\nburst into full bloom at the festival’s start in the Nation’s Capital last
\nweekend. Eco-movie buffs, many having
\nwithstood record snowfalls in Washington, D.C., this winter, eschewed the
\nbeauty of the outdoors to watch the beauty of the outdoors indoors in the form of a wellspring
\nof eco-conscious cinema. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And there was a lot to see. In its 18th year, the
\nfestival, which ends Sunday, is in the midst of screening an ambitious 155
\nfilms over 12 days at some 56 venues around town. Not in freezing, old theaters in some overrun
\ncity in Utah, the Environmental Film Festival takes advantage of the great
\nwealth of resources in the District of Columbia, including prime screening venues
\nlike The National Gallery of Art, American History Museum, seven different
\nembassies, Georgetown University, and the National Museum of Natural History
\namong many others. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Among the feast of food-themed films is a charming one called <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s about a pioneering Pasadena, Calif., family who transformed <\/p>\n In addition to growing their own sustenance, the Dervaes <\/p>\n This film shows the triumph and satisfaction of growing your <\/p>\n After the film, the impulse to get your hands dirty is great—one \n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For such a strong word, something so, well, dirty, you wouldn’t expect homage of <\/p>\n Dirt links us to where we come from—stardust. And this film <\/p>\n The film illustrates the true importance of its subject. Based <\/p>\n Dirt! The MovieIndustrial agriculture’s use of nitrogen fertilizers, <\/p>\n The filmmakers and dirt-matologists, Bill Benenson and Gene <\/p>\n Like a good environmental film, Dirt! aims to be more than a movie. It seeks to be a movement. It <\/p>\n After screening at Sundance this year, the film will be <\/p>\n After happily getting my nails dirty, I came up for air and <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 1979, Pres. Carter installed the solar panels on the <\/p>\n A Road Not TakenNot surprisingly, the panels were removed in 1986 by Pres. Reagan <\/p>\n The filmmakers are two Swiss artists who were taken by the <\/p>\n The panels were unfortunately rejected from the museum. Though, <\/p>\n A funny, sad, weird, and illuminating film, it is worth a <\/p>\n By all means, take in the offerings yourself! If you’re in D.C. this weekend, you can check Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Old gumball machines give guerrilla gardeners easy ammo<\/a><\/p>\n How export-focused agriculture has failed everyone it was meant to help<\/a><\/p>\n
\nHomegrown<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\ntheir single-family home on a third of an acre into a micro farm. With eight
\nchickens, two goats, four ducks, and producing around 6,000 pounds of food, the
\nDervaes family serves as a beacon of brilliance and can-do-it-iveness. <\/p>\n
\nfamily sells local, organic produce to Pasadena restaurants. They also run a website<\/a>, where their journey to
\nself-sufficiency is inspiring and also accessible. <\/p>\n
\nown food, along with underscoring the community created by such audacious acts
\nof turning your lawn into a farm. What
\nbegins as an oddity in the neighborhood becomes a community treasure, bringing
\npeople together. <\/p>\n
\nfelt even greater after attending a screening of a documentary film called Dirt!
\nThe Movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nthis order to exist. Never has a film created in a viewer such a visceral need
\nto thrust one’s hand into the soil. This
\node to dirt begins with the Big Bang. From that beginning, it takes us to
\nanother beginning narrative: God makes humankind from soil; he names the first
\nperson the Hebrew word for dirt, Adam. Eve is life.<\/p>\n
\nis full of stars. Narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis and featuring interviews with
\nluminaries like Vandana Shiva, Wangari Maathai, Alice Waters, Majora Carter,
\nand others, dirt remains the true star of this film. <\/p>\n
\non the book by William Bryant Logan, Dirt:
\nEcstatic Skin of the Earth, it draws attention to the top six inches of
\nsoil as living and breathing and among the most vital parts of life as we know
\nit.<\/p>\n
\npesticides, and monocultures are having devastating effects on the state of our
\ndirt. We are doing something very dangerous to life itself: We are treating our dirt like dirt, an
\nexpression whose meaning should change to “treating something with great respect
\nand care.”<\/p>\n
\nRosow, have combined information, passion, compelling storytelling and humor in
\na rich way to cast a radiant light upon a not often thought about subject. Their animated personification of dirt in the
\nfilm, Digby, is a source of adorableness and ample guffaws throughout a
\nscreening. Playing in the dirt makes the film something for children and
\nadults.<\/p>\n
\neducates and encourages viewers to compost, buy from local agriculture
\nproducers and have relationships with them, and screen the film wherever they
\nlive to help more people get the dirt (the good kind) on dirt. <\/p>\n
\naired nationwide on PBS. You can see it during Earth Day week on Tuesday, April
\n20.<\/p>\n
\nlight to see a film about the power of light itself and the politics that have
\nslower solar power called A Road Not Taken<\/a>, about Pres. Jimmy
\nCarter’s solar panels.<\/p>\n
\nWhite House roof, at a time when the oil crisis and the Iran hostage crisis
\nwere making our relationship to oil seem all the more questionable. He asked us as a nation to look at our
\nconsumption and change. <\/p>\n
\nbefore making their way to Unity College in Maine in the early ‘90s<\/p>\n
\nhistory and symbolism of the panels. The film journeys back in time to the
\ninstallation of the panels, with well-placed archival footage and actual
\nspeeches by Pres. Carter. The young
\nartists and students then take a road trip with the panels in tow to the
\nAmerican History Museum, trying to secure a rightful place there. <\/p>\n
\nnot to give away the ending, the film screened at the American History Museum—a sign that the sunshine machine was let in.<\/p>\n
\nwatch, as were so many others at the festival. These three movies just begin to scratch the
\nsurface of the embarrassment of environmental cinematic riches that the
\nEnvironmental Film Festival has to offer. <\/p>\n
\nout the blossoms and some of the films before the festival ends. If you’re an out-of-towner, have a gander and
\nfind out where to watch the impressive list of films here<\/a>.<\/p>\n