumpeter, city Kayak-er, and others as they struggle to make their way through the modern automobile-centric urban environment. Each character uses ingenuity and humor to try and solve their modern mobility dilemma. The film is an artistic and poetic treatment of personal struggle and environmental concern over livable cities, asking the question, "since when does not being a driver equate to not being a citizen?"



Waterlife
Kevin McMahon
109 minutes; 2009; Canada

http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
Sat Nov 6 1pm Ebar, Guelph
Sat Nov 6 7pm Norfolk Street United Church
This is a powerful story about the last huge supply of fresh water on the planet: a cinematic investigation of the Great Lakes. Following the path that water travels as it flows from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, 

McMahon and his team explore lake by lake the characters, culture and impact that these massive bodies support and create. Poignant and spirited observations come from a rainbow of contributors including scientists, fishermen, activists, and cottage-goers. 

Filled with gorgeous and crafty camerawork, narrated by The Tragically Hip vocalist Gord Downie, and featuring a fantastic soundtrack, Waterlife is absolutely one of the highlights of the festival.
Pull Quote: "a cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking it for granted."

Into Eternity
Michael Madsen
75 minutes; 2010; Denmark

www.intoeternitythemovie.com

Sat Nov 6 9 pm Norfolk Street United Church

This beautifully shot documentary tells the shocking story of the world's first permanent repository for nuclear waste in Olkiluoto, Finland. Dubbed "Onkalo" (a Finnish word that means "hiding place"), the facility will take the next 100 years to build, and it will span the next 100,000 years housing the radioactive byproducts of nuclear power generation in tunnels hewn out of solid bedrock. Into Eternity poses necessary questions about the nuclear industry, and the nature of legacy in human history. Madsen and crew seem most concerned with how we warn our descendants of the deadly waste we left behind

I Bought a Rainforest
Directed by Jacob Andrén & Helena Nygren
58 minutes; 2010; Sweden

http://www.iboughtarainforest.com/
Sun Nov 7 1pm Alma Gallery, $6*
As a primary school student in 1980s Sweden, Jacob Andrén participated in a class project designed to "save the rainforest." Selling knick-knacks at a local flea market with his classmates yielded enough money for each student to "purchase" a tree in an endangered forest. And that was that. 

Twenty-something years later, curious and skeptical, Jacob wonders if he and his schoolyard chums actually made any impact on the health of the forest. Cue the investigation to find his primary teacher, who digs out the old deed of purchase for a patch of trees in. Costa Rica. Not nearly sated, 

Jacob travels to Central America to see firsthand the forest that over 400,000 Swedish kids attempted to protect one tree at a time. His journey is about actualizing the imaginary forest of twenty years ago, but also understanding what threats these forests are facing today.



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