Awesome Ecological Films and Trailers: Don’t miss this post! Enjoy the show!

In show #18, you’ll hear me discuss my visit to the EcoFocus Film Festival in Athens, Georgia. It was an awesome opportunity for a family reunion, honor my brother and parents, and discover an awesome array of fantastic documentaries. You can view a tribute to my brother here .

I want to share some of the films with you. First I will link you to films that you can access in their entirety, then those for which you can watch the trailer. Finally, I will tell you about the film that won the Aguar Award, a tribute to my late brother.

Justicia Now!

The first film I want to share with you, and the overall and popular winner of the festival, is by Mofilms – “motion pictures that deal with important social issues.” The film is Justicia Now! At this link you can view the trailer and download the 30 minute film in its entirety.

“Justicia Now! is a documentary about Chevron Texaco’s toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest – and a courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history. Appearances by DARYL HANNAH and STUART TOWNSEND.”

Attack of the Sea Slugs

The second film I want to share is beautifully edited and photographed entirely underwater. It is a short film by Champ Williams called Attack of the Sea Slugs. I know, it sounds like a horror film but is informative and has an almost sensual quality while illustrating life cycles in an undersea ecosystem.

Trouble in the Tropics: Invasive Lionfish

The third film is also set in a saltwater system and is called Trouble in the Tropics: Invasive Lionfish . This film is divided into Part I and Part II . If you’re not sure you want to watch the entire film, you an play a short trailer for a preview. This documentary highlights the problems evolving to the ecosystem in the Bahamas and the Eastern coast of the United States after pet Lionfish are released in the wild and overtake native populations of fish.

Bronx River Restoration

The last film I was able to locate for you is Bronx River Restoration .
This is a great example of the type of film my brother Dave loved to be involved in. My father, an environmentalist, loved rivers and championed for their preservation. It is a shore seven minute film.

Links to Trailers

Next I want to link you to some trailers of AWESOME documentaries that I highly recommend. Please take a few minutes to enjoy these and browse the websites.

Ladies of the Land is an inspiring documentary that focuses on the growing numbers of women entering farming as a career. This was a runner up in the EcoFocus Film Festival and one of my top picks, as well.

Another fascinating documentary features local, sustainable farmers growing a variety of crops to produce high quality, gourmet meals. Warning: it will make you hungry! It is called Tableland and I love the enthusiasm the farmers have for their crops and their co-producers. They obviously enjoy producing and consuming their food. I bought a copy from the filmmaker and plan to share it with my friends and local farmers. Enjoy the trailer!

Next I want to share the trailer from Saving Luna. This is a fascinating story about a young Orca whale separated from his pod who won and broke hearts.

From the website: SAVING LUNA

“All he wanted was friendship. Why was that so hard?

What happens when a wild orca tries to make friends with people; not for food, but for companionship? Should humans welcome him or turn away?

SAVING LUNA is a true story about one such killer whale, who was nicknamed Luna. In 2001, when Luna was just a baby, he found himself alone in Nootka Sound, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, more than 200
miles away from his family. Orcas normally spend their entire lives together, but Luna was lost.

Without other whales, Luna tried to make contact with humans. But law and science told people to stay away. Yet the same social instincts that drove Luna to seek companionship also brought people to him, in spite of the law.

As Luna got close to people, he became both treasured and feared. To natives he was the spirit of a chief. To boaters he was a goofy friend. To conservationists he was a cause. To scientists he was trouble. To officials he was a danger. As conflict and tragedy stained the waters, Luna became a symbol of the world’s wildest beauty: easy to love, hard to save. SAVING LUNA is the title of both a book and a film that tell this story.

Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm have been involved in the story of Luna for several years. They are currently writing a non-fiction book about Luna to be published in Canada (Penguin) and the USA (St. Martin’s Press).”

Here is a link to the website and here is one to the trailer . This full length feature documentary will make you laugh and cry and is being commercially released later this month.

Aguar Award Winner

The winner of the Aguar Award is called The Last Wild Horse: The Return of Takhi to Mongolia.

This website at the American Museum of Natural History has the video documenting the story of the successful return of the rare Przewalski’s Horse to its native habitat.

I hope you enjoy these films as much as I did.

Cathy