A Film Fest Full of Enviro-Drama- a Life and Death Struggle

Nov. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- Don’t you get tired of the same-old same-old?  I know we do.  But the Green Screen Film Festival, starting next week in the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver, B.C. decided to do environmental films full of drama.  A spokesperson for the festival commented, “You can’t get much more dramatic than local guys who lay down their lives for a river, or battle their government in order to plant trees.  Imagine the animals who get no choice when battles rage and their food source is destroyed.”

One film to be aired is The Kingsnorth Six sponsored by Greenpeace out of the UK. Six men made history in 2008 by scaling the 220 m chimney of a coal fired power station.  Accused of causing £30,000 of criminal damage, their defence of "necessity” was accepted by the jury - because they were acting to safeguard property in immediate need of protection" from the negative impacts of climate change, caused in part , by burning coal.

Another film GREEN is described by one of the jury: “Unforgettable. This is a one-of-a-kind cinematic poem. No narration, no voice-over preaching and yet ... anyone who sees it will likely never buy another thing without thinking twice about where it came from, how it got to market, and who paid the real price for its manufacture. It appeals to the emotions, but it also commands the intellect. Did I mention unforgettable? “  GREEN by the way was a “Green Orangutan”

Robert Redford acts in and narrates one of the films called. “The New Environmentalists”  Again, from the lips of a juror, “The subjects of the film are as varied as the locations; from a farmer in Michigan who took on the polluting practices of nearby livestock factories to a woman in Poland who fought to protect one of Europe's last true wilderness areas from development.  What connects the six crusaders featured in the documentary "The New Environmentalists" is a refusal to listen to the word "no" and an unrelenting drive that pitted them against formidable - and at times dangerous - adversaries.”

Yet another in this genre of films about men who dare; from a harsh, uncompromising land comes a story of hope. Yacouba Sawadogo, a peasant farmer from Africa has succeeded where international agencies failed. Over the last twenty years he has successfully battled against nature and man, to become a pioneer in the fight against desertification.  But Yacouba's struggle is not simply an agricultural story, it is pure drama. It is about one man's conviction that now has the potential to benefit many thousands living in the Sahel region of Africa.

Green Screen International Film Festival Society is thrilled to have these and many other enviro-dramas for your enjoyment at their very first film festival.  Fortunately behind the scenes and pulling many of the strings they have someone who is incredibly experienced and gifted in the world of film festivals.  Reverend Carrie Hunter was for years the face of the Banff School of Fine Arts Film festival and subsequently the voice of the new genre the TV Festival.  

For more information please go to http://www.facebook.com/greenscreenfilmfest   There is even a Sweepstakes , where the Grand Prize includes tickets for 4 to each night’s performance together with the Opening Night’s Reception at the Kay Meek Centre and the Wrap Party on November 15th at the Pacific Arbour Retirement Residences at The Summerhill  135 West 15th St. North Vancouver, BC V7M 1R7  Pacific Arbour Retirement Residences is the first corporate sponsor of GREEN SCREEN  and will be presenting the Outstanding Achievement Award to Tantoo Cardinal.  For those who don’t do Facebook go to  http://www.greenscreenfilmfest.ca