NEW! August 2016: Help Select Films for One Earth Film Fest 2017! (See below.)
Thank you to our 2016 Festival volunteers!
The 5th annual One Earth Film Festival drew over 3400 viewers to 43 film events in 37 venues throughout Chicagoland as well as in DuPage and Lake Counties. It involved more than 225 volunteers and support from over 150 partners and sponsors, including the City of Chicago Department of Sustainability, Nissan's electric Leaf, the Manaaki Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.
Planning for the March 3-5, 2017 Film Festival is now underway (especially film selection), and we will need many talented and passionate people, both as volunteers and as sponsors!
How can YOU volunteer for the 6th annual One Earth Film Fest?
Help review films for the March 2017 One Earth Film Festival! Volunteers can elect to:
- Serve on the film team: watching and rating films online, attending film team meetings (in the Chicago area), and helping decide the final film lineup. (This is expected to last mid Jun-mid Dec.)
- Serve on the film team, as described above, and ALSO help research films that the Festival should consider reviewing. (mid Jun through mid Dec)
- Serve on the film team, as described above, and ALSO help create post-film programs to round out, balance, and draw key themes and action opportunities from the films. (mid June through mid Jan).
- Serve as a 2nd reviewer, which does NOT require attendance at meetings (though 2nd reviewers are welcome), to review films online and turn in online report cards to rate each film; 2nd reviewers do NOT need to be local to Chicago since film review and online rating can be done remotely and completely online. (This takes place mid Jun through early Oct).
To volunteer for the film selection team, or as a 2nd reviewer, please email Ana at ana@oneearthfilmfest.org.
Teams are now forming to help pull off another successful run, and will work from late Summer 2016 through Festival weekend in early March 2017. Volunteers with specific skills, are sought to help with specific roles. Volunteers of all types and skills are sought for the overall Planning Team, which involve the following committees:
- Film selection & film program development (see above).
- Marketing & promotion (includes advertising, PR, and social media)
- Fundraising (includes sponsorships, grants, crowdsourcing, and fundraising event/s)
- Venues and site logistics (includes special subteams to handle AV/Tech and events/catering/supplies)
- On-Site registration volunteers and greeters for Festival weekend (see below for more info)
- Young Filmmakers Contest
To volunteer for a Planning Team committee above, please email Ana at ana@oneearthfilmfest.org.
Film Fest Showings: On-Site Event Tasks for Volunteers in mid-late February and early March 2017
- Please contact ana@oneearthfilmfest.org to help with any of the tasks below:
- assist the facilitator and resource person at film screening and ensure that they understand their roles
- monitor the flow of the event and trouble shoot any issues
- support site staff with set-up and/or clean-up of the opening and closing event
- help with registration
- help with set-up and re-set tasks
- welcome viewers; answer questions and direct attendees
- answer questions for participants / provide directions to film screening sites or other OP/RF locations
- take photos or video footage at film showings for our Facebook page
- setup and manage projection equipment
- provide transportation of equipment, chairs, etc., to various sites
- live-tweet the event and post to Facebook and other social media, in order to amplify the engagement from the event itself
- help people dispose of garbage in the correct fashion, aiming for "zero waste"
Help Spread the Word! (from now through March 3, 2017)
- We need all hands on deck to help spreading the word about the 2016 One Earth Film Festival and our fifth annual "One Earth . . . Our Earth" Young Filmmakers Contest. Visit the Press and Promotion page soon to find updated, helpful marketing tools.
Sponsors and Donors
- Citizens and community leaders are encouraged to lend support as we produce this three-day change-making event in the Chicago/Oak Park/River Forest and surrounding area in March 2017. We need your partnership as we raise awareness about environmental challenges and solutions through the power of film. If interested, please email Sally Stovall.
Post Event Tasks for Volunteers
There are many ways to get involved with Green Community Connections throughout the year. We invite all festival volunteers to share their talents with Green Community Connections after the festival (email Sally at sally@greencommunityconnections.org)! 
Skills needed for Green Community Connections' ongoing work:
- fund raising
- PR
- web marketing
- database management
- data analysis and reporting
- organizing and group facilitation
- photography / videography
- social media marketing
- web site maintenance skills (training provided)
- web site technical skills
- interviewing, writing & editing skills
- web research
- musicians and story tellers
- passion for sustainability and willingness to learn
- ability to have fun working together on important work to celebrate victories!
- other things that we haven’t yet imagined — share your ideas!
To volunteer for Green Community Connections in our ongoing work, please email Sally Stovall
Benefits of Volunteering
- Aside from getting to work with an amazing, energetic group of people (which alone has brought back volunteers for each year of our four year run)-- all volunteers who participate in either the planning or the onsite event will:
- see amazing films
- engage with the community and meet new people
- get a One Earth Film Festival organic cotton t-shirt
- receive an invitation to the Volunteer Celebration (date TBD)