[Sust-mar] The Best of Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival

[Natalie J MacLellan]

 Presented by:  Planet in Focus and the Alliance of Natural History Museums
The Best of Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival is going on tour to museums across the country in co-partnership with the Alliance of Natural History Museums.
Tour stops include Museum of Natural History during the month of May. The films are a wide array of award winning documentaries. The films selection include:
 
Wednesday May 9 at 7:30 pm
The Ailing Queen (La Reine malade)
Copresented by the Halifax Honey Bee Society
 
Watch Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke6eprfeZxM
Honourable Mention Best Canadian Feature Film Award at 2011 Planet in Focus
Directed by: Pascal Sanchez | 90 minutes | Canada | French with English Subtitles |Rated G
Director Pascal Sanchez locates an insect crisis of global proportion: bees, indispensable to the balance and continuation of ecosystems, are dying in countless numbers, and nobody knows exactly why. On every continent, beekeepers have seen the collapse of their colonies, a phenomenon that threatens the very foundations of agriculture.

The Ailing Queen follows Anicet Desrochers, a beekeeper in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec, as he spreads the word about his pioneering ecological methods of breeding bees to be naturally resistant to disease. Supplying healthy queens to those in need, Desrochers helps fellow beekeepers restore their colonies and cope with the perplexities of a large-scale crisis of which the public is still largely unaware.
EcoCamera Award, Montreal International Documentary Festival.
Wednesday,  May 16 at 7:30 pm
The Clean Bin ProjectCo-presented by Clean Nova Scotia
Watch Trailer: http://planetinfocus.org/festival-films/the-clean-bin-project-2/
Directed by: Grant Baldwin | 76 minutes | CANADA | English | Rated G 
Partners Jen and Grant go head-to-head in a battle to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least amount of garbage in a year. Their lighthearted competition is set against a darker examination of waste in North American society, and the duo struggles to find meaning in their minuscule influence on the large-scale impacts of our "throw-away society."
Featuring interviews with renowned environmental artist Chris Jordan and marine pollution expert Captain Charles Moore, The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humour, and inspiration for individual action.

Best Canadian Documentary, Projecting Change Film Festival Blue Sky Environmental Tribute Award, Vail FIlm Festival MOBI Award for Excellence in Journalism and Media
Wednesday, May 23 at 7:30 pm
The Polar Explorer
Co-Presented by Ecology Action Centre
Watch Trailer: http://planetinfocus.org/hotpicks/film-the-polar-explorer/
Directed by: Mark Terry | 60 minutes | Canada | Rated G | Documentary | 2011 |
On an historic journey to the Northwest Passage, 10 of the world's foremost polar scientists discover new life on the seabed and report on the latest signs of climate change. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice had prevented regular trips into the passage, but a rapidly changing climate has now enabled navigation in the region, allowing the scientists to conduct three weeks of cutting-edge research on an Arctic iceberg. By comparing their research with  data recorded in Antarctica, The Polar Explorer gives an informative look at what's happening in the world's polar regions. Mark Terry is renowned for his work on climate change and was most recently honoured with the Gemini Humanitarian Award for a body of work that includes the documentary The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning which screened at Planet in Focus in 2009, and The Polar Explorer.

The Polar Explorer and its findings were so significant, it was presented by the United Nations Environment Programme to elegates attending COP16, the Climate Change Conference in December, 2010.
Wednesday, May 30 at 7:30pm
Co-presented by AFCOOP
Elisha and the Cacao Tree
Directed by: Rohan Fernando | 17 minutes | Canada | English | Rated G 
What links a village in Belize with millions of North American kids? Chocolate! Meet 13-year old Elisha, the daughter of a cacao farmer in Belize. We learn about her daily life and dreams as she and her father show us how cacao is grown, harvested and turned into chocolate. 
Director Rohan Fernando will join us for a Q&A following the screening!
Truck Farm
Watch Trailer: http://planetinfocus.org/festival-films/truck-farm/
Directed by: Ian Cheney | 48 minutes | USA | English | Rated G 
Growing your own food can be fun, easy, rewarding and even mobile! Truck Farm follows Ian Cheney as he transforms the back of his pickup truck into a plot of land to call his own.
With green roof technology, heirloom seeds and originality, Cheney grows a moving garden for all to enjoy. Featuring nutritionist Marion Nestle, chef Dan Barber and musical narration by the Brooklyn band The Fishermen Three, Truck Farm begins a new discussion on urban agriculture and community garden projects.
  
Jury Award & Audience Award, Green Film Festival, Seoul Best Green Film, Cape Fear Independent Film Festival Most Uplifting Film, Cinema Verde Environmental Film Festival
Sundays in May at 2:00 pm
Elisha and the Cacao Tree
Directed by: Rohan Fernando | 17 minutes | Canada | English | Rated G 
What links a village in Belize with millions of North American kids? Chocolate! Meet 13-year old Elisha, the daughter of a cacao farmer in Belize. We learn about her daily life and dreams as she and her father show us how cacao is grown, harvested and turned into chocolate. 
 
 
Natalie Joan MacLellan
Curator of Interpretation, Museum of Natural History
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, NS   B3H 3A6  
ph: (902) 424-6513  fax: (902) 424-0747
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