Saturday Films

The life of a Barn Swallow is not easy. Everything gets mixed up on the way back home from Africa, bigger birds are pesky, ghastly shadows from previous centuries annoyingly stalky, the clay is all gone and the barn locked at night. 

Boldly pioneering the environmental comedy genre, The Adventures of Oranges centers around a conversation between a Maui orange and a Florida orange in the produce section of a local grocery store. Through the telling of the Florida orange’s journey to Maui, the film reveals the comic absurdity of how far most of our food travels [...]

http://www.amazoniamovie.com/Trailer/index.html In the eat-or-be-eaten world of the Amazon Rainforest, a little treefrog named Bounce sets out on a normal day to find a meal but quickly learns that the proverbial hunter becomes the hunted. Unable to catch his meal, Bounce is punished relentlessly by his prey to the breaking point until his chance encounter with [...]

As clearcutting continues to ravage California’s coastal redwood region, Farmer, an environmental activist, decides to tree sit to defend the McKay Tract, near Eureka. AMONG GIANTS begins three years into the McKay tree-sit. Stuck on his tiny platform a hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation [...]

This film was a joy to make. It involved my girlfriend and my mother and 3 days of being children again building sets and cutting out animal pictures. It cost 80 Australian dollars to make and has now screened at over 20 festivals around the world and used in children’s classrooms everywhere. Its intention was [...]

In a world of climate change and environmental catastrophies, two sisters Anna and Emma and their companions, the California Condors, stand out as a beacon of hope. Together with their father, Chris Parish, the director of the Peregrine Fund at Vermillion Cliffs, and their mother, Ellen Parish, teacher and leader for the environmental organization Roots [...]

The Beaver Creek Episodes are funny stop motion animation shorts featuring Twigs the beaver and Drake the duck. Each episode blends witty cartoon antics of natural beaver activities, which casts a good light on nature’s keystone species. In Episode Four Twigs and Drake have fun in the snow, as well as realize the true meaning [...]

Back in her hometown, a young entomologist investigating the death of her dad’s honey bees stumbles upon racial prejudices, lies and old family feuds. “BEE” is both a mystery and a love story: Many documentaries have been done about the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but very few fiction-based films. I was interested in creating a [...]

Hoping to raise awareness of the threat to the survival of the Porcupine Caribou Herd presented by the proposed exploitation of the oil and gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the husband-and-wife-team of filmmaker Leanne Allison and wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer, follow the herd of 120,000 caribou on foot, across 1,500 kilometers of [...]

“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, [...]

Chumbe Island Coral Park is a short video about an island in East Africa, off the coast of Zanzibar that has an eco-resort, which provides environmental education for local students.  A ranger from Chumbe Island introduces a group of Muslim students to eco-architecture and rainforest ecology and also takes them snorkeling on the pristine coral [...]

The trial of climate activist Tim DeChristopher was postponed nine times before finally taking place in March 2011. In November 2010, a group of Peaceful UpRising activists, including Tim, decided to stage their own trial. They wrote a brilliant play, and created larger-than-life puppets with the help of artist/activist David Solnit. Unlike anything seen at [...]

Perched along a marina that faces the Golden Gate Bridge, the Dolphin Club is home to hundreds of locals who brave the sharp, cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. This is a second home to many, including Joe Illick, a 74-year old member who embarks on a daily mile swim into temperatures as low [...]

One boy’s quest for a greener world…one garden at a time.  A little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it.  An enchanting tale with environmental themes.

With global warming evident in many places around the world, the forest of North America are undergoing huge changes. The pine beetle and pine trees have co-evolved together and until the past 2-3 decades, the numbers of beetles have been kept in check by very cold winters that would kill the beetles, thus limiting their [...]

In December 2008, Tim DeChristopher, climate activist, started something big. What began as a singular act of civil disobedience at a BLM auction in Salt Lake City, Utah, has since become part of uprisings the world over. When students from Finding the Good HS Semester interviewed Tim at Wild and Scenic in 2009, 2010 and [...]

With tremendous foresight and inspirational determination of active community members and local social and environmental organizations, West African Liberia has managed to conserve an abundance of its natural environment. After two decades of civil war, Liberia is still one of the richest countries in natural resources, yet its people remain some of the poorest in [...]

Twenty-three year old Alex Honnold is taking the high-stakes sport of free solo climbing to new heights. Climbing truly massive walls without a rope, and zero chance of survival if he falls, Alex is calm and fearless (except when it comes to girls). But attempting the 2,000-foot wall of Half Dome, the greatest free solo [...]

What if global hunger, poverty and disease could be solved with the natural and abundant resources already at our finger tips? From the Mara Soil transports you to a community in rural Tanzania trying to answer this question with a novel approach to solving humanity’s greatest challenges with simple, natural and affordable solutions. This inspiring [...]

Aldo Leopold is considered the most important conservationist of the 20th century because his ideas are so relevant to the environmental issues of our time. He is the father of the national wilderness system, wildlife management and the science of ecological restoration. His classic book A Sand County Almanac still inspires us to see the [...]

Nearly all Indian lands in the U.S. face grave environmental threats – toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. But a handful of activists are fighting back. Filmed against some of America’s most spectacular backdrops, from Alaska to Maine and Montana to New Mexico, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action profiles the against-all-odds [...]

1899; one of the most famous native New Zealand birds, the Huia, is nearing extinction. Famed Ornithologist Sir Walter Buller pursues the huia for his book, his collection, and for Science – but when presented with an opportunity to save the species, his actions are unexpected – and highly controversial. Based on a true story.

The world of environmental direct action has remained a secretive one, until now. Emily James spent over a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid to document their clandestine activities. With unprecedented access, Just do It takes you on an astonishing journey behind the scenes of a community of people [...]

A Life Ascending chronicles the life of acclaimed ski mountaineer and mountain guide Ruedi Beglinger. Living with his wife and two young daughters on a remote glacier in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Beglinger has built a reputation as one of the top mountaineering guides in the world. The film follows his family’s unique [...]

At 4am November 2, 2007, a Nevada County band called the Ginger Ninjas made camp on the Yuba River. They had bicycled all of five miles to get there and still had 4000-some to go on their quest to ride and perform their way to southern Mexico, carrying all their instruments and a pedal powered [...]

The Salt Creek Tiger Beetle may be extinct by the time you’re reading this. With a few hundred individuals left, (all within the city limits of Lincoln, Nebraska), ‘Meet the Beetle’ follows the trials and tribulations of this tiny insect that’s riled up a community. Injected with surprising musical sequences this documentary explores the importance [...]

What does a beauty pageant in Suva, Fiji have to do with climate change? Quite a lot, as it turns out. ‘Miss South Pacific: Beauty and the Sea’ is a short documentary film about the 2009-2010 Miss South Pacific Pageant that brought contestants, or Queens, from all the major Pacific Island Nations to compete in [...]

Twenty-six community members in Eugene, Oregon give new voice to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who’s message continues to be relevant today.

This film highlights issues on the Mokelumne River including a proposed new Dam expansion that will flood critical habitat and unnecessarily destroy more river. From its headwaters in the high Sierra to the San Joaquin Delta, The Mokelumne River is a shining gem of nature. A National Wild and Scenic River Designation will ensure this [...]

Mono Lake is one of the most beautiful and productive lakes on the planet, yet excessive water diversions by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power threatened its ecosystem. A passionate grassroots campaign came to Mono Lake’s defense and through a monumental struggle, won its protection. The course of this historic effort transformed water [...]

Texas: An entrepreneur returns home to his environmentally damaged coastal community to fight an ominous source of major industrial pollution. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in the Mill Valley Film Group’s [...]

Indonesia : A charismatic teacher leads the cleanup of the Surabaya River from a flood of industrial chemicals and sewage that are causing severe health issues for local people. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is [...]

Russia: On an island off the coast of Siberia, a dedicated activist fights to protect endangered wildlife and the region’s biodiversity from oil and gas development. “The New Environmentalists” share a common goal – safeguarding the Earth’s natural resources from exploitation and pollution, while fighting for justice in their communities. The film is the latest in [...]

Over the past 200 years human beings have poured more than two trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As ‘The Changing Sea’ illustrates, carbon dioxide isn’t just changing the climate on land, it’s transforming the ocean in ways that haven’t been seen for millions of years. Is mass extinction the inevitable fate [...]

Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have been collecting plastic debris off one beach in Northern California for over ten years. Each piece of plastic Richard and Judith pick up comes back to their house, where it gets cleaned, categorized and stored before being used for their art. The couple make sculptures, prints, jewelry and [...]

There’s a nine year old girl from New York City taking the bouldering world by storm, and her name is Ashima Shiraishi. Under the tutelage of her passionate coach, Obe Carrion, this tiny master is crushing competitions and raising the bar for climbing’s youth. Obe brings her to bouldering’s proving ground, Hueco Tanks, TX, where [...]

Scientists predict that by the year 2048, there will be no more fish in the Pacific Ocean. Filmed in five countries that border the Pacific, ‘Overfished’ explores each nations unique challenges that threaten the hundreds of millions of people that depend on the Pacific for survival. From a diving operation in Fiji that is attracting [...]

Over the past century more than 45,000 large dams have redefined the course and health of the planet’s rivers with disastrous impacts. Chile is now on the verge of building 5 hydro-electric dams in the heart of Patagonia. Tracing the Baker River from ice to ocean, Patagonia Rising brings voice to the frontier people caught [...]

THIS LAND IS … WHOSE LAND? Pedal-Driven delves into the escalating conflict between mountain bikers hungry to ride and the federal land managers charged with protecting the public lands that belong to us all. Is there room for for mountain bikers in the American landscape or should they be banished?

“Nature is the most beautiful thing… There’s a universal energy. We should protect nature, because we are nature. I imagine the world as a playground.” Bet you didn’t think those words would come from a 9-year-old, Dylan Brophy, who freestyles the narration for Seth Warren’s new award-winning film, Playgrounds Re-imagined. From the beauty and rawness [...]

The fig tree and fig wasp differ in size a billion times over, but neither could exist without the other. Their extraordinary relationship is a pinnacle of co-evolution, and the basis of a complex web of dependency that supports animals from ants to elephants. Each individual fig is a microcosm – a stage set for [...]

The European Honeybee, a faithful friend and pollinator, has gone on strike. The media buzz around Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) alerted Nevada County honey enthusiasts to the stressors in the honey bee world. What began as a quest for local honey comes full circle as they discover everyday people benefiting world wide bee survival. They [...]

For over sixty years, children have been born and raised here, parents and grandparents eat and survive here… Thousands of families have thrived in the largest and most toxic and dangerous area in all of Central America. For decades, the Guatemala City Garbage Dump and its inhabitants (“guajeros”) who recycle the city’s trash have been [...]

During the 2009 Isles of Scilly Earth Summit, Nice and Serious produced a short documentary to demonstrate how real people from Island Nations are being directly effected by the impacts of climate change. This short film steps away from the conventional scientific look at the impacts of climate change and instead, showcases a real, emotional [...]

“Rivers are life” is the unifying theme motivating activists in the global movement to protect rivers from the ravages of big dams. A River Runs Through Us offers a personal and hopeful introduction to one of the biggest threats facing many rivers today, as told by the people at the forefront of the global dam-fighting [...]

Rock out with Hammerheads, Great Whites, Leopard Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, White Tip Reef Sharks, and the worst name of all – Soupfin Sharks. Sharks: the coolest animals on the planet happen to be some of the most important for the health of our oceans. They have 6 senses(we only have 5), they have thrived since [...]

Saving Valentina is a short film about 5 people rescuing an severely entangled humpback whale from a drift net.  The viewer gets to first meet the whale and the rescuers and experience the process of cutting the net and freeing the whale in some depth.  Then in the finale the whale celebrates the joy of [...]

Sekem Vision highlights a poignant example of a community that sprang from the soil of modern Egypt. Thirty years ago, after studying chemistry and medicine in Austria, Professor Ibrahim Abouleish turned 70 hectares of desert sand outside of Cairo into Sekem, a flourishing Biodynamic farm, thriving business, active educational center and wholesome cultural community.

The second episode in The Riddle Solvers series, The Shark Riddle is a half-hour shark film for the whole family. Follow siblings Laura and Robert on an adventure through the pages of a magical journal to solve a mysterious riddle about shark teeth. Meet a raucous group of singing sea lions, experience the underwater game [...]

Cory Mann is a quirky Tlingit businessman hustling to make a dollar in Juneau Alaska. He gets hungry for smoked salmon, nostalgic for his childhood, and decides to spend a summer smoking fish at his family’s traditional fish camp. By turns tragic, bizarre, or just plain ridiculous, Smokin’ Fish, tells the story of one man’s [...]

Narrated by Chevy Chase, this tragic yet hopeful documentary tells the story of a small group of Island Atolls that are disappearing because of sea rise. The people who live there did not understand what was to soon be their ultimate fate. Steve Goodall came across them on his travels and when he told them [...]

A Staycation Surfari Epic on Zero Dollars… Making their own boards, bamboo rickshaws, solar cookers, and hobo stoves, surfers Ryan Burch and Cyrus Sutton set off on a thirty mile, eight day walk through San Diego, CA. But what begins as a guide to taking a minimalist surfing journey, quickly becomes an examination of freedom [...]

“The Story of Citizens United v. FEC: Why Democracy Only Works When People Are in Charge” explores the history of the American corporation and corporate political spending, the appropriate roles of citizens and for-profit corporations in a democracy, and the toxic impact the Citizens United decision is already having on our political process. It ends [...]

SUMMER PASTURE is a feature-length documentary that chronicles one summer with a young family amidst a period of great uncertainty. Locho, his wife Yama, and their infant daughter, nicknamed Jiatomah (‘pale chubby girl’), spend the summer months in eastern Tibet’s Zachukha grasslands, an area known as Wu-Zui or ’5-Most,’ – the highest, coldest, poorest, largest, [...]

Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy—a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.

I used MY natural resources to make a film about OUR natural resources! This short animated film uses the trimming of a beard to make a point about irresponsible usage of everything the Earth has to offer.

One man’s obsession to do his part for the environment using weed-eating goats to control noxious invaders in the Rocky Mountains. A profile on Mark Harbaugh, Patagonia fly fishing rep and goat rancher.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, ‘Where The Wild Things Were’ explores the history of deforestation and its effect on today’s remaining Caledonian pine forests. Traveling with several species the film explores behaviours that are now considered essential for the regeneration of Scotland’s ancient Caledonian pine forests. ‘What a future that might be the great Caledonia [...]

Wind power… it’s sustainable … it burns no fossil fuels…it produces no air pollution. What’s more, it cuts down dependency on foreign oil. That’s what the people of Meredith, NY first thought when a wind developer looked to supplement the rural farm town’s failing economy with a farm of their own — that of 40 [...]

For Fred, a health worker in Zambia, the bicycle is a means of reaching twice as many patients. For Bharati, a teenager in India, it provides access to education. For Mirriam, a disabled Ghanaian woman, working on bicycles is an escape from the stigma attached to disabled people in her community. For Carlos, a farmer [...]

The 125 foot tall Condit Dam has held the White Salmon River back for nearly a century—affecting both salmon migration and whitewater recreation. Two women—kayaker Heather Herbeck and conservation superhero Phyllis Clausen—explain why they are excited about the upcoming dam removal and river restoration project.