Cultivate and EUNIC Ireland are hosting a series of film screenings and discussions in Dublin under the title ‘Climate. Culture. Change.’ All the films highlight the social dimension of climate change.
Designed to challenge, illuminate and inspire, the series presents a panorama of interconnections from the causes of climate change to the roles of individuals and societies in addressing these issues.
As these issues are of global concern, films have been chosen from different countries to give an international perspective, while the local context is provided in talks after each movie facilitated by Cultivate’s Davie Philip. Guest speakers include film-makers and activists from across Europe.
The series will build momentum in Ireland to Rio +20, the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Schedule:
Tue, 17 April 2012
OPENING NIGHT: All EUNIC partners
An evening of short films and conversation with the curator of ‘Climate. Culture. Change’, Michael Greif from Germany and Northern Ireland sustainability expert Jim Kitchen, hosted by Davie Philip of Cultivate.
Speakers:
Michael Greif is head of the Hamburg Office of ECOMOVE International. ECOMOVE support, promote and distribute media on the environment and sustainable development as well as enhancing global learning.
Jim Kitchen was formally the Northern Ireland Director of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, working with government Ministers, advisers and officials to embed sustainability in government policy. He currently works with the Soil Association, managing a new project to develop sustainable food communities in Northern Ireland.
Tue, 1 May 2012
Birdwatchers Italian Institute of Culture
Dir: Marco Bechis, Brasil/Italy 2008, 108 min.
In the south region of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the border of Brazil and Paraguay, the most populous indigenous nation of the country silently struggle for its territory. Thousands of hectares of sugarcane has been planted on their land by multinational companies that, in cooperation with the Brazilian government, promote ethanol to the world as an environment friendly and “clean” fuel. When a tribe of Guarani Indians attempt to re-inhabit their ancestral land tensions escalate.
Speakers:
Peadar Kirby, Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Public Policy at the University of Limerick. In the early 1980s he was Irish Times correspondent on Latin America
Colette Spears former coordinator of LASC where she worked on Guarani Kaiowá land rights. She has previously worked in Brazil on the issue of housing and land occupation and is currently working with the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM).
Barbara Tomasella is from Italy and is currently the Director of Sustainable Tourism Ireland.
Tue, 15 May 2012
Über Wasser / About Water Austrian Embassy
Dir.: Udo Maurer, Austria/Luxembourg, 2007, 82 min
This dizzyingly fresh look at the world’s most common element offers up unforgettable portraits of humanity’s precarious, dependent relationship with water from Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Nairobi. The people and images poetically remind us that the most abundant element sustains and threatens us all in equal measure.
Speakers:
Director Udo Maurer has filmed and directed a number of documentaries for ORF, Spiegel TV and Discovery Channel.
Sinead O’Brien, the network coordinator of Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), a coalition of 24 of Ireland’s leading environmental organisations, working together in a co-ordinated way on water issues.
Dom Hunt, is the Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor at CONCERN Worldwide who has seen first hand the impact Climate Change has on developing countries such as Bangladesh.
Tue, 29 May 2012
Before the Flood: Tuvalu British Council / Alliance Francaise
Dir: Paul Lindsay, UK/France, 2004, 62 min
Tuvalu, an island in the Pacific Ocean, may seem like paradise, but it will sink beneath the waves within a few decades as a result of climate change. This film describes the impact of the modern Western lifestyle in a thoughtful and melancholic way, while at the same time pointing out the challenge of forgoing short-term consumption for the benefit of increased long-term quality of life, even when the terrible consequences are literally on their front doorstep.
Speakers:
Gavin Harte is the Corporate Responsibility Consultant at Business in the Community Ireland, a movement of companies committed to responsible business practices. He is an active participant of the coalition Stop Climate Chaos.
Louis de Barros is a French geophysicist in the School of Geological Sciences UCD Dublin. He is currently working on source mechanisms of volocano seismic signals and carbon dioxide storage monitoring.
Tue, 5 June 2012
Menschen – Träume – Taten / People – Dreams – Actions Goethe-Institut
Dir.: Andreas Stiglmayr, Germany, 2007, 90 min
A documentary about a small ecovillage established in the East German countryside in the 1990s. A group of around 120 people set up “Sieben Linden”, an autonomous eco-settlement that satisfies all of their needs in harmony with nature. During the process, they are confronted with organizational, financial and, above all, with social difficulties. Finding the balance between individual wants and group needs often requires tough decisions.
Speakers:
Michael Würfel is a Sieben Linden ecovillage resident, filmmaker and author of a new book on Sieben Linden
Trish Kinsella is a Cloughjordan ecovillage member who has worked extensively on the ongoing process design and operation of the project.
Jonathan Dawson is the author of ‚Ecovillages – New Frontiers of Sustainability,’ and currently Head of Economics at Schumacher College. He was until recently a long-term resident at the Findhorn ecovillage and is a former coordinator of GEN-Europe and President of GEN (the Global Ecovillage Network).
Tue, 12 June 2012
Just Do It British Council
Dir. Emily James, UK 2011, 88 min
‘Just Do It’ lifts the lid on climate activism and tells the story of people standing up for what they believe in. Documented over a year, Emily James’ film follows a group of environmental activists as they blockade factories, occupy coal power stations and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks despite the very real threat of arrest. Articulate, funny and engaging, the ensemble cast care passionately about the environment on a global level, but work locally, with courage, determination and manners to take a stand.
Speakers:
Christopher Hird one of the leading figures in UK documentaries. A former chair of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the founder chair of the Channel Four BRITDOC Foundation and is the founder and managing director of Dartmouth Films
Molly Walsh is Policy and Campaigns Manager with Friends of the Earth Ireland, she is active in Stop Climate Chaos and has been involved in direct action.
Barry McCarron was selected as one of 15 Irish climate advocates in a British Council programme called Challenge Europe in 2010. He was also of part of the youth delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban in 2011.