The First Annual Gainesville Environmental Film & Arts Festival 2010 (GEFAF) took place at the Hippodrome State Theatre March 19-28. The event included 18 environmental film screenings, gallery events, guided nature outings, and eco-film related discussion forums. The Hippodrome State Theatre and GoGreenNation.org collaborated to present the festival.
March 22 is World Water Day, and at the festival all the events of the evening all focused on--yes, you guessed it, water. There was a water tasting, a screening of the fantastic St. John's River documentary The River Returns by Wes Skiles, and a screening of a series of shorts with a directors Q&A. I attended the water shorts screening and Q&A session that followed. There were three shorts featured together, each one highlighting a different aspect of water pollution or misuse. Two of the three directors were in attendance, which added greatly to the screenings.
The first short shown was The Phosphate Dilemma by Lakeland native filmmaker Carter Lord. The film explores phosphate mining in the Peace River watershed in Hardee County, Southwest Florida. The film was put together on a shoestring budget by a tiny group of extremely concerned Hardee County locals. The simplicity of the film is apparent. There aren't any bells or whistles, no shiny special effects. What the film does have plenty of is aerial photography of a ravaged landscape. From up in a helicopter the magnitude of damage to the formerly beautiful Floridian habitat is clear. In creating a case against phosphate strip mining the film is effective. It presents an easy to understand tale of a major corporation buying up land and local politicos to turn a profit at the expense of the environment and the well-being of proximal residents. Despite the abundance of shaky-cam footage and lack of polish this film is both poignant and entertaining.
After the screening Director Carter Lord introduced himself and pleaded the case of his organization 3PR (People For Protecting Peace River Inc.). After apologizing for the simplicity of the film he answered audience questions and dipped a little farther into the mining company's process of exportation (domestic and international) of the phosphate end product. He then begged us all to join and/or support their organization. The group is small now, but they know there is power in numbers so they're currently trying to spread their word as much as possible. The entire film can be viewed and more information on phosphate mining can be found at ProtectPeaceRiver.org.
The second short screened was Born Sweet by director/producer Cynthia Wade. It recounts the heartbreaking tragedy of arsenic poisoning that has affected over 2 million people in Southeast Asia. Following a young Cambodian arsenic-poisoning sufferer named Vinh and his family, the film paints a desperate portrait. One Cambodian organization is shown to be working to fix the problem and raise awareness through the universally appreciated art of karaoke. The pathos level of the film is intrinsically high. I was on the verge of tears a couple of times during the screening. The film is very well made and very entertaining. It seeks to raise awareness about global access to clean water (or lack thereof). I found it to be the most effective of the three shorts that were screened. Born Sweet had a run at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and even won an Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking. The official website for the film (with a list of screenings), and a link to the organization helping villages like Vinh's, can be found at bornsweetfilm.com.
The last of the three shorts shown was Gimme Green by UF's Doc Film Institute grads Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg. Gimme Green uses a great sense of humor to illustrate the absurdity of America's "obsession with the residential lawn". The film has toured the festival film circuit for the past few years and has earned numerous awards. The message is clear from the outset, people obsessed with lawns are nutty and maintaining a residential lawn at the expense of citizen safety is even nuttier. There is plenty of information and support for pointing out the problems addressed in the film, but there isn't as much support for solutions or alternatives to residential lawnscaping. Artificial turf is shown to be an unrealistic, impractical alternative to sod. One natural Florida-native yard is shown, but little else is mentioned. A more dedicated passage about realistic, enviromentally-friendly alternatives would have increased the effectiveness of the film greatly. Despite it's flaws Gimme Green is both captivating and entertaining.
Director Eric Flagg was on hand to entertain audience questions and give general insight about the film. Flagg seemed a down-to-earth and funny filmmaker, leaving me looking forward to his future projects. An employee of the UF/IFAS Extension added more about solutions to our lawn obsession (to start check out their website, solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu). Gimmegreen.com is the official website of Gimme Green, and the film can be viewed entirely online here.
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The skinny:
* Pros: cheap, good entertainment, properly focused documentary shorts
* Cons: none to mention
Make an Assessment:
I had a good time at GEFAF, and on the Water Shorts Night as well. I recommend that anyone in Gainesville check out GEFAF next year. With tickets at $5 a pop you're in for a good cheap date. I also recommend that anyone outside of Gainesville who has an opportunity to attend a screening of any of these three shorts do so. The Phosphate Dilemma and Gimme Green can both be viewed online, so that's a good alternative for anyone who can't make a screening. I personally think everyone in America should make themselves watch a handful of American documentaries to support the spirit of documentary filmmaking and to raise individual awareness of issues that affect people here at home and around the world. You may even learn something!
Overall Review Scores:
The Phosphate Dilemma
* If it were a movie: ★★★
Born Sweet
* If it were a movie: ★★★★
Gimme Green
* If it were a movie: ★★★
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