In the words of the Lorax, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing will get better.”
In the words of the Lorax, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing will get better.”
A cute little bearded creature who speaks for the trees in the eponymous Dr. Seuss fable, his land and his trees are destroyed by the greedy Once-ler to make ‘Thneeds’ out of the trees. When all of the trees are gone, the Lorax moves away, leaving one patch of grass with stones surrounding it, carved in a stone it says “Unless.”
This 25 minute cartoon film is the perfect analogy for what man has done and is doing to the Earth for the sake of greed and disregard for nature. Climate change or not, there is no denying that we have done some amount of damage.
Want to learn more? Still unsure? Check out the fifth annual Richmond Environmental Film Festival, which started on Monday and runs through this Sunday, February 8th.
All of the films are free and open to the public. They range from regional issues to the national and world level.
“The festival’s goal is to offer entertaining and educational films that leave attendees with increased awareness of environmental issues that we face locally and globally,” said Tara Quinn, one of the festival’s organizers and Executive Director of Capital Region Land Conservancy.
A myriad of environmental flicks await you for the rest of the week, covering issues from the direct impact humans make on the environment, to some of the lesser-known problems we create.
The film Gringo Trails shows how tourism can affect unspoiled land and how many people have a lack of respect for unknown lands and the Earth.
Musicwood is about a group of famous guitar makers that are on a mission to negotiate with loggers to save a last-of-its-kind rainforest before it’s too late for acoustic guitars.
Other films come from issues we know more about. The Great Invisible, for example, documents the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion that dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.
Don’t worry, local issues are tackled as well. Sea of Change shows the threats faced by Coastal Virginia, which, being a low-lying area of land, is very vulnerable to natural disaster.
“Last year we had about 1,000 attendees, although we anticipate a potentially even greater turnout this year,” said Quinn. “This is the first year we have expanded the festival to fill the entire week, with venues all over the region.”
These free films are a great opportunity to be educated about the many ways the environment is struggling, and also to learn about ways to help it. Personally, I can’t think of a better time then when we are immersed in nature, and we should do our best to preserve the Earth and its habitats. “With each year and each film presented, I believe that awareness and understanding grows about a wide array of environmental issues that impact every one of us,” said Quinn.
There are over 20 films being shown over the next five days, starting tonight. There is a film for everyone and every interest. There are several family friendly films as well, like The Lorax and Disneynature’s Bears.
The full schedule is below:
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 – Henrico County Public Library – Tuckahoe Branch (Meeting Room)
5:00 PM Richmond Had Rails Presentation followed by Local Films
5:45 PM Stripers: The Quest For The Bite (60 minutes)
6:50 PM SlingShot (93 minutes)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – VCU Grace Street Theater
6:00 PM A River Changes Course (83 minutes)
7:30 PM Gringo Trails (79 minutes)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – Visual Arts Center of Richmond
7:00 PM Reception with Complimentary Food and Beverages
7:10 PM Resistance (72 minutes)
8:30 PM Brooklyn Farmer (27 minutes)
Sponsored by Slow Food RVA
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – The Byrd Theatre
10:00 AM The Lorax (26 minutes)
10:30 AM Disneynature’s Bears (78 minutes)
11:50 AM The Ballad of Holland Island House (5 minutes)
12:00 PM Forest Man (20 minutes)
12:20 PM Break
12:50 PM Nobody’s River (31 minutes)
1:30 PM Momenta (42 minutes)
2:15 PM Returning To Evian (10 minutes)
2:30 PM The Price of Sand (57 minutes)
3:30 PM Roaming Wild (66 minutes)
4:40 PM Speaker: Angie Das – Filmmaker of Roaming Wild
5:00 PM Musicwood (80 minutes)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – The Dome at the Science Museum of Virginia
7:00 PM Grand Canyon Adventure: River At Risk (44 minutes)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 – The Byrd Theatre
1:30 PM The Great Invisible (92 minutes)
3:05 PM RVA EFF Local Documentary Contest Entries & Awards Ceremony, including contest winner Rappahannock
4:45 PM Sea of Change (32 minutes)
5:20 PM Speaker: Glen Besa – Director Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club
5:30 PM Extreme Realities (54 minutes)
Visit their website at http://rvaenvironmentalfilmfestival.com/ or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rvaenvironmentalfilmfestival for more information.
