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Details of the 2006 Festival

Thursday 14 September (2 hr 35 min screening time)

French Fries to Go (15 min)

This is the story about a guy, his truck and some used vegetable oil.  It is an award winning film that documents the origins of Telluride’s Biodiesel project, which resulted in the launching of the first city bus in the USA to run on 100% pure Biodiesel. 

Tui Tuia (28 min)

As keepers of other birdsongs, the Tui takes us on a journey of sound and vocal mimicry. Told through the growth and learning experience of two Tui chicks. The influence of the environment upon their vocal repertoire develops, as one chick becomes an adult in the forest and the other in the city. The film also looks at the possibility of extinct birds living on through the voice of the Tui. Tui Tuia is a natural history film with a difference.

Global Focus ::  Conservation among Conflict in East Timor (10 min)

A land of lush rainforests, tropical beaches and spectacular coral reefs, East Timor has seen its natural resources plundered over the years by military occupation and profiteering colonialists.  A former clandestine resistance leader, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho, is now the head of the first and only environmental nongovernmental organization in his homeland.  In 1998 de Carvalho founded the Haburas Foundation, which means "to make green and fresh" in Tetum, East Timor's national language, to tackle his country's environmental crises.  Under his leadership, this island nation, a Portuguese colony until 1975 ravaged by centuries of occupation and warfare, is charting a new course for sustainable development and environmental protection based on Tara Bandu, the East Timorese cultural practice of acting in harmony with nature.

Water and Autonomy (15 min)

Many of the indigenous communities in Mexico have no access to potable water.  The film looks at this serious problem and how the Zapatista communities are solving it.  Through solidarity and training from internationals many communities are now building their own water systems.  Members of the communities speak about ways the water project fits into their autonomous process, helps fight sickness, has provided a means of reflection for how to protect existing water sources and represents another means of resistance to globalization projects like the Plan Puebla Panama.

Marine Reserves: Restoring the Oceans (13 min)

A short, informative film outlining the situation facing our ocean life, and the key steps to reversing the impact. Beautiful underwater imagery combined with thorough commentary clearly communicates the importance of protecting our oceans.

A Stake in Our Future (5 min)

Making clever use of New Zealand’s stunning beach landscape, this film begins by recounting the human timeline, noting major developments in the last 10,000 years. Then, noting the recent but rapid overuse of the Earth’s resources, it ponders the impact of the proposed Marsden B coal-fired power station on the Whangarei environment.

INTERMISSION

South Central Farmers (7 min)

In South Central Los Angeles, 350 low income families farm 14 acres of land in order to feed their families and stay off welfare.  Now, a wealthy land developer has acquired this property and is threatening to kick the farmers out.  This is the story of their passion and struggle to survive.

Running Dry (50 min)

Water, daily life, and for many daily strife.  Running Dry is inspired by former U.S. Senator Paul Simon’s book Tapped Out and features world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev, discussing the coming global water crisis and new solutions. The documentary was written, produced and directed by Jim Thebaut and is narrated by Jane Seymour.

Deadly Treadlies (12 min)

Deadly Treadlies is a bike rebuilding programme for young people that has operated out of Alice Springs since 2003.  The project runs workshops in Alice Springs, in local town camps and in remote Aboriginal communities.  This film is made from footage taken during a film making run in conjunction with DT workshops in remote communities during 2003/04.

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Friday 15 September (2 hr 42 min screening time)

Titans of the Coral Sea (17 min)

A fascinating insight into the export of tropical fish to urban live-food restaurants; and community level decision making about marine resources in the Pacific Islands

Chickens in the City (7 min)

What if all the zoos opened their gates and we had elephants chilling in swimming pool condos? Jumanji fantasies aside, this quirky little documentary takes a look at people who live in the big city and raise chickens. These dusty, clucky farm animals can turn your city into a global village.

Global Focus :: logging human rights in Papua New Guinea (15 min)

Ann Kajir (32) of Papua New Guinea, one of six environmental activists who received the 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize – is honoured for her grassroots environmental activism.  Follow Kajir as she uncovers evidence of widespread corruption and complicity in the Papua New Guinea government, which allowed rampant, illegal logging that is destroying the largest remaining intact block of tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region. In 1997, her first year practicing law, Kajir successfully defended a precedent-setting appeal in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea that forced the logging interests to pay damages to indigenous land owners.

Under Their Skin (28 min)

The creatures we love to hate, this award winning film follows the life, death, and society of the hated and much maligned possum.  From their celebrated introduction, to the battle to get rid of them, to possums as family pets ~ a film with a little something for everyone, including possums.  This film was an Award Finalist at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival 2005, Wyoming USA.

Kia Tupato (11 min)

Kia Tupato (Be Careful) features the late Sir John Turei as he presents Maori views on genetic modification with reference to the land and the teaching of his grandparents. Sir John was considered a bridge between the cultures of Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand, and received many honours from the Government including a knighthood. Kia Tupato presents the teachings of Sir John and his people and includes footage from the protest movement against genetic modification in New Zealand.

Car Culture (6 min)

This is like a neurotic, therapy drunk, angry cousin of Stephen King’s Christine. He drives with rage, snaps expletives at his peers on wheels and fumes exhaust in your face. The aggro-drive in Car Culture throbs hard and fast, making you want to kill the clutch.

INTERMISSION 

Save Happy Valley (10 min)

Why would anyone want to turn Happy Valley into an opencast mine?  The film details the beautiful ecosystem that is Happy Valley, identifies the treats posed to it by state owned enterprise Solid Energy and introduces the national campaign to stop the mine and save the place!

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (53 min)

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba was faced with new challenges: How to feed its people and create a new, low-energy society. Today, the small country provides an example of community in action after facing a drastic reduction in fossil fuel resources and other imports. Learn about the hardships the Cubans endured as they transitioned from large-scale industrial agriculture to small organic farms and urban gardens—and how their communities became stronger in the process.

The True Cost of Food (15 min)

This funny, grim, and insightful animated film takes us on a surreal tour of modern-day factory farming and agribusiness. It looks at a simple alternative that could help save our families and the planet: eating local, sustainable foods.

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Saturday 16 September (2hr 37min screening time)

Saturday's showing is CATERED, with doors opening at 6pm.

Longfin (28 min)

Longfin follows the incredible life journey of one of New Zealand’s endemic long-finned eels.  In a life that spans nearly a century the eel encounters many dangers and changes in both environment, and in attitudes of humans toward it.

Those Obnoxious Noxious Weeds (4 min)

Wind over Water (32 min)

Cape Cod, Massachusetts: pleasure island for the New England aristocracy and also potential new home for an offshore wind farm. Is wind-power the solution for clean energy for the future? Will there be an adverse affect on the ecosystem? The director effectively contextualizes these essential questions and also asks: is this a case of a private developer simply attempting to profit from a public resource? Are the windmills out there on the horizon actually a form of visual pollution? Wind over Water chronicles an impassioned and intriguing debate about land, energy and the environment, and helps clarify the issues surrounding the future of wind energy in the United States. Thorough, thoughtful, and informative.

Mad Mac and the Flat Ugly Snail (18 min)

The story of one man’s obsession for paua, and the rise and fall of New Zealand’s paua industry as seen through the eyes of one of its most colourful characters.

INTERMISSION

Time for a Change (8 min)

 Disarm (67 min)

Disarm spans a dozen countries to look at how, despite a global ban, millions of antipersonnel mines continue to claim victims daily in over eighty countries. Looking beyond landmines, Disarm offers a contemporary, intelligent and critical investigation into how weapons systems, war, and the way it is waged are being redefined in the twenty-first century with devastating consequences on people and their environment.

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Sunday 17 September (2 hr 36 min)

Sunday's showing is a matinee with doors opening at 1 pm.

Paving Shangril-La (30 min) WORLD PREMIERE!

An annual visitor to the Annapurnas, author and photographer Andrew Stevenson uses a video camera to record a way of life that will soon fade into the lost horizon of a forgotten time. Walking 100 miles in the middle of winter through the Himalayas, Andrew stays in the homes of locals he has befriended over the last two decades. These spectacular images of mule trains, yak caravans and local traditions depict the cost of completing this military highway.

Fledging Expectations (24 min)

A novel approach to protecting vineyards from browsing birds by recruiting the help of the NZ falcon.  But will it have a taste for lifestyler’s chickens?

The Okapa Connection (15 min)

From bush to brew, the Okapa connection follows the journey of a shipment of fair trade organic coffee from the mountains of PNG to a café in Melbourne.  Beginning as plump red cherries in indigenous lands in the beautiful remote mountains, the coffee has a long way and may stages to pass through to be the perfect accompaniment to a Saturday morning paper.  Recently certified as fair trade as well as organic, the premiums that come are beginning to change the lives of the coffee growers and their communities.

Our Living Past (10 min)

INTERMISSION

Someone Has to Pay (4 min)

A Kiwi-creative music video/documentary illustrating the negative impact our consumerism has on developing countries especially, children and the environment.

Buyer, Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification (60 min)

The Seattle World Trade Organization meetings and other trade gatherings have stirred powerful sentiment against globalization, but world trade is a juggernaut that will not be stopped. Is there a way to make free trade FAIR? How can retailers and consumers use their purchasing power and market choice to make the world better for people and the environment? What is the promise of product certification and labeling? And how do consumers decide whether the labels can be believed? Taking viewers to Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this exquisitely photographed film explores how consumers and businesses can use the market to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through product labeling, with a focus on Fair Trade coffee and Forest Stewardship Council certified wood. This powerful documentary seeks to open a dialogue about new ways to make globalization work for all of us.

Alphabet Soup (13 min)

Join an expedition into the middle of the Pacific Ocean to sample an area 4 times the size of Texas, called the eastern garbage patch.  Due to ocean currents and air pressure, the ocean acts as a large toilet bowl and accumulates large amounts of debris ~ mainly plastic, in the garbage patch.  See how the debris travels, and its impact on marine life.