NEWHAVEN, CT (March 19, 2010) – The 2010 Environmental Film Festival at
Yale
(EFFY) announced today it will open with the East Coast Premiere of Houston We Have a Problem on
Tuesday,
April 6. The documentary that exposes the hard truths about oil from
Texas oilmen themselves, and how the oil industry must
adapt to meet America’s
future energy needs. Following the film will be a discussion with
director Nicole Torre and one of the film's subjects Matthew Simmons,
one of
the world’s leading experts on the topic of peak oil, and moderated by
Douglas Kysar, Professor at Yale
Law School.
“It
is a great honor to be opening the Environmental Film Festival at Yale,”
said Nicole Torre, director of Houston
environment for discussing and instigating progressive ideas and
action.”
The
festival showcases feature-length documentaries and short films, as well
as
conversations with filmmakers, panel discussions and workshops that will
explore issues raised in the films. EFFY runs from April 6th – 11th in
New Haven, Connecticut.
“Our
mission is to capitalize on the power of film to educate the public
about
critical environmental issues, to encourage environmental stewardship,
and to
incite change," says Eric Desatnik, Executive Director and Yale grad
student.
The
fest will also include a Special Advance Screening of Disneynature's Oceans
Earth
Day.
"We
are thrilled with the caliber of films we are showcasing," says
Desatnik. "Our festival, in terms of quality, rivals any major
festival out there."
A
jury comprised of students and faculty chooses one feature and one short
to
receive EFFY Grand Jury Prizes and audiences choose one feature for an
Audience
Award. Last year's winners were Joe Berlinger's doc Crude
The
complete schedule can be found at http://environment.yale.edu/film.
FEATURE FILMS:
Houston
We Have a Problem (USA) East Coast Premiere. We arefighting a
cold war on energy, and both Wall Street and Main Street have no idea
what to do. We will
see a new form of Wildcatting in alternatives, and learn how many oilmen
believe that being shackled to cheap oil is only destroying our empire.
Directed by Nicole Torre.
Blood of the Rose
(UK/Germany/Japan) U.S. Premiere. Henry Singer’s
gripping film tells the story of the extraordinary life and brutal death
of
filmmaker-turned-conservationist Joan Root, and of her campaign to save
her
beloved Lake Naivasha
in Kenya.
The film is both a biopic and a classic whodunit.
The End of the Line
(UK) Connecticut Premiere. Director Rupert
Murray
crisscrosses the globe, exploring the devastating effect that
overfishing is
having on fish stocks and the health of our oceans, what is causing the
dilemma
and what can be done to solve it.
Peaceable Kingdom: The
Journey Home
Premiere. Explores the awakening
conscience of several people who grew up in traditional farming culture
and who
have now come to question the basic premises of their inherited way of
life.
Directed by Jenny Stein.
Bananas!*
(Sweden)
New England Premiere. Director Fredrik
Gertten
chronicles the historic case of twelve banana workers who claim to be
suffering
from sterility and who are seeking a ruling against their employer, Dole
Fruit,
whom they say continued to use Nemagon until 1982, even though the
chemical had
been banned in the U.S. in 1977.
Oceans
(USA/France)Special Advance Screening. Disneynature,
the
studio that presented the record-breaking film Earth, brings Oceans to
the big screen on Earth Day, 2010. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques
Cluzaud
dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind-exploring the
harsh
reality and the amazing creatures that live within.
The Cove
(USA) Underwater sound and camera
experts, deep sea free divers, special effects artists and a host of
other
marine/film experts contribute to this provocative, eye-opening film,
directed
by Louie Psihoyos, that captures the wrongdoings of the secretive
dolphin industry
in Japan. Winner of the 2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Gasland
(USA)
New England Premiere. When filmmaker Josh
Fox
discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area—the
Catskills/Poconos region of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania,
he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncover the deep consequences of
the United States’
natural gas drilling boom. What he uncovers is truly shocking. Winner of
the
Special Jury Prize for Documentary at 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
SHORT FILMS:
Hansaari A
(Finland)
New England Premiere. An experimental
documentary
about the changing cityscape of Helsinki
and the final moments of a coal-fired power plant. The old industrial
milieu is
being destroyed to make space for modern housing units.
The Hunter and the Bear
(Germany) U.S. Premiere. A hunter stalks a
lonely
meadow, searching for an elusive white bear that has frightened the
townsfolk.
A gorgeous animation with hints of Bruegel, set to the music of Sigur
Ros.
Incident at Tower 37
(USA) A
ten-minute HD animated film following two unlikely heroes as they rise
up
against their oppressors.
Dive!
(USA) New England Premiere. Filmmaker Jeremy
Seifert and
his circle of friends “dumpster dive” in the back alleys and gated
garbage receptacles of L.A.’s
supermarkets. In the process they uncover thousands of dollars of food
and an
ugly truth about waste in America.
Foodshed
(USA) World Premiere. Yale
student Justin Freiberg gives voices to
a group of New Haven
teens during their first experiences as urban farmers, and discusses the
potential of local urban farms as entrepreneurial opportunities.
Soy Story
(UK)
U.S. Premiere. An animated short film
that
tells the story of a cow who treks to South America
to find the answer his daughter's questions about where their food comes
from.
Logorama
(France)Spectacular car chases,
an intense hostage crisis, and wild animals rampaging through the city
change a
world constructed by heavy corporate sponsorship. Winner of the 2010
Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Born Sweet
(USA)
New England Premiere. Arsenic-laced water
has
poisoned a 15-year-old boy from a small, rural village in Cambodia, who
fashions dreams for karaoke stardom in spite of his illness.
Pumzi
(Kenya/SouthAfrica) East Coast
Premiere. Thirty-five years after World War III, the "Water
War,” a woman from East Africa flees an
enclosed community in hopes of once again restoring life outside its
walls.
One of the Last
(Italy) Mauro is a 78-year-old
Italian peasant who loves his life. Mauro is part of the landscape, and
he
wants it to survive.
Skylight
(Canada) A mock documentary about
the ecological plight of penguins in the Antarctic, possibly foretelling
cataclysmic results for the rest of the world.
Plastic and Glass
(France) New England Premiere. In a recycling
factory, the
machines dance, the workers join in song, and the truck drivers circle
as if
part of a factory ballet.
