Welcome to John Jay Colleges's 7th Annual EcoCinema Cafe, scheduled for March 30 through April 1, 2020!
Film Screening Schedule
Film Descriptions
Festival Special Events (coming soon)
John Jay College, leader in educating for justice, is turning to sustainability and environmental justice – the defining issues of our time!
Independent filmmakers look at a complex situation and tell the story in human and powerful ways to which we can all relate. The films included in the festival are designed not only to entertain, but to build awareness, and to inspire dialog, the first steps towards taking action.
The EcoCinema Cafe is sponsored by the program in Sustainability and Environmental Justice, and the College's Sustainability Council, and brought to John Jay College by the Environmental Education Fund (EEF).
Films Available for the 2020 EcoCinema Cafe
John Jay faculty are encouraged to request specific films be shown during specific time slots when it is convenient for them to bring their classes. The films that are available are listed below. Requests should be directed to Lindsey Kayman, Environmental Health and Safety Director.
We also can also screen films available through Kanopy Film Screening! This is a fabulous resource with thousands of award-winning films. (list of Kanopy films that are related to the environment and under 7o minutes)
The schedule is posted below and will be updated on a continual basis.
If there is a film you are interested in, but is not on the list contact inquire about it.
1.5 Stay Alive (53 min) Part music video and part documentary, 1.5 – STAY ALIVE bring an urgent message from the Caribbean to the international community: limit global warming to 1.5°C, so that their islands are not overtaken by the sea. Popular Caribbean musicians express their experiences with rising seas by composing and performing songs about climate change, and their visions of how to confront it. (trailer)
Acid Test by NRDC (22 min) Ocean acidification is the “other” problem caused by burning fossil fuels and poses a fundamental challenge to life in the seas and the health of the entire planet. (Trailer)
American Outrage (33 min and 56 min versions) Two elderly Western Shoshone sisters battle the U.S. government for land rights after their livestock herds are seized and they are sued for trespassin. (Trailer)
Angel Azul (74 min) The artistic journey of Jason deCaires Taylor, an innovative artist who combines creativity with an important environmental solution; the creation of artificial coral reefs from statues he's cast from live models. When algae overtakes the reefs however, experts explain the perilous situation coral reefs currently face and solutions necessary to save them. (Trailer)
Bag it (65 min, 45 min, 30 min versions) A light-hearted look about how our “disposable plastic” culture is affecting the health of people, animals, and the ocean. (Trailer)
Before the Flood (96 min) Leonardo DiCaprio explores climate change and discovers what must be done to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.
Bidder 70 (73 min) This film profiles University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher, who derailed a Bureau of Land Management auction for gas and oil drilling rights, and preserved pristine Utah Wilderness. This act of civil disobedience lead to his felony conviction and incarceration. Produced and directed by Beth and George Gage. (Trailer)
Big Sky Big Money (54 min) Investigative reporting that shows how the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United, the rise of “super PACs” and the rules governing 501(c)(4) advocacy groups have lead to American electioneering that is out of control by telling the story of a pivotal 2012 Montana United States Senate race. (Trailer)
Bill Nye's Global Meltdown (33 minutes) With tongue planted firmly in cheek, "Science Guy," Bill Nye's on-screen grief counseling—administered by Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a sage therapist—serves to categorize the varied ways that different businesses, governments, and peoples are responding to climate chan. (Trailer)
Blue Gold World Water Wars (90 min) Follows numerous worldwide examples of people fighting for their basic right to water, while our limited supply of fresh water is being polluted, diverted, pumped, and wasted. (Trailer)
Brilliant Darkness: Hotaru in the Night (12 min) explores firefly conservation efforts in Japan and the US. The film considers the challenges, implications and significance of night and its crucial role in animal biology and life cycles. (Trailer)
Brooklyn Farmer (26 min) Explores the unique challenges facing Brooklyn Grange, a group of urban farmers who endeavor to run a commercially viable rooftop farm within the landscape of New York Cit. (Trailer)
Bunch of Fives (5 short animated films for kids) (31 min) Five funny, short animated films from Australia about life, the universe and ..what that fly is doing in my soup. (Trailer)
Turtle World - A powerful allegory about the survivability of Homo sapiens.
Cell Animation (6 min)- You can escape in nature.
Lower Orders - (6 min) There are many critter communities in the food chain. An eclectic group of insects feeds on garbage from the local restaurant, and try to invade the restaurant dining room...until they find they too are food for another creature.
Banjo Frogs ( 5 min) An adolescent frog takes an inadvertent trip to the garbage dump, where he finds frogs singing unfamiliar tunes. After a few misses, he picks up a banjo and finds his voice in his new neighborhood.
Possum's Rest (5 min) It was a quiet, leafy neighborhood until the humans moved in. Motors, loud music and barbecue smoke disrupt possum sleeping hours, and then the humans have the nerve to get upset with a little moonlight song and 3 a.m. clogging on a tin roof. Can humans and wildlife co-exist in the suburbs?
Turtle World - A powerful allegory about the survivability of Homo sapiens.
Cell Animation (6 min)- You can escape in nature.
Lower Orders - (6 min) There are many critter communities in the food chain. An eclectic group of insects feeds on garbage from the local restaurant, and try to invade the restaurant dining room...until they find they too are food for another creature.
Banjo Frogs ( 5 min) An adolescent frog takes an inadvertent trip to the garbage dump, where he finds frogs singing unfamiliar tunes. After a few misses, he picks up a banjo and finds his voice in his new neighborhood.
Possum's Rest (5 min) It was a quiet, leafy neighborhood until the humans moved in. Motors, loud music and barbecue smoke disrupt possum sleeping hours, and then the humans have the nerve to get upset with a little moonlight song and 3 a.m. clogging on a tin roof. Can humans and wildlife co-exist in the suburbs?
Burden, The (40 min) Tells the story of fossil fuel dependence as our greatest long-term national security threat, and why the military is leading the transition to clean energy. The film is the centerpiece of a strategic media engagement campaign to inspire a movement that strengthens our energy security and harnesses the power of American innovation to make us leaders in the 21st century global clean energy economy. (Trailer)
Burned! Are Trees the New Coal? (74 min (also 45 min and 30 min versions) BURNED tells the little-known story of the accelerating destruction of our forests for fuel, and probes the policy loopholes, huge subsidies, and blatant green washing of the burgeoning biomass power industry. Forest activists, ecologists, and concerned citizens fight to protect the forests and their communities, and debunk this false solution to climate change. (trailer)
Burning the Future: Coal in America (54 min) The story of people from Appalachia adversely affected by mountaintop mining who are fighting for their communities. (Trailer)
Buyer Be Fair (57 min) The film takes viewers to Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, the USA and Canada to explore how conscious consumers and businesses can use the market to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through product labeling, with a focus on Fair Trade coffee and Forest Stewardship Council certified woo. (Trailer)
Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction (60 min) This film covers the cascading impacts caused by disturbing ecosystems. Today, scientists believe that we are entering the 6th Mass Extinction. But unlike the previous five, this one will not take centuries to unfold—in fact, it will take place in our lifetimes. (Trailer)
Can’t Stop the Water (30 min) The story of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana and the Native American community fighting to save its culture as its land washes away. For 170 years, a tribe of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians has occupied Isle de Jean Charles, an island deep in the Louisiana bayous. Now the land that has sustained them for generations is vanishing before their eyes. Years of gas and oil exploration have ravaged the surrounding marsh, leaving the island defenseless against the ocean tide that will eventually destroy it. (Trailer)
Carbon (9 min) Carbon is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and shows how we can keep carbon in the ground through putting a price on carbon. The first film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward. (Trailer)
Chasing Coral ( 93 minutes) Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world. (trailer)
Chasing Ice (76 minutes original and 36, 23, 11 and 6 minute versions) - The story of James Balog’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. With a band of young adventurers in tow, revolutionary time-lapse cameras are placed across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog comes face to face with his own mortality while battling untested technology in subzero conditions. (Trailer)
Cove, The (92 minutes) Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health. (Trailer)
DamNation (87 and 52 minute version) This powerful film odyssey across America explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go mainstream. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other wild fish the right of return to primeval spawning grounds, after decades without access. DamNation's majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature. (Trailer)
Dance of the Honey Bee (6 min) Narrated by Bill McKibben, the film takes a look at the determined, beautiful and vital role honey bees play in preserving life, as well as the threats bees face from a rapidly changing landscape. “Not only are we dependent on the honey bee for much of what we eat,” says Bill, “there is, of course, a grace and elegance they bring to the natural world that would diminish us all were they to disappear.”
Deep Down: A Story from the Heart of Coal Country (57 min) The story of a contentious battle between neighbors over coal mining, wealth and the environmental destruction it represents. Deep Down questions our own morality, our connection to the earth’s resources, and most importantly, our link to people whose daily lives are far removed from our own and yet deeply impacted through our actions.(Trailer)
Detropia (86 min) A dreamlike collage of a great American city teetering on the brink of dissolution with residents refusing to abandon hope or resistance as they envisions a radically different future. (Trailer)
Dirty Business -"Clean Coal" and the Battle for Our Energy Future (90 min and 60 min versions) - A documentary about the myth of clean coal. The film reveals the true, hidden environmental and social costs of the 'cheap' nineteenth century technology that still provides more than half the electricity powering today's digital age. DIRTY BUSINESS exposes Big Coal's propaganda campaign to convince the public that renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, are not ready for prime time - and that clean coal already exists. (trailer)
Dolores ( 95 min) Dolores unearths overlooked history to spotlight one of activism's most powerful -- and often forgotten -- voices, Dolores Huerta. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century-and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one's life to social change. Directed by Peter Bratt.(trailer)
Finding Home (8 min) A story of finding one's ancestral Native American home and community, and the issues they face today, including the realization tht climate change and coastal erosion are very real threats, making returning home not an option. By Babs Bagwell and Julie Maldonado. (Trailer)
Flu Factories (52 minutes) A multimedia presentation about how the treatment of animals can have global public health implications. The presentation explores the role factory farming played in the emergence of the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009. The H1N1 strain of influenza (flu) contained new DNA sequences from birds as well as from pigs from a North Carolina concentrated animal feedlot (CAFO). Although the 2009 strain was not especially virulent the presentation reminds us that crowding animals together can lead to a new virulent form of the virus like the 1918 pandemic (which caused up to 500 million cases and 50 million deaths).
Food Inc. (94 min) - Examines corporate farming in the United States concluding that agribusiness produces food that is unhealthy, in a way that is environmentally harmful and abusive of both animals and employees. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. (Trailer)
From the Ashes ( 81 min)- The film goes beyond the rhetoric of the "war on coal" to present compelling stories about what is at stake for our economy, health, and climate. A clear-eyed and intimate approach to a hot-button topic, From the Ashes captures Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry, and what its future should be under the Trump Administration. In stories spanning from Appalachia to the West’s Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the “war on coal” to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories of individuals affected that speak to what’s at stake for our economy, health, and climate. From the Ashes invites audiences to learn more about an industry on the edge through the lived experiences of those most closely affected, to begin to chart a path forward for and our energy policy and our country itself. 2017, (trailer)
Future of Food ( 88 mi)– Explores the causes and history of the “corporatization” of food, including genetically engineered foods and the patenting of living things. The film empowers consumers to “vote” with their food choices on our future. (Trailer)
Gasland (107 min) It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas." Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground-a hydraulic drilling process called "fracking"-and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower. (Trailer)
Ghost Fleet (90 min) A small group of activists risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find justice and freedom for the enslaved fishermen who feed the world’s insatiable appetite for seafood. Bangkok-based Patima Tungpuchayakul, a Thai abolitionist, has committed her life to helping these “lost” men return home. Facing illness, death threats, corruption, and complacency, Patima’s fearless determination for justice inspires her nation and the world. (trailer)
Gimme Green (27 min) A humorous look at the American obsession with the residential lawn and the effects it has on our environment, our wallets and our outlook on life. From the limitless subdivisions of Florida to sod farms in the arid southwest, Gimme Green peers behind the curtain of the $40 billion industry that fuels our nation's largest irrigated crop - the lawn. (Trailer)
Green Bronx Machine A local Bronx school teacher brings the community together with the help of his green thumb. (Trailer)
|
|
Carbon (9 min) Carbon is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and shows how we can keep carbon in the ground through putting a price on carbon. The first film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward.
Last Hours (11 min) "Last Hours" is a captivating, extremely compelling appeal meant to awaken politicians and business leaders to take climate action and stop runway catastrophic climate change. The second film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward. Green World Rising (9 min) An inspiring look at how we can be 100% off fossil fuels in a few decades. Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, The third film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward. Restoration (10 min) The film focuses on how nature can protect the Earth from the harmful effects of climate change and how industrial design and science researchers can learn valuable lessons from natural systems. The fourth film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward. |
Growing Cities (60 min) This documentary examines the role of urban farming in America and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and change the way we eat. The film follows two friends on their road trip across the country as they meet the people who are challenging the way this country grows and distributes its food—from those growing food in backyards to make ends meet; to educators with the goal of teaching kids to eat better; to activists seeking a meaningful alternative to the industrial food system, and others. Directed by Dan Sussman. (Trailer)
How to Let Go of the World and Love Everything Climate Can't Change (127 min) Oscar Nominated director Josh Fox (GASLAND) continues in his deeply personal style, investigating climate change – the greatest threat our world has ever known. Traveling to 12 countries on 6 continents, the film acknowledges that it may be too late to stop some of the worst consequences and asks, what is it that climate change can’t destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away? (Trailer)
- Hope on the Hudson series
-
-
Click here to edit.
-
City on the Water (19 min ) New York City is truly a water city. Everywhere you go, there are tunnels and bridges delivering you over water, to such a degree some have dubbed the waterways that encircle New York City “the sixth borough.” Waterways like Brooklyn’s Newtown Creek and Queens’ Flushing Meadow, once thought ruined forever by industrial and manmade pollution are making a comeback. From the Billion Oyster Project to Dragon Boat races, from the Gowanus Canal to the Harlem River, there is brand new activity on all of the waterways that surround NYC. (trailer)
-
Source to Sea (15 min) In partnership with volunteer citizen samplers, Hudson Riverkeeper tests select tributaries of the Hudson for fecal-indicating bacteria and other water quality indicators. These samples are collected from the streambank by trained community scientists, and processed in our onboard lab, our lab in Kingston, or one of our partner labs. Communities up and down the Hudson River use this data to restore and protect their local waterways.
-
Growing with the Grain - Upstate New York used to be a breadbasket of grain growing. Westward expansion yielded more ideal climates for growing and production shifted to the midwest. Scientists, farmers, bakers and brewers take part in a grain trial test that hopes to produce a new generation of grain suited for the northeast, bringing sustainable and more localized grain production back to the region.
-
Seeds of Hope (18.3 min) From planting to harvest, follow the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe at Akwesasne, the Hudson Valley Farm Hub and Seedshed as they honor Native American seeds that are at risk of disappearing. Can they preserve their rich agricultural heritage and the stories that each seed holds? (trailer)Undamming the Hudson River (15 min) Many fish use tributaries to the Hudson River as pathways to move between feeding, nursery, and spawning grounds. Unfortunately, thousands of dams, many built in the 19th and 20th Centuries are blocking those pathways and dramatically shrinking accessible habitat area, causing declines in fish and other wildlife. As the years have passed, these dams often no longer serve the purposes for which they were originally built and many have fallen into disrepair. (trailer)
-
Idle Threat (20 min or 30 min versions) A lively look at one man’s spirited struggle to improve public health by raising awareness about idling’s impact, starting in New York City. Against all odds, he succeeds, helping improve local air quality, and in the process gains world-wide recognition for the anti-idling cause, and works with local officals on a bill that would deputize trained citizens to report and earn half of the fine for reporting idling trucks to the city. (Trailer)
Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective (92 min) Inhabit explores the many environmental issues facing us today and examines solutions that are being applied using the ecological design process called 'Permaculture'. Permaculture is a design lens that uses the principles found in ecosystems to help shift our impact from destructive to regenerative. Focused mostly on the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the United States, Inhabit provides an intimate look at permaculture peoples and practices ranging from rural, suburban, and urban landscapes. (trailer)
Invisible Ocean: Plankton and Plastic (8 min) During a Tara Oceans expedition to study the health of the oceans, NYC sci-artist, Mara Haseltine, finds an unsettling plastic presence in samples of plankton she collected. The discovery inspires a sculpture revealing an ongoing invisible battle beneath the water’s surface. (Trailer)
Journey to Planet Earth series (13 films) An award winning series that premiered on PBS dramatizing new ways of looking at the delicate relationship between people and the world they inhabit. It is designed to help viewers understand the complexities of developing an agenda to deal with the most important environmental issues of the 21st century. (Trailer)
|
|
Extreme Realities: Severe Weather, Climate Change, and Our National Security (60 minutes, 2014) Explores the rising threat of extreme weather and the effects climate change is already having on the geopolitical landscape around the world. Narrated by Matt Damon, it also features World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, former EPA Administrator, Carol Browner, journalist, Thomas Friedman and others. (Trailer)
|
|
|
Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (60 minutes, 2010) Delivers a clear and unflinching message - either confront the realities of climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed political states. Lester Brown, together with other notable scholars and scientists, including Nobel Laurette Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner and NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman provides a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable resources as well as strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming.
|
|
|
State of the Planet's Oceans (60 minutes, 2010) Once considered an inexhaustible source of food, the oceans are now in danger of being significantly depleted. Matt Damon hosts "The State of the Planet's Oceans" as award-winning filmmakers Hal and Marilyn Weiner investigate the health and sustainability of the world's oceans and the issues affecting marine preserves, fisheries, and coastal ecosystems in the United States and worldwide.(Trailer)
|
|
|
State of the Ocean's Animals (60 minutes, 2007) This episode investigates why so many of our ocean's animals are disappearing. Will global warming be a death sentence for Emperor Penguins? California's otters are on the rebound while loggerhead sea turtles fight extinction and Japan's dolphins face unexpected dangers. Case studies focus on global issues including climate change, sea-level rise, over-fishing, and habitat destruction. (Trailer)
|
|
|
State of the Planet (60 minutes, 2011) Investigates some of the most critical questions of the 21st century. Are populations soaring out of control? Will there be enough water and food for future generations? And global warming -- a false alarm or a gathering storm? The film visits parts of the world suffering from human overcrowding, hunger and despair -- places where disease is rampant. But it also brings you stories of hope and courage -- and celebrate the beauty and diversity of the natural world. Ultimately, the story is really about why we as individuals and members of a global community should take these issues seriously before it's too late, for our children and grandchildren.
|
|
|
State of the Planet's Wildlife (60 minutes, 2011) The program is an investigation of what scientists call "the sixth great extinction" of the world's animals and why we should care that nearly half the world's wildlife species may disappear over the next fifty years. (Trailer)
|
|
|
Future Conditional: the Grasshopper Effect: Toxic Pollution in the Arctic (60 minutes, 2011) Toxic Pollution in the Arctic In the phenomenon scientists call the "Grasshopper Effect," toxic pollutants released thousands of miles to the south evaporate in the warm climate then ride the winds until they reach the cold air of the Arctic where they eventually fall to the earth. Toxic plankton and plants are consumed by fish and land animals and the pollutants spread up the food chain to Polar bears, seals, and humans. (Trailer)
|
|
|
Hot Zones (60 minutes, 2014) Examines how recent trends in globalization and the altering of ecosystems have led to dramatic increases in the spread of infectious diseases. Case studies demonstrate just how closely our own health is dependent on that of the environment. (Trailer)
-Kenya: Epidemics of malaria and Rift Valley fever have claimed thousands of lives at alarming rates. -Peru: As the forests are cleared and wildlife eradicated, vectors of disease must seek out new hosts on which to feed—namely humans. -Bangladesh: Lacking clean water and adequate sanitation, seasonal outbreaks of cholera make hospitals look like battlefields littered with casualties. -United States: In the Chesapeake Bay, watermen struggled to survive as their harvest of fish and crabs have become increasingly polluted by sewage, pesticides and industrial effluents. |
|
|
Seas of Grass: Mongolian Herders Struggle for Survival (60 minutes, 2007) The remote steppes of Inner Mongolia have sustained nomadic herders and horsemen for thousands of years. The summers are hot and often without rain -- the winters are long and cold. These are the ideal conditions for sustaining one of the largest grassland ecosystems in the world. Less rain and there would be desert -- more and there would be forest. Nomadic herders are caught between ancient traditions and the pressures of globalization and the loss of grassland habitat to overgrazing and other environmental degradations. (Trailer)
On the Brink (60 minutes, 2014) Considers a growing national security threat throughout the world: how environmental pressures can lead to terrorism, regional conflict, political crises, and increased hostilities. Case studies delve into the connections between national security and deforestation, soil erosion, water depletion, air pollution, surging refugee populations, and global climate change. (Trailer)
Land of Plenty, Land of Want (60 minutes, 2014) Examines how farmers can feed Earth’s growing population without impoverishing the land and endangering our environment. Case studies show drought, loss of topsoil, water pollution, misuse of chemicals and pesticides, and loss of farmland to urbanization. (Trailer) Case studies include:
Urban Explosion (60 minutes, 2011) Robert Kennedy, Jr. & Jimmy Breslin reflect on what makes New York an environmental model. Explores a major dilemma of the 21st Century: how to sustain the world’s exploding urban populations without destroying the delicate balance of our environment: Locations: New York City, Mexico City, Istanbul and Shanghai. (Trailer)
Rivers of Destiny: Quest for Water in the Middle East (60 minutes, 2014) Journeys to four major river systems to investigate environmental pressures facing those whose lives depend upon the health of their river. Case studies examine the resulting problems from tampering with wildlife habitat, floods, water rights, destruction of the Amazon rain forest, over fishing, and the impact of economic development on water resources. (Trailer)
|
King Corn (50 min) “King Corn” is a story about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from; with the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But 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. Directed by Aaron Woolf. (Trailer)
Last Hours (11 min) "Last Hours" is a captivating, extremely compelling appeal meant to awaken politicians and business leaders to take climate action and stop runway catastrophic climate change. The second film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward.
Last Rush for the Wild West, The (51 min) The State of Utah has approved commercial tar sandsmining despite catastrophic impacts to human health and the environment caused by tar sands strip mining in Alberta, Canada. Community activists are trying to stop it. (Trailer)
Light of the Genji (10 min) The Genji fireflies of Kyushu, Japan and efforts to protect fireflies and their 'languages of light' from artificial night lighting.
Mission to Reclaim Democracy (6 min) A lecture by Lawrence Lessig, a maverick Harvard Law School professor and prominent advocate for campaign finance reform. According to Lessig, the outcome of many Congressional elections are decided ahead of the vote by a tiny fraction of the population – the donors who give to Super PACs. Lessig was joined onstage by two artists who drew live illustrations of his talk. This multimedia experiment was directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki and has been edited into a short film. Campaign finance reform may be the most important step in makng the environment a priority. (Trailer)
My Beautiful Nicuragua (27 minutes) 12-year-old Edelsin Linette Mendez lives with her siblings and parents on their small coffee farm in the beautiful highlands of Nicaragua. The farming of coffee in Nicaragua has supported the Mendez family and thousands like them for generations, with coffee accounting for 30 percent of the country’s exports. As a result of climate change, increasing temperatures and erratic rainfall now facilitate the growth of “La Roya” fungus that kills the coffee crop. In the last three years alone, the Mendez family harvest has been reduced over 50 percent by this fungus, forcing them into poverty. With the use of a video camera, Edelsin makes vivid the serious consequences of a severely damaged coffee harvest to her own future and that of her country. Edelsin’s film mentor is the renowned Joyce Chopra, a pioneer of documentary cinema . (Trailer)
My Life as a Turkey (51 min) Based on his true story, My Life as a Turkey chronicles Joe Hutto’s remarkable and moving experience of raising a group of wild turkey hatchlings to adulthood. (Trailer)
Nothing Like Chocolate ( 68 min and 55 min versions) The story of Mott Green and the solar-powered Grenada Chocolate Company, a farmers' and chocolate-makers' co-op, which makes organic chocolate from tree-to-bar. (Trailer)
Oil and Water (78 and 55 min versions) The coming of age story of two boys as they confront one of the world's worst toxic disasters, the prolonged contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon by Texaco and other oil companies. Hugo comes to America to fight for the survival of his tribe, the Cofán, while David goes to Ecuador to launch the world's first company to certify oil as "fair trade." Can Hugo become the leader his tribe so desperately wants him to be? Will David clean up one of the world's dirtiest industries? This film is an intimate portrait of two young people finding their voices and trying to beat incredible odds. Their journeys lead them to explore what could be a more just future, not just for the people of the Amazon, but for all people around the world born with oil beneath their feet. Eight years in the making OIL & WATER is a shocking and inspiring David and Goliath story. (Trailer)
Our Daily Dose (20 min) The most recent science regarding the safety of ingesting fluoride, is examined, making the case that we must rethink the very old practice of adding fluoride to our tap water.
Pandora’s Promise ( 90 min) New reactors are being developed that will: a) use up existing nuclear waste as fuel, b) automatically shut down preventing meltdowns, c) generate fuel, d) not generate carbon emissions, making nuclear energy a renewable energy source. Will environmentalists continue to oppose this technology despite the threat of climate change? (Trailer)
Paradise with Side Effects (40 minutes) From a remote village high in the Himalayas, two Tibetan women journey to London, on a reality tour to see what life in the West is really like. Their shocked and deeply insightful perceptions open a doorway to greater understanding of our lives. (Trailer)
Peaceable Kingdom: the Journey Home (78 minutes) A riveting story of transformation and healing, the film follows the story of five farmers, an animal rescuer and a humane police officer who each embark on a journey of awakening conscience. This film shatters stereotypical notions of farmers, farm life, and farm animals themselves. (Trailer)
Plastic Paradise (57 minutes) Thousands of miles away from civilization, Midway Atoll is in one of the most remote places on earth. And yet it's become ground zero for The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, siphoning plastics from three distant continents. In this independent documentary film, journalist/filmmaker Angela Sun’s personal journey of discovery uncovers this mysterious phenomenon. Along the way she meets scientists, researchers, influencers, and volunteers who shed light on the effects of our rabid plastic consumption and learns the problem is more insidious than we could have ever imagined. (Trailer)
Race to Zero Carbon - Coaching Clinic Movie (37 min) In a world where Team Doom is dancing in civilization's end zone and Team Earth is playing out the clock, one Zero Carbon Coach and one Scoreboard Committee Member will walk you through the layout of a Zero Carbon Coaching Clinic. See climate solutions like you've never seen them before. A systematic, candid process, with math and maps, humor and handy sports metaphors! An invitation to whip Team Earth into fighting shape in time to save the planet. The Race is in a game format. A "game" is an activity, governed by rules and metrics. It can be fun, but it's not trivial. Especially not this game. The Zero Carbon Coaching Clinic movie deconstructs the life and death game we are trapped in, and gets us on the road to winning it.
Restoration (10 min) The film focuses on how nature can protect the Earth from the harmful effects of climate change and how industrial design and science researchers can learn valuable lessons from natural systems. The fourth film in the Green World Rising film series, aimed at moving the climate debate forward.
Rough Science (89 min total) Episodes 101-106 of the entertaining science series., a 10-part series in which five scientists on a tropical island cooperate to solve a series of scientific challenges using only their knowledge, ingenuity, and whatever is at hand. Examples of challenges have included: the construction of a wind-powered electricity generator, the production and use of textile dyes, and measuring the speed of a glacier. (Trailer)
Sacred Water Standing Rock (50 minutes) VICELAND’S RISE heads to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to meet the Lakota and Dakota youth joining forces to protect their sacred water from the ‘black snake’ set to invade their ancestral homeland.
The people of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation of North and South Dakota are fighting to stop a pipeline from being built on their ancestral homeland. The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake its way across four states, bisecting sacred Indigenous sites and burial grounds along the route. Woven throughout are stories about life on the Reservation, impacted by a history of broken treaties, unresolved land claims and government-sponsored genocide. Now the tribe fears that a leak could contaminate the Missouri River and spell disaster for the Great Sioux Nation. But water protectors are standing up in unprecedented numbers to preserve their way of life for future generations and to defend their sacred water. (trailer)
The people of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation of North and South Dakota are fighting to stop a pipeline from being built on their ancestral homeland. The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake its way across four states, bisecting sacred Indigenous sites and burial grounds along the route. Woven throughout are stories about life on the Reservation, impacted by a history of broken treaties, unresolved land claims and government-sponsored genocide. Now the tribe fears that a leak could contaminate the Missouri River and spell disaster for the Great Sioux Nation. But water protectors are standing up in unprecedented numbers to preserve their way of life for future generations and to defend their sacred water. (trailer)
Saving Jamaica Bay (52 min) The story of how one community fought government inaction and overcame Hurricane Sandy to clean up and restore the largest open space in New York City, which had become a dumping ground for garbage, sewage and bullet-riddled mobsters. Narrated by Academy-Award winning actress Susan Sarandon, Saving Jamaica Bay underscores the importance of citizen action and the role of urban nature in protecting our cities from the effects of climate change.
Saving Otter 501 (60 min) A baby sea otter abandoned on the beach is brought in to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the aquarium’s 501st attempt to save an orphan otter. Against all odds, will she be able to return to her home in the wild? (Trailer)
Secrets of the Reef (78 min) - A visually stunning film about how life in the ocean is interrelated. Life and death on a Pacific coral reef as seen from the perspective of three reef inhabitants: a sea turtle, a hermit crab and a reef fish. The sea turtle is searching for a mate, the hermit crab for a new shell, and the fish for a meal. Each faces numerous obstacles in its quest and at the same time, the entire reef community is threatened by an unseen threat getting closer every day. Secrets of the Reef was filmed entirely on location in high definition by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Jonathan Bird. This epic tale of survival will enthrall viewers of all ages. (Trailer)
Shellshocked – Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves (50 min) New York Harbor used to be the world’s oyster capital. Oysters clean the water and are a keystone species that many other creatures depend upon to survive. Now, local artists, environmentalists, students, and scientists are bringing them back! (Trailer)
Shut it Down - The Valve Turner' Video - On October 11, 2016, five brave climate activists, determined to act commensurately with the truth of unfolding climate cataclysm, closed safety valves on the 5 pipelines carrying tar sands crude oil into the United States. This is their story.
Sonic Sea ( 60 min) - Oceans are a sonic symphony. Sound is essential to the survival and prosperity of marine life. But man-made ocean noise is threatening this fragile world. Sonic Sea is about protecting life in our waters from the destructive effects of oceanic noise pollution. (Trailer)
Strong Coffee: The Story of Café Femenino (48 min) The story of Café Femenino—a revolutionary idea that is helping people in need all over the world. Café Femenino beans are the first coffee beans grown entirely by women farmers. Remarkably, the Café Femenino project is helping to change long-established attitudes and weaken the grip of machismo in remote farming communities. In response, a cultural shift is taking place. There is more equality between women and men, abuse and violence towards women are decreasing, and the quality of life in these regions is improving. To better understand this phenomenon, a small group of coffee roasters travel to Northern Peru to meet some of the impoverished women farmers who grow this high quality, certified organic, fair trade coffee. The film follows the roasters as they travel to remote villages to see how coffee beans are grown, picked, processed, and sold. We learn about the Peruvian women’s struggles, their courage and incredible achievements, and meet some of the remarkable people involved in the formation of the Café Femenino project. (Trailer)
Switch is also about a changing energy conversation. Today, it’s polarized and unproductive. Switch focuses on practical realities and encourages a balanced understanding.
The City Dark (60 minutes) Is darkness becoming extinct? When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves from rural Maine to New York City and discovers streets awash in light and skies devoid of stars, he embarks on a journey to America’s brightest and darkest corners, asking astronomers, cancer researchers and ecologists what is lost in the glare of city lights. Blending a humorous, searching narrative with poetic footage of the night sky, The City Dark provides a fascinating introduction to the science of the dark and an exploration of our relationship to the stars. (60 minutes) (Trailer)
This Land is Our Land (4 minutes) In the midst of California’s historic drought, Nestle Waters—the largest bottler of water in the world—is drawing millions of gallons of water a year from the San Bernardino National Forest. Nestle’s permit to remove this precious resource expired in 1988, at which point the Forest Service should have turned off the spigot. In this four-minute documentary, the Story of Stuff explains the impact Nestle’s operation is having on the forest and demands that the company and our government ensure this shared public resource is protected for future generations.
The End of Suburbia (52 minutes) Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia ? (Trailer)
The End of the Line ( 25min and 50 minute versions) How oceans are being plundered of fish, and historic fisheries are collapsing. (Trailer)
The Hudson: A River at Risk A close-up look at four distinct risks related to the Hudson River:
Part 1: All the Risk, No Reward (Trailer)
Bomb Trains on the Hudson: Baaken Shale Comes to the River: (8 minutes)Trains carrying a highly explosive gas and oil mix along the riverside from the shale fields of North Dakota to Albany and to Philadelphia. Also, billion of gallons of crude that arrived in Albany by train from the North Dakota were offloaded to tanks and then barges to be shipped downriver.
The Long Shadow of Indian Point: (5 minutes) The 50-year-old nuclear power plant at Indian Point, which continues to operate even as its infrastructure ages;
A Bridge over Troubled Waters (5 minutes)- The rebuilding of the Tappan Zee Bridge, currently the largest construction project in North American has a potential to create serious environmental harm if not closely monitored.
Part 2: A Beautiful Hazardous Waste Site
PCB's: A Toxic Legacy: General Electric and 40 Years of Pollution (13 minutes) When G.E. was finally forced, in 2009, to clean up the toxic mess it had made of the Hudson Valley by dumping PCBs into the river for more than thirty years, it’s assignment was to clean-up the country’s largest Superfund site. Last December G.E. pulled out, saying it had completed the mission given it by the E.P.A. What did it leave behind? The country’s largest Superfund site
High Voltage/Dark Shadow: New Electrical Transmission Lines Sold on False Pretenses (6 minutes) Utility companies in central and western New York propose to spend $1.2 billion stringing new lines of massive towers to supply electricity to prevent brownouts in NYC during the dog days of summer when everyone's air conditioner is cranking.
A Pipeline Runs Through it: Fossil Fuel Infrastructure gets a Foothold in the Valley (14 minutes) Two different pipelines, two different stories. One carries natural gas, the other crude oil. One goes under the Hudson River and skirts a troubled nuclear power plant, the other hoping to parallel the New York State Thruway’s ‘right-of-way,’ essentially butts up against resident’s backyards.
Anchors Away: Domestic Oil Boom Manifests Industrial Visions Along the Hudson (7 minutes) Crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota has begun making its way along the Hudson by barge. A new proposal to increase the number of anchorages in the river suggests that more barges will follow suit, meaning more risks.
Part 1: All the Risk, No Reward (Trailer)
Bomb Trains on the Hudson: Baaken Shale Comes to the River: (8 minutes)Trains carrying a highly explosive gas and oil mix along the riverside from the shale fields of North Dakota to Albany and to Philadelphia. Also, billion of gallons of crude that arrived in Albany by train from the North Dakota were offloaded to tanks and then barges to be shipped downriver.
The Long Shadow of Indian Point: (5 minutes) The 50-year-old nuclear power plant at Indian Point, which continues to operate even as its infrastructure ages;
A Bridge over Troubled Waters (5 minutes)- The rebuilding of the Tappan Zee Bridge, currently the largest construction project in North American has a potential to create serious environmental harm if not closely monitored.
Part 2: A Beautiful Hazardous Waste Site
PCB's: A Toxic Legacy: General Electric and 40 Years of Pollution (13 minutes) When G.E. was finally forced, in 2009, to clean up the toxic mess it had made of the Hudson Valley by dumping PCBs into the river for more than thirty years, it’s assignment was to clean-up the country’s largest Superfund site. Last December G.E. pulled out, saying it had completed the mission given it by the E.P.A. What did it leave behind? The country’s largest Superfund site
High Voltage/Dark Shadow: New Electrical Transmission Lines Sold on False Pretenses (6 minutes) Utility companies in central and western New York propose to spend $1.2 billion stringing new lines of massive towers to supply electricity to prevent brownouts in NYC during the dog days of summer when everyone's air conditioner is cranking.
A Pipeline Runs Through it: Fossil Fuel Infrastructure gets a Foothold in the Valley (14 minutes) Two different pipelines, two different stories. One carries natural gas, the other crude oil. One goes under the Hudson River and skirts a troubled nuclear power plant, the other hoping to parallel the New York State Thruway’s ‘right-of-way,’ essentially butts up against resident’s backyards.
Anchors Away: Domestic Oil Boom Manifests Industrial Visions Along the Hudson (7 minutes) Crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota has begun making its way along the Hudson by barge. A new proposal to increase the number of anchorages in the river suggests that more barges will follow suit, meaning more risks.
The Story of Bottled Water (8 min) An entertaining line drawing cartoon format film that looks that the absurdity of bottled water.
The Story of Stuff ( 21 min) - The first in the Annie Leonard series of cartoon format films that tackle environmental issues. The Story of Stuff explores the downside of our production and consumption patterns, exposing the connections between environmental and social justice issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world, without sacrificing any quality of life.
The Story of Solutions ( 9 min) The sequel to The Story of Stuff. Explores how we can move our economy into a more sustainable and just direction, starting with orienting ourselves toward a new goal. What if the goal of our economy wasn’t “more”, but “better” – better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet?
The True Cost ( 92 minutes) This is a story about clothing. It’s about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing? (trailer)
Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai, (53 min) The dramatic story of Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Kenya, who rallied thousands of women to plant trees. Her vision grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights and defend democracy. (Trailer)
The Reluctant Radical (77 minutes) Climate activist Ken Ward confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of the fossil fuel industry as a last resort o fulfill what he sees as his personal obligation to future generations. (trailer)
The Valve Turners Film (9 minutes) On October 11, 2016, five brave climate activists, determined to act commensurately with the truth of unfolding climate cataclysm, closed safety valves on the 5 pipelines carrying tar sands crude oil into the United States. This is their story.
The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism and Community- (56 min) Climate change is taking place. Will we have the wisdom to survive? The film features thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality discussing how we can evolve in the face of climate disruption. Interviewees include Bill McKibbin, Joanna Macy, Roger Payne and young pioneers like Herschelle Milford and Quincy Saul. (Trailer)
There Once was an Island (56 min) Three members of the Polynesian Takuu community show us first-hand how their island is experiencing the devastating effects of climate change. (Trailer)
Trashed (60 minutes) A provocative investigation of one of the fastest growing industries in North America. The garbage business. The film examines a fundamental element of modern American culture…the disposal of what our society defines as “waste.” It is an issue influenced by every American, most of whom never consider the consequences. Nor, it seems, the implications to our biosphere. At times humorous, but deeply poignant, “Trashed” examines the American waste stream fast approaching a half billion tons annually. (trailer)
We are Rhino (21 min) A film about efforts in South Africa to save the last rhinos from poaching. But is it possible for them to remain wild and free? (Trailer)
What's the Economy For Anyway? (40 min) Ecological Economist, Dave Batker, presents a humorous, edgy, factual, timely and highly-visual monologue about the American economy today, challenging the ways we measure economic success--especially the Gross Domestic Product--and offering an answer to the question: What's the Economy for, Anyway? (Trailer)
Wildlife Conservation Society Films (various lengths) (Trailer) A few of their films are described below:
|
|
Fishing: A Belizean Way of Life (30 min) The sustainable fisheries initiatives underway in Belize employs various management tools, such as rights-based or managed access and replenishment or no-take zones. The reaction of fishers to these measures are discussed as well as new technologies to improve enforcement, such as the use of the SMART software and conservation drones
|
|
|
The Life and Death of Elephants (4:21 min) In this short film narrated by Glenn Close, we learn that elephants are an ancient species that have inhabited our planet for 30 million years. Self-aware, playful and highly intelligent, they form strong social and family bonds and cherish and protect their young. Today however, killed at the staggering rate of 35,000 animals per year to feed an insatiable global demand for ivory, elephants need our help.
|
|
|
Ivindo National Park in Gabon ( 26 min) A discussion of the challenges and successes of the conservation efforts in Ivindo National Park in Gabon, Central Africa. Many of the African flag ship species such as Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Forest Elephants, Buffalo inhabit these forests.
|
Xmas Without China (63 minutes) Imagine living a month without the ubiquitous “Made In China” label on anything you purchase. Now imagine that month is December. One American family accepts this challenge from Chinese immigrant Tom Xia, who moved to the U.S. as a boy and wanted to explore the material relationship between his new home and his native one. The rules: One family must remove everything made in China from their home while not purchasing anything new with that label for an entire holiday season. There’s comedy and tragedy in this intimate documentary, but more than that questions of family, success and consumerism that swirl around our idea of personal identity. (Trailer)
Lecture: Thomas Linzey ( 50 min) – Thomas Linzey of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), gets to the root of why our environmental laws have not prevented the world’s current environmental crisis and suggests game-changing solutions. (Trailer)
Schedule as of March 10, 2020
This schedule has been updated frequently to accommodate requests from faculty members.
Contact Lindsey Kayman lkayman@jjay.cuny.edu to request a film be shown in a specific time slot.
Films in blue font have been requested by several faculty members and will not be changed.
Films in red font are likely to be changed .
Short films will be shown when there is time in-between films.
An Environmental Education Fund
EcoCinema Event