Play Again

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Saturday, Mar 2, 3P/River Forest Park District - Tickets

Meg Merrill/2010/53 or 80  min/FAMILY

One generation from now most people in the U.S. will have spent more time in the virtual world than in nature. New media technologies have improved our lives in countless ways. Information now appears with a click. Overseas friends are part of our daily lives. And even grandma loves Wii.

But what are we missing when we are behind screens? And how will this impact our children, our society, and eventually, our planet? At a time when children play more behind screens than outside, Play Again explores the changing balance between the virtual and natural worlds. Is our connection to nature disappearing down the digital rabbit hole?

 AWARDS: BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM, Ecofilm, Prague 2010. BEST OF FEST, Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2010. Official Selection, DC Environmental Film Festival. Official Selection, Bioneers Moving Image Film Festival. Official Selection, Reel Earth Film Festival.

Programming note: will be shown with Forest in Flux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This moving and humorous documentary follows six teenagers who, like the “average American child,” spend five to fifteen hours a day behind screens. PLAY AGAIN unplugs these teens and takes them on their first wilderness adventure – no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no virtual reality.

Through the voices of children and leading experts including journalist Richard Louv, sociologist Juliet Schor, environmental writer Bill McKibben, educators Diane Levin and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, neuroscientist Gary Small, parks advocate Charles Jordan, and geneticist David Suzuki, PLAY AGAIN investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature and encourages action for a sustainable future.

 Where we are coming from

Seventy years ago, the first televisions became commercially available. The first desktop computers went on sale 30 years ago, and the first cell phones a mere 15 years ago. During their relatively short tenure these three technologies have changed the way we live. Some of these changes are good. Television can now rapidly disseminate vital information. Computers turned that flow of information into a two-way street. Cell phones enable unprecedented connectivity with our fellow human beings. And the merging of cell phones and the internet has even allowed protest movements around the world to organize and thrive.

But there’s also a down side. For many people, especially children, screens have become the de facto medium by which the greater world is experienced. A virtual world of digitally transmitted pictures, voices, and scenarios has become more real to this generation than the world of sun, water, air, and living organisms, including fellow humans.

The average American child now spends over eight hours in front of a screen each day. She emails, texts, and updates her status incessantly. He can name hundreds of corporate logos, but less than ten native plants. She aspires to have hundreds of online friends, most she may never meet in person.  He masters complicated situations presented in game after game, but often avoids simple person-to-person conversation. They are almost entirely out of contact with the world that, over millions of years of evolution, shaped human beings — the natural world.

The long-term consequences of this experiment on human development remain to be seen, but the stakes couldn’t be higher. By most accounts, this generation will face multiple crises — environmental, economic and social. Will this screen world — and its bevy of virtual experiences — have adequately prepared these “digital natives” to address the problems they’ll face, problems on whose resolution their own survival may depend?

As we stand at a turning point in our relationship with earth, we find ourselves immersed in the gray area between the natural and virtual worlds. From a global perspective of wonder and hope, PLAY AGAIN examines this unique point in history.

Programming note:  will be shown with A Forest in Flux.

A Forest in Flux

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Saturday, Mar 2, 3P/River Forest Park District - Tickets

Travis Kidd/2012/11 min/FAMILY

A Forest in Flux explains the impacts of a recent mountain pine beetle outbreak in the Rocky Mountains. The film takes a narrative approach to explain the ecology of the mountain pine beetle to kids aged 8-12. We follow a young boy on his quest to discover what is killing all the pine trees in his back yard.  He uses a smart phone to do take photos of what he sees and does research about the clues he is finding.

This is a fine cut of the Travis Wade Kidd's second year film for the MFA program in Montana State University's Master of Fine Arts program in "Science and Natural History Filmmaking" in Bozeman, Montana.

Filmmaker Bio

Born and raised in Northeast/Lower Michigan, Kidd had a strong connection to the natural landscapes surrounding him.  He studied Ecology and Anthropology at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, a mid-sized adventure town in Michigan's rustic Upper Peninsula.  Kidd is an avid bird enthusiast and an amateur naturalist who had "always carried (with me) the goal of one day becoming a documentary filmmaker."

Kidd has produced several short student documentary projects on topics ranging from raptor migration studies, to research in cultural heritage, to forest ecology and, in Forest in Flux, the Mountain Pine Beetle outbreaks of the Rocky Mountain West.

AWARDS: Official Selection, Element Film Festival 2012

Programming note: will be shown with Play Again.

How do you create a healthier life - and planet? With Food Patriots!

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Sponsored by South East Oak Park Community Organization, One Earth Film Festival is hosting a FREE sneak preview of the 70  minute rough cut of the film Food Patriots.  Join Chicago-based filmmaker, Jeff Spitz, to view and discuss his film on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at Irving Schoolin Oak Park, IL at 7 p.m. Food Patriots focuses on an issue that directly touches all of us — food.  The film tells personal stories that show ordinary people taking control of food and creating healthier lives, a less polluted environment, a new sense of community and new jobs.  

Touched by his son's struggle with food-borne illness, filmmaker Jeff Spitz weaves one family's story into a tapestry of stories about people who are changing the way Americans eat, buy and educate the next generation about food.

View the Food Patriots trailer (below) featuring Jeff and his wife, Jennifer Amdur Spitz, of Groundswell Educational Films.

Visit the Food Patriot's website to learn more and to "join the revolution"!

Travel to the Arctic with One Earth Film Festival 2013

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Dominican University is sponsoring a free pre-fest screening and discussion of Chasing Ice  at Dominican University's Priory Auditorium, River Forest, IL, on Monday, February 11th at 7pm. In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate.

Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.

The film will be shown again during the One Earth Film Festival on Saturday, March 2nd at 10:30 a.m. at Lake Theatre in Oak Park.  Purchase tickets online or at the box office.  Hurry before it sells out!

 

A Simple Question: The Story of STRAW

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Sunday, Mar 3, 12:30P/River Forest Village Hall - Tickets

David Donnenfield; Kevin White/2010/36 min/Family

A Simple Question looks at a remarkable program that brings together school children and their teachers with community groups and agencies to undertake habitat restoration on privately-owned ranch land. It all started more than 16 years ago when Laurette Rogers, a fourth grade teacher, showed a film on endangered species to her class. Stricken by the weight of species extinction, one student plaintively asked what he and his class mates could do to save endangered species. That simple question, innocent yet profound, ignited something in Laurette that launched her and her class on an inspired voyage of discovery and transformation.

Two of the kids from the original “Shrimp Club,” John Elliott and Lucia Comnes, return to Paul’s ranch, marveling at theirs and their classmates’ handiwork. They’re amazed at how their efforts have so dramatically transformed the barren landscape. And, as we listen to them, it’s clear how the experience sixteen years ago transformed them — into articulate, passionate, capable citizens committed to making the world a better place.

Nomination, Northern California Emmy Awards; Spirit of Activism Award, Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival; Best Educational Documentary, Mammoth Mountain Film Festival; Best Educational Value in the Classroom, andConservation Hero of the Festival, Laurette Rogers, International Wildlife Film Festival;

Best Short Film, Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, New Zealand

Programming note: will be screened with Stories of TRUST Arizona.

Young Eco-Filmmakers are Hard at Work

By Cassandra West, New Media Access

In a large, multi-grade classroom, several small groups of students hover over textbooks, laptops and iPads. They’re hard at work on a film about environmental problems that might plague a megacity in the future.

Once the film is finished, these sixth through eighth graders at Keystone Montessori School in River Forest plan to enter it into the Young Filmmakers Contest: One Earth…Our EarthThe contest is a new addition to the 2013 One Earth Film Festival which will be held March 1-3, sponsored by Green Community Connections.

In addition to being budding filmmakers, the students are part of the Future Problem Solving Program, which stimulates critical and creative thinking skills and encourages students to develop a vision for the future.  The Keystone students are imagining a time 50 years from now. By then, some experts predict, Chicago and Milwaukee and their surrounding suburbs will make up a megacity. The United Nations defines a megacity as a metropolitan area with a total population of more than 10 million people. And, with megacities come many problems: urban sprawl, waste, water and air pollution.  “We are trying to come up with solutions to these problems,” says Maeve Dempsey, who’s writing the film’s script.

Young Filmmakers at Work

Keystone Montessori

Seated at another table, Trevel Eggleston, one of the cameramen, whips through photos he’s taken on his smartphone. The tiny screen shows images of his neighborhood, the Chicago skyline and lakefront. Other students are seated on the floor, involved in various aspects of film production. One girl is doing research on pollution while a boy a few feet away uses an iPad to capture video of another boy who’s practicing his narration.

Lara Pullen, a volunteer science teacher at Keystone, moves around the classroom checking on progress. She’s careful not to insert herself too much into the process. “I have enjoyed accompanying the students on their film journey,” she says. “The challenge for me has been to stay in the shadows and let them discover and tell their own story.”

With only a few more weeks to go, Shira Tan, co-director of the film, finds personal rewards from her involvement in the project. “It’s fun. It’s definitely hard to do, but it’s good because it teaches you how to think about the future, and it teaches you how to work hard with other people you aren’t used to working with.”

The Contest

Now in its second year, One Earth Film Festival is offering young filmmakers a chance to showcase their abilities in making positive changes for their future—and to tell their stories as only young people can.

“Youth involvement in the sustainability movement is the key to our future,” says Sue Crothers, contest committee co-chair.

The contest deadline is 5 p.m. CST Jan. 25. Winners will be announced by mid-February, and winning films will be screened at the One Earth Film Festival 2013 the weekend of March 1-3.

Making Waves: A Series Focused on Water

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A special series on water sponsored by the Albertus Magnus Center at Dominican University continues in January.  The Abertus Magnus Center is a program of the Siena Center which gathers persons with an interest in exploring issues related to the intersection of religious belief or experience and scientific insight.

In this series, explore the chemistry, history, spirituality and geopolitics of water with experts who will unravel some of the complex ways this precious resource affects our universe, our planet, and our neighborhood. Although water is nearly ubiquitous on this “Blue Planet,” its finitude and vulnerability are increasingly evident. Long recognized as a sign of divine presence and a centerpiece of the Christian sacramental experience, will water now disturb our peace? In this series, we will study and celebrate the miraculous gift of water as we are also intellectually, morally, and spiritually challenged to make waves.

Life in the World Ocean

Thursday, January 17, 2013 // 7:00 p.m.// Free Admission * New Location: Priory Campus Auditorium

The world ocean contains over 97% of the water on or near Earth’s surface. Marine habitats vary from the polar seas to the tropical coral reefs, with living organisms ranging from the microscopic bacterial cells to the great blue whales. This lecture will focus on the biodiversity of ocean ecosystems and some of the effects of environmental toxins and other anthropogenic disruptions on these systems. Alyssa M. Braun, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Biological Sciences Department of Dominican University.

Living Water: Ecology, Sacramentality, and the Hydrography of Faith

Thursday, February 21, 2013 // 7:00 p.m. // Free Admission Priory Campus, Room 263

Fresh water is vital for the Catholic imagination, sacramental life, and all human existence on earth. Yet in the 21st century, the world will experience increased fresh water scarcity. Who will have access to fresh water, and why is that theologically and ethically significant? We will explore the significance of fresh water through three lenses. First, we will chart the ecological significance of fresh water, its sources and reasons for its scarcity. Second, we will explore its liturgical and sacramental meanings, focusing especially on baptism and the Jordan River. We will conclude by reflecting on how "living water" represents a confluence of Christology and ethics. Christiana Z. Peppard, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Theology and Science in the Department of Theology at Fordham Univeristy.

Water: Sustainability, Climate Change and Future Conflicts

Thursday, March 21, 2013 // 7:00 p.m. // Free Admission * New Location: Priory Campus Auditorium

Water resources are projected to become further strained in the future due to population growth and the effects of climate change. There is increasing concern by many international entities that future conflicts will be fought over water rights. This lecture will focus on water resource stressors and areas of the world where future potential conflicts could arise due to diminishing water supplies. Gerald Gulley, PhD, is a Full Professor of Physics at Dominican University

City by the Lake: The Health and Welfare of Chicago's Water Resources

Thursday, April 4, 2013 // 7:00 p.m. // Free Admission Priory Campus, Room 263

What is the good news and the bad news about the water systems we depend on in our own area of the world? Nancy C. Tuchman, PhD, is Vice Provost and Professor of Biology at Loyola University Chicago.

 

“Climate of Uncertainty” Exhibition at DePaul Art Museum

images“Climate of Uncertainty” exhibition explores human impact on environment, opens Jan. 10 at DePaul Art Museum  - Taken from the DePaul Art Museum web site (click here for more details) The DePaul Art Museum will explore the human impact on the environment with “Climate of Uncertainty,” an interactive exhibition that opens Jan. 10 and runs through March 24. The museum is free and open to the public every day. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the museum, located at 935 W. Fullerton Ave., just east of the CTA’s Fullerton “L” stop.

“One of the greatest challenges that society will likely face in the coming decades and century is how to strategically plan for and adapt to the uncertain effects of climate change,” Fatemi said. “It’s unusual for an art museum to take on a subject that is so technical, but the premise of this exhibition is that artists, whose tools for communicating are visual, emotional, visceral and intuitive, can help build a public movement and engage audiences using a fresh vocabulary.”

Works in the exhibition reveal ways that individuals, industries and governments have exploited, abused or depleted natural resources and explore alternative approaches to environmental issues by challenging the viewer to imagine a more hopeful future.

“Climate of Uncertainty” features 12 artists engaged in long-term projects that address the human role in environmental degradation.  Seven photographers document issues ranging from the destructive effects of extractive industry to the effect of careless waste disposal on animal populations. Several artists use installations to provide audiences with a participatory and immersive experience around deforestation and the enormous consequences of large-scale damming. Other media included in the project include sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a number of programs featuring leading scholars, environmental activists and artists will be held at the museum to encourage a dialogue on the topics.  Programs include:

Sustainability Conference, Jan. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; curator’s tour, 5 p.m. A conference on sustainable business organized by the Driehaus College of Business’ Finance Department is designed to introduce the concept of sustainability to the value creation process of for-profit firms. Keynoters, panelists and presenters from industry, policy-making organizations, and think tanks will discuss the many avenues through which ideas may be developed for profitable projects that are mindful of the environment and social challenges of our time. The conference will include speakers from Northern Trust, Manulife Insurance, New America Foundation, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Chicago Metropolis 2020, Interface, Haworth, Boeing, Eli Lilly, Biohabitats, and E2.

The Art and Science of Climate Change, Jan. 30, 6 to 8 p.m. A panel of speakers will discuss climate change through the lenses of several academic disciplines. Mark Potosnak, assistant professor, environmental science and studies at DePaul, will introduce the science of climate change. Barbara Willard, associate professor in the College of Communication, will focus on how the public perceives climate change and outline {propose, suggest] methods for more effective communication. The economic implications of climate change and potential policy responses will be covered by the third speaker, Christie Klimas, a lecturer in environmental science and studies at DePaul. Chicago photographer Terry Evans will discuss her project, A Greenland Glacier: The Scale of Climate Change.

Youth Films Demonstrate Commitment to Sustainability

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by Katie Morris The One Earth Film Festival 2013, organized by Green Community Connections, will sponsor the first ever Young Filmmakers Contest: One Earth…Our Earth.  This film contest is a way in which young people can showcase their abilities in making positive changes for their future.  It is an opportunity to engage our youth, and create excitement around how they can, and do, make a difference in our world and in our local community.

As part of the 2nd annual One Earth Film Festival, the Young Filmmakers Contest invites students in all eligible age categories (from third grade through college) to submit film entries that cover at least one of the following categories: water, waste, food, transportation, or energy.

With this contest, “we want to encourage youth to not just contemplate the issues surrounding sustainability, but to get them thinking about potential solutions,” said Sue Crothers, contest committee chair. “Youth involvement in the sustainability movement is the key to our future, and film is a powerful medium for them to express their concern and awareness. ”

The Rainforest Rescue Coalition (RRC), a Chicago based nonprofit organization, is currently working on a submission for the college-aged category of the contest.  Founded by four OPRF High School graduates among others, the mission of the RRC is to conserve and protect rainforest land around the world and to support sustainable relationships between humans and nature. RRC raises money for sustainability and conservation initiatives through direct action campaigns.  One of RRC’s goals is to help educate the public about conservation and environmental issues - including both the problems and solutions, . . . and what better way than through film?

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According to Adam Bauer-Goulden, RRC President, RRC is creating their film entry as a way to show that anything is possible, if you put forth the energy and try to make a difference.   Though the film is still in its production phase, Bauer-Goulden reports that RRC’s film will begin with a montage of the terrible environmental disasters taking place in the world today. It will move into the story of how RRC was formed and show footage from its first 350-mile fundraising ride. The audience will have the chance to learn how they can become involved with RRC and other conservation efforts.  The film will close with a final montage of the great and positive things that the environmental movement is accomplishing.

Bauer-Goulden says, “Our inspiration is trying to get as many people involved as possible in our movement. I really believe that energy is the most important thing that we have. I believe that our purpose in life is to use our energy for something inherently good and to make the world a better place…we really just want to show people that we are just normal kids and anybody and everybody has the power to make change in this world, no matter what your situation...Anything counts!”

The deadline to submit a film to the Young Filmmakers Contest is January 25, 2013 at 5 PM CST.  For more information on the contest, please check out our website and facebook page, or contact Sue Crothers, suebillgee@comcast.net or Katie Morris, Katie.a.morris@gmail.com.

OPRF Community Foundation Presents Grants

The Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation hosted a "Thanksgiving in October Celebration of Giving and Grants Presentation on Thursday, October 25th.  Among many other grants, five organizations were awarded grants through the COMMUNITYWORKS initiative for environmental sustainability. The five organizations and their projects that received environmental sustainability  grants in this round of funding are as follows:

District 97 Irving School Garden Project:  Grant to expand the garden to provide students, families and the community with access to and knowledge about healthy foods and sustainability.

Green Community Connections:  Grant to support the Energy, Waste and Water Campaign, a 12-month campaign to educate, motivate and support OPRF residents to make measurable changes in areas of 1) residential energy efficiencies and alternative energies, 2) indoor and outdoor water management and conservation, and 3) household waste reduction through reducing, reusing and recycling.

Oak Park Development Corporation:  For the Green Business Project which identifies and suppports local businesses implementing and measuring environmentally sustainable improvements in commercial buildings and business operations aligned with PlanItGreen goals (energy, water, & waste outcomes) while being mindful of business's financial "bottom line."

Triton College:  For BizItGreen designed to deliver training to OPRF businesses on how to achieve Green Business Certification and to provide technical assistance and consultative support to OPRF businesses that elect to engage in the process available through the Illinois Green Business Association.

Village of Oak Park:  For the Oak Park Residential Energy and Water Efficiency program based on energy audits, low flow toilet rebates and a shower head and faucet aereator program.

Additional information on the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation and it's grant-making is available at the foundation's web site:  http://www.oprfcommfd.org