Organizers of One Earth Film Festival were intent to bring sustainability messages to area youth to illuminate and help solve climate change issues. The festival aims to achieve its goal of educating and engaging youth in this movement by involving the ideas and stories of young people during the festival in myriad ways.
The first ever One Earth…Our Earth Young Filmmakers Contest drew 12 entries and brought the question of "How will I help solve a problem" directly to young people. A primary goal of the contest, sponsored by Green Community Connections, was to engage and educate children and adults in Oak Park, River Forest, and surrounding communities about sustainability issues in the areas of water, waste, food, transportation, and energy. The contest not only offers entrants a public platform for their films, but will award a grant to each winner to be spent in support of a sustainably-focused organization of their choice.
In addition to being featured at a special program on Saturday, March 2nd (see details below), each winning film will also be screened as part of the One Earth Film Festival general film program as follows:
- Let's Talk About Water: Fri 3/1, Pleasant Home (217 Home Ave, Oak Park), 7P and Sat 3/2, Oak Park Village Hall (123 Madison Street), 12:30P, before Waterlife/Stories of Trust Oregon
- Sporktagion: Sat 3/2, River Forest Library (735 Lathrop Ave), 3:00P, before Bag It/Majestic Plastic Bag
- A Wasteful Santa: Sun 3/3, The Brown Cow (7347 W. Madison St, Forest Park), 3:00P, before The Clean Bin Project/Working Bikes
Children's Programs
Next, the free festival programming for children and their families on Saturday, March 2nd offers three targeted programs: at 10A for 3-6+ year olds and their families; at 11A for the winning filmmakers, their families, friends and the public; and at 12:30P aimed at 7-11+ year olds and their families. All three programs take place at Beye Elementary School (230 N. Cuyler) in Oak Park on March 2. Download a flyer with kids program.
Pre-festival screenings
Programming for and about youth
Other festival programming for families and/or those interested in youth involvement in the sustainability movement includes: Food Patriots, Bat It, The Clean Bin Project, A Simple Question: The Story of STRAW, Play Again, A Forest in Flux, and the five Stories of TRUST woven into our adult programming. (Listen to our interview with the TRUST filmmaker.)
Tickets for all programming are free and available here.
Engaging youth through art
For the second year, middle school art students at Ascension School in Oak Park have worked for weeks prior to the festival to offer their interpretation of environmental issues. You will find these insightful posters at venues throughout the fest. Thank you to Mrs. Pesce, art teacher at Ascension School, and her 7th grade students!
