This film festival takes its inspiration from the Gandhian philosophy that "you must be the change you wish to see in the world". Film is a powerful medium that is no longer only accessible to realm of elite. With internet sites such as you-tube, film-making is a wonderful and innovative way to tell stories about environmental and activist issues.

The festival will connect the Saskatoon community and University campus to inspire positive action around environmental issues represented by films. "At last year's environmental film festival we saw the change, this year we are taking the festival to another level and pushing for change in action" says Amber Burton, U of S student and this year's festival coordinator.

Many of the Environmental Films selected for this year's lineup showcase success stories that involve environmental solutions. The festival is aimed at connecting local and global issues and inspiring positive environmental and social change within the Saskatoon community.

University of Saskatchewan Campus and Saskatoon social and environmental organizations will have a chance to set up booths at the event to showcase the positive change they are making within Saskatoon.

Tickets are by donation $10 suggested for waged, $5 for students and low income.

Friday March 5th, at Arts 241, U. of S., Saskatoon The 7th Annual Environmental Activist Awards 7 pm, followed by: No Impact Man

Author Colin Beavan, in research for his next book, began the No Impact Project in November 2006. A newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no long avoid pointing the finger at himself, Colin leaves behind his liberal complacency for a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. No more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption…no problem. That is, until his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two year-old daughter are dragged into the fray. What began as one man's environmental experiment quickly becomes an experiment in how much one woman is willing to sacrifice for her husband's dreams. Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides both a front row seat into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, and a behind the scenes look at the marital challenges that result from Colin's and Michelle's radical lifestyle change.

We follow numerous worldwide examples of people fighting for their basic right to water, from court cases to violent revolutions to U.N. conventions to revised constitutions to local protests at grade schools. As Maude Barlow proclaims, “This is our revolution, this is our war”. A line is crossed as water becomes a commodity. Will we survive? View the trailer here.

The film will be followed by "Green Gala" at Browsers at the Memorial Union Building on campus.

Saturday March 6th at the Roxy Theatre

Workshops by Rooted and Oxfam, presentation by Engineers Without Borders and the screening of environmental films "In Transition", "Taking Root" and "Black Gold" along with various local and international shorts.

12 - 2 pmIn Transition 50 min., 2009



In Transition is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun.

The film is the work of director Emma Goude, with production by Smith and Watson, and with input from Transition communities around the world. ‘In Transition’ is the perfect sequel to ‘The Age of Stupid’. It tells the story of the generation that looked peak oil and climate change square in the face, and responded with creativity, compassion and genius. In the film you will see the stories of communities creating their own currencies, setting up their own pubs, planting trees, growing food. You’ll see local authorities getting behind their local Transition initiatives, and get a sense of the scale of this emerging movement. It is a story of hope, and it is a call to action. View the trailer here.

2 - 4 pmShorts Series

details to be announced

Women's Rights Workshop: Presented by Oxfam

Oxfam's workshop will focus on women's rights, the W8 and the G8 summit coming up in June. We will come up with a list of around 10 discussion topics involving the G8, the W8, Child and Maternal Health, Climate Change etc. and their relationship with women's rights. Short articles and media images will be part of the workshop tools. Workshop attendees will break into groups of around 8-10 people (depending on the how many attend) and discuss one of these topics. After about 30 minutes, we will pass a microphone around and ask a group representative to share the group discussion with the larger group.

We really want focus the discussion on grassroots women's rights movements and encourage people to ask critical questions such as: What social and environmental issues do women's movements focus on and how would the agenda and discussion at the G8 differ if they were better represented at the summit? PM Stephen Harper has indicated that Child and Maternal Health will be a key focus at this year's G8 summit; how does the relative lack of female representation at the table shape the discussion of issues like this? What issues would the Saskatoon W8 bring to the table?

4 - 6 pmTaking Root 81 min., 2008



Taking Root tells the story of the Green Belt Movement of Kenya and its founder Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Maathai discovered her life's work by reconnecting with the rural women with whom she had grown up. They told her they were walking long distances for firewood, clean water was scarce, the soil was disappearing from their fields, and their children were suffering from malnutrition. 'Well, why not plant trees?' Maathai suggested. These women found themselves working successively against deforestation, poverty, ignorance, embedded economic interests, and government corruption, until they became a national political force that helped to bring down Kenya's 24-year dictatorship. Through TV footage and chilling first person accounts, Taking Root documents the dramatic confrontations of the 1980s and '90s and captures Maathai's infectious determination and unwavering courage. Cinema verité footage of the tree nurseries and the women and children who tend them brings to life the confidence and joy of people working to improve their own lives and ensure the future and vitality of their land. View the trailer here.

7 - 9 pmBlack Gold 2006



Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields. Nowhere more evident is this paradox than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 75,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the more powerful sides of the international trading system begin to unfold. New York coffee traders, auction houses and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the enormity of Tadesse's task to find a long term solution for his farmers. View the trailer here.

Sunday March 7th at the Roxy Theatre12 - 2 pmThe End of the Line 2009



The End of the Line is the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans. In the film we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. It examines the imminent extinction of blue-fin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Filmed across the world - from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market - featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world. The trailer is here.

2 pmShorts Series details to be announced 3 - 5 pmH2Oil



In Canada's richest province, the war for water has already begun. It goes without saying that water - its depletion, exploitation, privatization and contamination - has become the most important issue to face humanity in this century. Water security will soon define the boundaries between people and countries. The war for oil is well underway across the globe. However, a struggle is increasingly being fought between water and oil, not only over them. Alberta's oil sands are at the tension center. The province is rushing towards large-scale oil extraction, which will have far reaching impacts on water, health, animals and the environment in the region. H2Oil weaves together a collection of disparate but intersecting characters as they respond, engage, defend and seek solutions to the wavering balance between the urgent need to protect and preserve fresh water resources and the mad clamouring to fill the demand for oil globally. View the trailer here.

5 - 6 pmYoung Film Makers' Panel featuring filmmakers from Saskatchewan.