The Office of Sustainability and the Department of Geology are pleased to present the Appalachian State University Spring Sustainability Film Series.
The purpose of this film series is to raise awareness of current environmental issues and help provide solutions. Each film will be followed by a panel discussion with local activists, community leaders, academics, and students that will answer questions and discuss ways of personally getting involved on the local, national, and international levels.
All screenings will be held in I.G. Greer Auditorium at 7PM unless otherwise noted.
We encourage you to attend as a class or offer the movies as part of an extra credit assignment. The movies will be free of charge and open to the public. The film festival schedule is as follows (click on film for film synopsis):
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Tuesday January 19th 7 pm Flow (2008)  Sponsored by: Department of Geology |
Tuesday February 16th 7 pm Taking Root (2008)  Sponsored by: Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons |
Tuesday March 23 7 pm Fresh (2009)  Sponsored by: Sustainable Development and the Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons |
Tuesday
April 20th 7 pm No Impact Man (2009)  Sponsored by: Net Impact Club and the Sustainable MBA Degree Program |
Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 22rd-24th 7:30 pm One Peace at a Time (2009)  Sponsored by: Appalachian Popular Programming Society |
I.G. Greer seats 300 people. Fire safety codes prohibit overflow so please encourage anyone interested in attending to arrive early.
Parking is available free of charge in the new parking deck next to the library after 5 p.m. For more information about parking, contact ASU Parking and Traffic at (828)262-2878 or www.parking.appstate.edu. Please visit www.maps.appstate.edu to see a campus map highlighting available parking and areas where our events take place.
(from www.flowthefilm.com):
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
Planting trees for fuel, shade, and food is not something that anyone would imagine as the first step toward winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet with that simple act Wangari Maathai, a woman born in rural Kenya, started down the path that reclaimed her country's land from 100 years of deforestation, provided new sources of food and income to rural communities, gave previously impoverished and powerless women a vital political role in their country, and ultimately helped to bring down Kenya's twenty-four-year dictatorship.
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.
(from www.freshthemovie.com):
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.
Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur's 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.
Author Colin Beavan, in research for his next book, began the No Impact Project in November 2006. A newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no longer avoid pointing the finger at himself, Colin leaves behind his liberal complacency with a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. No more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption - no problem. That is, until his espresso guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray.
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides a front row seat into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation as well as an intriguing inside look at the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle's struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
The Day After Peace charts the remarkable 10-year journey of award-winning filmmaker Jeremy Gilley to establish an annual Peace Day on 21 September. The camera follows Jeremy as he galvanises the countries of the world to recognise an official day of ceasefire and non-violence.
But even after the member states of the UN unanimously adopt Peace Day, the struggle isn't over. As the years pass, there's not a single ceasefire. The voices of the cynics are growing louder - and now Gilley's non-profit organisation, Peace One Day, is in dire financial straits. But he can't let it fail.
The film's breathtaking conclusion finds Gilley joined by Jude Law in Afghanistan attempting to spearhead a massive vaccination against polio on Peace Day. Will peace prevail? Will lives be saved? Or were the cynics right?
The Day After Peace is a moving testament to the power of the individual and the perseverance of the human spirit.
