Making change in your life is rarely simple. But the One Earth Film Festival makes it easier by inviting inspiring guests who can help you dig deeper into the films and bring home useful takeaways. An exciting line-up of speakers and activities are in place for this year’s One Earth Film Festival. As in years past, film screenings will be combined with relevant activities and appearances by knowledgeable resource people who will enrich post-film discussions. Audience members can ask questions and share ideas, which can lead to continued discussion, local advocacy, and, most importantly, people-driven solutions to the myriad environmental challenges facing our planet.
Join us with Jamie Ponce at the Green Carpet Gala on Friday, March 7th (7 pm at 19th Century Club, 178 Forest Ave., Oak Park) to celebrate the opening of One Earth Film Festival 2014. Ponce is the City Director for Chicago in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group - Clinton Climate Initiative. He is currently working with the Office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel to develop and implement the City of Chicago's sustainability strategy.
Here’s just a sampling of other guests appearing at this year's festival.
Jens Jensen The Living Green. Carey Lundin, director and producer of this film about “the Midwest’s first great conservationist” will be at the Chicago Preview screening on Saturday, March 8 at 2PM at the Triton College Performing Arts Building (R) (2000 5th Ave., River Grove, IL). Danish-born Jensen (1860 – 1951), who battled corruption and the runaway expansion of steel mills at the turn of the 20th Century, fought to bring “the living green” into the lives of Chicago’s workers.
Growing Cities. Special guest panelists Harry Rhodes, Executive Director of Growing Home, and Ken Dunn, Founder and Director of The Resource Center, will appear at the screening of this inspirational documentary about urban farming on Sunday, March 9 at 3 PM at the West Suburban Temple Har Zion (1040 North Harlem Ave., River Forest, IL). Rhodes and Dunn's organizations are featured in the film, which follows the filmmakers’ road trip to discover how people living in cities across America are challenging the way this country grows and distributes food.
More Than Honey. Beekeeping expert Naaman Gambill and John Hansen, Vice President of the Cook County/Du Page Beekeepers Association, will be present on Sunday, March 9 at 11AM at Garfield Park Conservatory's Jensen Room (300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago) to discuss the film. This critically acclaimed film will also be shown Sunday, March 9 at 3PM at Willard Elementary School (1250 Ashland Ave., River Forest). More Than Honey examines the world-wide disappearance and colony collapse of the bees which pollinate 80% of plant species and are therefore critical to our food supply and the survival of mankind. Plus, local beekeepers will bring handmade honey to sample at each screening!
Toxic Hot Seat. Chicago Tribune reporter, Sam Roe, representing the Pulitzer prize-winning team behind this film, and Oak Park Fire Chief Tom Eblen will attend this screening on Sunday, March 9 at 3PM at the Oak Park Public Library (834 Lake Street, Oak Park). This film about the health concerns surrounding the widespread use of flame retardants in our homes and communities follows a group of firefighters, politicians, scientists and activists in their decades-long fight against the chemical industry.
Comfort Zone. Filmmakers Dave Danesh and Sean Donnelly will discuss their film on Saturday, March 8 at noon at the Oak Park Public Library (834 Lake Street, Oak Park) . Comfort Zone, a film about climate change in upstate New York, brings this global issue to a local and individual level and focuses on the things that ordinary citizens can do to combat climate change. This screening includes a zero-waste, complimentary lunch before the film.
GMO OMG. Jim Slama, Founder of Family Farmed and Good Food Festivals will lead a post-film discussion at Lake Theatre (1022 Lake Street, Oak Park) on Saturday, March 8 at 10AM. A second showing, also at 10 on March 8, at the fieldhouse in Chicago’s Humbolt Park (1400 N. Sacramento, Chicago), will be moderated by Joan Levin from IL Right to Know GMO and includes a sustainable food resource fair. This is an inspirational and ultimately feel-good film about the inter-continental road trip taken by Jeremy Seiffert, a father of two young boys, to learn about the prevalence and safety of genetically-modified foods.
Musicwood. Dominic Frigo, a guitar and piano teacher and player, along with Gary Cuneen, founder of Seven Generations Ahead, and Erika Horigan, Horigan Urban Forest Products, will be on hand to lead a lively post-film discussion on Saturday, March 8 at 7PM at School of Rock Oak Park (219 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL). Plus, enjoy a mini-concert and zero-waste refreshments! This film is about the travels of the most famous guitar-makers in the world -- Taylor, Martin and Gibson -- to the heart of the largest rainforest in the United States on a quest save the Sitka spruce, widely used in the manufacture of acoustic guitars.
See these and many other rich programming options during One Earth Film Festival 2014. Reserve a ticket today (most are free!) to guarantee a seat as space is limited.