The first-ever San Francisco Green Film Festival, March 3-6, 2011 – the Bay Area’s new, leading festival for innovative film, television, & digital media that explore green and sustainability issues. The Festival presented over 90 premieres from around the globe during four days of film showcases, panels, workshops, networking & special events.
• 23 feature and 72 short film premieres
• Q&As, panels and workshops with 35 filmmakers and 32 guest speakers
• Interactive and transmedia projects
• Free screenings and events
• Free programs for Middle & High School students
• Eco-art installations and live music
• Parties, galas, networking Happy Hours, and free Festival Hub events
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Photos by: Bag it!; Tommy Lau. Photo at top: Tommy Lau
Highlights included: Live satellite Q&A with iconic writer and environmentalist Margaret Atwood following the screening of Ron Mann’s In the Wake of the Flood; the West Coast premiere of Werner Herzog’s new feature documentary Happy People: A Year in the Taiga; a special screening of HOME and Q&A with Yann Arthus-Bertrand; the Green Tenacity Award presented to Fredrik Gertten for Bannanas!*; and 65 visiting filmmakers and guest speakers from Sweden, UK, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Fiji, France, and across the USA; a spectacular Opening Night Green Carpet Gala, and more...
A Spectacular Opening Night: The 1st San Francisco Green Film Festival launched on March 3, 2011 with the Bay Area premiere of Bag It at the Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinema. Following the film, the festivities continued with the festival’s Opening Night Green Carpet Gala at the beautiful and historic Bently Reserve. The evening had a “plastic pollution theme” and included a bicycled-powered DJ set, local sustainable food and beverages, live music, art, and special guests!
San Francisco premiere screenings of over 90 world-class international films that explore living sustainably on this planet. The inaugural line-up included award-winners and audience favorites from Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Venice, Tribeca, Toronto, Telluride and HotDocs.
~ Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
West Coast Premiere. Werner Herzog presents a picturesque documentary about the life of the indigenous people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. “A mesmerizing ‘Walden’-like ode to wilderness life.” ~ Variety
~ In the Wake of the Flood
West Coast Premiere. Spend 100 days on the road with author and environmentalist Margaret Atwood on her recent eco book tour. Screening will be followed by a live satellite audience Q&A with Margaret Atwood.
~ Bananas!*
Bay Area Premiere. The film Dole Food Co. doesn’t want you to see! Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food.
~ The 4th Revolution: Energy Autonomy
Bay Area Premiere. “Possibly the most inspirational, solutions-based environmental film out there” ~ Vancouver International Film Festival.
~ Into Eternity
Bay Area Premiere. Captivating, wondrous and extremely frightening, INTO ETERNITY takes viewers on a journey never seen before into the underworld and into the future.
~ Green
Bay Area Premiere. Multi-award winning film exploring the ecological impact of the palm oil industry on Orang-utan habitat in Indonesia.
~ Hauling
USA Premiere! A recycling adventure in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with Claudines – and his 27 children.
~ Sola: Louisiana Water Stories
Personal stories from the Gulf of Mexico examining the fragile relationship between man, wildlife and water – a balance disrupted by the 2010 BP oil spill.
~ Butterflies & Bulldozers
Bay Area Premiere. The global dilemma of economic growth versus species preservation seen through the fight over San Bruno Mountain.
~ Back to the Garden
Bay Area Premiere. A time-lapse view of back-to-the-land “hippies” — living off-grid, insulated and isolated from mainstream culture — and their moving personal stories of non-conformity and political activism, with lots of freedom but little cash.
Many of the film directors were in attendance for Q&As after their screening.
~ Inspiring and informative panels and workshops with leading filmmakers and green experts focusing on science,technology, conservation, and the arts. Highlights include discussions around green film production, new media, and the United Nations International Year of Forests 2011.
~ A green-activist hub for audiences to discuss, share, and get involved with our partner organizations, with each film to include a special Q&A with leading experts and a call to action on how you, as a filmgoer, can get involved and make a difference.
~ Special arts programs, exhibitions, demonstrations, and installations to take place throughout the festival venues.
~ Free sessions for educators and middle and high school students.
~ Professional networking opportunities in our festival lounge, filmmaker brunches, and evening events for exhange of ideas, skills, and connections.
~ Filmmakers & Guest Speakers:
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, director, Home; Of Forests and Men; 6 Billion Others – Climate Voices
Margaret Atwood, writer
Brian Back, Founding Editor and Publisher, Sustainable Industries
Lincoln Bandlow, lawyer, Bananas!*
Chris Bauer, producer, KQED Quest, Albino Redwoods; California's Lost Salmon
Michael Behrens, producer, My Garbage, My Neighborhood
Soumyaa Kapil Behrens, director, My Garbage, My Neighborhood
Debbie Brubaker, producer, La Mission
Ambessa Cantave, Alliance for Climate Education
Maria Centano, student filmmaker, What Has This World Come To?
Kevin Connelly, Associate Director, Earth Island Institute
Teri Cundall, CEO, Propville Directory
Dawn Danby, Sustainable Design Program Manager, Sustainability Initiative, Autodesk, Inc.
Alice & Lincoln Day, directors, Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War
Helen De Michiel, director, Lunch Love Community
David Donnenfield, director, A Simple Question: The Story of Straw
Ed Dunn, Executive Director, H.A.N.C. Recycling Center
Ann Dunsky, director, Butterflies & Bulldozers
Steven Dunsky, producer, Butterflies & Bulldozers
Tom Dusenberry, director, Global Focus VII - The New Environmentalists
AshEL Elrige, rapper, Plastic State of Mind; Alliance for Climate Education
Carl A. Fechner, director, The 4th Revolution: Energy Autonomy
Cathy Fischer, Senior Content Producer, ITVS
Alisha Fowler, Alliance for Climate Education
Deborah Koons Garcia, director, Soil in Good Heart
Douglas Gayeton, The Lexicon of Sustainability
Jack Gescheidt, The Tree Spirit Project
Fredrik Gertten, director, Bananas!*
Jen Gilomen, director, Deep Down, and The Virtual Mine in Second Life
Michael Green, Executive Director, The Center for Environmental Health
Matt Harnack, student filmmaker, Fossil Fuel Free Film
Michelle Hill, producer, Bag It
Mike Hudson, Founder, Salmon Aid
Steven Johnson, director, Delta Blues
De’Anthony Jones, Brower Youth Award Winner 2010
Fred Kaplan, director, River Under the City of Angels
Judy Kaplan, producer, Back to the Garden: Flower Power Comes Full Circle
Tanya Keen, Program Manager, Google Earth Outreach
Michael Kuehnert, director, Save the Farm
Choom Lam, director, Rethink Happiness
Hillary Lehr, Grassroots Action Manager – Forests Program, Rainforest Action Network
Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Nicole Newnham, The Revolutionary Optimists/Map Your World
Jenni Perez, singer, Plastic State of Mind
Erica Priggen, Production Manager, Free Range Studios
Heidi Quante, The Story of Stuff Project
Qwest, rapper, California Water
Nick Raslan, producer, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Mark Rauzon, producer, California Water
Emma Robens, director, The Coral Gardner
Christina Samala, Director of Social Media and Online Strategy, The Story of Stuff Project
Steve Schecter, student filmmaker, California Water
Hester Schell, director, Colony Collapse
Larry Schlessinger, Industry Outreach Chair, Producers Guild of America NorthWest
Adam Scow, California Campaigns Director, Food & Water Watch
Nicholas Sherman, director, Soundtracker
Elizabeth Pepin Silva, director, Slow the Flow
Jan Southworth, butterfly expert, East Bay Regional Park District
Kevin Tomlinson, director Back to the Garden: Flower Power Comes Full Circle
Alex Yamamoto, Program Manager, Adobe Youth Voices
Sean Walsh, director, Hauling
Elizabeth White, director/producer, BBC Natural History Unit, The Coral Gardner
Kevin White, director, A Simple Question: The Story of Straw
Denise Zmekhol, director, Children of the Amazon
Ben Zolno, director, Plastic State of Mind
Thank you, to everyone that made the 1st San Francisco Green Film Festival such an amazing success!
