Last year fellow Green Prophet James gave us a recap of the annual Eco Cinema festival in Jerusalem, and sure enough the organizers of the festival are at it again this year for the sixth year in a row.
Beginning this Tuesday the 19th until Saturday the 23rd, the Jerusalem Cinematheque and other cinematheques around the country (such as Rosh Pina, Sderot, Haifa, Holon, Sde Boker, and Tel Aviv) will be screening films dealing with the environment from all over the world.
The festival began operating in 2004 with two main objectives. Firstly, to bring all types of environmental films to Israel, and secondly, to assist Israeli filmmakers in making such films. Israeli films about the environment are rare, but they receive the attention that they deserve through the Eco Cinema festival.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZjsJdokC0s[/youtube]
This year’s festival will include the following films: The Age of Stupid (England, 2008 – see trailer above), The Queen of Trees (USA, 2006), Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai (USA, 2008), No Impact Man (USA, 2009), Blue Gold: World Water Wars (USA, 2008), Umbrella (China, 2007 – see trailer below), Sharkwater (Canada, 2006), Winged Migration (France, 2002), About Water (Austria/Luxembourg, 2007), Chasing Wild Horses (Canada, 2008), Crude (USA, 2008), It’s Not Easy Being Green (Britain), The Flood Comes After Us (Israel, 2009), Crossroads (Israel), Tales of a Yellow Bike (Canada, 2008), Into the Wild (USA, 2007), Nine Star Hotel (Israel, 2006), Bamako (Mali, 2006), The Next Industrial Revolution (USA, 2001), First Earth (USA, 2008), Helen the Baby Fox (Japan, 2006), Oil + Water (USA, 2007), The Power of Community (USA, 2006), Wall-E (USA, 2008), The Shakshuka Method (Israel, 2008), and Urban Legend (Israel, 2008).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qw-d6hXBcg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecocinema.org.il%2Fframe.html%3F1qw-d6hXBcg%26autoplay%3D1&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
For more information about the festival and this year’s films, please see the Eco Cinema 2009 website.
Read more about other environmental films
Is Sustainability in Tel Aviv an “Urban Legend”? New Film Challenges City Planners to Think Outside the Box
Doomsday 90s Film Film on Global Warming Becomes Stark Reality
Documenting the Demise of America’s Largest Community Garden
Abu Dhabi Media Company to Create Environmental Films with National Geographic
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Yay! I am going to one or two films at the cinamateque tonight! I will report back. 🙂