Green Edge Films

The Solar-Powered Film Series!

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:08:00 -0400

Presented by Green Edge NYC and Solar One and sponsored by Green Mountain Energy, the Solar-Powered Film Series is a FREE, outdoor event that takes place over six nights at Solar One’s breathtaking Hudson River location ( MAP ).

Each night of the series, we showcase a different documentary that, we hope, will raise awareness and inspire action on relevant and timely issues that affect our environment.

Following each film, we will lead a discussion, Q&A, or workshop session to help further educate, as well as engage, the audience on the environmental issues presented in the film.

Festival Details:

Solar One is located at E 23rd street and FDR. Here’s a MAP.

Festivities begin each night at 7pm.

Scroll down for film trailers and info on all the speakers.

Schedule:

UPDATED: The first weekend of the festival is now Sat. 9/17 through Sun. 9/19 due to the weather forecast. So come out on a beautiful and clear Sunday night (instead of Thursday) to watch Tapped!

September 17 - Out of Our Minds & Severed Ways (Warning: This film contains graphic depictions of primitive violence. Not for the faint of heart. Not appropriate for children.)

September 18 - Vanishing of the Bees

September 19 - Tapped

September 23 - Fresh

September 24 - Fuel

September 25 - Age of Stupid

For more info on Green Edge, go HERE. For more info on Solar One, go HERE.

September 17, 2010 Films: — Out of Our Minds (Special...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:05:00 -0400

September 17, 2010

Films:

— Out of Our Minds (Special Selection at Sundance 2009 - music by Melissa Auf Der Maur - see above music video)

— Severed Ways (Warning: This film contains graphic depictions of primitive violence. Not for the faint of heart. Not appropriate for children.)

Discussion:

Melissa Auf Der Maur (formerly of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins)

About Out of Our Minds and Severed Ways…

The 2010 Solar-Powered Film Series begins with a very special screening of the solar-made feature, Severed Ways - a film about the Viking discovery of North America. Set in 1007, the film is beautifully shot and quite remarkable. However, its depiction of the story and time period includes very strong language in subtitles, some nudity, and graphic violence unlike anything we’ve ever shown at Solar One.

It is not recommended for children or for sensitive viewers. This is the only film in the Series that is not an all-ages film; while normally we are careful to only show family entertainment, we felt that the artistic achievement of this film and the extraordinary story of how it was made justified including it.

With this said, Out of Our Minds and Severed Ways artfully address environmental issues in unconventionally interesting and powerful ways.

September 18, 2010 Film - Vanishing of the Bees (see above...

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:24:00 -0400

September 18, 2010

Film - Vanishing of the Bees (see above trailer)

Meet a Beekeeper! Prior to the screening, Chris and Grai -long time beekeepers of HoneybeeLives.org, will be sharing their valuable insight on organic, biodynamic beekeeping and offering a glimpse of the actual materials used in urban beekeeping. If you are interested in learning how to begin beekeeping or just dying to ask any question about honeybees - this is your chance!

HoneybeeLives teaches organic beekeeping classes throughout the year, with the main classes taking place in the winter months. This year classes will take place in the Hudson Valley and NYC.

About Vanishing of the Bees…

Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives.

Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and mother earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss. Conflicting options abound and after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery.

Discussion

— Jim Fischer, of Gotham City Honey Co-op began beekeeping over 20 years ago after a career at AT &T Bell Labs and a youthful stint at the New Alchemy Institute where he worked on hydroponics, aquaculture, and wind power. Fischer kept 600 biodynamically- managed hives in the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia for honey and pollination. He moved to Manhattan to keep bees on rooftops and has taught free 12- week beekeeping classes at the Central Park Arsenal. Fischer created the Gotham City Honey Co-op and also volunteers a great deal of time with NYC Beekeeping. He’s known for his acerbic wit, a popular series of articles about beekeeping, and his scientific knowledge of bees.

— Liane Newton serves as “Organizer” of NYC Beekeeping. She took up beekeeping in her sabbatical year and got hooked. A native New Yorker, and long a supporter of sustainable agriculture and development, she ran a food coop in the 70s, went on to study law, worked in China in the 80s, and with entrepreneurs around MIT in the 90s. As a community gardener, she served on the Board of the 500-plot Fenway Victory Gardens and was a key strategist in the fight to save Fenway Park.

Both Liane and Jim have been involved in sustainable systems since the 1970’s.

— Chris Harp - organic beekeeper, “Bee Doctor”, beekeeping teacher, and co-founder of HoneybeeLives. He utilizes a biodynamic approach to tend to approximately 200 colonies located throughout the Northeast.

— Grai St. Clair Rice- is an organic beekeeper, journalist and co-founder of HoneybeesLives. Her focus is to increase public awareness of honeybees through her lectures and writing, and she co-teaches the HoneybeeLives’ beekeeping classes.

September 19, 2010 Film - Tapped (see above trailer) About...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:21:00 -0400

September 19, 2010

Film - Tapped (see above trailer)

About Tapped…

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig’s debut feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water.

Discussion

— Elizabeth Royte is the author of Bottlemania- How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It; Garbarge Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash and The Tapir’s Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of Tropical Rain Forest. Her writings on science and the environment have appeared in The New Times Magazine, National Geographic, and other national publications.

— William Schwartz - Director at TapIt, a New York based initiative that aims to build a global network of businesses that volunteer to serve tap water to the public. Schwartz recently returned from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was working on a project to provide housing made from recycled materials to low-income communities. In the past, William has worked in environmental advocacy at the Fund for The Public interest and in urban planning at Fregonese Associates. William studied economics and business at Portland State University.

— Buck Moorehead - co-founder and vice-president of NYH20, a NYC- based citizens group working to protect NYS’s water from hydraulic fracturing, a toxic process to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Principal, Buck Moorhead Architect, NYC firm working on land use issues in Upper Delaware region. Founding partner of Building Consensus for Sustainability, a land use mediation and consensus building firm.

— Carter H. Strickland, Jr. is the Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability, New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

September 23, 2010 Farm City NIGHT! Film - FRESH (see above...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:35:00 -0400

September 23, 2010

Farm City NIGHT!

Film - FRESH (see above trailer)

Discussion - Derek Denckla from Farm City leads a talk on urban agriculture. More speakers TBA.

About FRESH…

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

September 24, 2010 Film - Fuel - WINNER @ Sundance for Best...

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:40:00 -0400

September 24, 2010

Film - Fuel - WINNER @ Sundance for Best Documentary Audience Award! (see above trailer)

Discussion -

— David Selig, owner of Rice Restaurants, whose delivery vans run on used vegetable oil.

— Brent Baker, founder and CEO of Tri-State Biodiesel, educator and producer of biodiesel fuel since the fuel emerged in the United States about 15 years ago.

About Fuel…

With America so dependent on oil, filmmaker Joshua Tickell sets out to prove that biodiesel, made from vegetable oil, is a viable alternative. Although politicians and energy execs have done their best to quell it, the benefits of biodiesel are real. This documentary (winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance) chronicles Tickell’s quest to popularize the untraditional fuel source, citing the environmental and economic advantages the country could reap by adopting it.

September 25, 2010 Film - Age of Stupid (see above...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:42:00 -0400

September 25, 2010

Film - Age of Stupid (see above trailer)

Discussion - TBA

About Age of Stupid…

The Age of Stupid stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man living in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

It is a co-production between Franny’s company Spanner Films and Executive Producer John Battsek’s (One Day In September) company Passion Pictures. The production was notable for its innovative way crowd-funding financing model, as well as the Indie Screenings distribution system which allows anyone anywhere to screen the film.

The full story of the production of the film is told in the 50-minute Making Of documentary which is free to watch online and also available on the double-pack DVD.The film was released in 2009 and became one of the most talked-about films of the year. It also spawned the hugely-successful 10:10 campaign.