Tales from Planet Earth :: Community Engagement

Judith Helfand with students in the 2007 film production workshop In 2007, in conjunction with our first Tales from Planet Earth, we offered two courses at UW-Madison — a history of environmental film class and an environmental film production workshop — as part of a semester-long environmental filmmaking artist-in-residency featuring guest filmmakers Judith Helfand and Sarita Siegel. Students in the production class, all of whom were novice filmmakers, created seven 2- to 3-minute shorts that premiered at the 2007 festival in what we called Trailers from Planet Earth.

In the fall of 2009, Tales from Planet Earth once again is offering two courses at UW-Madison co-taught by Gregg Mitman and Judith Helfand. This time, in addition to our Environmental Filmmaking Workshop, we are offering a course entitled Community Engagement through Film. This latter course teaches students how to design community outreach campaigns in conjunction with our festival community partners to leverage the festival's films into forces for positive environmental justice action.

Course Materials

Environmental Studies 402: Community Engagement Through Film

Environmental Filmmaking Worshop