See an environmental superhero fly through the sky, a time-traveling climate change reporter, and animals saved from Western wildfires.
As part of the Earth Day Mini Film Fest 2021, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest will feature 14 Honorable Mention short films in two one-hour events on Saturday, April 24, at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Online discussion with young filmmakers from California to Texas to New York will be facilitated by Young Filmmakers Contest Founding Director Sue Crothers.
A global sustainability expert, Wayne Visser, Ph.D., is a fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership and holds the chair in Sustainable Transformation Antwerp Management School in Belgium. He is the co-presenter of the documentary, “Closing the Loop,” which explores five key strategies for achieving circularity—reduce, reuse, recycle, renew and reinvent—by showcasing examples from Europe, Latin America and Africa. The documentary features insights from experts from the World Economic Forum and the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard. One Earth Film Festival publicist Cassandra West interviewed Visser via a Zoom chat recently.
Q: What are the most important "action items" you hope people take away from your film?
Betsy: I hope that people discuss with their families, their friends, and their coworkers how they can disentangle their lives from corporate values. That constant growth is not a sign of success but a sign of greed. And that joining groups that work on environmental change, democratic change, poverty and inequality issues, or other issues that work toward a more equal society is worth doing. That it's rewarding to participate in change in many ways.
Q: How did the young plaintiffs deal with the intersection between their passionate activism and the sometimes-inscrutable procedures of the legal system?
Christi: . . . They have a deep understanding of their claims, and which of their constitutional rights have been violated. They understand that this case is not about government inaction on climate change; it’s about actions the government has actually taken. Our government has known about the dangers of climate change for more than fifty years. And despite that, it has pursued reckless and dangerous fossil fuel development, harming the health of our communities and threatening our futures.
Q: Do you feel more hopeful or less hopeful about the subject of your film upon completion, and why?
A: After filming these three conservation efforts, I am much more hopeful for a better outcome for these animal species and similar groups. People tend to tune out when thinking about the overwhelming magnitude of the problems these animals face. What happens in the environment can feel immense, but I learned that humans determine how the future plays out. Seeing these dedicated people helping groups of animals survive and even thrive is inspiring.
Q: What did you learn from making this film?
Ann Kaneko: This film really gave me a much much deeper understanding of where we live and how California was settled--a sense of how we are connected to living in this place. The story of the forced removal is the story of all indigenous people in this country. It made me feel how we are so close to all these histories. It’s not just a historical film; it's trying to show our ties to where we have been and where we come from.
