The Watershed Agricultural Council is preparing for the 3rd Environmental Film Series in 2012 with a new line-up of environmental films. The Environmental Film Series features panel discussions, local food samplings, and informational tables from regional environmental organizations. Follow our Facebook Page for reminders on upcoming screenings. If you would like to partner with the Council to bring screenings to your area, contact Tara Collins, Communications Director, (607) 865-7090.

Sponsored by the Watershed Agricultural Council at various events and venues, THESE MOVIES ARE FREE and open to the public. Some hosts may request freewill donations as part of their fundraising efforts or to cover location expenses. View movie trailers below or check our Agricultural Events Page for more details, locations and movie times such at SUNY-Delhi, Thursday Night Environmental Film Series at 76 Main!, Ashokan Center, and SUNY-Sullivan.

Movie Titles for 2012 include:

Dirt! the Movie: Welcome to dirt’s fascinating history. Four billion years of evolution have created the dirt that recycles our water, gives us food, provides us shelter, and that can be used as a source of medicine, beauty and culture.

Gaia the Living Planet: The Gaia Hypothesis gives us a completely new view of the evolution of the Earth and may well be an incredibly productive tool for studying the complex ecological interrelationships that allow life to exist on our planet.

GoodWood: A look at four forestry-based places where communities are discovering – sometimes with help from surprising quarters – proving that it can be done. From a village chair-making project in Honduras to a design school in Nelson, B.C., and from a community-based forestry in Mexico to more than 3,000 items from certified wood sold in a British retail chain, vital links are being made to keep people employed, while at the same time preserving the world’s forests.

Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure portrays the role water infrastructure play in protecting public health, promoting economic prosperity and ensuring quality of life across America.

Messages From Water chronicles the experiments of Masuro Emoto and the affects of outside stimuli, like classical music or words, on the molecular structure of water.

Tapped addresses the bottled water industry, the environmental and social impacts of this modern-day convenience.

 

Truck Farm: From the co-creators of KING CORN, and BIG RIVER, TRUCK FARM tells the story of a new generation of American farmers. Using green roof technology and heirloom seeds, filmmaker Ian Cheney plants a vegetable garden on the only land he’s got: his Granddad’s old pickup. Once the mobile garden begins to sprout, viewers are trucked across New York to see the city’s funkiest urban farms, and to find out if America’s largest city can learn to feed itself.

Windfall follows the struggle of Delaware County residents and their decision to embrace or dismiss an industrial wind energy project in their town.

Reclaiming Our Water is a documentary film that tells the story of Northern Virginia’s Occoquan Reservoir, its surrounding landscape, and the challenges of meeting a growing demand for drinking water for over one million people.

The Occoquan has the distinction of being the largest reservoir system in the United States which provides a safe drinking water supply through the use of reclaimed wastewater. Not surprisingly, the Occoquan’s technical solutions have attracted worldwide attention, but technical solutions are only part of the story.

 

What’s on Your Plate? is a witty and provocative documentary produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund about kids and food politics. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial New York City kids as they explore their place in the food chain.

 

Vanishing of the Bees: Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

The Greenhorns documentary film, completed after almost 3 years in production, explores the lives of America’s young farming community – its spirit, practices, and needs. It is the filmmaker’s hope that by broadcasting the stories and voices of these young farmers, we can build the case for those considering a career in agriculture – to embolden them, to entice them, and to recruit them into farming.

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil follows the country’s transition to organic farming as a result of the 1990’s oil embargo.

In 2011, the Council held the second enviro film screenings as part of Schoharie Watershed Month at the Doctorow Center for the Arts, then later at Lucky Dog Farm Store, Taste of the Catskills, and SUNY-Sullivan’s Seelig Theater.