Diving into Mark Ruffalo's Dark Waters left me gasping for breath at times, but ultimately, I appreciated its depth and forceful current.
The movie, which covers the case of DuPont using and dumping toxic chemicals in the process of making Teflon, hits hard at both the chemical company and the audience. A strong emotional current runs through the story, and the fact that it's based on real events makes it even sadder. Seeing Ruffalo's character struggle for justice was difficult because of the awful things DuPont had done. Watch the trailer below:
Despite not being a "feel good" movie, Dark Waters deserves a viewing. The subject matter, while emotionally jarring, has great importance and vital information people should know. It is also a well-constructed, well-acted movie.
Following a theatrical release in November 2019, the film is now available for home viewing, so check it out because these dark waters are deep and need to be explored.
As an acclaimed documentary about wolves nears release on iTunes, we have the opportunity to support Wolf Haven International, an organization that advocates and cares for wolves.
Produced in 2018, The Trouble With Wolves won awards from numerous film festivals and earned praise as "one of the rare documentaries that transcends its own subject" by Visit Seattle. The film investigates the history of wolves in the United States, focusing on the political conflicts that have occurred since their reintroduction to the lower 48.
At its heart, the documentary serves as an exploration of coexistence. Wolves give us the chance to question and improve our relationship with the rest of the planet, so it's really about what our future will look like. For more information, visit the film's Web site. You can also check out the trailer below:
The Trouble With Wolves hits iTunes on May 12, 2020, and pre-orders are open now. It costs $6.99. If it has at least 250 pre-orders by May 11, Wolf Haven receives half of the proceeds, so we can both reserve an important documentary and support one of the organizations working to make our relationship with wolves better.
Three years after its public release, Blackfish continues adding chapters to its remarkable story, making it one of the most successful and important documentaries in history.
When I blogged about the film in July 2013, Blackfish was pretty much unknown, and it remained that way for months. Showings on CNN brought it widespread attention though, and since then, the film's impact has grown exponentially and unceasingly. The latest chapter in its run is that it can claim some responsibility for ending SeaWorld's orca breeding program.
That's right, two weeks ago, SeaWorld, whose stock has plummeted since the release of Blackfish, announced that it would stop breeding orcas. This means that the orcas currently at SeaWorld will be the last ones there.
After an unheralded beginning, Blackfish has done and continues to do amazing things. It took on a massive industry that almost no one questioned at the time; it brought into the animal-rights movement people who had never considered environmental activism; and it changed public and corporate policy. Animals continue to be used for entertainment, so the film's story is not yet over, and it will be exciting to see what future impacts it has.
Blackfish may not have made a big splash right out the gate, but its rippling influence remains alive and vital.
The saying holds that people who keep their heads while everyone else loses theirs don't understand the situation. My experiences this summer taught me that the people who don't lose their heads might just understand the situation as fully as possible.
I spent the summer amid the sound of First Aid Kit, a Swedish folk band with a flair for Americana, and the fury of a Pacific Northwest burning in the face of global warming. We typically overcome the kind of sadness and fear associated with watching a beloved place shrivel up and incinerate by turning away from the most terrifying details. As much as I might have liked to do that at the beginning of the summer, by the end, I realized that this time (and from now on), I would, as First Aid Kit's song says, "Walk unafraid."
I bought the song, which comes from the soundtrack of Wild, along with the band's Stay Gold album in early May before I returned home for summer vacation. The music became the soundtrack of a summer that contained equal parts devastation and empowerment. I listened to very little else, but the songs never faded. They played in my head through adventures that filled my heart and events that broke it.
I saw Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Olympic National Park with lyrics like those from My Silver Lining echoing in the vastness of the extraordinary scenery. I watched the overwhelming heat of July bring a usually vibrant ecosystem to its knees and August's wildfires and their accompanying smoke finish the job with merciless suffocation. By that time, Fleeting One, the eighth track on Stay Gold seemed all too appropriate.
Still, I never turned away or tuned out. I took it all in. I reached a point where I knew and could feel everything that was happening. I could tell how close the land and plants were to breaking. Several times, I just had to cry. Then, a strange thing happened: Out of the chaos came the confidence of clarity. I'd played Walk Unafraid so many times in those three months, but suddenly, I was doing what the song said. I understood the situation fully, and I met it head on.
Trees had already started dying on my parents' property by August 2 when I turned on the sprinkler for the first time. We haven't watered our yard for years, but we still have a good sprinkler and some long hoses. During the next two weeks, I used them to get water to the native trees and plants on the property. At first, I wasn't sure if I was having any positive effect or merely tilting at windmills. I didn't even know how to feel when I read that Olympic National Park was also using sprinklers on its forests. Suddenly and unexpectedly though, the weather shifted in the slightest of ways. A bit of rain fell, and the temperatures cooled a little. Combined with my efforts, these changes helped the local plants revive. I felt the satisfaction of knowing a situation, responding to it, and making a contribution.
Although the last images I saw of the Pacific Northwest as I drove east for the school year were shrouded in smoke, I looked upon them without flinching. Those scenes would have torn me apart before. This time, they hurt, but I also knew nothing could break my connection to that place or my commitment to helping it as we face global warming together.
It's the same effect that occurs when music puts people in sync, and it's only possible when everything (joy, sadness, fear) is fully experienced.
We're told to think big. We have a lot of practice thinking about now. However, we need to work on thinking long--as in long-term. DamNation, a documentary about dams, shows us how and gives us a sense of what is possible when we do. Check out the trailer for the film below:
Many people who study communication or engage in communication as a profession are interested in effects. They want to know what effect a piece of communication has caused or will cause. Such an approach to communication yields a lot of great information, particularly about the now and the short-term. The problem is that it tends to miss some of the bigger, long-term picture. Environmental advocates often despair over a campaign not generating immediate results, yet failing to produce an immediate effect does not mean an act of communication cannot have an impact. That's because not all reactions are produced right away. Sometimes, communication is about opening up possibilities for the future.
Rhetoric provides an opportunity to probe beyond direct and immediate effects. As DamNation, which is presented by clothing manufacturer Patagonia, beautifully demonstrates, the apparent initial failure of some communication isn't the end of the story. Rhetorical symbols like cracks painted on dams were seen as radical, fringe ideas in the 1990s. However, that symbolic act created a foothold for an idea (removing dams) that is becoming more mainstream--to the point that people are embracing and putting their own stamp on the activist art. Now, it's the dams and their environmental impacts that are questioned.
DamNation also reminds us that environmental issues are big and require long-term thinking as well. We created dams to address immediate needs but failed to consider the larger repercussions. That failure led to major problems. Clearly, we can't address the environment only in the short-term, and we shouldn't look at communication that way either.
Thinking big got us dams. Thinking now makes us miss so much. And thinking long has major possibilities.
In the reality of extinction, it's six of one and none of the other.
In this case, six refers to an upcoming documentary called "6," which looks at the sixth great extinction in the planet's history and how humans are driving species' populations to zero. Check out the trailer below:
With species dying out or reaching endangered status at increasingly alarming rates, "6" looks for answers in the relationship between humans and nature. As our own population soars and our technology grows evermore powerful, our ability to influence the environment increases. We can wipe out species in a matter of years; and even if we could plead ignorance, it would make no difference. Extinction doesn't make exceptions for accidents.
Because "6" helps reveal the impacts of human activity, it provides us with an important opportunity. First, it allows us to better understand our role in the larger environment. Second, it challenges us to improve the way we live on this planet.
Zero, it turns out, is an awfully big number, and it's time we did the math.
A new photography project asks us to embrace the power of the dark side.
Dogs with black fur tend to have trouble getting adopted. According to this article from The Huffington Post, it's due to "black dog bias." Because of a fear of black dogs, a phobia fostered by stories in books and movies, people shy away from adopting them.
Through the Black Dogs Project, photographer Fred Levy hopes to give black dogs a new image and a better chance of adoption. Levy photographs black dogs, capturing their personalities and raising awareness of the bias that makes them less likely to be adopted. To view his work, click here.
When it comes to perceptions, the power of images cuts both ways. Some images limit our thinking, but others expand it. That's one reason photography is so special.
With his pictures, Levy shows us the light about black dogs.
My concern about global warming goes back many years, but the issue recently hit home for me in new ways.
Born in Washington, I know about the state's climbing snow lines and how warming helps spread a fungus that poses risks for the region's iconic Douglas fir. Still, seeing the following video from the National Parks Service really impacted me. Watch it below:
Washington's coast has a special place in my heart. To see the signs of change underway feels like watching a friend have trouble.
The film also contains a second powerful aspect, and this one leaves me with a better feeling. As it presents the scientific story of the Washington coast, the film acquaints us with Steven Fradkin, an ecologist whose work allows that story to be told. By doing so, it humanizes science and makes the environment more relatable through Fradkin.
Clearly, to know science, we must really know science.
We need reminders that it's okay not to have everything under control.
In our relationship with nature, we tend to like it only up to the point where our assumed power over it starts to weaken. For example, we kill off wolves in the wild but attempt to keep them as pets, and when we lose control over them as pets, we get rid of them.
A new film, which just won National Geographic's first-annual Wild to Inspire award at the Sun Valley Film Festival, shows some of the impacts our desire for control has. Wolf Mountain tells the story of a woman who cares for wolves that have been raised as pets and turned over by their owners. Because of human efforts to domesticate them, these wolves can never be released into the wild. Check out the film's trailer below:
Films sometimes represent our illusions. Wolf Mountain questions our illusion of control over nature. By showing the effects of humans trying to tame wolves, the film suggests just how little control we have. When we attempt to assert power over the wild, the problems we create quickly become too much to handle.
We need inspiration to let the wild be, and it's good to see the Wild to Inspire award recognizing films that provide such a push. The Sun Valley Film Festival already has plans to bring back the award next year, so it will be interesting to see what new visions for our relationship with the environment filmmakers present.
When it comes to control, you can't lose what you never had, so go wild.
Seeing is believing, but in birding, so is hearing, and a new movie with bird-watching as a theme misses this point.
A Birder's Guide to Everything comes to theaters March 21 and revolves around some teenagers' search for the Labrador duck, an extinct species. Of course, the bird angle caught my attention. However, when I saw the trailer, I couldn't believe my ears. Check it out below:
The issue I had with the trailer involves the way the joke at the end presents a narrow idea of bird-watching. When Ben Kingsley's character says, "Absolutely anyone can be a birder--except for blind people I suppose," he's more than just wrong.
Despite the term "bird-watching," sound serves as probably the most reliable way of identifying birds. Often, birders only have sound to go on when noting the presence of species. With this in mind, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology requires its students to be able to identify birds just by sound. The fact is that a blind person with the ability to hear and knowledge of birdcalls would have an advantage over birders who simply relied on sight.
I don't want to discourage anyone from seeing the movie. Taken as a whole, it might turn out to be great, but the joke about blind people didn't strike me as funny or even accurate.
Seeing birds is certainly a great joy, but it's only part of the birding experience.
An upcoming documentary prepares to dive into our relationship with water.
Watermark, which hits theaters April 4, presents water as more than just a necessary element for life. Water takes on a life of its own in the film, influencing and responding to our actions. It touches us on a deep level, forming our most enduring relationship. Watch the Watermark trailer below:
Because of its basic link to us and all other life on the planet, water contains the ability to show us connections we rarely consider. The creators of Watermark realize this potential and use the film to show the bigger picture. For more information about Watermark, click here.
Leonardo DiCaprio's most important role is no act.
To be honest, I haven't always liked DiCaprio's movies (though he's starting to grow on me as an actor), but I appreciate his work on environmental issues. Many celebrities sign their names to nonprofit efforts, but endorsement of and actual work on social issues are two different things.
DiCaprio backs up his words with involvement. In 2007, he produced The 11th Hour, a documentary on global warming. He's also met with world leaders to find ways of protecting tigers. Most recently, his foundation made a $3 million donation to Oceana's efforts to protect marine habitat in both the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. For more information on his foundation, click here.
Yesterday, I saw a news article talking about why DiCaprio hasn't won an Academy Award. Although I'm sure he'd love to win one, he seems to realize he's playing in a much larger theater, and I think he would be willing to trade an Oscar for the chance to make an impact on environmental issues.
Sequels rarely appeal to me, but I can't wait for the next installment of DiCaprio's environmental work.
We learn as children to know what we are putting in our mouths, but with the increase of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), that's becoming difficult.
GMOs are organisms that have been scientifically engineered and include plants and animals. Their growing presence in our food has started to get more attention lately and sparked attempts to have all foods containing them labeled as such, but companies that produce and sell these foods have fought the proposals.
GMO OMG, a documentary being released on Friday, attempts to shed light on GMOs and the industry behind them. Check out the trailer below:
Our pursuit of science began with the goal of gaining more knowledge. Science shouldn't leave us further in the dark, especially on an issue as basic and important as what we eat.
Our relationship with whales might change more rapidly than any other connection we have with our environment.
First, whales were food and fuel; then, they became symbols of environmental destruction; next, they were captive teachers and entertainers; and the relationship appears to be changing again.
Although captive whales that entertain audiences in places like SeaWorld undoubtedly inspired many individuals to learn about cetaceans (the family that includes whales and dolphins), the morality of this captor-captive relationship is being questioned. A new documentary called Blackfish looks at the impact we have on whales, specifically orcas, when we capture them for entertainment purposes. Watch the trailer below:
We now know that whales and dolphins have intelligence and levels of feeling similar to our own. Indeed, they keep teaching us things, and the latest lesson is that we need to reexamine our relationships with them (and other animals) once again. Our current approach is black with death and shame.
We have reached a point where water on fire isn't surprising.
In 2010, Gasland, a documentary about the environmental and health impacts of fracking, showed us how new methods of natural-gas extraction are poisoning water supplies. Despite those revelations, fracking has increased since then.
Now, Gasland Part II, which premiers on HBO July 8 at 9 p.m., tries to explain why the concerns about fracking have made little impact on lawmakers. Watch below to check out a clip of the filmmaker being interviewed on The Daily Show last night:
The main focus of the film is the influence the natural-gas lobby has on elected officials and how that influence trumps the environment and the voice of people whose health is put at risk by fracking.
In the first Gasland film, seeing people's water catch on fire was shocking, but the current political situation makes it more likely that flammable water will become the norm.
Most films have to create a buzz to draw an audience, but a recent documentary looks at an issue that people are already buzzing about.
More Than Honey examines the worldwide phenomenon of honeybee die-offs and the major implications they have for humans. To view the trailer and learn more about the film, click here.
The honeybee deaths force us to consider our connection with the environment. Pesticides have been identified as a major factor in the die-offs, and the possible extinction of bees threatens our food sources. In other words, we're deeply entwined at all levels of this issue.
By contributing to the buzz around the bee deaths, More Than Honey helps us explore this vital connection.
What's legal is not always right, and what's illegal is not necessarily wrong.
The case of Tim DeChristopher, who was arrested and jailed after protecting thousands of acres of public land, is one of those stories where the good guy must become an outlaw. DeChristopher effectively sabotaged an auction for oil and gas leases by bidding $1.7 million to protect 22,000 acres of land. Bidder 70, a recent documentary that has been traveling the country, tells the story.
Although we tend to see ourselves as superior to other species, we may actually underestimate the force with which we influence nature.
However, we are beginning to see just how far our reach stretches, and Lords of Nature, a documentary about top predators and the human impacts on them, adds to that understanding. The film has recently been released to YouTube by Green Fire Productions, which produces films about conservation and sustainability. Because it's on YouTube, I thought I would do something new and use this blog to show a whole film. You can watch it below:
What I find most interesting about the film is that even though we know we have the power to eradicate species, we have been blind to the deeper connections to nature that such power creates.
As it turns out, we do have great power, and we are deeply ingrained in natural systems. The sooner we completely understand how that power is related to those systems, the better it will be for everything on the planet.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing global problem because of the increasing prevalence of electronic devices and the speed at which new electronics are produced and consumed.
However, we tend not to see the effects of e-waste because, like much of our trash, it is shipped away from us. Terra Blight, a new documentary hopes to shed light on the human and environmental impacts of electronics. Check out the trailer below:
This year, the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital will mark its 20th year. The festival runs March 13-25.
Included in the great collection of films is A Fierce Green Fire, which I blogged about last month. Another entry of interest to me is Moomins and the Comet Chase, which comes from Finland. Moomin characters are huge there.
The last film I'll mention (be sure to check out the full list) is Expedition Blue Planet: North America, which caught my eye because the film's director, Alexandra Cousteau (pictured), caught my eye. She is the granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau, which automatically gives her coolness; but on top of that, I think I'm in love. She definitely has my vote as the face of environmentalism.
On a more serious note, if you're going to be around Washington, DC, during the middle of March, keep the film festival in mind. Even if you can't make the festival, think about seeing what films are on the schedule and maybe trying to view them somewhere else.
