A trip to Chicago to accept his first-place award in the One Earth Film Festival’s Young Filmmakers Contest brought Nathan Goswick more than he expected. The 17-year old’s winning entry, “Plastic Bags,” captured the attention of Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit that presses corporations on sustainability.
“The oil drilling happening in the Amazon is a form of colonization and is a saddening reality, but an important story that needs to be told and understood. Capturing this story meant carrying a camera everywhere and filming as much as possible. Much of the creative process was understanding the importance of preserving the words of those I interviewed and how to effectively support them through visual imagery and audio.”
Out of 196 entries total, the following nine finalists will also be recognized for their Honorable Mention films, which will screen at a separate event in April, near Earth Day. In addition, a few of these films will be incorporated into the One Earth Film Festival as “trailers” before feature films between March 6 and 15, because the content for these shorts enhances or matches the feature film content.
Recently, South Korean filmmaker, Bong Joon Ho, swept the 92nd Academy Awards, opening the door for a cross-cultural vision in cinema. Meanwhile, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest had a parallel surprise. Suzie Kang took the top prize at the post grad level for her animated film "Vandals." From South Korea originally, she graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts last spring.
This year, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest drew a record 157 entries from as close as River Forest, Illinois, to as far away as Hawi, Hawaii, with topics ranging from plastic pollution to e-waste to fast fashion.
Exactly 100 of those entries competed for the top prize, a $1,000 scholarship at the college level (which includes grade 12 of high school).
