Tuesday, February 2, 5:30-8:30 PM
“Addicted to Plastic”

Local sponsor: NURRC

Plastics are perhaps the most ubiquitous and versatile material ever invented. No invention in the past 100 years has had more influence and presence than synthetics. But, such progress has had a cost. “Addicted to Plastic” is a global journey to investigate what we really know about the material of a thousand uses, and why there’s so much of it.

Directed and produced by Ian Connacher (85 minutes)
For more: www.crypticmoth.com

Tuesday, February 9, 5:30-8:30 PM
“What’s On Your Plate?”

Local sponsor: Chipotle

“What’s On Your Plate?” is a witty and provocative documentary about kids and food politics. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. The girls address questions regarding the origin of the food they eat, how it’s cultivated, how many miles it travels from the harvest to their plate, how it’s prepared, who prepares it, and what is done afterwards with the packaging and leftovers.

Produced & directed by Catherine Gund.
(75 minutes)
For more: www.whatsonyourplateproject.org

Tuesday, February 16, 5:30-8:30 PM
“The Greening of Southie”

Local sponsor: Johnston Design Group

In the traditionally Irish-American working-class neighborhood of South Boston, MA, a new kind of building has taken shape. From wheatboard cabinetry to recycled steel, bamboo flooring to dual-flush toilets, the Macallen building is something different: a leader in the emerging field of environmentally friendly design. This film is about building Boston’s first LEED Gold-certified building and its impact in the community.

Directed by Ian Cheney and produced by Curt Ellis. (72 minutes)
For more: www.greeningofsouthie.com

Tuesday, February 23, 5:30-8:30 PM
“Food Matters”

Local sponsor: Live Oak Farm

With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat malnourished bodies, it’s no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. The movie gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally. The focus of the film is in helping us rethink the belief systems fed to us by modern medical and health care establishments.

Produced & directed by James Colquhoun and Laurentine Ten Bosch. (80 minutes)
For more: www.foodmatters.tv

Premier Sponsors:

Media and Marketing Partners:

Charter Communications

Shafer & Huguley

Natural Awakenings

Green City Creative

Featured Films Sponsors:

NURRC

Chipotle

Johnston Design Group

Live Oak Farm

King Corn
February 5th - 5:30 pm
at The Upcountry History Museum

By growing an acre of corn in Iowa two friends uncover the devastating impact that corn is having on the environment, public health and family farms. When they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat - and how we farm.

Features Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Earl Butz, former US Secretary of Agriculture.
Directed by Aaron Woolf; a film by Aaron Woolf, Ian Cheney, and Curt Ellis (90 minutes)

A Crude Awakening
February 12th - 5:30PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

The idea that the world's oil supplies are at or near their peak is quickly gaining currency in the mainstream. "A Crude Awkening," an award-winning documentary, explores our world's addiction to oil and calls for an overhaul in our patterns of energy consumption.

Directed by Basil Gelpke, Ray McCormack, and Reto Caduff, 2006 (90 minutes)

The Real Dirt on Farmer John
February 19th - 5:30 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

The Real Dirt on Farmer John is an accurate, fulfilling, moving, and inspirational portrayal of the life and farm of John Peterson. Viewers will gain respect for Biodynamic, organic food and the process by which it is grown. This will create a new possibility for relationship to food and farms.

Producer/Director/Director of Photography Taggart Siegel (82 minutes)

Renewal
February 26th, 5:30 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

"Renewal" documents the increase in environmental activism in congregations of all faiths across America. Evangelical Christians fighting mountaintop removal, Muslims supporting sustainable farming, and Jews fostering children's connection between nature and spirituality are just a few of the stories depicted.

Produced and directed by Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller, 2007 (88 minutes)

My Father's Garden
MAY 4, 2 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

"Deeply sympathetic to all farmers and to rural culture." Making a Difference

56 minutes--Directed by Miranda Smith-Produced by Miranda Productions. Explores sustainable agriculture and the contrast between chemical and organic farming.

An emotionally charged documentary about the use and misuse of technology on the American farm. In less than fifty years the face of agriculture has been utterly transformed by synthetic chemicals which have had a serious impact on the environment and on the health of farm families. This film tells the story of two farmers, different in all details, yet united by their common goal of producing healthy food.

One of the farmers is the father of the filmmaker. Herbert Smith was a hero of his age: dedicated, innovative, a champion of the new miracle sprays of the 50s. His fate is the heart of this film. The other, Fred Kirschenmann of North Dakota, is a hero for our age. Faced with a shattered economy and the devastating environmental effects of conventional chemical farming, Fred steered his land through the transition to organic farming. Twenty years later, the Kirschenmann farm is a thriving testament to ingenuity, hard work, and a reverent understanding of nature.

Fred proves that sustainable agricultureis a viable alternative on any sized farm and that we can bring health and beauty back to the Garden.

Deconstructing Supper: Is Your Food Safe?
JUNE 1st,  2 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

"A fascinating...primer on the subject of genetically modified food." Toronto Star

48 minutes--Directed by Marianne Kaplan-Produced by Leonard Terhoch & Marianne Kaplan for MSK Productions, Inc. Host: John Bishop

A leading chef investigates food safety in the age of GMOs and industrial agriculture.

Ripe tomato salad. Creamy chicken soup. Grilled West-coast salmon. Dinner is served!
But what's in our food and how is it grown?

Renowned chef John Bishop leads viewers on an eye-opening and engaging journey into the billion-dollar battle to control global food production. Starting with a gourmet meal in his five-star restaurant, Bishop travels the world -- from farmer's fields to biotech laboratories to supermarket aisles -- on a personal quest to find out what our food choices are.

With a hearty appetite for food and information, chef Bishop explores the politics and ethics of food. He discovers that 70% of processed foods on supermarket shelves in North America contain genetically modified ingredients. The handful of biotech companies who control genetically modified seeds claim this is the only way to feed the world's growing population. But are these foods safe? Are there other, less risky ways to feed ourselves? Our chef finds answers to these compelling questions and more.

Food
JULY 6,  2 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

Devising a sustainable food system -- one that is healthy, accessible, and affordable."Examine(s) big issues and visionary options in pithy, bite-size, easy-to-digest servings." Islander

49 minutes-Directed by David Springbett & Heather MacAndrew-Produced by Asterisk Productions, Ltd. Host & Narrator: Des Kennedy-Produced in association with Vision TV

Food is a local issue, a global issue, a development, health, political and economic issue. This program asks: how can we design a food system that ensures health, accessibility and affordability for everyone: urban and rural, North and South?

Frances Moore Lappé, Joan Gussow, Brewster Kneen, FoodShare Toronto, organic farmer Alyson Chisholm, and participants in an innovative food program in Brazil are among those who offer ideas on how to make food systems more equitable.

Broken Limbs
Apples, Agriculture, and the New American Farmer
AUGUST 3,  2 PM
at The Upcountry History Museum

"Broken Limbs is a very accurate and moving description of what is happening to agriculture in America." - Fred Kirschenmann, Director, Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, organic farmer

57 minutes-Produced by Jamie Howell and Guy Evans

Looks at the plight of apple growers in the age of globalization, and points the way to sustainable US agriculture

Wenatchee, Washington, the "Apple Capital of the World"; this pastoral valley in the heart of the Northwest prospered for nearly a century as home to the famed Washington apple. But the good times have vanished. Apple orchardists by the thousands are going out of business and thousands more await the dreaded letter from the bank, announcing the end of their livelihoods and a uniquely American way of life.

After his own father receives just such a letter, filmmaker Guy Evans sets out on a journey to find out what went wrong here in this natural Garden of Eden. Over the course of filming, Evans witnesses small farmers struggling to compete against the Goliaths that populate today's global economy, only to be ultimately forced off their land. The future looks grim for the Apple Capital until Evans happens upon an entirely new breed of farmer, practitioners of a new model called "sustainable agriculture".