EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival - Director's Pick 2007

EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival 2008 celebrates our 10th year of highlighting films about crucial ecological issues, providing a venue for independent filmmakers from around the world and inspiring people to get involved in creating positive change for the planet.

EarthVision 2008 will be held March 3rd – 8th, 2008 with a special screening for Act Locally on Earth Day. Award winning films will be screened at the Mello Center in Watsonville and at the Rio Theatre and the Veteran’s Memorial Hall in Santa Cruz. EarthVision will culminate with a celebration honoring the filmmakers and people on the front lines of the environmental movement.

SYNOPSIS
Imagine a world where humans and technology can live in harmony with nature. REPERCUSSIONS invites us to World Expo 2005 Aichi Japan, entitled "Nature's Wisdom" to discover the solutions humanity has dreamed up to face environmental challenges. On the site, great efforts were made towards a zero waste objective and clean, renewable energies as well as ecological sound transport were implemented on a broad scale. An ecologically respectful way of life is today, more than something to dream about, but something truly achievable.



Regardless of economic, ethnic, linguistic, and religious background, climate change and the depletion of natural ressources commits us to work together.

For 154 years, world expos have served as beacons on the road of technological progress, where spectators contemplate pavilion by pavilion, what the future may hold in store.

REPERCUSSIONS offers a glimpse of a vast array of environmental solutions and bears witness to the immense richness and ingenuity of the human spirit.

In a land of wind and legends, a long forgotten myth is about to take wing again.

The Bald Ibis, the Arab Phoenix of the desert is back, re-discovered in a remote valley in the Syrian steppe by an Italian researcher and a group of Bedouins.

Ahmed and the Return of the Arab Phoenix is the story of a handful of visionary men who are fighting in the desert to protect what is left of the biodiversity of Al Badia, the semi-arid desert steppe stretching from the Iraqi border to almost the Mediterranean coast. Their efforts will be rewarded by the discovery, in a remote area, of the last Middle Eastern breeding colony of the Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) in the wild, one of the rarest migratory birds and a symbol of wisdom for the Bedouins of the desert...

Shot around the Palmyra oasis, Syria, not far from the Euphrates river and the Iraqi border, this documentary shows the efforts of the Syrian government to protect its natural heritage.


Category: Endangered Species and Habitats

Giuseppe Bucciarelli, Director and Producer will introduce film
Italy TRT :26 minutes

Filmed in Syria we follow the plight not only of the last of the remaining Arab Phoenix - Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) but also a way of life that is slowly changing for the bedouin, a culture on the brink of transition.

"The political situation in Syria is very difficult. Whatever you do in Syria you are investigated by the secret police. In order to make this film I had to move around keeping a very low profile, pretending I was one of the few travelers venturing there. Nevertheless the men of the secret police were literally everywhere, questioning me about all aspects of my life!"

PREVIEW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XSoi79Ts4s

Environmental Activism and Social Justice

Will Parrinello and John Antonelli, co-producer and directors
USA TRT:10 min.

'Global Focus III- The New Environmentalists' is the third annual installment of a half hour program that features intimate portraits of six passionate and dedicated activists. These are true environmental heroes who have put themselves between corrupt governments, greedy corporations and other intimidating adversaries. Their goal: safeguarding the Earth's natural resources from shortsighted exploitation and unbridled pollution. We will be seeing 2 of the 6 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize winners at this screening.

Category: Aspiring/novice

Kat Kosmala USA
Animation TRT:5 min.

Strange creatures! Beautiful animation! Grass! What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Such conundrums abound in this charming traditionally drawn and digitally painted short. Film festival Debut

Category: Farming, Pesticides and Soils

Director and Producer: Chris Korrow
USA TRT :26 minutes

Colorful close-up photography, an original music score, combined with facts about insect habitats and life cycles offers viewers a documentary film that is aesthetically pleasing, awe-inspiring and informative. Viewers learn about the multitude of insects in their own gardens -- which ones are beneficial and which ones are destroying their vegetables, who eats who and why. The unique aspect of this project is that the filmmaker is both an organic farmer and a professional filmmaker.