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Annual CU Environmental Film Fest expands to four campuses

The Cornell Environmental Film Festival returns for its sixth year of movies and discussion with more than 30 films, ranging from documentaries to narratives and animation to comedic shorts. Oct. 4-10 screenings are scheduled at four campuses: Cornell, Ithaca and Wells colleges and Syracuse University.

The festival begins with the acclaimed new documentary about environmental artist and Cornell Professor-at-Large Andy Goldsworthy, "Rivers and Tides." Other topics covered in the festival include the Union Carbide gas tragedy in Bhopal, India, the effects of toxic chemicals on Native American culture, the nuclear waste depository being built in Arizona and the environmental impact of vinyl siding.

"These films challenge you while they entertain you," said festival coordinator Christopher Riley.

All screenings and discussions are open to the public and most are free of charge. The Cornell Environmental Film Festival is presented each year by the Cornell Center for the Environment, the Einaudi Center for International Studies and Cornell Cinema, with support of other units at Cornell and other participating colleges.

More detailed descriptions of the films and a full list of sponsors are available at the web site http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/filmfest/default.html. Included in the sixth annual festival are the following:

Andy Goldsworthy, the environmental artist and Cornell A.D.White Professor-at-Large, in a scene from "Rivers and Tides," showing Oct. 4 at Cornell during the '02 Cornell Environmental Film Festival.

  • "Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time," Friday, Oct. 4, 7:15 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, Cornell, with an introduction by Tom Whitlow, associate professor of horticulture, and the short film "Rocks (Das Rad)." Tickets are $6 ($5 for students and seniors, and $4 for Cornell graduate students and children 12 and under).

  • "Sunshine State," Oct. 4, 9:45 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre. Residents of a Florida coastal town square off against developers in John Sayles' latest film. Tickets are $6 ($5 for students and seniors, and $4 for Cornell grad students and children 12 and under).

  • Environmental Animation Festival, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2:30 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with Mitch Weiss of Beauty and the Beast Storytellers. A collection of funny, touching short films for kids of all ages.

  • "Cannibal Mites," Oct. 5, 4:30 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre. A look at the creepy, crawly and generally icky world of mites.

  • "Bhopal Express," Oct. 5, 7:15 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, and Tuesday, Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m., Park Auditorium, Ithaca College. Set against the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, this narrative film follows the lives of a newlywed couple and their best friend on the night of the disaster. The Oct. 5 screening includes the short film "Sea Song." Tickets for the screening are $6 ($5 for students and seniors, and $4 for Cornell grad students and children 12 and under).

  • "The California Trilogy: 'El Valley Centro,' 'Los,' and 'Sogobi,'" Sunday, Oct. 6, 1 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with filmmaker James Benning. Acclaimed structural filmmaker Benning presents his trilogy of films focusing on the California landscape. Tickets are $4.

  • "Butterfly," Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m., Uris Auditorium, Cornell, with filmmaker Doug Wolens, and Tuesday, Oct. 8, 1 p.m., Hall of Languages, Syracuse University, with Professor Ann Grodzins-Gold. A biopic about Julia Butterfly Hill, who lived for two years in a redwood tree in protest of logging. The Oct. 6 screening includes the short film "Noise in My Backyard."

  • "Safe," Monday, Oct. 7, 4 p.m., Park Auditorium, Ithaca College, with a panel discussion. A Los Angeles housewife finds her affluent environment has turned against her when she becomes allergic to everyday chemicals.

  • "Drumbeat for Mother Earth," Oct. 7, 4:30 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with Tom Goldtooth, executive director, Indigenous Environmental Network. A moving look at the ways toxic chemicals and pollution are threatening the long-term survival of Native American cultures.

  • "The Heart Becomes Quiet," Oct. 7, 6 p.m., The Global Collaboratory, Eggers Hall, Syracuse University. Seven residents of Bhopal, India, tell their extraordinary stories of survival since the gas tragedy of 1984.

  • "The Gleaners and I," Oct. 7, 7 p.m., Park Auditorium, Ithaca College, with a panel discussion. Famed filmmaker Agnes Varda focuses her eye and her camera on gleaners, people who survive by using the things others discard.

  • "The God Squad and the Case of the Northern Spotted Owl," Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m., Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Film Forum, Cornell, and Oct. 8, 8 p.m., Sommer Center in Smith Hall, Wells College, both screenings with filmmaker Emily Hart. A look at the controversy surrounding the 1992 decision to put logging rights ahead of species rights. The Oct. 7 screening includes the short film "Belly Boat Hustle."

  • "Troubled Harvest," Oct. 8, 9:25 and 10:50 a.m., Park Hall, Ithaca College, with Associate Professor John Hochheimer. A look at the dangerous lives of women migrant workers in California and the Pacific Northwest.

  • "Aftershocks: The Rough Guide to Democracy," Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with Neema Kudva, assistant professor of city and regional planning. A look at the negotiations between a government-run mining company and the rural residents of Gurat, India, following a devastating earthquake in 2001.

  • "The Land (El Ard)," Oct. 8, 7:15 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with Deborah Starr, assistant professor of Near Eastern studies. Eight years in the making, this epic film about feudalism and rural regions was named the best Egyptian film ever made. Shown with the short film "Bee-Lines."

  • "Downwind: Depleted Uranium Weapons in the Age of Virtual War," Wednesday, Oct. 9, 4 p.m., Park Hall, with Assistant Professor Chip Gagnon. An exposé about the use of depleted uranium weapons and their terrible health and environmental consequences.

  • "The Road to Yucca Mountain," Oct. 9, 4:30 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre, with Michael Dennis, assistant professor of science and technology studies. A road trip along one of the proposed routes for nuclear waste, ending in a tour of the proposed, and very controversial, repository site. Shown with the short film "2001: A Waste Odyssey."

  • "Love, Women and Flowers," Oct. 9, 8 p.m., Uris Auditorium, with Lourdes Beneria, professor of women's studies. A documentary about Columbia's third largest export, flowers, and the hazardous labor conditions it forces its predominantly female work force to endure. Shown with the film "Defending the Forests: The Struggle of the Campesino Environmentalists of Guerrero."

  • "Defending the Forests: The Struggle of the Campesino Environmentalists of Guerrero," Thursday, Oct. 10, 9:25 a.m. and 10:50 a.m., Park Hall, with Associate Professor John Hochheimer. The story of the people of Guerrero and their ongoing battle against Boise Cascade.

  • "Environmental Animations," Oct. 10, 2:30 p.m., Animation Studio, Park Hall, Ithaca College. A range of animation styles highlight environmental issues.

  • "Bendum: In the Heart of Mindanao," Oct. 10, 4:30 p.m., Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, with Assistant Professor Coeli Barry. In the mountains of the Philippines, an indigenous community challenges loggers and government officials.

  • "Blue Vinyl," Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m., Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, with filmmaker Judith Helfand. When her parents decided to re-side their house with vinyl siding, the filmmaker decided to investigate the environmental impact in this poignant, funny and award-winning documentary. Shown with the short film "Columbia River Redux."

    September 26, 2002

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