DCEFF 2012

Cafeteria Man (2011)

Richard Chisolm Sheila Kinkade

<p>Tony Geraci, as food-service director for Baltimore&rsquo;s public schools, embarked on an ambitious project: to &ldquo;green&rdquo; the lunches of the city&rsquo;s 83,000 students by replacing pre-plated, processed foods with locally-grown, freshly prepared meals. A charismatic chef from New Orleans, Geraci describes himself as a &ldquo;little bit lunch lady, a lot P.T. Barnum.&rdquo; His bold vision includes school vegetable gardens, student-designed meals, meatless Mondays and nutrition education in the classroom. Over the course of two years, the film documents the efforts of parents, teachers, administrators, farmers, chefs and dozens of creative and motivated students to overhaul a dysfunctional nutritional system. Healthy food advocates Michael Pollan and Will Allen and First Lady Michelle Obama also make appearances. Viewers watch as inner city youth plant and harvest vegetables at the school system&rsquo;s 33-acre teaching farm, witness what it takes to get local produce on school plates and watch as high school seniors develop practical job skills through a new citywide culinary vocational training program.</p>

The Broken Moon (2010)

Marcos Negrao André Rangel

<p>Beyond the mountains of the Western Himalaya, Sonam, an old nomad man, lives with his tribe in one of the most adverse and isolated regions of the planet, but a sudden change in the climate is drying most of the rivers and transforming several valleys in deserts, threatening his people&#39;s survival.</p>

Fletcher And The Springtime Blossoms

Ed Mironiuk Kris Tercek

<p>Fletcher enjoys the sunny weather and the warmth of spring. But when he stumbles across snowy flakes gently floating to the ground, he spreads the news of winter&rsquo;s return to all his friends. But spring is full of wonderful surprises for Fletcher and his friends.</p>

I Wish I Went To Ecuador

David Bunting

<p>An animated documentary that takes you into the heart of the Ecuadorian rainforest. A child&#39;s eye view of a life-changing expedition by their teacher, and their joint mission to preserve these vital forests.</p>

Amazonia (2010)

Sam Chen

<p>In the dangerous world of the Amazon Rainforest, finding a meal proves to be an impossible task for a little treefrog named Bounce. His luck changes when he meets Biggy, a blue-bellied treefrog who takes him under his guidance and shows him the ways of the jungle in this animated journey set to Beethoven&#39;s Symphony No.8.</p>

Scaredy Squirrel (2011)

Galen Fott

<p>Scaredy Squirrel never leaves his nut tree. It&#39;s way too dangerous out there! Day after day he watches and waits, waits and watches, until one day...his worst nightmare comes true! Scaredy Squirrel suddenly finds himself out of his tree. As he leaps into the unknown, he discovers something really uplifting about himself!</p>

All In The World (2011)

Galen Fott

<p>Following a circle of family and friends through the course of a day from morning till night, this film affirms the importance of all things great and small in our world, from the tiniest shell on the beach, to warm family connections, to the widest sunset sky.</p>

Taking Root: The Vision Of Wangari Maathai

Lisa Merton Alan Dater

<p>Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy--a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.</p>

“transcending Boundaries”: Perspectives From Waterton-glacier International Peace Park

Cory Wilson

<p>Throughout the world, peace and conflict often occur at political and other artificial borders. Transcending Boundaries explores the different contexts in which man-made borders and the conflict that surrounds them impact communities.</p>

“transcending Boundaries”: Perspectives On Transboundary Conservation In The Central Albertine Rift Valley

Cory Wilson

<p>Transcending Boundaries: Perspectives on Transboundary Conservation in the Central Albertine Rift Valley explores the geographic, cultural, and ecological issues in the Central Albertine Rift Valley of East Africa, encompassing regions of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The film features a diverse range of individuals engaged in conserving this critical ecosystem and evaluates the impact of regional conflicts alongside ongoing initiatives for post-conflict peace-building through transboundary environmental conservation.</p>

Submission (Underkastelsen)

Stefan Jarl

<p>Distinguished Swedish film director Stefan Jarl is concerned about the &ldquo;chemical society&rdquo; we have been building since World War II. Back then, humans used one million tons of chemicals per year; today that figure has risen to 500 million tons. The chemical industry is the fastest growing on the planet. This revealing documentary explores the 100,000 chemicals encountered daily, from softeners (phthalates) to flame retardants (PBDE) to surfactants (PFOS, PFOA). In addition to examining the latest scientific knowledge about the known effects of these chemicals, the film poses the question of how and why we as individuals are willing to submit ourselves to such hazards.</p>

To Make A Farm (2011)

Steve Suderman

<p>Five young people with urban backgrounds embark on making their farming dreams a reality. Starting from scratch, they meet risks and challenges of this demanding profession with imagination, passion, and sacrifice. Intimate and beautifully photographed, this documentary offers a hopeful look at small-scale food production in an age of industrialized agriculture.</p>

Eatrip (2009)

Yuri Nomur

<p>This contemporary Japanese food culture documentary explores our connection to food and to each other, both as an interaction among people and between people and nature. Seen through the experiences of a food purveyor, a singer, a famous actor, a homemaker who lives off the land and a Buddhist monk, the film embarks on a journey throughout Japan showing how life can be led richly through the daily ritual of eating. A traditional tea ceremony, a visit to a famous fish market in Tokyo and a gathering around the dinner table celebrate the central importance of food.</p>

Revenge Of The Electric Car (2011)

Chris Paine

<p>Five years after Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) documented the crushing of thousands of modern electric cars, four iconic trailblazers &ndash; Elon Musk, Carlos Ghosn, Bob Lutz, and a local mechanic fight to bring them back from the dead. From the bankruptcy of GM to the razor thin survival of start-up Tesla Motors, the electric car returns with a vengeance.</p>

Chasing Water (2011)

Peter McBride

<p>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&#39;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.</p>

Water On The Table (2010)

Liz Marshall

<p>An intimate portrait of Canadian water activist Maude Barlow, considered an &ldquo;international water-warrior&rdquo; for her crusade to have water declared a human right, this film captures her public face as well as the unscripted woman behind the scenes. The camera shadows her life on the road in Canada and the United States over the course of a year as she serves as the U.N. Senior Advisor on Water. Barlow states that, &ldquo;water must be declared a public trust and a human right that belongs to the people, the ecosystem and the future, and preserved for all time and practice in law.&rdquo; The film also presents several dramatic opposing arguments from policy and economic experts who argue that water is no different from any other resource, and that the best way to protect fresh water is to privatize it.</p>

Return To The Aeolian Islands

Giovanna Taviani

<p>Generations of Italian filmmakers have drawn inspiration from the stunning Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily. This journey on a red-sailed tartan boat to the Aeolian Islands, also a personal memoir of filmmaker Giovanna Taviani, looks at the islands that have inspired such legendary filmmakers as Rossellini (Stromboli, 1950), Antonioni (L&rsquo;Avventura, 1960) and the Taviani Brothers (Kaos, 1984). For director Giovanna Taviani, the islands have a very personal connection: co-starring in Kaos, it was here that she discovered herself and the cinema. Directed by Giovanna Taviani.</p>

The Last Reef 3d: Cities Beneath The Sea

Luke Cresswell Steve McNicholas

<p>From the Academy-Award nominated creators of the Broadway show STOMP and the award-winning film Wild Ocean, The Last Reef is an uplifting, inspirational large-format and 3D cinema experience capturing one of nature&#39;s more vibrant and diverse wonderlands. Exotic coral reefs, vibrant sea walls in the sub-arctic pulsating with anemones and crustaceans: these biodiversity hot spots are as vital to our lives as the rainforests. Shot on location in Palau, Vancouver Island, French Polynesia, Mexico, and The Bahamas using groundbreaking 3D cinematography, The Last Reef takes us on a global journey to explore the connection of our cities on land with the ocean&#39;s complex, parallel world of the coral reefs beneath the sea.</p>

War Elephants (2012)

Bob Poole

<p>In Mozambique&rsquo;s Gorongosa National Park, elephants are in crisis: years of civil conflict and ivory poaching have left them frightened and hostile toward humans. More than 2,000 elephants were slaughtered during the civil conflict between 1977 and 1992 with only around five percent of the population remaining. Since then, the number has increased to between 300-400. In this new National Geographic Television Film about the recent trauma &ndash; but hopeful future &ndash; for elephants in the wake of civil conflict and poaching in Mozambique&rsquo;s Gorongosa National Park, the world&rsquo;s foremost elephant researcher Joyce Poole works hard to build trust with the animals and says &ldquo;Gorongosa may be the best place in Africa right now to be an elephant.&rdquo;</p>

The Reach Of Resonance

Steve Elkins

<p>Miya Masaoka uses music to interact with plants and insects; Jon Rose turns fences into musical instruments with a violin bow in conflict zones ranging from the Australian outback to Israel; John Luther Adams translates geophysical phenomena in Alaska into music; and Bob Ostertag explores socio-political issues through processes as diverse as transcribing riots into string quartets, and creating live cinema with garbage. By contrasting the creative paths of these artists, and a connection between them by the world renowned Kronos Quartet, the film explores music not as a form of entertainment, career, or even self-expression, but as a tool to develop more deeply meaningful relationships with people and the complexities of the world they live in.</p>

Sucumbíos, Land Without Evil (Sucumbíos Tierra Sin Mal)

Arturo Hortas

<p>In 2011, a century had passed since the first oil extraction in Ecuador. In Sucumb&iacute;os, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the oil drilling began in 1967 and has affected five indigenous peoples, including the Cof&aacute;n. This documentary details the extreme exploitation of oil in Ecuador and its implications for indigenous communities. In Spanish with English subtitles. Winner, Survival International Award, Barcelona Festival of Cinema and Human Rights.</p>

The Greater Good (2011)

Kendall Nelson Chris Pilaro

<p>Exploring the cultural intersections where parenting meets modern medicine and individual rights collide with politics, this film offers parents, doctors and policy makers a safe space to speak, listen and learn from one another. Mixing verit&eacute; footage, intimate interviews, 1950s-era government-produced movies and current TV news reporting, The Greater Good weaves together the stories of families whose lives have been forever changed by vaccination. Looking behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today, the film also re-frames this emotionally charged issue and offers, for the first time, the opportunity for a rational, scientific and factual discussion of how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program in America today.</p>

Red-end And The Seemingly Symbiotic Society

Robin Noorda Bethany de Forest

<p>Ants gather sugar cubes in an icy marl cave in order to build a palace. This turns out to be a nursery to cultivate larvae. These grubs grow in a cave and reveal themselves as bizarre, marching gluttons called Cricust. The ant Red-End is different and tries an experiment resulting in one of the Cricust being different as well.</p>

Garden In The Sea (Jardin En El Mar)

Thomas Riedelsheimer

<p>GARDEN IN THE SEA is a documentary about art, landscape, and environment. Over a period of four years, the director followed Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias to the Mexican Sea of Cortez where she was commissioned to create an underwater sculpture that gradually would help enhance marine life. Expanding the form of a classic portrait, the film talks not only about the role of art but also about human passion, experiences, and longings and makes the stunning beauty of our world tangible inviting us to care for it.</p>

5x Favela, Now By Ourselves (Agora Por Nós Mesmos)

Manaíra Carneiro Wagner Novais Rodrigo Felha Cacau Amaral Luciano Vidigal Cadu Barcellos Luciana Bezerra.

<p>Based on his segment Escola de Samba Alegria de Viver from 1962 in a film called Cinco Vezes Favela. The project &#39;5 x slum, now by ourselves&#39; gathered over 80 young people from Rio&#39;s favelas (slums), selected through workshops, script and filmmaking techniques to create a feature film consisting of five stories that reflect different facets of the daily lives of residents of these communities - with the promise of escape stereotypical representations.</p>

The Greenhorns (2011)

Severine von Tscharner Fleming

<p>Armed with a camcorder, farmer-filmmaker-activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming spent two years crisscrossing America, meeting and mobilizing a network of revolutionary young farmers resettling the land. &#39;The Greenhorns&#39; is an ode to their grit and entrepreneurial spirit, an exploration of sustainable agriculture, and an enticement to reclaim our national soil. The ninety minute feature is the culmination of well over 200 hours of original footage from all regions of the United States, as well as original animation by young urban farmer and artist Brooke Budner, and rare agricultural archival footage from the Prelinger Archives. Ultimately, The Greenhorns shows us how farmers can move out of the margins recent history has consigned them to, and back to the heart of the American food landscape.</p>

Cape Spin: An American Power Struggle

Robbie Gemmel John Kirby

<p>In 2001 a major wind farm was proposed for the middle of Nantucket Sound, fabled playground for America&rsquo;s rich and famous. Dubbed &ldquo;Cape Wind,&rdquo; with 130 turbines standing 440 feet tall, the project was billed as a clean, green power plant that should be welcomed by all. Instead, Cape Wind became one of the decade&rsquo;s most confounding political battles, cutting across party lines and creating strange alliances for and against. Imbedded behind the battle lines with full access to both sides and a commitment to impartial story telling, the filmmakers document a 21st century power struggle.</p>

Beyond Pollution (2011)

Barker White

<p>A firsthand investigation of BP&rsquo;s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, this film uncovers what really happened, why it happened and who benefited from the catastrophe. The production team traveled across the gulf coast interviewing environmental experts, government authorities, fishermen, scientists, drilling engineers and key BP contractors. Beyond Pollution examines the economic impact and health effects this tragedy will have on the local communities, both immediate and long term.</p>

In Organic We Trust

Kip Pastor

<p>A documentary that follows director Kip Pastor on a personal journey to answer commonly asked questions about organic food: What exactly is organic? Is it really better, or just a marketing scam?</p>

Rebellion At Dawn (Awka Liwen)

Mariano Aiello Kristina Hille

<p>&quot;Rebellion at Dawn (Awka Liwen)&quot; is the story of the struggle for the distribution of wealth in Argentina from the killings against originary people and the stealing of their ancestral territories, to current rebellion of the agricultural corporations to evade paying taxes. The racism against these original inhabitants is not casual: it was the alibi that scientifically tried to justify the dispossession of indian lands and the gaucho by the European descendants. Argentina in the XXI Century continues being divided. A timeless trench created in the XIX century, and as any open wound, still bleeds and should foresee closure.</p>

A Useful Life (La Vida Útil)

Federico Veiroj

<p>A movie-theater employee adjusts to a new life after the cinema he worked at for over 25 years is forced to shut down.</p>

Anyang, Paradise City

Park Chan-kyong

<p>Journey through the layers of history that have shaped the South Korean city of Anyang and its environment. The film depicts events such as a tragic fire that killed 22 female workers during the 1988 Olympics; the painstaking excavation of a 1,000-year-old temple; the search for a legendary 500-year-old &ldquo;grandmother tree&rdquo; and an investigation into how Buddhism is interwoven into the region&rsquo;s history.</p>

Space Junk 3d (2012)

Melissa R. Butts

<p>Space Junk is a visually explosive journey of discovery that weighs the solutions aimed at restoring our planet&#39;s orbits.</p>

The Tundra Book: A Tale Of Vukvukai, The Little Rock

Aleksei Vakhrushev

<p>72 years have passed as deer herder Vukvukai lives in the depths of Chukotka. He is an old man full of energy and wisdom - the &#39;real man of the tundra&#39; whose life can not be seen apart from by the deer. His people take care of a huge herd - over 14,000 deer. Their life is a non-stop struggle for survival and well-being in the most harsh weather conditions of Chaun-Chukotka. They deeply believe in the strength of tradition and so succeed in their struggle. The ancient culture of Nomadic Chukchi takes care of them, so they preserve and follow it. As far as it is now - their realm remains stable.</p>

Chandani: Daughter Of The Elephant Whisperer

Arne Birkenstock

<p>The profession of mahout (elephant whisperer) in Sri Lanka has traditionally been reserved for men. When young Chandani becomes determined to follow in her father&rsquo;s footsteps and learn the secrets of the trade passed down through generations of her family, she has to show extraordinary dedication to prove herself. A documentary with a strong emotional core, this film perceptively explores the constraints of traditional gender roles.</p>

Last Dogs Of Winter (2011)

Costa Botes

<p>One man, 150 Canadian Eskimo dogs, and lots of polar bears. All of them living on the edge, and the last of their kind.</p>

For The Birds (2000)

Ralph Eggleston

<p>A group of snooty birds roosting on a telephone wire get their just deserts when a goofy bird drops in.</p>

Sack Barrow (2011)

Ben Rivers

<p>Sack Barrow explores a small family run factory in the outskirts of London. It was set up in 1931 to provide work for limbless and disabled ex-servicemen until the factory finally went into liquidation this year. The film observes the environment and daily routines of the final month of the six workers. Years of miniature chemical and mineral processes transform the space into another world. Towards the end an extract of The Green Child by Herbert Read describes the descent into a watery cave world.</p>

The Nine Muses (2010)

John Akomfrah

<p>Part documentary, part personal essay, this experimental film combines archive imagery with the striking wintry landscapes of Alaska to tell the story of immigrant experience coming into the UK from 1960 onwards.</p>

Sea The Truth (2010)

Claudine Everaer

<p>Sea the Truth focuses on the current state of our oceans and seas, which, according to leading scientists, will be empty within 40 years if we continue to catch and eat fish at the current rate.</p>

My Village, My Lobster

Joshua Wolf

<p>This shocking documentary tells the story of the indigenous Miskito lobster divers along Nicaragua&#39;s Caribbean Coast who risk their lives every day diving for the region&#39;s most lucrative resource - the Caribbean spiny lobster.</p>

Sanctuary: The Last Stand For Sharks

John Weller Shawn Heinrichs

<p>The Bahamas have played a key role in the global movement to protect sharks from extinction and marine protections to ensure that these magnificent creatures will help keep our environment healthy for generations to come. The film highlights the most recent shark protections and paints a picture of the global threats faced by these key species. Though shark populations are in decline, momentum has been growing to protect them worldwide with many other locations now recognizing that they are worth more alive than dead and contribute to both the economy and the stability of the marine ecosystem.</p>

Sacred Science (2011)

Nick Polizzi Dan Bailey

<p>THE SACRED SCIENCE is a groundbreaking documentary that captures an unprecedented glimpse into the ancient healing practices of the Amazon rainforest&rsquo;s medicine men, or shamans, whose unique knowledge of indigenous plants and rituals is threatened by deforestation, modernization and ecotourism.</p>

The Little Mole In The City, The Little Mole And The Ducklings And The Little Mole And The Robot

Kenn Navarro

<p>Enjoy an afternoon with the family watching the Czech classic animated films of Zdeněk Miler, a renowned Czech animator, who created Krtek (Little Mole) in the 1950s. The mole became the centerpiece of more than 50 episodes over the next 40 years. Music plays an important role since the characters almost never utter more than emotional sounds; therefore, the film speaks a universal language.</p>

The Harvest: The Story Of The Children Who Feed America

Roberto Romano

<p>Get an intimate glimpse into the lives of children who struggle to dream while working 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed America. Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers and sacrifice their own childhoods to help their families survive. The film profiles these three as they follow the harvest from the scorching heat of Texas&rsquo; onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida&rsquo;s tomato fields.</p>

The Sound Of Mumbai: A Musical

Sarah McCarthy

<p>The slums of Mumbai are a long way from the Austrian Alps, but Rodgers and Hammerstein&rsquo;s timeless score for &ldquo;The Sound of Music&rdquo; transcends generations and continents to inspire the children of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra. This rousing documentary focuses on charismatic eleven-year-old Ashish, who has to overcome his anxieties as he prepares to sing a solo during the orchestra&rsquo;s performance at Mumbai&rsquo;s prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts. As the big day approaches and excitement mounts, The Sound of Mumbai illustrates how these astonishingly talented children can use art to rise above their impoverished circumstances.</p>

The Wilderness Idea: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot And The First Great Battle For Wilderness

Diane Garey Lawrence Hott

<p>Should Hetch Hetchy, a valley within Yosemite National Park, be dammed and flooded to form a reservoir for San Francisco? The first national controversy about America&rsquo;s wilderness is told through the dramatic story of the two founders of the American conservation movement and the historic battle that drove them apart. This timeless film traces the paths of the leaders of the two factions: John Muir, the brilliant and eccentric founder and first president of the Sierra Club and Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, who defined conservation as the wise management of natural resources. Pinchot argued that the benefits of water and power for the city outweighed the good of an untouched valley, while Muir pleaded for the intrinsic spiritual worth of wilderness. After a long and bitter debate, Congress approved the dam, but the schism in American attitudes that emerged during the dispute lives on.</p>

Wild By Law: The Rise Of Environmentalism And The Creation Of The Wilderness Act

Diane Garey Lawrence Hott

<p>More than just the story of a historic struggle to preserve the natural world, this film provides an invaluable overview of the roots of the environmental movement. Step back in time and meet the three men who, singly and together, fought against the current of American thought from the &lsquo;20s through the &lsquo;50s to attain what had once seemed an unimaginable victory &ndash; the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Experience the life and times of these three men: forester/philosopher Aldo Leopold, author of the best-selling &ldquo;A Sand County Almanac&rdquo; and the first to bring the word &ldquo;ecology&rdquo; into standard usage; Bob Marshall, millionaire socialist and founder of The Wilderness Society and Howard Zahniser, a tireless bureaucrat with a profound love of the wild places he seldom saw. The film offers a deeper understanding of one of the most important issues facing contemporary civilization today.</p>

A Place In The Land (1998)

Charles Guggenheim

<p>George Marsh, Frederick Billings and Laurence Rockefeller were three influential figures in the history of conservation. Born generations apart, with very different lives, the three were connected by a shared vision and a place. They occupied the same house and surrounding land in Woodstock, Vermont &ndash; a place that instilled in each of them a determination to preserve America&rsquo;s natural resources and to live in harmony with nature. The film explores the legacy of these three men and the land in Woodstock that inspired them. This history is now preserved at the Billings Farm and Museum, a museum of Vermont&rsquo;s rural past and a working dairy farm, and the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park, the first National Park in America dedicated to teaching the concept of land stewardship.</p>

The Hungry Tide (2011)

Tom Zubrycki

<p>Kiribati is a small country, a small group of low-lying islands in the central Pacific threatened by the rising tides as a result of climate change. This documentary focuses on Maria Tiimon, a Kiribati woman who lives in Australia and is active in pursuing action from the world community to change policies and attitudes to save her country and other countries in the same position. Over the course of filming, Kiribati&rsquo;s seawalls continued to be under siege by the waves and the final scenes of a town during the annual king tide, saw the water invading further into people&rsquo;s homes than previously. We are left to wonder what will happen not only to the people of these countries, but to their culture and history.</p>

Someplace With A Mountain (2011)

Steve Goodall

<p>One hour documentary about a special group of pacific islanders. The Lapita Navigators. The proud forefathers of many cultures in the tropical Pacific. They are losing their homes and crops because of sea level rise. Their livelihood and culture are dramatically threatened as the islands they live on are flooding day by day. By chance, a sailor, Steve Goodall, came across them on his travels and discovered they knew nothing about the current forecasts for sea level rise. Once informed they asked for his help. The outcome and conclusion of this story will be told in the context of an event celebrating their living culture, a culture at a cross roads of great importance for all of us.</p>

Extinction (2011)

Clayton Haskell

<p>An artful story showing that the most pressing environmental issues are happening right now in our lifetime, not thousands of years from now.</p>

Mission Of Mermaids (2012)

Susan Cohn Rockefeller

<p>Both a poetic ode to the seas and aplea for their protection, Susan Cohn Rockefeller&rsquo;s latest and most personal documentary focuses on the beauty and current plight of the world&rsquo;s oceans. Using the archetype of the mermaid, a mythical creature evocative of the ocean&rsquo;s enduring mystery, the film also honors the mermaid&rsquo;s real life avatars, the mer women and men who live from and for the seas &ndash; artists, activists, performers, divers, fishermen and sailors &ndash; and all of us who have played and dreamed on beaches, reveled in ocean waters and nourished ourselves in her depths.</p>

Aral: The Lost Sea

Isabel Coixet

<p>Once the world&rsquo;s fourth-largest inland body of water, the Aral Sea is now a notorious example of ecological calamity. Retreating over the last 50 years after the rivers that fed it were diverted for Soviet cotton irrigation projects, today it covers half of its original area and its water volume has been reduced to a quarter, transforming the climate of the region. The tainted water that remains has led to chronic illness, with climbing infant mortality rates and skyrocketing bronchitis and liver cancer. The international community was unaware of these changes until satellite images from NASA revealed the extent of the disaster in 2003.</p>

Carbon For Water (2011)

Evan Abramson Carmen Elsa Lopez

<p>In Kenya, water insecurity is a life-threatening reality, and the population is expected to leap from 40 million to 60 million in the next twenty years. Most of the country still depends on wood and charcoal for household energy, and forest cover is dwindling. At the same time, the climate is changing: rainfall is decreasing, river levels are low and water contamination is on the rise. In the fierce competition for shrinking resources, the most vulnerable are women and girls, who are responsible for finding water and fuel for their families. At dawn, nine-year-old Anzelma walks for miles in search of firewood. Many in her village have died from drinking dirty water, and firewood is a valuable commodity, used to boil water to make it safe. Anzelma&rsquo;s small body bends under the heavy loads of wood balanced on her head, but she knows her long journeys into the forest are crucial for her family&rsquo;s survival. One company is attempting to change this by providing 900,000 water filters to the people of Kenya&rsquo;s Western Province, for free. This is the largest household water treatment program in the developing world, and it&rsquo;s being financed with carbon credits earned through the reduction in use of firewood. If successful, it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million tons per year for a decade or more. But it requires changing the habits of 4.5 million people first.</p>

Rehje (2009)

Anais Huerta Raúl Cuesta

<p>After living in Mexico City for 40 years, Antonia longs to escape the pressure and turmoil of this megalopolis and return to her hometown, a Mazahua village in the state of Mexico. Miles of parched, dusty landscape roll by outside a car window as Antonia returns home to her native village from a life of toil in Mexico City. When she arrives, she finds that things are not as idyllic as she remembered. Confronted with the harsh present-day reality of water scarcity, resulting in dry riverbeds and sick relatives, she wanders through the fields, recalling childhood memories and reflecting upon changes in the village. Enhanced by strong visuals and haunting music, this meditative documentary focuses on the contrast between the urban and the agrarian.</p>

Waste Land

Lucy Walker

<p>Located just outside Rio de Janeiro, Jardim Gramacho, Brazil, is the world&#39;s largest garbage landfill. Modern artist Vik Muniz works with the so-called catadores, the men and women who pick through the refuse, to create art out of recycled materials. Muniz selects six of the garbage pickers to pose&nbsp;as subjects in a series of photographs mimicking famous paintings. In his desire to assist the catadores and change their lives, Muniz finds himself changed as well.</p>

Dirty Oil (2009)

Leslie Iwerks

<p>Deep behind-the-scenes into the strip-mined world of Alberta, Canada, where the vast and toxic Tar Sands deposit supplies the U.S. with the majority of its oil. Through the eyes of scientists, &#39;big oil&#39; officials, politicians, doctors, environmentalists, and aboriginal citizens directly impacted by &#39;the largest industrial project on the planet today,&#39; the filmmakers journey to both sides of the border to see the emotional and irreversible toll this &#39;black gold rush&#39; fueled by America&#39;s addiction to oil is taking on our planet.</p>

Pipe Dreams (2011)

Leslie Iwerks

<p>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&#39;s largest freshwater resource, the Ogallala Aquifer, and the fragile Sandhills of Nebraska, posing devastating consequences to human health, livestock, and agriculture.</p>

California Forever: The Story Of California State Parks

David Vassar

<p>Highlights the discovery and creation of California&#39;s state parks system and profiles the individuals and groups whose passion helped preserve and protect them for future generations, including John Muir. The episode takes viewers on a scenic, cultural and historical tour of California&#39;s state parks, highlighting key events and historic places that are crucial chapters of the California story, including Spanish colonists at Old Monterey, fortune seekers in Gold Country, the ill-fated Donner Party, and native tribes on the North Coast.</p>

Bhutan: Land Of The Black Necked Crane

Greg Pope Rhett Turner

<p>&ldquo;Bhutan: Land of the Black-necked Crane&rdquo; takes viewers on an exotic Journey to the small Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalayan mountains. See how a benevolent king promotes Gross Domestic Happiness for his citizens while fostering respect for the environment and natural resources. Travel with George Archibald co-founder of the International Crane Foundation to see the rare and endangered Black-necked Cranes.</p>

86 Centimetres (2011)

Peterjan van der Burgh Tshering Gyeltshen

<p>86centimetres... is a film about Bhutan facing the indisputable effects of global warming; melting ice is weakening the walls of the Himalayan glacial lakes. 350 men and women walked 9 days up to Lunana, high in the mountains, the home of gods and spirits. They put up camp for three months and manually dig an outlet to reduce the volume of the water level in the Thorthormi glacial lake and thus prevent the lake from bursting. Tashi, a 21 year old farmer, enrolls on the grueling expedition, determined to secure his unborn child&#39;s future and to help prevent a terrible disaster.</p>

Waking The Green Tiger: A Green Movement Rises In China

Gary Marcuse

<p>Waking the Green Tiger documents the rise of a green movement in China, as farmers and activists join together to oppose a massive dam project on the Upper Yangtze River. This dramatic story is told against a background of eyewitness accounts&mdash;and extraordinary archival footage&mdash;describing an earlier era under Chairman Mao when the masses were mobilized to conquer nature in the name of progress.</p>

The Big Fix (2011)

Josh Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell

<p>A documentary that examines the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.</p>

Blindsight (2006)

Lucy Walker

<p>Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, Blindsight follows the gripping true-life adventure of six blind Tibetan teenagers on a climbing expedition up formidable Mount Everest</p>

Taste The Waste (2011)

Valentin Thurn

<p>Why do we throw away so much food? And how can we stop this kind of waste?Amazing but true: On the way from the farm to the dining-room table, more than half the food lands on the dump. Most of it before it ever reaches consumers.</p>

Shelter In Place (2009)

Zed Nelson

<p>A searing portrait of a community living on the fence line of big industry - a story of environmental pollution and a battle against corporate power.</p>

The Lost Thing (2010)

Andrew Ruhemann Shaun Tan

<p>This animated fable tells the story of a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle tops at the beach. Realizing it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but is met by indifference by everyone he encounters. Empathizing with the creature, the boy sets out to find a &ldquo;place&rdquo; for it. The film is based on a picture book by multi-award-winning author and illustrator Shaun Tan.</p>

Platypus In The Tropics

Alberto Vale

<p>Called &ldquo;the world&rsquo;s most bizarre creature,&rdquo; the platypus is endemic to eastern Australia, living in the tropical rainforests of North Queensland, as well as in the southeastern temperate regions of Australia. This natural history documentary filmed over seven years entirely in the wet tropics of North Queensland Australia, reveals the little-known lifestyle of the Platypus, offering lengthy behavioral footage of these creatures, never before seen or filmed, both inside their burrows and in the water. Platypus in the Tropics is the first documentary to focus entirely upon the annual lifecycle of the Platypus, providing an intimate, close-up perspective of Platypus life.</p>

Weather Gazers (Wätterschmöcker)

Thomas Horat

<p>In the heartland of Switzerland and particularly in the Muota valley an old tradition is still alive. An old tradition that is under threat of being forgotten by the modern age of satellite pictures and computer generated weather predictions. It is the prophesying of the weather on the basis of in-depth observations of animals and plants, winds and clouds. This documentary accompanies seven weather prophets, from the Swiss interior, on their surveys of nature through the changes of the seasons. Landscapes, the music of the &ldquo;Huj&auml;ssler&rdquo; and the unadulterated dialect of the locals, enables the viewer to experience a nearly forgotten, archaic world.</p>

Vegucated (2011)

Marisa Miller Wolfson

<p>Vegucated is a guerrilla-style documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks and learn what it&#39;s all about.</p>

Bones Of Turkana (2012)

John Heminway

<p>The astonishing life of Richard Leakey, paleoanthropologist, conservationist, statesman and provocateur, is illuminated in this new National Geographic film. It investigates four decades of exploration around Kenya&rsquo;s Lake Turkana, which have given rise to both breakthroughs and controversy in the contentious field of human evolution. Bones of Turkana follows Richard, his wife, Meave, daughter Louise and the world-famous fossil-hunters of the Turkana Basin Institute on a recent dig along the shores of a mercurial lake. What emerges is both a portrait of a remarkable family and a dramatic tale of a place that, impacted by momentous climate change, has never ceased being the cauldron of human evolution. Candid conversations with Richard reveal a man who has struggled in search of truth and faced formidable challenges from political and academic realms, but ultimately prevailed in establishing a lasting legacy of paleo-exploration. The film is shot in the extraordinary light of the Great Rift Valley; music from celebrated Africa-phile Paul Simon combines with the voices of the Kenyan Boys Choir to create an ethereal soundtrack.</p>

Turtle: The Incredible Journey

Nick Stringer

<p>The story of a little loggerhead turtle, who follows in the path of her ancestors on one of the most extraordinary journeys in the natural world. Born on a beach in Florida, she rides the Gulf Stream all the way to the frozen north and ultimately swims around the entire North Atlantic to Africa and back to the beach where she was born. But the odds are stacked against her; just one in a thousand turtles survive the journey.</p>

Hunt For The Shadow Cat

Luke Wiles

<p>To reveal the secrets of the most mysterious of all big cats, a team of conservationists hire one of the U.S.&#39;s finest trackers to locate, capture and film wild jaguars using all means necessary.</p>

The Well: Water Voices From Ethiopia

Paolo Barberi Mario Michelini Riccardo Russo

<p>Each year, when the dry season arrives in Oromia (Ethiopia), the Borana herders gather with their livestock around their ancient &ldquo;singing&rdquo; wells. With a sensitive approach and evocative photography, the film follows their life during a major drought, showing a unique water management system that permits them to survive with the little available water. In a dry land of astonishing beauty, during the long periods of annual drought, the Borana life revolves around ancient perpetual wells, the only resource against the tragic effects of global climate change.</p>

Bhopali (2011)

Van Maximilian Carlson

<p>In 1984, the world&#39;s worst industrial disaster devastated and contaminated Bhopal, India. Today the suffering continues, prompting victims to fight for justice and corporate responsibility, which has long been ignored.</p>

Eco-pirate: The Story Of Paul Watson

Trish Dolman

<p>&quot;Eco-Pirate&quot; tells the story of a man on a mission to save the planet and its oceans. The film follows professional radical ecologist, Captain Paul Watson as he repeatedly flouts the law, so that he may apprehend what he sees as the more serious law-breakers: the illegal poachers of the world. Using verit&eacute; sequences shot aboard his ship as a framing device, the documentary examines Watson&#39;s personal history as an activist through archival footage and interviews, while revealing the impact of this relentless pursuit on his personal life. From the genesis of Greenpeace to sinking a pirate whaling ship off Portugal, and from clashes with fisherman in the Galapagos to Watson&#39;s recent headline-grabbing battles with the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica, the film chronicles the extraordinary life of the most controversial figure in the environmental movement; the heroics, the ego, the urgency of the world&#39;s original eco-pirate.</p>

Happy (2011)

Roko Belic

<p>&quot;Happy&quot; takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Combining real life stories of people from around the world and powerful interviews with the leading scientists in happiness research, HAPPY explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.</p>

Stolen Land (2008)

Miguel Salazar Margarita Martinez

<p>In a land where many have known nothing but war, a tightly knit and fiercely proud people, the indigenous Nasa, are caught in the middle of a long-running civil war in Colombia between the government, Marxist guerrillas and cocaine traffickers. Though pacifists by nature, they are not opposed to all conflict and are willing to defend the land they feel has been stolen from their ancestors, while at the same time fending off the violence encroaching on their nation. Lucho Acosta, their charismatic leader, descended from Indian warriors, knows that violence only breeds more violence. But facing nearly insurmountable odds, his beliefs are tested to their very core and the future of the Nasa hangs in the balance.</p>

La Clé Des Champs (The Field Of Enchantment)

Claude Nuridsany Marie Perennou

<p>A man remembers holidays at his uncle in a little village in the French countryside when he was something like 10. He feels so bored until he finds a pond and starts discovering the life in it.</p>

Potomac: American Reflections

-

<p>Everyone knows the Potomac as the river that flows past Washington, D.C. But what do we know about the river beyond our capital city? This film follows the 382-mile course of the Potomac from its origins at a small spring in West Virginia, through old coal town communities, past solitary nomads and bargemen&rsquo;s children who grew up on the C&amp;O Canal to mountain farms, survivors of the Piscataway Indian tribe and finally to the 12-mile wide river of ships that meets the Chesapeake Bay.</p>

Deafening Silence (2012)

Holly Fisher

<p>A fusion of beauty and terror, observation and anger, roving visuals and intimate stories &ndash; funny, contemplative or horrific &ndash; this experimental film provides a subjective, layered depiction of Burma (Myanmar) under brutal military dictatorship. Offering a living history of a country arrested in time, this hybrid documentary focuses on ethnic genocide, but with constant poetic resonance and a rich multiplicity of references to history and popular culture. Colonial archives and clips from YouTube are interposed within this tapestry of fragments, often in ironic counterpoint, and always to pierce the chokehold of censorship. The filmmaker made two filming trips to Burma &ndash; one posing as a tour guide and the second under-cover with ethnic Karen guerrillas, to film internal exiles surviving a free-fire jungle war zone.</p>

Lagos/koolhaas

Bregtje van der Haak

<p>Architect Rem Koolhaas and a team of students from The Harvard Project on the City, went to Lagos regularly to research the type of urbanity that is produced by uncontrolled, explosive population growth. In this documentary filmed over two years, director van der Haak wanted to take a look inside the head of Koolhaas and through his eyes, a look at Lagos. She says, Lagos is &quot;a city that holds up a mirror to him [Koolhaas], a city that is endlessly flexible, terribly creative and constantly improvising&quot;. Using small digital cameras, the filmmaker documented Koolhaas documenting Lagos to grasp and convey a sense of the new urban life that was being invented there.</p>

The Warriors Of Qiugang

Ruby Yang

<p>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.</p>

Peru’s Gold Rush: Wealth And Woes

Stephen Sapienza

<p>Peru&rsquo;s Gold Rush: Wealth and Woes is a short documentary produced for PBS NewsHour by Stephen Sapienza. It investigates the environmental destruction and social challenges caused by illegal wildcat gold mining in Peru&rsquo;s Madre de Dios region. The film explores how the rush for gold has devastated virgin rainforest, polluted rivers with mercury, and disrupted local communities. It also highlights the complexities of enforcement in this remote region, where the promise of quick wealth drives both migrants and organized groups to exploit the land.</p>

Guerrilla Mining In Guiana’s Midst

-

<p>Guerrilla Mining in Guiana&#39;s Midst is a short documentary and photojournalism piece produced by Narayan Mahon for Harper&rsquo;s Magazine. The film explores the illegal gold mining operations deep within the jungles of French Guiana. Driven by soaring global gold prices, Brazilian miners&mdash;known as garimpeiros&mdash;operate clandestinely in the dense rainforest, exploiting the land and evading French law enforcement. The film sheds light on the environmental devastation caused by illegal mining, the harsh conditions endured by miners, and the ongoing but largely ineffective attempts by French police to shut down these operations.</p>

The Dark Side Of Colombia’s Gold Rush

Nadja Drost

<p>The Dark Side of Colombia&rsquo;s Gold Rush is a short investigative documentary produced by journalist Nadja Drost for GlobalPost, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. This 4-minute film explores the tensions in Colombia&rsquo;s gold-rich regions, where local subsistence miners are caught in conflicts with large corporate mining interests, criminal gangs, and government forces. The piece highlights the environmental destruction, exploitation, and violence that have become endemic in the country&rsquo;s modern-day gold rush.</p>

Ghana: Oil Boom, Fishing Fears

Christiane Badgley

<p>Ghana: Oil Boom, Fishing Fears is a 4-minute short documentary produced by Christiane Badgley for iWatch News. The film examines the apprehensions of the traditional fishing village of Abuesi in western Ghana, following the discovery of offshore oil reserves. As Ghana embarks on oil production, the villagers express concerns about potential environmental impacts, threats to their livelihoods, and the socio-economic changes that the oil boom may bring to their community.</p>

The Penan Of Borneo

James Whitlow Delano

<p>The Penan of Borneo is a 4-minute short documentary produced by James Whitlow Delano. The film sheds light on the plight of the Penan people, indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia, who are former nomadic tribes now striving to protect the remaining unprotected rainforests of Borneo. Facing the encroachment of expansive palm oil plantations and logging activities, the Penan are engaged in a struggle to preserve their ancestral lands and the rich biodiversity of their environment.</p>

Cane Toads: The Conquest

Mark Lewis

<p>A documentary horror film about the environmental devastation left in the wake of the giant toads&#39; unstoppable march across Australia.</p>

How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?

Carlos Carcas Norberto López Amado

<p>The film traces the rise of one of the world&#39;s premier architects, Norman Foster, and his unending quest to improve the quality of life through design.</p>

The Capital Buzz (2011)

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<p>The Capital Buzz is a 15-minute documentary produced in 2011 by Diana El-Osta and the George Washington University (GWU) Documentary Center. The film explores the burgeoning urban beekeeping movement in Washington, D.C., focusing on Georgetown resident Jeff Miller. It showcases how amateur beekeepers, often operating discreetly from rooftops and enclosed porches, contribute to propagating bee populations across the city. These hidden hives play a crucial role in pollinating local flora and supporting the threatened honeybee population, highlighting the significance of urban beekeeping in ecological sustainability.</p>

Aliens Among Us

Erin Finicane Tony Azios

<p>The Galapagos Islands are being invaded by a strange alien species, unlike anything ever seen there before. These foreign colonizers bring mayhem and destruction in their wake to this former paradise. But who are these strange intruders? This short, satirical film lampoons the clich&eacute;d conventions of both the traditional nature documentary and science-fiction alien film genres, while using the Galapagos to call attention to the perils that unsustainable human development brings to delicate ecosystems worldwide.</p>

Talking Trash In Baltimore

Kaveh Rezaei

<p>Talking Trash in Baltimore is a 5-minute short film that premiered in 2012. The documentary focuses on young inner-city students in Baltimore as they learn about the impact of their habits on the health of the Baltimore Harbor and, by extension, the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding areas. The film emphasizes the role of the younger generation in preserving and restoring the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, highlighting the importance of environmental education and community involvement in urban settings.</p>

Microbreweries, Maximum Sustainability

Jen Wolfe Melissa Turley

<p>Microbreweries, Maximum Sustainability is a 3-minute short documentary produced in 2011 by Jen Wolfe and Melissa Turley. The film explores sustainable practices within the craft beer industry, highlighting how microbreweries like DC Brau implement eco-friendly measures. The filmmakers discover that recycling practices in brewing have been in place since 1899, showcasing the industry&#39;s longstanding commitment to sustainability.</p>

From Fryer To Fuel (2011)

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<p>From Fryer to Fuel is a 4-minute short documentary produced in 2011 by Jordan Petitt and Samantha Lafer. The film explores the process of converting used vegetable oil from restaurant fryers into biodiesel, highlighting the operations of Greenlight Biofuels in Maryland. It showcases how waste cooking oil, typically discarded, can be transformed into a sustainable energy source, emphasizing the potential of biofuels in reducing environmental impact.</p>

Coffee In Crisis (2011)

Natalie Kornicks Jon Fenech

<p>Coffee in Crisis is a 4-minute short documentary produced in 2011 by Natalie Kornicks and Jon Fenech. The film examines how climate change is impacting the operations of a local coffee company, illustrating the broader effects of environmental shifts on the coffee industry and bringing attention to how these changes affect consumers&#39; daily coffee experiences.</p>

There Once Was An Island (Te Henua E Noho)

Briar March

<p>There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho is an 80-minute documentary that explores the profound impact of climate change on the Polynesian community living on Takuu, a small atoll in Papua New Guinea. The film follows three islanders&mdash;Teloo, Endar, and Satty&mdash;as they confront rising sea levels that threaten their homes and cultural heritage. Facing the possibility of becoming environmental refugees, they must decide whether to relocate to Bougainville, 250 km away, or remain and fight to preserve their unique way of life. The documentary provides an intimate look into the human dimensions of climate change and its effects on indigenous cultures.</p>

Last Call At The Oasis

Jessica Yu

<p>Firmly establishing the urgency of the global water crisis as the central issue facing our world this century, this documentary illuminates the vital role water plays in our lives, exposes the defects in the current system and shows communities already struggling with its ill-effects. Featuring activist Erin Brockovich, respected water experts including Peter Gleick, Jay Famiglietti and Robert Glennon and social entrepreneurs championing revolutionary solutions, the film posits that we can manage this problem if we are willing to act now.</p>

California Forever: Parks For The Future

David Vassar

<p>California Forever: Parks for the Future is the second episode of a two-part documentary series that explores the future challenges facing California&rsquo;s state parks. Directed by David Vassar, the film examines key threats including rapid population growth, decline of native flora and fauna, loss of open space, and the escalating impacts of climate change. The documentary highlights urgent issues such as road construction through parklands, the installation of high-voltage transmission lines, industrial development, and the effects of sea-level rise. It also addresses the financial crises exacerbated by the 2008 economic meltdown, which put many parks at risk of closure. Despite these challenges, the film presents solutions and emphasizes the importance of preserving these vital natural and cultural resources for future generations.</p>

Olafur Eliasson: Space Is Process

Jacob Jørgensen Henrik Lundø

<p>This portrait film of the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson spans four particularly eventful years in the life of the artist, renowned for works that feature elements from nature. The camera follows the construction of his monumental installation The New York City Waterfalls on the East River, and the mounting of a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1. The artist is filmed at work, shooting photos while suspended above spectacular glacier fissures in Iceland, as well as at his studio in Berlin, collaborating with a team of scientists, engineers and technicians on new projects that exemplify his concept, &ldquo;space is a multiple layering of stories.&rdquo;</p>

Wild Scandanavia: Finland

Oliver Goetzl Ivo Nörenber

<p>It looks like a mosaic of water and woodland &ndash; Finland, the most eastern part of Scandinavia. Close to the Russian border, Finland is still home to rare animals: bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines roam the swampland, the Siberian Flying squirrel lives in old woodpecker nest holes. This film shows animal behavior from various species that has never been filmed before. Filmmakers Oliver Goetzl and Ivo N&ouml;renberg got the first shots of a lynx in the Finnish wilderness; the crew (including Finnish cinematographer Jan Henriksson) captured brilliant highspeed shots of goldeneye chicks jumping out of their tree nest and filmed exciting encounters of bears and wolves. Wild Scandinavia &ndash; Finland gives us numerous insights to the life of wild forest reindeer, endangered saimaa seals, flying squirrels, brown bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx, red-throated divers, black woodpeckers, goldeneye ducks, ospreys, capercaillies, against the backdrop of the aurora borealis.</p>

Biophilic Design: The Architecture Of Life

Bill Finnegan

<p>Embark on a journey from our evolutionary past and the origins of architecture to the world&rsquo;s most celebrated buildings in a search for the architecture of life. The film showcases buildings that connect people and nature &ndash; hospitals where patients heal faster, schools where children&rsquo;s test scores are higher, offices where workers are more productive and communities where people know their neighbors and families thrive. As an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work and learn, biophilic design reflects humanity&rsquo;s need for a connection to nature. Despite this need, we have often designed our cities and suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from the natural world. The recent trend in green architecture has decreased the environmental impact of the built environment, but has accomplished little in the way of reconnecting us to the natural world. The film points the way to creating healthy and productive habitats for modern humans.</p>

Has Firestone Liberia Gone Far Enough In Workplace Reforms?

Ed Robbins

<p>This 6-minute documentary examines the labor practices of Firestone&#39;s operations in Liberia. As the largest foreign corporation in the country, Firestone faced allegations of labor rights abuses, including exploitative child labor and poor working conditions. In response, the company initiated reforms to improve the welfare of its workforce. Produced by Ed Robbins for TIME.com and the International Reporting Project, the film investigates whether these reforms have been sufficient to address the longstanding issues faced by Firestone&#39;s Liberian employees.​</p>

Indonesia’s Palm Oil Dilemma

Jacob Templin

<p>Indonesia&#39;s Palm Oil Dilemma is a 7-minute documentary that explores the complex choices faced by Indonesian farmers between capitalizing on the lucrative palm oil industry and preserving their native forests. With global demand for palm oil escalating, vast areas of Indonesia&#39;s forests are being cleared for plantations. The film features two individuals from Borneo who adopt contrasting strategies to protect their village environments amidst these developments. Produced by Jacob Templin for TIME.com and the International Reporting Project (IRP), the documentary sheds light on the environmental and social challenges associated with palm oil expansion in Indonesia.</p>

Urbanized (2011)

Gary Hustwit

<p>Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world&rsquo;s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.</p>

The Man Who Stopped The Desert

Mark Dodd

<p>Yacouba Sawadogo, an illiterate African peasant farmer, has transformed the lives of thousands of people across the Sahel, a bleak land between the Sahara desert and the wet forest of tropical Africa. During the 1970s and early 80s this vast region continued to creep southward, extending ever further into once agriculturally productive lands. Families abandoned their villages in search of food and water, but Yacouba Sawadogo, living right in the heart of the crisis in northern Burkina Faso, decided he would remain steadfast against the creeping desert. His 20-year struggle to revive, adapt and perfect an ancient farming technique known as Zai Yacouba has been internationally recognized for its success in reversing the process of desertification. Through cinematic reconstruction, Yacouba narrates his own gripping and dramatic story, revealing that his hardest battle was not with the elements, but with the people around him who would not accept his new agricultural methods. In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation declared small farmers like Yacouba as key to alleviating famine and poverty among the world&rsquo;s poorest, launching a multi-million dollar research and investment program into local solutions for Africa.</p>

All For The Good Of The World And Nošovice (Vše Pro Dobro Světa A Nošovic)

Vít Klusák

<p>In the small Czech village of No&scaron;ovice &ndash; as the locals put it &ndash; a UFO has landed in the form of a kilometer-long factory: a Korean Hyundai automobile plant. The village, famous mostly for its sauerkraut and &ldquo;Radegast&rdquo; beer, was thus turned into an industrial zone, the largest greenfield investment project in the Czech Republic&rsquo;s history. For a long time, many farmers resisted selling the land upon which the factory stood. Eventually, they all succumbed under pressure from the neighbors and even anonymous death threats. The filmmakers returned to No&scaron;ovice two years after the dramatic property buyouts, at the time when the factory had just started churning out cheap cars. Combining the perspectives of seven characters, this portrayal of a place is playful and chilling at the same time: an absurd, politically engaged flick about a field that yields cars.</p>

John Muir In The New World

Catherine Tatge

<p>This documentary delves into John Muir&#39;s life with reenactments throughout the majestic landscapes he visited: Wisconsin, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra Valley of California, and the glaciers of Alaska. This Scottish American is remembered as the father of the environmental movement.</p>

Shattered Sky (2012)

Steve Dorst Dan Evans

<p>Thirty years ago, scientists reported a hole in the ozone layer &#39;the size of North America.&#39; The culprit was a man-made chemical called CFCs, which were prevalent in billions of dollars worth of refrigeration, air conditioning, and other products that had revolutionized America&#39;s way of life. With doctors forecasting skyrocketing cancer if we didn&#39;t make a change, the stakes were literally &#39;life as we know it.&#39; Yet business remained bitterly opposed. Politicians were slow to act. Like with today&#39;s CO2 emissions, an invisible compound was threatening the Earth&#39;s life-support systems, but a solution seemed beyond reach. Eerily reminiscent of today&#39;s energy and climate crisis, SHATTERED SKY tells the story of how America led the world to solve the biggest environmental crisis ever seen.</p>

The Whale Story

Tess Martin

<p>A fisherman experiences a moment of connection with a female humpback whale in the waters off of San Francisco. Is this an example of inter-species communication or a mysterious fluke? This true story is retold in paint on a 16 foot high wall with the help of the passing public in Seattle&rsquo;s Cal Anderson Park. Watch the timelapse here:<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121029040356/http://www.vimeo.com/32413369">vimeo.com/32413369</a></p>

Dying Green (2011)

Ellen Tripler

<p>Set in the foothills of the Appalachians, this film explores one man&rsquo;s vision of using green burials to conserve land. Dr. Billy Campbell, the town&rsquo;s only physician, and his efforts have radically changed our understanding of burials in the United States. Dr. Campbell&rsquo;s dream is to conserve one million acres of land. Dying Green focuses on the revolutionary idea of using our own death to fund land conservation and create wildlife preserves.</p>

Delicious Peace Grows In A Ugandan Coffee Bean

Curt Fissel

<p>Living in the wake of the Idi Amin reign of terror and institutional discrimination, one Ugandan coffee farmer organized a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish neighbors to challenge historical (as well as economic and environmental) hurdles. He formed the &#39;Delicious Peace Coffee Cooperative&#39; to enhance peaceful relationships and economic development. Partnering with a Fair Trade US distributor, the standard of living of the farmers is improving, peace is flourishing, and their messages of peace and fair wages are spreading to coffee customers in the US.</p>

Skydancer (2011)

Katja Esson

<p>The Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center: for more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America&rsquo;s modern cityscapes. They are called &ldquo;sky walkers&rdquo; because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. Who are these Mohawk sky walkers? What is their secret for overcoming fear? Has &ldquo;sky walking&rdquo; replaced an ancient rite of passage? Or is it the pure need to adapt in order to survive? And what is their life really like, when every Friday at quitting time, they jump in their cars and make the eight-hour drive up north to their families on the reservation? This documentary looks at Indian life in the 21st century, from the fragile hierarchy on top of the breathtaking steel structures in New York City to life &lsquo;on the Rez&rsquo; where problems like unemployment and crime make it hard to see the pristine beauty of the surrounding lands. The film allows access to the lives of those ironworkers and, in the process, offers a different perspective on contemporary Native Americans.</p>

Life Size Memories (2011)

Klaus Reisinger Frederique Lengaigne

<p>Two photojournalists bring a large format camera to Southeast Asia to portray Asian elephants living in captivity and to record their biographies. Ten years earlier, in 1999, they spent months in a logging camp in a mountain range of western Burma. They return to the same camp to find out whether the elephants they had filmed back in 1999 are still there. After Burma, the photographers travel in three other Asian countries to determine how different cultures influence the fate of the animals and their future. The elephant memories become palpable while the life size photographs reveal the individuals behind the collective and shapeless face of the species. Shot and edited over the course of four years, the film explores the lives of individual captive elephants in Burma, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.Filmmaker Reisinger believes the animals can speak for themselves and he says that&rsquo;s the guiding philosophy behind the film.</p>

Land Of Oblivion (La Terre Outragée)

Michale Boganim

<p>Chernobyl, 1986: a few hours before the disaster, Piotr and Anya&#39;s wedding is interrupted by a fire at the power station.</p>

Anna, Emma And The Condors

Katja Torneman

<p>Anna, Emma and the California Condors A hope for the future. In a world of climate change and environmental challenges, 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.</p>

Endangered Hawai’i

George E. Wallace Gavin Shire Robert Johns

<p>World Premiere While Hawaii is justifiably known as a world class vacation destination because of its wonderful climate, beautiful beaches, breathtaking views and a lush tropical environment, it is now known as the bird extinction capital of the world. Documenting the tragic extinction of 71 bird species of the 113 known to be endemic to the state of Hawaii, this film explores this overwhelming loss, describes ongoing mitigation measures and offers solutions to prevent further tragedy</p>

Moomins And The Comet Chase (Muumi Ja Punainen Pyrstötähti)

Maria Lindberg

<p>Moomintroll and his friends rush to save everyone in Moomin Valley from a ferocious comet.</p>

My Life As A Turkey

David Allen

<p>Naturalist Jim Hutto&#39;s remarkable experience of being imprinted on by a group of wild turkey hatchlings, and raising them to adulthood and beyond, in the remote wilderness of northern Florida.</p>

Elsa: The Lioness That Changed The World

Sacha Mirzoeff

<p>In the 1960s, Born Free captured the world&#39;s imagination with the story of Elsa, an orphaned lioness who was taken in by George and Joy Adamson and returned to a life in the wild. The book and film sparked a new love of nature that has blossomed ever since, but the true story of what happened afterwards was far more tragic as both George and Joy were murdered. Fifty years on, this emotional and revealing drama documentary re-lives those events - with intimate contributions from Virginia McKenna and David Attenborough.</p>

Helgoland: Island In The Storm

Robert Morgenstern.

<p>In the rugged North Sea, the island of Helgoland has braved the elements for centuries. As another natural spectacle, each year thousands of migrating birds find their safe haven on Helgoland and their resting and breeding attracts ornithologists from all over the world. Robert Morgenstern&rsquo;s debut is an empathetic and visually stunning declaration of love to the small island and its habitants.</p>

Life: Challenges Of Life (2009)

Martha Holmes

<p>How living long enough to breed is a monumental struggle, and how many animals and plants go to great extremes to give themselves a chance.</p>

Broken Tail (2010)

Colin Stafford-Johnson

<p>Gain an immediate insight into the pressures on the decreasing tiger population in India by following the sad trail of one young tiger who left the Ranthambore preserve.</p>

Monumental: David Brower’s Fight To Protect Wild America

Kelly Duane

<p>From the moment David Brower first witnessed the extraordinary beauty of the Yosemite Valley, his life was tied to the fight to preserve the American wilds for future generations. Not since John Muir had an American fought so hard, or been more successful, in protecting our natural heritage. His fiery dedication and activism helped inspire the modern day environmental movement. Explored is the beautiful, dramatic, and lyrical story of Brower and his colleagues&#39; unrelenting campaigns--fought through lobbying, art, and hard hitting advertising-to-protect and establish some our most treasured national parks. At the center of the film are the themes that absorbed Brewer throughout his life: the threatened beauty of the American earth, the spiritual connection between humans and the great outdoors, and the moral obligation to preserve what is left of the world&#39;s natural wonders.</p>

Butterflies & Bulldozers: David Schooley, Fred Smith And The Fight For San Bruno Mountain

Ann Dunsky

<p>This film deals with the global dilemma of economic growth versus species preservation. San Bruno Mountain provides a context to explore these complex questions. The mountain is San Francisco&#39;s lost landscape, a mostly intact remnant of the ecosystem that once covered the city&#39;s hills. It is the site of the nation&#39;s first Habitat Conservation Plan, a controversial ompromise that trades development for additional habitat preservation and management.</p>

The City Dark (2011)

Ian Cheney

<p>THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question - do we need the stars? - taking him from Brooklyn to Mauna Kea, Paris, and beyond. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, 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, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.</p>

Paris: The Luminous Years

Perry Miller Adato

<p>This PBS documentary explains how the French capital, during a period from 19o5 though 1930, became arguably the center for the most creative examples developing of Modernism in art, music, and literature.</p>

Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West

Mark Decena

<p>Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting is a well-worn saying when it comes to water politics, but in the Colorado River Basin, where the most dammed, dibbed, and diverted river in the world struggles to flow, some think fighting may be the only way left to reclaim this valuable resource. Robert Redford&rsquo;s voice hones the narrative of the threats to the once-mighty Colorado River, but Watershed is not all doom and gloom. It renders light moments that illuminate how letting go of the ways of old can lead to a convincing new water ethic &ndash; where, again, there can be enough for all.</p>

Wind Across The Everglades

Nicholas Ray

<p>An ornithologist battles a family of bird poachers in the Florida Everglades.</p>

The Silver And The Cross (Das Silber und das Kreuz)

Harun Farocki

<p>The Spanish brought the cross and took the silver,&rdquo; are the words the filmmaker uses to describe his pointed analysis of a 1758 na&iuml;ve painting depicting villages, workers and silver mines in Peru during Spanish colonization.</p>

Grande Hotel (2010)

Lotte Stoops

<p>Grande Hotel, Beira, Mozambique. In one of the grandest hotels in the world, born of and to luxury, today you enter &#39;at own risk&#39;. More than 2500 people live there without water or electricity. They have taken possession of the building and manipulated not only the stones but also the dreams. A journey through present and past of a city in a city; a story about colonial megalomania, revolutionary vanity and feeling at home.</p>

Simbiosis: Journey To The Heart Of The Tropics

Luciano Capelli

<p>This sensory journey to the heart of the tropics lovingly captures such species as monkeys, deer, birds and spiders, depicting their symbiosis with the sea and the rain in this little-known landscape of the Guanacaste Dry Forest, which has been saved and protected. This multimedia film project combines the camera work of Luciano Capelli, a piano performance by Manuel Obreg&oacute;n (Costa Rica&rsquo;s current Minister of Culture) and sounds captured by Nano Fernandez, to create a work where natural and artistic elements interact with each other. Obreg&oacute;n&rsquo;s music about one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world transports us from the moon-lit dawn in Malpais, on the southernmost tip of Costa Rica&rsquo;s Nicoya Peninsula, up to the high mountain forest covering the volcanoes of Guanacaste.</p>

Countdown To Zero

Lucy Walker

<p>A documentary about how the likelihood of nuclear weapons (or fissile materials) usage has increased due to the rise of terrorism and lack of safeguards and verification.</p>

Semper Fi: Always Faithful

Rachel Libert Tony Hardmon

<p>Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger was a devoted Marine for nearly twenty-five years. As a drill instructor he lived and breathed the &quot;Corps&quot; and was responsible for indoctrinating thousands of new recruits with its motto Semper Fidelis or &quot;Always Faithful&quot;. When Jerry&#39;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&#39;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&#39;s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.</p>

The War For Other Media (La Guerra Por Otros Medios)

Emilio Cartoy Díaz Cristian Jure

<p>Thanks to laptops, speakers, radios, newspapers, video cameras, cell phones, etc, indigenous people have been integrating mass media to strengthen their claims and the recognition of their rights. Paradoxically, the reality of these indigenous communicators, their means and media productions are practically unknown outside the limits of the indigenous world</p>

The Hunter (2011)

Daniel Nettheim

<p>Martin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by a mysterious biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger.</p>

Exploring Bloody Bay Wall

David Conover

<p>What is the value of ocean biodiversity? Bloody Bay Wall is the top of a five thousand foot underwater cliff. A group of divers--including scientists and photographers--gather at Little Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea to explore this spectacular underwater feature. Motivated by questions of human biology, coral reef ecosystems, and the stunning imagery of this marine park, their collaborations help illuminate the range of what rich marine life offers to humanity: now, and in the future.</p>

Reflections: A Florida Keys Experience

Bob Talbot Peter Zuccarini

<p>Florida is the only state in the continental United States to have extensive reef building coral formations near its coasts. Every year, over six million visitors come to the Florida Keys to enjoy the coral reef system and the surrounding waters. The lure of the Florida Keys supports a two billion dollar economy that depends on a healthy marine environment. The Florida Keys&rsquo; beauty and diversity are revealed through the eyes of a local artist, inspired by her experiences growing up in the unique and fragile ecosystem of mangroves, grass beds, open ocean and reefs shown in this film.</p>

Sanctuary In The Sea: A Gulf Of The Farallones Experience

Bob Talbot

<p>Stunning footage of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, just 28 miles off the coast of San Francisco and a gathering spot for whales, seabirds, sea lions and sharks, is captured in this short film. The experiences of an urchin diver-turned-videographer are highlighted as he considers his profession, conservation and the future as well as the beauty, diversity and history of the Gulf of the Farallones.</p>

Lighting The Way

Chris Fauchere

<p>As the city of Detroit struggles to bring itself back from the brink, the burden of a checkered history continues to weigh on its current residents. One of the daunting problems it must confront is the toxic legacy of unbridled industrial production. Toxic Detroit visualizes some of these problems through views of ravaged landscapes and noxious air. The film&rsquo;s surreal wasteland belies the optimism and determination of Detroiters themselves.</p>

Toxic Detroit (2011)

William Noland

<p>As Detroit strives to revive itself, one of the daunting problems it must confront is the toxic legacy of unbridled industrial production. TOXIC DETROIT visualizes some of these problems through views of polluted rivers, ravaged landscapes and noxious air. In the film, a father and daughter fish on the River Rouge. Looming in the distance is Zug Island, which dominates a now depressed and dangerously toxic neighborhood. These images of a family outing are juxtaposed with views of some of Detroit&#39;s other most notable toxic sites, many of which sit adjacent to residential neighborhoods. The optimism and determination of Detroiters themselves belie the surreal wastelands that surround them. TOXIC DETROIT briefly enters a nightmarish world of industry that&#39;s not too big to fail.</p>

The Right To Breathe (2011)

Alexandre Philippe

<p>Seeking to make viewers aware of the health effects of air pollution in Southern California through the compelling stories of individuals, while also inspiring them to take part in air quality solutions, this documentary offers hope. Otana Jakpor, a University of Southern California student, discovers, after a rain, that she can see the mountains from where she lives. Blunt-spoken John Cross, a West Long Beach community activist offers his unique perspective and Marilyn Kamimura describes what it is like to live a mile and a half from the Puente Hills Landfill where one-third of Los Angeles&rsquo;s trash is dumped</p>

Lysander’s Song (2011)

Cyril Christo Marie Wilkinson

<p>What does the future of the elephant have to do with the future of childhood? Everything. The film combines wildlife footage with the concerns and legends of the indigenous people, exploring their unique relationships to/with the elephant. In Kenya, we explore and elaborate on the Samburu people&#39;s relationship to their totem and the unique role the elephant plays in their belief system. Unlike most wildlife documentaries, we emphasize the essential role of &#39;the other,&#39; that which the non-human plays in the mind and spiritual ecology of the human. In this challenged time, we believe that wildlife is an essential part of our identity</p>

The Dust Bowl (2012)

Ken Burns

<p>A documentary about the 1930s drought of North American prairie farm land, and its consequences during the great depression.</p>

The Savage Innocents (1961)

Nicholas Ray

<p>An Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.</p>

Psssht (1968)

Holly Fisher

<p>The dangers of aerosol sprays to the ozone layer were all over the news in the late &#39;60s, right up there with fierce anti-Vietnam War sentiment, identity politics, and a burgeoning environmental movement launched by Rachel Carlson&rsquo;s Silent Spring. Within this context, an advert for a &quot;feminine crotch spray&quot; inspired the making of PSSSHT!</p>

Symphony Of The Soil (2012)

Deborah Koons Garcia

<p>Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance soil. By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil&#39;s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time. Filmed on four continents, featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet.</p>

Devil’s Playground (2002)

Lucy Walker

<p>Amish teenagers experience and embrace the modern world as a rite-of-passage before deciding which life they will choose.</p>

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle For A Living Planet

Mark Kitchell

<p>An exploration of the environmental movement - grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change.</p>