Official Selections and Schedule for the 2012 Princeton Environmental Film Festival:
The festival will run over 3 consecutive 4-day weekends:
Thursday, January 26 - Sunday, January 29
Thursday, February 2 - Sunday, February 5
Thursday, February 9 - Sunday, February 12
Save the dates, and check the site for any additions or changes to the schedule.
Festival news & updates can also be found on the PEFF Facebook page with photos.
Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology
Directed by Tiffany Shlain
Opening Night Film
TRT: 85 min
7:00 p.m.
Have you ever faked a restroom trip to check your email? Slept with your laptop? Or become so overwhelmed that you just unplugged from it all? In this funny, eye-opening, and inspiring film, director Tiffany Shlain takes viewers on an exhilarating rollercoaster ride to discover what it means to be connected in the 21st century.
From founding The Webby Awards to being a passionate advocate for The National Day of Unplugging, Shlain’s love/hate relationship with technology serves as the springboard for a thrilling exploration of modern life…and our interconnected future.
Equal parts documentary and memoir, the film unfolds during a year in which technology and science literally become a matter of life and death for the director. As Shlain’s father battles brain cancer and she confronts a high-risk pregnancy, her very understanding of connection is challenged. Mixing animation, archival footage, and home movies, Shlain reveals the surprising ties that link us not only to the people we love but also to the world at large. A personal film with universal relevance, "Connected" explores how, after centuries of declaring our independence, it may be time for us to declare our interdependence instead.
A Q&A with director Tiffany Shlain will follow the screening.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Tiffany Shlain is a filmmaker, founder of The Webby Awards, co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute. Her films have been selected by over 100 film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, and Rotterdam, won 20 awards including Audience and Grand Jury Prizes, been translated into eight languages and been shown at museums including LACMA, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and the Guggenheim. A celebrated thinker and speaker, she has advised Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is on the advisory board of M.I.T.'s Geospatial Lab and presented the 2010 Commencement Address at UC Berkeley.
Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air
Directed by Jaime Bernanke, produced by Ann Johnson Prum, and narrated by F. Murray Abraham.
TRT: 50 min.
4:00 p.m.
Hummingbirds take extraordinary to a whole new level. They are the smallest warm-blooded creatures on the planet, but they are also among the fastest. With wings that beat up to 200 times every second, they are among nature’s most accomplished athletes, the only birds able to hover, fly backwards, and even upside down. Hummingbird metabolisms are set in permanent overdrive, requiring them to consume more than half their body weight in nectar every day, yet even so, they remain in constant threat of starving to death as they sleep. To survive the night, they fluff up their feathers and adjust their thermostats, decreasing their body temperatures by half and reducing their heart rate from 600 beats per minute to a mere 36.
Because hummingbirds live their lives in fast forward, much of their fascinating world is typically lost to human perception. But using cameras able to capture over 500 images a second, the hummingbirds’ magical world can finally be seen and appreciated. Amazing footage shows these little powerhouses are far more than delicate nectar gatherers — they are also deadly predators. And watch as the birds display their elaborate mating rituals, showing off with nose dives that subject them to over ten G’s of force — enough to cause an experienced fighter pilot to black out!
These tiny marvels dazzle and delight bird watchers all over the world, and NATURE reveals their stunning abilities as they have never been seen before.
A talk will follow the film by Charles F. Leck, B.S. in Biology from Muhlenburg College. Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from Cornell University. Charlie retired from Rutgers University, after nearly 30 years; he taught ornithology, ecology, natural history, and behavior courses beginning in 1970. He is interested in changes in bird populations and wildlife colonization of wetland mitigation areas. His botanical interests include grasses and sedges and he joins Mary in the search for wetland plants and animals in an effort to document species diversity in the Hamilton – Trenton - Bordentown Marsh.
Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?
Produced and directed by Taggart Siegel, produced and edited by Jon Betz.
TRT: 85 min.
7:00 p.m.
In 1923, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian scientist, philosopher & social innovator, predicted that in 80 to 100 years honeybees would collapse. Now, beekeepers around the United States and around the world are reporting an incredible loss of honeybees, a phenomenon deemed “Colony Collapse Disorder.” This “pandemic” is indicated by bees disappearing in mass numbers from their hives with no clear single explanation. The queen is there, honey is there, but the bees are gone.
For the first time, in an alarming inquiry into the insights behind Steiner’s prediction "Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?" investigates the long-term causes behind the dire global bee crisis through the eyes of biodynamic beekeepers, commercial beekeepers, scientists and philosophers. The film features world renowned biodynamic beekeeper Gunther Hauk, New York Times bestselling-author Michael Pollan, Indian Activist Vandana Shiva, and a compelling cast of characters from around the world. Together they take us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and into the mysterious world of the beehive. The film unveils 10,000 years of beekeeping, illuminating the deep link between humans and bees and how that historic and sacred relationship has been lost due to highly mechanized industrial practices. Beekeeper Gunther Hauk calls the crisis, “More important even than global warming. We could call it Colony Collapse of the human being too.”
This screening is co-sponsored with The Waldorf School of Princeton.
A Q&A via Skype with producer Jon Betz will follow the screening.
Amazing Animals
PEFF Youth and Family Programming
11:00 a.m.
Children of all ages and their families are invited to join the New Jersey Audubon this morning as they share the many traits and characteristics of the animal kingdom from insects to mammals.
Live animals native to our state will be showcased to add to the learning experience and the fun.
Shellshocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves
Produced, directed and edited by Emily Driscoll.
Premier Screening
TRT: 40 min.
12:30 p.m.
The film follows efforts to prevent the extinction of wild oyster reefs, which keep our oceans healthy by filtering water and engineering ecosystems. Today, because of overfishing and pollution, wild oyster reefs have been declared 'the most severely impacted marine habitat on Earth' and no longer play a role in their ecosystems. Now scientists, government officials, artists and environmentalists are fighting to bring oysters back to the former oyster capital of the world - New York Harbor.
A Q&A with filmmaker Emily Driscoll will follow the screening, with
Meredith Comi, director of NY/NJ Baykeeper’s oyster restoration program, and
Mara Haseltine, an environmental artist who creates
non-toxic living oyster sculptures that are habitats for future aquatic life
Rescuing the Raritan
Produced, directed and edited by Eric Schultz
TRT: 60 min.
2:00 p.m.
The Raritan River runs through the center of New Jersey, with upper reaches that are incredibly beautiful, providing a valuable source of water for more than a million people. But industry took hold of the lower Raritan early on and left its mark.
This documentary, narrated by actor Avery Brooks, tells the compelling story of a river that has been profoundly contaminated over 200 years and of the extraordinary efforts to clean it up. It reveals how government agencies, powerful corporations, environmentalists, developers, scientists and lawyers have all clashed in their attempts to deal with the aftermath of extensive pollution and environmental neglect.
The screening with be followed by a Q&A with Eric Schultz and Jim Waltman, Executive Director, Stony-Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.
Panel Discussion on Documentary Filmmaking
Featuring Steve Chernoski, Emily Driscoll, Jared Flesher, Christian Schuller, Tish Streeten and Robert Szuter.
4:00 p.m.
Ever wanted to shoot a documentary? Join this discussion by and Q&A with a panel of filmmakers on the nuts and bolts of documentary filmmaking, including advice for beginners. The program includes a sneak preview of "Sourlands," a new film about human and ecological sustainability in central New Jersey by director Jared Flesher.
Revenge of the Electric Car
Directed by Chris Paine
TRT: 90 min.
7:00 p.m.
In 2006, thousands of new electric cars were purposely destroyed by the same car companies that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back... with a vengeance.
In "Revenge of the Electric Car," director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever.
With almost every major car maker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself.
"Revenge of the Electric Car" is narrated by Tim Robbins. The primary cast includes CEO and President of Renault and Nissan Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk, Former Vice Chairman of GM Bob Lutz and EV do-it-yourselfer Greg “Gadget” Abbott.
The screening will be followed by a talk and discussion led by NJ Clean Cities Coalition Chairman Chuck Feinberg, who is also President, Feinberg Sustainability Consulting, LLC.
This screening is co-sponsored with the American Jewish Committee of Central New Jersey.
Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Produced by Marilyn and Hal Weiner
TRT: 84 min.
10:30 a.m.
This primetime PBS documentary based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown is the 12th episode of the award-winning
PBS series "Journey to Planet Earth," and it features some of the world's most original and influential thinkers.
Its message is clear and unflinching — either confront the realities of
climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed states. Ultimately "Plan B" provides audiences with a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable sources plus realistic strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming.
What makes "Plan B" timely is that it provides audiences with hopeful solutions — a roadmap that will help eradicate poverty, stabilize population, stabilize climate, and protect and restore the earth’s forests, soils, and fisheries. It includes ways of protecting and restoring soils, forests, rangelands, and oceanic fisheries, plus conserving the earth’s biological diversity. It also features case studies that clearly show signs of a new energy economy emerging.
Appearing in this film with Lester Brown are Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, along with other scholars and scientists. Locations include: China, Japan, Korea, India, Italy, Turkey, Bangladesh, Zambia, Haiti, and the United States.
Special Brunch Screening: A light brunch with coffee & tea and will be served.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producers Hal and Marilyn Weiner.
Food Stamped
Produced and directed by Shira and Yoav Potash
TRT: 65 min.
1:00 p.m.
This informative and humorous documentary follows a couple as they attempt to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet on a food stamp budget. Along the way, they consult with members of Congress, food justice organizations, nutrition experts and people living on food stamps to take a deep look at America’s broken food system.
A panel discussion will follow the screening featuring Julia Hicks de Peyster, a former Princeton resident and graduate of Princeton University ('86), who attempted to feed her family of five on the allotted food stamp budget for forty days, and the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton's Hunger Prevention Director Mark Smith, and
Rucha Gadre, SNAP outreach coordinator from Mercer Street Friends who helps enroll people for SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Progra, formerly known as Food Stamps) around the U.S.
Liz Cohen of Yes We CAN! Food Drives, which supports the Crisis Ministry, will moderate the discussion.
Donations of fresh produce will be gratefully accepted at the door for distribution to the Crisis Ministry’s pantries.
Overdrive: Istanbul in the New Millennium
Directed by Aslihan Unaldi
TRT: 63 min.
4:00 p.m.
This documentary film tells the story of Istanbul’s struggle to come to terms with accelerated population growth and car-centric policies that have dominated its development in the last five decades – issues that are challenging megacities around the world.
Istanbul, where once only a select few people were granted the special privilege to ride horses rather than walk, is now being inundated with cars. With 45 percent of its citizens spending two or more hours commuting, the joy of living in this beautiful city is being overshadowed by congestion and all the other social and environmental problems this implies.
Both a love poem and a critical investigation, the film explores the impact of global trends on a city with a unique and complex history. Once an ancient imperial capital, now a bustling modern megalopolis, will Istanbul renew itself once again, or succumb to uncontrolled motorization and urban growth?
A Q&A with director Aslihan Unaldi and Sibel Bulay, executive producer, will follow the screening.
Aslihan Unaldi is a writer-director-producer based in New York and Istanbul. She received her BA in International Relations and Photography from Yale University. She received her MFA in film from New York University’s Tisch School of Arts. “Overdrive: Istanbul in the New Millennium”, Aslihan’s first feature documentary, premiered at the Istanbul International Film Festival in April 2011.
Sibel Bulay is the Founder of EMBARQ Turkey, an NGO dedicated to Sustainable Urban Transport. Prior to joining WRI (World Resources Institute) Ms. Bulay was in Product Development at Ford Motor Company and also taught at the Middle East Technical University in Gaziantep, Turkey. Ms. Bulay holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the State University of New York and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Michigan.
Silent Snow: The Invisible Poisoning of the World
Directed by Jan van den Berg
TRT: 71 minutes
4:00 p.m.
In "Silent Snow" a group of experienced Inuit starts out on a dangerous dog-sledge expedition through their barren land. But while global warming and disappearing icebergs are problems they can perceive directly, the pollution of their land remains a hard to imagine threat.
Interwoven with the polar expedition, the film follows a young Greenlandic woman (Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann) on her journey around the world to find the local causes of the contamination that is quietly poisoning her people.
Her journey takes her to three different continents, where she is confronted with conflicting interests when it comes to short-term gains and healthy solutions for agriculture, industries and health care. She meets the people behind the sources of pollution and discovers the heartbreaking dilemmas that lie at the heart of it.
Sola, Louisiana Water Stories
Directed by Jon Bowermaster
TRT: 62 min.
7:00 p.m.
Everywhere you look in Southern Louisiana (SoLa) there’s water – rivers, bayous, swamps, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico. And everyone in Cajun Country has a water story, or two, or three or more. Its waterways support the biggest economies in Louisiana – a $63 billion-a-year oil and gas industry and a $200 million-a-year fishing business, in addition to tourism and recreational sports. They are also home to some insidious polluters: the same oil and gas industry, 200 petrochemical plants along a 100-mile-long stretch of the Mississippi known as “Cancer Alley.” The region also harbors the world’s largest Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and erosion that is costing the coastline 25 square miles of wetlands a year. At the same time SoLa is home to one of America’s most vital and unique cultures; if everyone who lives there has a water story, they can also most likely play the fiddle, waltz, cook an etouffe and hunt and fish.
A Q&A with director Jon Bowmaster will follow the screening.
Call of Life
Produced by Species Alliance. Executive Producer
David Ulansey
TRT: 80 min.
4:00 p.m.
Call of Life investigates the growing threat posed by the rapid and massive loss of biodiversity on the planet. Featuring leading scientists, social scientists, environmentalists and others, the film explores the scope, the causes, and the predicted global impact of a mass extinction occurring on a scale not seen since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
If current trends continue, scientists warn that half or more of all plant and animal species on Earth will become extinct within the next few decades. Entirely caused by human activities, this contemporary mass extinction is disrupting and destroying the complex, interconnected biological systems that support life on earth.
Through interviews with eminent biologists and ecologists, the film examines the primary drivers of species loss: habitat destruction, global warming, pollution, and invasive species, all compounded by the expanding human population and our consumption patterns.
A Q&A with executive producer David Ulansey
will follow the screening.
Buck
Directed by Cindy Meehl
TRT: 88 min.
7:00 p.m.
"Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will." So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems.
"Buck" follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life "horse-whisperer," he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.
Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses- and people - with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, "Buck" is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.
The film will be followed by a talk by Peter Boglioli, a local horseman based out of Flemington, New Jersey. Peter’s sense of stewardship for all animals and appreciation of nature, was fostered growing up on the family farm in Hunterdon County. While acquiring his degree at Cook College at Rutgers University, Peter started to cultivate his interest of human psychology and animal behavior and became greatly influenced by the teachings of horsemen such as Tom Dorrence, Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman. In pursuit of greater knowledge of the horse and human relationship, Peter journeyed out west to work on ranches and learn from these horsemen that promoted the Vaquero tradition. Coming back east, Peter began integrating his new-found knowledge to help horses, riders and trainers alike to deal with challenges they were facing to form better partnerships. Although Peter is just as comfortable starting a colt, as he is helping a show jumper regain his confidence over fences, or re-schooling a thoroughbred off the track for a career as an event horse, it is the discarded and misunderstood horse that Peter has a particular fondness for, and he advocates for further education and regulation, to prevent the current epidemic of horses being slaughtered. In addition to his training business, Boglioli is currently developing a non-profit that pairs war vets to those unwanted horses, in a healthy environment, so that both receive understanding and peace.
African Cats
PEFF Youth and Family Programming
Directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill
TRT: 89 min.
10:00 a.m.
An epic true story set against the backdrop of one of the wildest places on Earth, "African Cats" captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother's strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.
Disneynature brings "The Lion King" to life on the big screen in this true life adventure, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill ("Earth").
Energy Zone: Get All Charged Up!
PEFF Youth and Family Programming
1:00 p.m.
Explore how we power our world, and help turn energy into all sorts of fun forms with Wondergy, a Philadelphia-based science entertainment group. Turn your motion into electricity, capture light, and save some energy!
Turn Motion into Electricity: Use simple generators to make a beautiful laser light show, and see how fast you can generate energy to run Incandescent and CFL bulbs.
Turn Light into Electricity, light and heat: Use solar cells to energize an old-school GameBoy and various other devices. See how sunscreen protects us.
Where are your Watts?: Put various devices on power meters and see where your power is really going. Moreover, many of these devices convert energy even when they're "off" and it really adds up. Where does that energy go?
The Clean Bin Project
Produced by Jen Rustemeyer and directed by Grant Baldwin
TRT: 77 min.
4:00 p.m.
Is it possible to live completely waste free? Partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least landfill garbage in an entire year. Their light-hearted competition is set against a darker examination of the sobering problem waste in North American society. Even as Grant and Jen start to garner interest in their project, they struggle to find meaning in their seemingly minuscule influence on the large-scale environmental impacts of our “throw-away society”. Featuring interviews with renowned artist, Chris Jordan and marine pollution expert, Captain Charles Moore, The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humor, and inspiration for individual action.
Journey of the Universe
Written by Brian Thomas Swimme & Mary Evelyn Tucker. Directed and produced by Patsy Northcutt & David Kennard. Co-produced by Catherine Butler. Executive produced by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim
TRT: 60 min.
7:00 p.m.
One day on a Greek island, and your view of the universe will change forever...
Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life’s biggest questions in the epic "Journey of the Universe."
Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago – to the invisible frontiers of the human genome – as well as to our current impact on Earth’s evolutionary dynamics. Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life.
From the Big Bang to the epic impact humans have on the planet today, this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis.
Beautifully filmed in HD, our story begins on the historically rich Greek island of Samos, birthplace of mathematician Pythagoras. Disembarking on the island at dawn, Swimme expertly guides us on an exhilarating trek through time and space, sharing a wondrous view of cosmic evolution as a process based on immense creativity, connection, and interdependence. After the toll of midnight, he sets sail into the star-lit waters of the Aegean Sea, leaving audiences with a sense of wonder at the mystery, complexity and connectivity that permeates the Earth and universe from the very beginning.
Big science, big history, big story, this one-of-a-kind film was written by Swimme and Yale University historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with executive producers Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim.
Dolphin Boy
Produced by Judith Manassen Ramon, produced/directed by Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir.
TRT: 72 min.
1:00 p.m.
Morad - a teenager from an Arab village in the north of Israel disconnects himself from people following a violent attack that he experienced. As a last resort before hospitalization he is taken by his devoted father to be treated with dolphins in Eilat on the Red Sea.
Morad starts speaking again after months of silence but he erases his past and refuses to go home to his awaiting mother. This documentary, filmed over four years, is about the devastating havoc that human violence can wreak upon the human soul, and about the healing powers of nature and of love.
A Q&A with producer Judith Manassen Ramon will follow the screening.
Mother: Caring for 7 Billion
Produced by Christophe Fauchere and Joyce Johnson
TRT: 60 min.
4:00 p.m.
"Mother" the film brings to light an issue that silently fuels our most pressing environmental, humanitarian and social crises - population growth. In 2011 the world population reached 7 billion, a startling seven-fold increase since the first billion occurred 200 years ago.
Population was once at the top of the international agenda, dominating the first Earth Day and the subject of best-selling books like “The Population Bomb”. 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.
Today, nearly 1 billion people still suffer from chronic hunger even though the Green Revolution that has fed billions will soon come to an end due to the diminishing availability of its main ingredients–oil and water. Compounded with our ravenous appetite for natural resources, population growth is putting an unprecedented burden on the life system we all depend on, as we refuse to face the fact that more people equals more problems.
The film illustrates both the overconsumption and the inequity side of the population issue by following Beth, a mother and a child-rights activist as she comes to discover, along with the audience, the thorny complexities of the population issue. Beth – who comes from a large American family of 12 and has adopted an African-born daughter–travels to Ethiopia where she meets Zinet, the oldest daughter of a desperately poor family of 12. Zinet has found the courage to break free from thousand-year-old-cultural barriers, and their encounter will change Beth forever.
Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem - a "domination system" that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide.
"Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographer, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author"
Talk by author Donovan Hohn.
7:00 p.m.
When the writer Donovan Hohn heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away.
Hohn’s accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. Moby-Duck is a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing by the author.
Great Ideas Breakfast
Hosted by Sustainable Princeton
8:30 a.m.
Sustainable Princeton hosts this special bright and early event featuring "lightning talks" by their organization’s volunteers, a preview of a new Green Map project for Princeton & a light breakfast.
Urban Roots
Produced by Leila Connors, directed by Mark MacInnis.
TRT: 94 min.
10:30 a.m.
"Urban Roots" follows the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit, and speaks to a nation grappling with collapsed industrial towns and the need to forge a sustainable and prosperous future.
A Q&A via Skype will follow the film with director Mark MacInnis
Sacred Poison
Produced and directed by Yvonne Latty
TRT: 30 min.
1:00 p.m.
The legacy of uranium mining has left the Navajo living where clean water is limited, where families lose children to contamination, and cancer seems to live inside many.
A Q&A with producer/director Yvonne Latty will follow the screening.
Yvonne Latty is the Director of the Reporting New York and Reporting the Nation graduate programs at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Born and raised in New York City, she earned a BGFA in Film/Television and lter an MA in Journalism from New York University. She worked for the Philadelphia Daily News for 13 years where she was an award winning reporteer specializing in urban issues.
Habitat Adventures
PEFF Youth and Family Programming
4:00.p.m.
Bill Bosenberg and Snakes ‘n’ Scales presents live animals from two of the most amazing habitats on Earth: the Southeast Asian Rain Forest and the South African Veldt in this fun and educational program.
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Produced, directed, edited and written by Marshall Curry; Produced, Co-directed and Cinematography by Sam Cullman.
TRT: 85 min.
7:00 p.m.
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." For years, the ELF- operating in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership- had launched spectacular arsons against dozens of businesses they accused of destroying the environment: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge at Vail, Colorado.
With the arrest of Daniel and thirteen others, the government had cracked what was probably the largest ELF cell in America and brought down the group responsible for the very first ELF arsons in this country.
"IF a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of this ELF cell, by focusing on the transformation and radicalization of one of its members. Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, 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.
Drawing from striking archival footage -- much of it never before seen -- and intimate interviews with ELF members, and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing t hem, "If a Tree Falls" explores the tumultuous period from 1995 until early 2001 w hen environmentalists were clashing with timber companies and law enforcement, and the word "terrorism" had not yet been altered by 9/11.
Screened in partnership with American Documentary/POV.
A Q&A with co-director Sam Cullman will follow the screening.
Next Generation Environmental Fair
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
PEFF Youth and Family Programming
All ages are invited to come together to interact with local students who will be showcasing their onoing sustainability initiatives at area elementary, middle and high schools. Come discover some of these great projects and see what today’s youth are doing to help preserve our planet.
Organized by the EnAct Club at Princeton Day School.
Light refreshments will be served.
Truck Farm
Directed by Ian Cheney
TRT: 48 min.
4:00 p.m.
Using green-roof technology and heirloom seeds, filmmaker Ian Cheney plants a vegetable garden in the back of his Granddad’s old pick-up truck to show that food can be grown just about anywhere. Once the mobile garden begins to sprout, viewers are trucked across New York to see the city’s funkiest urban farms, and to find out if America’s largest city can learn to feed itself.
A Q&A with director Ian Cheney will follow the screening.
The City Dark
Produced and directed by Ian Cheney
TRT: 84 min.
7:00 p.m.
When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves to New York City and discovers skies almost completely devoid of stars, he wonders what we lose when we lose the night. The film spans 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.
A Q&A with filmmaker Ian Cheney and Michael Lemonick, senior science writer for Climate Central, will follow the screening.
The Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP) will be joining us with a few scopes for some star gazing out on Hinds Plaza, weather permitting. The AAAP promotes astronomy-related activities, novice to expert. A wide spectrum of astronomy interests are explored at the AAAP through regular meetings, two club observatories, public outreach, and regional star parties.
Sunday, February 12
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Directed by Werner Herzog
TRT: 90 min.
11:00 a.m.
This documentary film, directed by Werner Herzog, follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to some of the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. The film provides a unique glimpse of pristine artwork dating back more than 30,000 years, nearly two times older than any previous discovery.
Special Brunch Screening: Coffee & Tea will be served.
Green Burial is a Natural
1:00 p.m.
This panel discussion will focus on ecological "green" burials and natural, economic and meaningful funerals. Featured will be author Mark Harris, author of "Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry," Laurie R. Powsner, the executive director of the Funeral Consumer Alliance, Princeton, and filmmaker Amy Browne, who will talk and share some scences from a new film "A Will for the Woods" she has co-directed with Jeremy Kaplan .
More information on Mark Harris
Co-sponsored with the Funeral Consumer Alliance, Princeton.
Short Films and Talk on Ocean Habitat Conservation
Featuring Stan Waterman and Carrie Manfrino
3:00 p.m.
Stan Waterman, a legendary underwater photographer, filmmaker and diver, and Carrie Manfrino, director of research and conservation for the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, return to the PEFF to discuss their work and share some of their films and stories.
More info about Stan Waterman
The Whale
Directed by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit
4:30 p.m.
TRT: 85 min.
In 2001, a young orca named Luna lost contact with his family in Puget Sound, later turning up in Nootka Sound, off the coast of Vancouver Island. Without other whales to bond with, Luna began living along the shoreline, reaching out to boaters for companionship. Smart, friendly and determined, Luna demanded human contact, and the residents of the Sound were happy to adopt him as their own.
But as Luna’s story gained notoriety, fierce battles broke out between the Canadian government, NGOs who wished to return Luna to his family, the Mowachaht tribe who deemed Luna’s arrival a sacred event and those who were simply touched by Luna’s spirit.
Directed by journalists Chisholm and Parfit, executive produced by Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Desatnik, with an intimate narration by Ryan Reynolds, "The Whale" captures the complicated interaction between humans and animals and celebrates the whale’s spirit in the face of adversity.
A Q&A via Skype with directors Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit will follow the screening.
Please check the schedule for news and updates leading up to and during the festival here on on Facebook too.
For additional information or inquiries please contact:
Susan Conlon
telephone - 609-924-9529 ext. 247
email - sconlon@princetonlibrary.org
