“Why aren’t all these amazing environmental films being shown here in Baltimore?” Elizabeth Dahl, Loyola University Maryland’s Associate Professor of Chemistry, posed that question to the university’s Environmental Action Club. Professor Dahl’s question was in response to the impressive repertoire of “green” films shown at the DC-based Environmental Film Festival. The good news for Baltimore is that the group’s answer to Professor Dahl’s question was to launch the Baltimore Environmental Film Series.
A smart movie or documentary can quickly take people from no-clue-about-a-topic to I-get-it-now. Movies tap into our senses in a way that print and radio often can’t. Some documentaries, like fracking’s Gasland, have even changed public perception and political policy. Recent research revealed that local Gasland screenings were catalysts for fracking bans in the Marcellus Shale region.
Baltimore’s new eco-film series will launch September 23 at the Govanstowne Farmer Market. “The Harvest” begins at 7 p.m. and examines who is picking our food. Each film event in the film series will begin with a movie short followed by a full-length feature. An audience discussion will close out the evening. All shows are open to the public, and most shows are free, unless otherwise noted.
“Hopefully Baltimore’s Environmental Film Series will take off and more universities and groups will collaborate and screen films that help build Baltimore’s environmental awareness,” said Professor Dahl.
Here’s the full slate:
The Harvest
September 23, 2015 at 7 p.m.
Govanstowne Farmers Market, 5104 York Road. The inaugural film event is outdoors and market vendors will be open for food purchases. Bring blankets or lawn chairs.
Short: Wasted USA looks at the reasons behind America’s food waste problem and its love-hate relationship with food.
Feature film: The Harvest/La Cosecha examines who is picking our food.
Redemption
October 21, 2105 at 7 p.m.
McGuire East, Evergreen Campus Student Center, 4501 N. Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21210
Short: e-wasteland asks the question where do electronics go at the end of their life?
Feature film: Redemption follows people who collect the discards of our lives while building their lives one nickel at a time.
Merchants of Doubt
November 2, 2015 Time T.B.A.
Senator Theatre – 5904 York Road, Baltimore, 21212. Regular theatre ticket prices.
Short: Mother Kuskokwim is about the native Alaskan Yup’ik people who practice a subsistence lifestyle in a region suffering from climate change.
Feature film: Merchants of Doubt reveals how pundits-for-hire spread maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.
Click here for more details.
