The Earth Connection Film Festival, a short film contest that combines science and the arts to portray revolutionary solutions for the climate crisis, will take place July 20 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
According to its website, the festival is funded by the National Science Foundation and focuses on creating hope and encouraging a sense of action and responsibility in people toward the environment. The films focus on morality, ethics and spirituality to encourage action against climate change.
“This festival is focusing on hope, interconnection, interdependence and concepts that build self-efficacy,” Jessica Eise, the festival director and assistant professor of social and environmental challenges at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said. “The idea is to try to not have us feel crippled and paralyzed by guilt and shame but to feel motivated to work together with one another and to believe that we each have power to do something.”
The festival’s website states the film festival is family friendly and admission is free and non-ticketed. The event will begin with a meet and greet with the festival directors Eise and Sarah Lasley, the staff and the filmmakers from 9-10 a.m. The event will include four film programs and interactive activities.
The first film program, “Hope and the Future,” includes five films: “Climate Creativity” directed by Philip Seargeant and Matthew Keen, “In the Name of Ice - Marcela” by Louise Thaller and Stanislas Giroux, “The Purple Bear” by Jon Portman, “Fire Beneath Her” by Denise Dragiewicz and “We Are Earth” by Zoé Rose. These short films will screen from 10-11 a.m. Attendees can pick up a guidebook with brief descriptions of all the films and information about the festival team and the directors for free at the festival.
Emily McMurray-Walsh, a local upcycling artist, will host a hands-on upcycling art workshop from 11 a.m. to noon, where attendees can create art from materials that would otherwise end up as trash.
There will be an hour-long break after the workshop followed by the second film program: “Interdependence and Reliance,” which will show from 1-2 p.m. The theater will play the films “Who Should Decide the Future of the Amazon” directed by Martin Kingman, “Kreta the Time Traveler” by Ilgın Saçan, Gülşah Özdemir Koryürek, “Derin” by Ali Osman Taşlı, “The River” by Temujen Gunawardena and “The Big Steppe” by Sean Lovell.
The festival’s “Potting and Propagating Plant Party” will take place from 2-3 p.m. preceding the third film installation. This program is called “Responsibility and Obligation.” The six films include: “For You” directed by Luca Paulli, “Decoding Ancestral Knowledge” by Ruth Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck, “The Journey” directed by Nahid Elhami Rad, “Once Upon a Forest” by Mattias Olsson, “(PLASTIK)” by Philip Rom and lastly “The Old Man and the Sea” by You Changlin. The films will play from 3-4 p.m.
Chris Barth, a musician from Brown County, will host the “The Environmental Oldies Singalong with Chris” from 4-5 p.m. Attendees can find the setlist and song lyrics for this event in the guidebook.
The sing-along is followed by the final film program, “Hot Takes on a Hot Planet” which includes the films: “Little Changes” directed by Abril Garcia, Marc Jaen, Martina Navarro, “Troglodyte” by Hunter Circe and Sean Stippick, “The Straight Poop” by Sue Orloff, “Hurricane Katrina Tribute” by Bruce Lynn Middleton, “Climate World” by Solomon Winter, “The 9th Continent” by Mostafa Borzouyan Dastjerdi, “Burnt Country” by Kirsten Slemint and “Saidalo” by Julia Bui.
The event will conclude with an awards ceremony where judges will present over $5,000 in cash prizes to the filmmakers from 6:30-7 p.m.
Eise said those who wish to watch these films but cannot make it to the event can watch them online on the festival’s website from July 20-27.
