Wildlife

Dammed to Extinction

Dammed to Extinction

Michael Peterson and Steven Hawley/2019/51 min/Water, Wildlife

Wednesday, March 10, 6:30 p.m. CST

FILM DESCRIPTION: For eons, a one-of-a-kind population of killer whales has hunted chinook salmon along the Pacific Coast of the United States. For the last 40 years, renowned whale scientist Ken Balcomb has closely observed them. He’s familiar with a deadly pattern, as salmon numbers plummet, the whales starve.

These important mammals need roughly a million salmon a year. Where can we find them? The solution, says Balcomb, is getting rid of four fish-killing dams 500 miles away on the largest tributary to what once was the largest chinook producing river on earth.

This film will follow “Mermaids Against Plastic.”

Fantastic Fungi

Fantastic Fungi

Louie Schwartzberg/2019/81 min/Wildlife, Conservation, Food & Agriculture, Waste

Sunday, March 14, 6:30 p.m. CDT

FILM DESCRIPTION: When so many are struggling for connection, inspiration and hope, “Fantastic Fungi” brings us together as interconnected creators of our world. “Fantastic Fungi” is a consciousness-shifting film about the mycelium network that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet, an underground network that can heal and save our planet. Through the eyes of renowned scientists and mycologists like Paul Stamets, best-selling authors like Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone, Andrew Weil and others, we become aware of the beauty, intelligence and solutions that fungi kingdom offers in response to some of our most pressing medical, therapeutic, and environmental challenges.

Tickets available to North American viewers only.

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (Ages 3 to 10+)

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (Ages 3 to 10+)

Philip Hunt/2020/36 min/Family, Advocacy, Wildlife

Saturday, March 6, 11 a.m. CST

FILM DESCRIPTION: “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth” is about a precocious 7-year-old who, over the course of Earth Day, learns about the wonders of the planet from his parents and from a mysterious exhibit at the aptly titled Museum of Everything. Based on the best-selling book by Oliver Jeffers. Voiced by film stars Chris O'Dowd (Moone Boy), Ruth Negga (Preacher and Loving), Jacob Tremblay (Room and Wonder) and the inimitable Meryl Streep.

Mermaids Against Plastic: Tamara

Mermaids Against Plastic: Tamara

Sylvia Johnson/2020/10 min/Waste, Water, Health, Wildlife

Wednesday, March 10, 6:30 p.m. CST

FILM DESCRIPTION: “Mermaids Against Plastic: Tamara,” is a short film revealing the extent of the marine plastic pollution problem in the Mexican Caribbean. The film follows a diver as she searches for solutions to protect the ocean she loves. Tamara is from the ocean and water runs in her veins. Born in a fishing village on the Mexican coast, she returned to her roots to become a full time scuba instructor. When she discovers plastic in her beloved ocean, she sets out to get the diving industry to stop using single use plastic.

This film will precede “Dammed to Extinction.”

The Nature Makers

The Nature Makers

Scott Saunders/2020/68 min/Conservation, Health, Wildlife, Food & Agriculture

Friday, March 12, 6:30 p.m. CST

FILM DESCRIPTION: “The Nature Makers” is a moving portrait of passionate people and the extraordinary creatures they’re fighting to preserve. In a world increasingly dominated by humans, three teams of wildlife conservationists go to seemingly unnatural lengths to try to save threatened species and habitat in the American heartland. Stunningly photographed in the Grand Canyon and on the American prairie, “The Nature Makers” follows rugged biologists who’ve deployed helicopters, giant bulldozers and a host of human tools to defend wild nature. In the 21st century, defending the wild often requires, quite paradoxically, technology and aggressive human intervention.