Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

For the socially conscious cinephile, the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival has returned to Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre today.  Dedicated to addressing Human Rights, Children’s Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Rights, this international film festival will showcase forty films from around the world.  The festival concludes on Sunday with the 2008 Artivist Awards, honoring the winning films of the Artivist Film Festival as well as the work of advocate artists.

Here is a preview of some the festival’s films that focus on environmental issues:

MEAT THE TRUTH (Friday, October 3rd, 6pm) 

Directed by Gertjan Zwanikken; Karen Soeters

MEAT THE TRUTH, presented by Marianne Thieme - leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals, is a climate change film that focuses on factory farming.

ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA (Saturday, October 4th, 5:45pm)

Directed by Graham Greene

An exploration of how the suburban lifestyle, which is dependent on fossil fuels, is detrimental to the environment.

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For those of you who read Green Cinematic Happenings Coming Your Way, posted on August 23rd, I have updates for you:

The title for FIELDS OF FUEL has been changed to FUEL.  The film will be released in Los Angeles on October 12th so look out for it!

Also, as a part of Slow Food Nation ‘08, Participant Media unveiled clips from the upcoming FOOD, Inc. To learn more, check out this report from The Daily Table.

Environmental issues took center stage in Hollywood when Al Gore’s AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH came out in 2006 and won the Oscar for “Best Documentary” the following year.  It wasn’t the first film to draw attention to the alarming ecological issues our world is facing today and certainly not the last.

For all you eco-enthusiasts who are hungry for more ”green” cinematic fare, here is a glimpse at some of the latest offerings to hit theaters soon:

FLOW

Opening in NY and LA on September 12th (then rolling out into other markets)

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

FLOW Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGd9D4J0lag

FIELDS OF FUEL

Opening this Fall/Winter 2008/2009 (TBD)

This documentary, directed by environmental activist Josh Tickell, exposes the problem of America’s dependence on foreign oil and explores the use of biodiesel as an economical and sustainable alternative fuel as a solution to the looming energy crisis we are facing. 

This highly anticipated film, won the “Audience Award” for Best Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and is sweeping the film festival circuit across the nation on its way to a theater near you.

FIELDS OF FUEL Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAqmw0cyRco

Also, be on the look out for Participant Media’s FOOD, Inc. which will have its world premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. 

In FOOD, INC., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that’s been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.

Featuring Eric Schlosser (”Fast Food Nation”), Michael Pollan (”The Omnivore’s Dilemma”) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms’ Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms’ Joe Salatin, FOOD, INC. reveals surprising — and often shocking truths — about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.