FOOD STAMPED

Special screening and Q&A with Bay Area filmmakers Shira and Yoav Potash
Moderated by Julian Mocine-McQueen, Campaign and Partnerships Manager, Green For All

Thursday, May 31
Ninth Street Independent Film Center
145 9th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

7:00-7:30 pm Drinks and networking
7:30 pm Film screening and filmmaker Q&A

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FOOD STAMPED
Shira and Yoav Potash, USA, 2011, 62 mins.

Is it possible to eat healthy on a food stamp budget?

This informative and humorous documentary film follows nutritionist Shira Potash and her documentary filmmaker husband Yoav as they attempt to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet on a food stamp budget. Shira teaches healthy cooking classes to elementary students in low-income neighborhoods, most of whom are eligible for food stamps. In an attempt to to walk a mile in their shoes, Shira and Yoav embark on the “Food Stamp Challenge”, eating on roughly one dollar per meal. Through their adventures they consult with members of U.S. Congress, food justice organizations, nutrition experts, and people living on food stamps to take a deep look at America’s broken food system. www.foodstamped.com

TICKETS

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$12 Regular
$11 Student/Senior/Disabled

Tickets include film screening and light refreshments. Space is limited so please get your tickets early to avoid disappointment.
Please note: we can accept cash only at the door.

TRANSIT

The Film Center is located at 145 9th Street between Mission & Howard. It is 2 blocks south from Civic Center BART and Market Street MUNI lines. Click for map/directions.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Shira Potash is a certified nutrition educator with a Masters of Science in Community Health Education. She is currently a project manager for Kaiser Permanente’s national employee wellness program, Healthy Workforce, where she produced a series of cooking videos for employees. She has also produced videos for other non-profit nutrition education programs such as Cooking with Kids and Project EAT. In her private nutrition practice, Sprouts Nutrition, Shira works one-on-one with clients of all ages to guide them towards optimum health.This is her first film.

Yoav Potash’s work addresses important social issues of our day. Yoav recently produced and directed CRIME AFTER CRIME, a documentary about the legal battle to free a victim of abuse from a California prison. CRIME AFTER CRIME premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has won a dozen major film festival awards, including the Audience Award and the Golden Gate Award for Investigative Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Justice Matters Prize at the Washington DC International Film Festival, and the Grand Prize at the San Antonio Film Festival. For his advocacy, Yoav was the first filmmaker to be honored by the California Women’s Law Center with their Pursuit of Justice Award.

Yoav has also produced short documentaries and videos for many companies and nonprofits, including Apple Computer, Neutrogena and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation to name a few. He has taught film courses at the Bay Area Video Coalition and Academy of Art University, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he received the university’s top prize in creative writing.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Julian Mocine-McQueen is the Campaign and Partnerships Manager for Green For All, a national organization working to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Julian works with people around the country who are putting government investment dollars to work on a local level to build the green economy. As the facilitator of the Green For All Academy, he trains leaders with the tools they need to communicate the promise of the green economy and to engage disadvantaged communities in support of green jobs and climate protection strategies. Julian has been featured in The Nation, Wiretap magazine and The San Francisco Xpress, and has been recognized by the California Labor Archives for excellence in writing. Julian is an Oakland native and a graduate of San Francisco State University.

“Informative… Entertaining… Inspiring.”
~ San Francisco Chronicle

“FOOD STAMPED is a warm, delightful, and entertaining film with a serious message: it’s really difficult to eat healthfully on food stamp (SNAP) benefits even if you are educated, savvy, live near a decent grocery store or farmers’ market, have plenty of time and energy, and are a great cook. Everyone should see this film, especially those who complain about how low-income people use their benefits.”
~ Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University, and author of “Food Politics.”

“I love this film! It is eye-opening and sobering, yet delivers its message with a warm heart and terrific spirit. One comes away inspired by our potential for inventiveness, and motivated to activism, rather than feeling defeated.”
~ Mollie Katzen, Best-Selling Cookbook Author

“FOOD STAMPED should be seen by anyone and everyone. A surprisingly delightful film given the toughness of the subject.”
~ Deborah Madison, Best-Selling Author

ONE DAY ON EARTH
Global Screening Event with filmmaker Q&A
Sunday, April 22 at 4:00 PM
Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, SF

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Be a part of cinema history this Earth Day and join countries around the world in the global screening of One Day on Earth, the first film made in every country of the world on the same day. We see both the challenges and hopes of humanity from a diverse group of volunteer filmmakers assembled by a participatory media experiment. One Day on Earth is partnered with the United Nations, WWF, The Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and over 60 other NGO’s worldwide. www.onedayonearth.org

Due to popular demand, a San Francisco screening is now confirmed through Tugg (a fun new way to get the films you want in your local theater) and we’re thrilled to be co-presenting this part of the Global Screening Event with them. All proceeds made on One Day on Earth will go to support screenings in the developing world. Please come to enjoy the film, meet local participating filmmakers, and share your thoughts on this historic piece of cinema.

Join a few of the participating filmmakers, Jeffrey Hickey and Karen Kiser, Robert Hammond, and Laura Murphy for a special Q&A after the screening!

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Please also invite and share the event with your friends on facebook and please tweet the ticket link.

Festival Executive Director Rachel Caplan with filmmaker Anthony Baxter, winner of the Festival's Best Feature Award for YOU'VE BEEN TRUMPED. Photo credit: Sarah Adler/San Francisco Chronicle.

The festival kicked off with the San Francisco Premiere of THE ISLAND PRESIDENT, Bay Area filmmaker Jon Shenk’s critically acclaimed film about ousted President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the film theatrically in San Francisco on March 30th at the Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinema. The festival also featured special events, parties, panels and educational programs, inviting festival attendees to get involved and take action with environmental causes important to them. The 2012 SFGFF attracted more than 2,000 visitors with 8 sold-out shows and events.

The Festival’s 16-person Screening Committee, including international filmmakers, environmentalists, journalists, industry executives, and content experts, have elected the 2012 award recipients.

The 2012 SFGFF Awards winners are:

Coverage abounds Anthony Baxter’s film that risks life and limb to penetrate the operation of Donald Trump and his designs on Aberdeen, Scotland and its precious sand dunes. This film festival circuit favorite is a constant juggle of humor, confrontation, espionage and strange compelling characters (Trump included). www.youvebeentrumped.com

Coalition of the Willing is crafted by a network of 24 top animation artists from around the world using varied and eclectic film making techniques. This optimistic and principled film explores how we could use new Internet technologies to leverage the powers of activists, experts, and ordinary citizens in collaborative ventures to combat climate change. coalitionofthewilling.org.uk

Did you know your mobile phone contributes to violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Danish Director Frank Piasecki Poulsen takes on the Congolese military and warlords to gain access to Bisie, a militia controlled mine that produces cassiterite, a tin oxide used in cell phones. In this courageous documentary, Poulsen reveals a mineral trade plagued with violence and human exploitation. bloodinthemobile.org

The Green Tenacity Award is given annually to a filmmaker who shows great tenacity in exploring crucial environmental issues in their work. Last year’s inaugural award recipient was director Fredrik Gertten for his film BANANAS!* which screened at the 2011 festival.

Against all odds, in the boarded up shops, empty lots and defunct factories, seeds of change are taking root in Detroit. With the most vacant lots in the country, citizens are reclaiming their spirits by growing food. A small group of dedicated Detroiters have started an urban environmental movement with the potential to transform a city after its collapse. www.urbanrootsamerica.com

How did sushi become a global cuisine? What began as a simple but elegant food sold by Tokyo street vendors has become a worldwide phenomenon. Shot in five nations, the film explores the tradition, growth and future of this popular cuisine. As ocean predators such as Bluefin Tuna are auctioned at astronomical rates, we see that sushi is big money and these fish are gold. www.sushitheglobalcatch.com

About CompoClay
Northern California’s CompoClay offers stylish, green home accents, garden decor, and green building products. All of CompoClay’s green products are made entirely from CompoClay, a cutting-edge, raw material, mainly made up of minerals, sand and water. CompoClay is a green alternative to hazardous materials, such as resin and polyurethane foam, commonly used in the home decor and building industries. CompoClay has the ability to emulate everything from wood and metal to stone and ceramic without sacrificing safety and durability. For more information, please visit www.compoclay-ca.com.

About the San Francisco Green Film Festival
SFGFF’s mission is to organize and present forward-thinking programs of films and discussions that inspire environmental action and advocacy.The films that we premiere explore the relationship between people and the planet and offer compelling insights into the environmental challenges we face as well as the creative social entrepreneurs who are crafting a vision for a greener future.

SFGFF’s inaugural festival from March 3-6, 2011, brought in over 2,000 attendees to screen a broad array of new films in carefully curated sessions that challenged, provoked, and entertained audiences over its four-day-run.

For more information, and the full Festival Program please visit: sfgreenfilmfest.org.

PRESS CONTACT
press@sfgreenfilmfest.org
(415) 742-1394

OPENING NIGHT: Jon Shenk's "The Island President"

Click to download 2012 Festival Program Guide [PDF]

Click to go to the online film schedule and box office

Highlights include:
- San Francisco Premiere of Bay Area Filmmaker Jon Shenk’s “The Island President”, featuring ousted Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed.
- San Francisco Premiere of Anthony Baxter’s “You’ve Been Trumped” in a special double bill with “Local Hero”
- World Premiere of Mary Liz Thomson & Darryl Cherney’s “Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
- US Sneak Preview of Emily James’s “Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-Day Outlaws”
- And Launch of “Lights! Camera! Action Steps!” linking Festival attendees with leaders in local Environmental causes to get involved

FESTIVAL PASSES

BUY PASSES

Avoid the lines with a Festival Pass!

Passes give entry to all festival screenings and events March 1-7, 2012, including films, panels, filmmaker brunches, and the Opening and Closing Night Films & Parties. Passholders can enter the theater ahead of the ticket line.

Check out our new ‘Action Steps’ resources!

Get an action-steps guide in the theater or download from here on our website, tell us what you’re going to do in the video story booth in the cinema lobby, or sign up for one of our group activities with our local community partners!

Find out how you can get involved!

Download ‘Action Steps’ guides:

Blood in the Mobile [PDF]

Design Your Our Own Action Steps [PDF]

Allison Arieff, ‘Opinionator’ columnist, New York Times; Urbanist Editor, SPUR
Tamara Badgley Horowitz, Grants & Residencies Coordinator, San Francisco Film Society
David Baker, David Baker+Partners Architects
Anthony Baxter, Director, “You’ve Been Trumped”
Richard Berge, Producer, “The Island President”
Peter Bosshard. Policy Director, International Rivers
Karen Brown, Creative Director, Center for Ecoliteracy
Betsy Carson, Producer, “Waking the Green Tiger”
Josh Cassidy, Associate Producer, “Redwoods and Climate Change”
Ian Cheney, Director, “The City Dark”
Darryl Cherney, Producer,”Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
Richard Chisolm, Director, “Cafeteria Man”
Bonni Cohen, Producer, “The Island President”
Kevin Connelly, Associate Director, Earth Island Institute
Sheila Davis, Executive Director, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Helen de Michiel, www.lunchlovecommunity.org
Adena DeMonte, Director of Marketing, Badgeville
Alistair Douglas, Seafood Services Japan
Ann & Steven Dunsky, Directors, “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time”
Christina Goette, MPH, Sr. Health Program Planner, San Francisco Department of Public Health
Kevin Gordon, Director, “Tuned In”
Mark Hall, Director, “Sushi: The Global Catch”
Mischa Hedges, Co-Founder, TrimTab Media
Jamie Henn, Co-Founder, 350.org
Mario Herger, Technology Strategist & Community Manager, SAP Labs LLC
Steve Hipskind, Chief, Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center
Kristin Hogan, Strategic Communications Planner, City and County of San Francisco Department of Emergency Management
Emily James, Director, “Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws”
Cara Jones, Founder, Storytellers for Good
DeAnthony Jones, 2010 Brower Youth Award Winner
Chris Jordan-Bloch, Director, “An Ill Wind”
Elyse Katz, Executive Producer, “Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
Michelle Kaufmann, Michelle Kaufmann Studio
Catherine Kilduff, Staff Attorney, Oceans Program, Center for Biological Diversity
Gayla Kraetsch Hartsough, Producer, “Slap”
Justin Krumb, Director, “Minds in the Water”
Sheila Laffey, Co-Executive Producer, “Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
Gary Marcuse, Director, “Waking the Green Tiger”
Mark MacInnis, Director, “Urban Roots”
Rivka Mason, School Garden Teacher, Berkeley Unified School District
Iliani Matisse, Co-Founder, TrimTab Media
David McGuire, Founder, Sea Stewards
Cella Mitchell, Wallace Stegner Environmental Librarian, San Francisco Public Library
Willa Murphy, Student Activist, Senior, Sir Francis Drake High School, Founder & President, Drake Youth Politics Club
Dr. Wallace “J” Nichols, Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences and LIVEBLUE.org
Summer Rayne Oakes, model-activist, co-founder of Source4Style, starring in “eXtinction”
Erica Priggen, Executive Producer, Free Range Studios
Heidi Quante
Gabriela Quiros, Producer, “Redwoods and Climate Change”
Kerry Reynolds, Videographer, “Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes, Professor or Urban Studies, San Francisco State University
Daniel Riviera, Entertainment Attorney, Riviera & Associates
Lee Schneider, Executive Producer, DocuCinema
Laura Shacham, Assistant Producer, “Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws”
Jon Shenk, Director, “The Island President”
Tiffany Shlain, Director, “Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’”
William Shutkin, President and CEO, Presidio Graduate School
Bob Silvestri, Founder, Environmental Media Fund
Student winners of the 2011 Pollution Prevention Video Contest
Mary Liz Thomson, Director, “Who Bombed Judi Bari?”
Kyle Thiermann, Surfer and 2011 Brower Youth Award winner
Casson Trenor, Co-Owner, Tataki Restaurant
Dona Turner, Director, “Dig It!”
Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, UC Berkeley
Jonny Vasic, Director, “Minds in the Water”
Katy Yan, China Program Coordinator, International Rivers

*** FILM IS SOLD OUT *** PARTY TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE ***

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
Jon Shenk, USA, 2011, 101 mins.

San Francisco Premiere. In person: Jon Shenk, Director; Richard Berge, Producer; Bonni Cohen, Producer; Steve Hipskind, Chief, Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center

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Bay Area filmmaker Jon Shenk spends a year with President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives as he confronts a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced – the literal survival of his country and everyone in it, due to the devastating impacts of climate change. Witness the first chapter of his global environmental fight, a fight which, following his forced resignation on February 7th, has clearly only just begun…

Read Op-Eds in the Feb 8th New York Times by ousted President Nasheed and the film’s director Jon Shenk. Watch Jon Shenk discuss the film on the Feb 8th edition of Democracy Now!, and listen to an interview with Nasheed on NPR’s Morning Edition on Feb 21st.

Celebrate SFGFF’s 2nd Opening Night Party at the Superfrog Gallery in the New People building in Japantown. Mingle with festival filmmakers and special guests and enjoy local sustainable food & beverages, art, and live music.

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$50 Film and Party
$30 Party Only
$200 All-Access Festival Pass March 1-7 (includes Opening Night Film & Party)

All tickets include party entry, entertainment, beverages, and hors d’oeuvres. You must be 21 years or older to attend the Opening Night Party. Proof of Age is required at the door. Festive attire.

The Cinema is located in the New People building in Japantown on Post Street between Webster and Buchanan.
It is close to MUNI lines 2, 3, 22, 38, & 38L.
The Japan Center Garage entrance is located right in front of the cinema on Post Street, and can also be accessed from 1610 Geary Boulevard.

Event Producers: One Big Fish Green Events | Quick Fox Events

Production: Alchemy Events | Blue Heron Catering | Blue Water Party Rentals | Foggy City Life | Shayna Eigen Designs

Food & Beverage: Chilayo Sabor Mexicano | Choice Catering | Cowgirl Creamery | Eel River Brewing Co. | Frey Vineyards | i love blue sea | La Boulange Cafe & Bakery | Mamma Chia | Mixt Greens | Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery | Three Twins Ice-Cream | Trinity Oaks

Art & Entertainment: Anzfer Farms | The Art Don’t Stop | Beau Buck | Bruce “Mui” Ghent, Taiko Master | By Madeline Trait | DJ Samala (aka Director of Online Strategy & Media at the Story of Stuff Project) | Fusing Media | Green Cheeze Photo Booths | Josh Baxter & Bobby Weinapple | Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center | Recology Artists In Residence | Robert Campbell Photography | Utsuwa Floral Design

Raffle Donors: A.C.T. | Aquarium of the Bay | Bay Area Green Tours | Bay Nature Magazine | Bioneers | California Academy of Sciences | Cavallo Point | City CarShare | Conservatory of Flowers | Hotel Carlton | JetBlue | Marine Mammal Center | Oakland Zoo | The Orchard Garden Hotel | Samovar

Full list at sfgreenfilmfest.org/thanks

Special thanks: Samuel Goldwyn Films, IDP Distribution, and the San Francisco Film Society. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the film theatrically in San Francisco on March 30th at the Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinema. The Film Society hosts a screening with the filmmakers on March 20. theislandpresident.com

1:00 PM THE FUTURE OF FILM FUNDING

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Documentary filmmaking has come of age and the ways docs are funded is changing rapidly. From bootstrapped productions and crowd-sourced micro-financed films to projects funded by traditional grants and donations to increasingly bigger budgeted productions funded using complex “hybrid” business ventures, the options available to filmmakers and opportunities available to donors and investors have exploded in recent years. Our distinguished panelists will share their experiences and offer their insights about the future of documentary film funding.

Panelists include:
~ Bob Silvestri, Founder, Environmental Media Fund [moderator]
~ Tamara Badgley Horowitz, Grants & Residencies Coordinator, San Francisco Film Society
~ Anthony Baxter, Director, “You’ve Been Trumped”
~ Emily James, Director, “Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws”
~ Daniel Riviera, Riviera & Associates
~ Additional guests TBA

1:00 PM SUSHI: THE GLOBAL CATCH screening with SUSHI, SUSTAINABILITY, AND THE FATE OF FISH panel

Panel included with film ticket.

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Join us after the film Sushi: The Global Catch to discuss the health of sushi for humans and the oceans. Among the panelists is Mark Hall, the film’s director, who will expand on the sustainability of fishing and fish consumption around the globe. Other panelists will include sushi restauranteurs, fisherman, and advocates who will address the challenges of sustainability, fish and the future of the ocean.

Panelists include:
~ David McGuire, Founder, Sea Stewards [moderator]
~ Alistair Douglas, Seafood Services Japan
~ Mark Hall, director, “Sushi: the Global Catch”
~ Catherine Kilduff, Staff Attorney, Oceans Program, Center for Biological Diversity
~ Dr. Wallace “J” Nichols, Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences and LIVEBLUE.org
~ Casson Trenor, co-owner, Tataki Restaurant

4:30 PM STORYTELLING FOR CHANGE

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PANEL DISCUSSION + VIDEO SCREENING

Telling stories with film and video is a powerful way to inspire and motivate people to make positive changes in their lives, and in the world.

In the online world of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, businesses and non-profits are using videos to tell the stories of their people, practices and potent issues; these organizations are connecting with people in a meaningful, human way that inspires action.

Panelists will show some of these videos, speak about their approach to video storytelling, and involve the audience in a discussion about storytelling for change.

Panelists include:
~ Mischa Hedges, Co-Founder, TrimTab Media [co-moderator]
~ Iliani Matisse, Co-Founder, TrimTab Media [co-moderator]
~ Cara Jones, Founder, Storytellers for Good
~ Erica Priggen, Executive Producer, Free Range Studios
~ Bob Silvestri, Founder, Environmental Media Fund

1:00 PM GAMING FOR GOOD

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From Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits and city governments, gamification is one of the hottest trends to encourage employee engagement, build brand loyalty, and drive social change. Join BC3 members, SF Green Film Festival, SAP, SF Department of Emergency Management, and Badgeville to discuss the future of gamification and how this exciting tool can be used to advance your project’s sustainability goals.

Gaming for Good will explore the use of gaming techniques in non-game environments to promote fun, engage participants, and incentivize the adoption of sustainable behaviors. The panel will investigate the ways that businesses, government, and nonprofits have used gaming techniques to achieve their sustainability goals through community activities such as contests and reward systems.

Panelists include:
~ Katherine Michonski, Executive Director, Business Council on Climate Change/BC3 [moderator]
~ Adena DeMonte, Director of Marketing, Badgeville
~ Mario Herger, Technology Strategist & Community Manager, SAP Labs LLC
~ Kristin Hogan, Strategic Communications Planner, City and County of San Francisco Department of Emergency Management
~ Additional guests TBA

1:00 PM CAFETERIA MAN screening with CHEW THE FAT: REINVENTING SCHOOL LUNCHES panel

Panel included with film ticket.

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After watching Cafeteria Man please just us and filmmaker Richard Chisolm for a panel discussion around agriculture and the challenges of eating locally and sustainably within our current system. We will talk with panelist who are meeting those challenges while dealing with the established norms of institutions and systems geared in the opposite direction. We hope to provoke a conversation that will motivate those in their community to ignite or flame the movement around food security, health, and sustainability.

Panelists include:
~ Karen Brown, Creative Director, Center for Ecoliteracy
~ Richard Chisolm, director, “Cafeteria Man”
~ Helen de Michiel, www.lunchlovecommunity.org
~ Christina Goette, MPH, Sr. Health Program Planner, San Francisco Department of Public Health
~ DeAnthony Jones, 2010 Brower Youth Award Winner
~ Rivka Mason, School Garden Teacher, Berkeley Unified School District
~ Willa Murphy, Student Activist, Senior, Sir Francis Drake High School, Founder & President, Drake Youth Politics Club

3:00 PM BLOOD IN THE MOBILE screening with CRADLE-TO-CRADLE panel

Panel included with film ticket.

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Join leading experts for a discussion on electronics and green cradle-to-cradle design. The panel will be driven by questions from the audience but will include consumer actions and solutions including: consumer campaigns, emerging green labels, supply chain responsibility, and innovative breakthroughs in the sustainable design community.

Panelists include:
~ Heidi Quante [moderator]
~ Sheila Davis, Executive Director, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
~ Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, UC Berkeley
~ Conflict Mineral Guide Representative TBA

7:45 PM URBANIZED screening with OUR FUTURE IN URBAN SUSTAINABILITY panel

Panel included with film ticket.

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In a world where we are dealing with economic instability, climate action plans, and water and fuel stresses building upon the urban environment is more than just function. The triple bottom line is now a part of the process of urban development and the choices a community and government has to make when considering growth and development. Panelists will discuss the thought process and methods they use and feel are integral when meeting all the goals and initiative for the future of a sustainable urban plan and environment.

Panelists include:
~ Lee Schneider, DocuCinema [moderator]
~ Allison Arieff, ‘Opinionator’ columnist, New York Times; Urbanist Editor, SPUR
~ David Baker, David Baker + Partners Architects
~ Michelle Kaufmann, Michelle Kaufmann Studio
~ Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes, Professor of Urban Studies, San Francisco State University

Here are responses to the Opening Night screening of The Island President.

Additional videos for many of the other films throughout the week are at www.youtube.com/sfgreenfilmfest. Can you find yourself?

ANIMAL BEATBOX

Damon Gameau, Australia, 2011, 2 mins

“This film was a joy to make. It involved my girlfriend and my mother and 3 days of being children again building sets and cutting out animal pictures. It cost 80 Australian dollars to make and has now screened at over 20 festivals around the world and used in children’s classrooms everywhere. Its intention was to wake people up for a second and embrace their spirit again. And also to lovingly appreciate the wonderful world we live in in a fun, insignificant way.”

Precedes “Urban Roots” on Tuesday, March 6 at 8:00 PM

Michelle Coomber, Bangladesh/UK, 2010, 12 mins.

Thousands of Bangladeshis rely on the Buriganga river for a living. Yet as this film reveals, a shocking level of pollution and misuse, is threatening this economic and cultural life force.

“We used to drink this water many years ago. We don’t any more”, says Mohammad, who left school to work at the boathouse. Impoverished city dwellers have filled the river with plastic and rubbish. Yet those who live around it feel a spiritual, life-affirming connection with the river: “because the river is here, we are here. It’s allowed us to move forward in life”.

Precedes “Alma” on Sunday, March 4 at 5:00 PM

Kirsten Lepore, USA, 2011, 5 mins.

Animated on location at a beach, in snow, and underwater, this stop-motion short details a transoceanic conversation between two characters via objects in a bottle.

Precedes “Minds in the Water” on Sunday, March 4 at 7:00 PM

Simon Robson, UK, 2010, 16 mins.

Coalition of the Willing is crafted by a network of 24 artists from around the world using varied and eclectic film making techniques. Collaborators include some of the world’s top moving image talent, such as Knife Party, Decoy, World Leaders and Parasol Island.

The film offers a response to the major problem of our time: how to galvanize and enlist the global publics in the fight against global warming. This optimistic and principled film explores how we could use new Internet technologies to leverage the powers of activists, experts, and ordinary citizens in collaborative ventures to combat climate change. Through analyses of swarm activity and social revolution, Coalition of the Willing makes a compelling case for the new online activism and explains how to hand the fight against global warming to the people.

Precedes “Just Do It” on Closing Night, Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 PM

Dona Turner, USA, 2010, 7 mins.

A documentary on urban agriculture in the East Bay.

First Prize in the 2010 Documentary Category at the Laney College, Oakland.

Precedes “Cafeteria Man” on Sunday, March 4 at 1:00 PM. In person: Dona Turner

Clayton Haskell, USA, 2011, 5 mins.

Summer Rayne Oakes breathes fervent passion into this visually stunning journey through space and time. eXtinction reveals that the most pressing environmental issues are not happening thousands of years from now, but are in fact happening within our lifetime — and specifically, on the timeline of one young woman’s life, from birth to death.

Precedes “Sushi: The Global Catch” on Saturday, March 3 at 1:00 PM. In person: Summer Rayne Oakes

Gaby Bastyra & Joe Churchman, UK, 2010, 4 mins.

A dark fairytale that follows the meteoric rise of plastic from its inception in Leo’s gloomy laboratory 100 years ago. Told like a Brother’s Grimm fable, Gloop offers a poignant and lasting message about the price we pay for the convenience of plastic.

Precedes “Blood in the Mobile” on Sunday, March 4 at 3:00 PM

Marty Cooper, USA, 2011, 3 mins.

A humorous story by students of San Jose State University of how a man’s feet grow to a gigantic size due to the large carbon footprint of his home. Green Ninja to the rescue!

Precedes “Taste the Waste” on Tuesday, March 6 at 5:30 PM

Chris Jordan-Bloch, USA, 2011, 8 mins.

The Moapa River Indian Reservation, tribal home of a band of Paiute Indians, sits about 30 miles north of Las Vegas—and about 300 yards from the coal ash landfills of the Reid Gardner Power Station. If the conditions are just wrong, coal ash picks up from Reid Gardner and moves across the desert like a sandstorm. An Ill Wind tells the Paiute Indians’ story.

Precedes “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time” on Monday, March 5 at 5:30 PM. In person: Chris Jordan-Bloch

Hungry Beast, Australia, 2011, 2 mins.

In the media landscape there are climate change deniers and believers, but rarely those speaking about climate change are actual climate scientists… until now.

Student film winners of the 2011 Pollution Prevention Video Contest, sponsored by the Department of Toxic Substances Control and SFGFF.

Precedes “Cafeteria Man” on Sunday, March 4 at 1:00 PM. In person: student winners (award will be presented)

Zacharias Kunuk, Canada, 2011, 10 mins.

Against the arresting backdrop of Nunavut’s blue skies and majestic glacial expanses, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) explores how climate change is impeding the local Inuit community’s ability to predict weather patterns. Sirmilik features the music of Andrew Whiteman (Broken Social Scene), Dean Stone (Apostle of Hustle) and Yellowknife throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

Precedes “Future of Hope” on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:30 PM

Gabriela Quiros/KQED-QUEST, USA, 2011, 11 mins.

KQED’s Quest series has won many awards, and this film shows why. QUEST follows a group of UC Berkeley scientists to the top of a 320-foot redwood in Mendocino County. Only 5 percent of these ancient redwoods survived our voracious desire for their hardy and plentiful wood. Now scientists are trying to predict how the remaining ones and their descendants might fare in the face of climate change in the decades to come.

Precedes “Who Bombed Judi Bari?” on Friday, March 2 at 5:00 PM

Isaac King, Canada, 2011, 7 mins.

An animated story of two neighbors trying to get along, despite their extremely different lifestyles. One man is ruled by a ticking clock as he speeds through life, creating tons of waste in his quest for efficiency. Across the fence live a slow elderly couple, re-using trash they find and collecting it in a dangerously huge pile. Balance is the ultimate theme in this modern parable about time, stuff, stress, hoarding, and slippers.

Precedes “Urbanized” on Monday, March 5 at 7:45 PM

Grant Barbeito, USA, 2009, 7 mins.

This story of two friends who routinely challenge each other with every political argument in the book, punctuated only by a loud slap every time one of them feels he wins a point, is a wry and witty commentary about the world we live in and the course of politics in America today.

Precedes “You’ve Been Trumped” on Friday, March 2 at 7:45 PM. In person: Gayla Kraetsch Hartsough

Kevin Gordon, USA, 2010, 5 mins.

Naturally produced radio signals surround us all the time but are invisible to the human ear. This film takes us on a sonic journey into the world of one natural radio pioneer and his efforts to capture these mesmerizing sounds.

Precedes “The City Dark” on Saturday, March 3 at 8:00 PM. In person: Kevin Gordon

Joaquin Baldwin, USA, 2010, 5 mins.

A nurturing farmer in is danger of losing his crop of windmills when he struggles against the cyclical forces of nature. A winning film in the 2011 Possible Futures Film Contest.

Precedes “On Coal River” on Saturday, March 3 at 3:30 PM

Tiffany Shlain, USA, 2011, 3 mins

Technology can be addictive. In a tribute to Allen Ginsberg’s classic 1956 poem, we created a short film lampooning the addictions of our generation. Peter Coyote narrates.

Precedes “The City Dark” on Saturday, March 3 at 8:00 PM. In person: Tiffany Shlain