Plans for Tales From Planet Earth, November 6-8, 2009, are continuing apace. A listing of some of the films we plan to screen is available here. While the overarching theme of the inaugural 2007 festival was Hope, the theme for the 2009 festival will be Justice. Building on our past success, we aim to create a community-driven film festival that links the university to the community and community partners working to deal with environmental and human rights issues. We also hope to bring together artist/filmmakers with scientists, historians, policy makers, community organizations, environmental advocates and students (undergrad and graduate) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Once again, all festival events will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Donations help support the festival and will be accepted at the door.
While we are still finalizing our roster of approximately 30-35 films for the festival, we are organizing our selections through four primary strands:
- Landscapes of Labor - Work has been a powerful force in shaping the relationships between people and landscapes across the globe. Films in this stream will encourage audiences to reflect on how labor has been integral to questions of identity, place, and environmental inequality.
- Precious Resources - What some people take for granted, others find precious value in. Scarcity of quality food, water, land, fossil fuels, and other commodities is not simply about the limits of nature. Economics, power, cultural values, and geography all play into the mix of what constitutes a precious resource.
- Strange Weather - Weather has been a factor in human lives and landscapes throughout history. Films in this strand, from Pare Lorentz's The River to Judith Helfand's work-in-progress film, Cooked, invite audiences to explore the place of strange weather -- from heat waves, to droughts, to floods -- on individual lives, communities, and regions past, present, and future.
- In the Company of Animals - Animals have been woven into the stories humans have told from ancient times. Films in this strand celebrate the intertwined stories of people and wildlife and their shared quest for survival on planet earth.
From provocative sci-fi films to family-friendly fare to haunting documentaries, Tales From Planet Earth will offer unique viewing opportunities for audiences of all kinds. Please join us on this journey across the globe to explore how stories told through film shape our understanding of nature and inspire action on behalf of environmental justice and the diversity of life.
In the spring of 2009, we offered two free screenings of films that we will be bringing back for the festival this fall, November 6-8, 2009. We hope to use these films to engage in partnerships with environmental and community activist groups around Madison and Wisconsin. Audience participation in these spring screenings helped filmmakers and activists determine how best to leverage the screening of these films at Tales from Planet Earth in November to create environmental change. To learn more about all the films we screened ahead of the festival click here. Check back here to see if we add additional screening times and locations for the summer!
Tales from Planet Earth co-sponsored several environmental films at this spring's 11th Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison. The Wisconsin Film Festival's (WFF) commitment to showing thought-provoking environmental films is long-standing and we were again pleased to partner with the festival to sponsor several amazing films that share themes with Tales from Planet Earth.
Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis wrote and directed the critically acclaimed King Corn, which deconstructed modern agribusiness. Now they are back with The Greening of Southie, the story of a LEED-certified, environmentally sensitive condominium built in South Boston. Just as they did in their earlier film, they succeed at explaining technical details, revealing what it means to be a "green" building. But the real center of this film is the construction crew on the site, proud Union members who are trying to figure out what this new method of construction is about and how they fit into a modern construction landscape.
(Selected by Tales from Planet Earth as representative of our "Landscapes of Labor" strand of films)
Robert Kenner's Food, Inc. lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies -- the USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers or the sanctity of our environment. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma), along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms' Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin, this film reveals surprising truths about what we eat, how it's produced, and who we have become as a nation.
(Selected by Tales from Planet Earth as representative of our "Precious Resources" strand of films)
In Earth Days, acclaimed director (and UW–Madison graduate) Robert Stone traces the origins of the modern environmental movement through the eyes of nine Americans who propelled the movement from its beginnings in the 1950s to its moment of triumph in 1970 with the original Earth Day, and to its status as a major political force in America. Drawing heavily on eyewitness testimony and a wealth of never-before-seen archival footage, Stone examines the revolutionary achievements (and missed opportunities) of a decade of groundbreaking activism. The result is both a poetic meditation on man's complex relationship with nature and a probing analysis of past responses to environmental crisis, offering much food for thought as we ponder an environmental future dominated by global climate change.
(Selected by Tales from Planet Earth as representative of our "Strange Weather" strand of films)
Rare Chicken Rescue profiles Australian breeder Mark Tully, a man on a mission to protect rare heritage poultry breeds before they disappear forever. Breeds such as the Sumatran, the Phoenix, the Transylvanian Naked Neck, the Spanish, the Azeel and even the humble Leghorn are just some of the many under threat. One of Australia’s many "poultry fanciers," Tully embarks on a "chicken chase" that covers 10,000 kilometres and spans five Australian states as he tracks down rare heritage breeds and meets others who share his passion. While Tully spends his days rescuing poultry, he reveals that the unconditional love of his large collection of turkeys, chooks and other birds — and the serenity he finds in their company — has helped save his own life after a long battle with mental illness. (Note this film shows in conjunction with two other short films.)
(Selected by Tales from Planet Earth as representative of our "In the Company of Animals" strand of films)