The Environment Show » Films

David Suzuki documentary: first green film for 2011

Phil Stubbs — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 07:47:23 +0000

This a heads up on the first green film I’ve seen released for 2011.

It’s a documentary about David Suzuki. Here’s the film’s spiel:

David Suzuki, iconic Canadian scientist, educator, broadcaster and activist delivers a ‘last lecture’ – what he describes as “a distillation of my life and thoughts, my legacy, what I want to say before I die”. The film interweaves the lecture with scenes from the places and events in Suzuki’s life creating a biography of ideas forged by the major social, scientific and cultural events of the past 70 years.

If you’re in Australia, the film will screened at the Moonlight Cinema in Melbourne on the 20th February (as part of the Sustainable Living Festival.)

It’ll also screened at the Moonlight Cinema in Sydney on 28 February.

See you there.

(I’m back blogging again by the way. Stay tuned for more regular posts in 2011.)

Useful links
More about David Suzuki
More about the David Suzuki Movie

Christmas Lights doco on tonight. Merry Christmas!

Phil Stubbs — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:48:16 +0000

Here’s a Christmas present. Check out the trailer to this interesting documentary about Christmas Lights (and why people do it.)

Video:
Christmas Lights documentary trailer. The film is on the ABC tonight at 10pm.

Related story:
Our recent post Christmas Month v. Earth Hour has more on the energy irony of it all.

Merry Christmas. See you in the new year.

New film shows nature’s energy answers

Phil Stubbs — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:11:19 +0000

A new documentary called ‘The Future Makers’ shows how the answers to our environmental problems are there in nature itself. It includes renewable energy innovations in solar, wave and geothermal. And discusses the application of biomimicry.

Video:
You can view here the The Future Makers documentary trailer.

(If you’re a YouTube fan you can find it on The Environment Show’s YouTube channel. It’s also on The Environment Show’s Current TV Channel.)

Television:
The documentary airs on the Discovery Channel on Boxing Day 26th December.

Useful links:
The Future Makers film website and news.
Review in G magazine.
Discussion in Sydney Morning Herald article ‘It’s the ultimate hottie’.

International Bicycle Film Festival rolls into town

Phil Stubbs — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:53:56 +0000

Fresh from its gig in Paris, the Bicycle Film Festival is about to start the Australian leg of its world tour. First stop Sydney this Friday and Saturday night, 14 and 15 November. Then onto Melbourne from 21 to 23 November.

Video: Have a sneak peek at ‘Perfect Circle’ – featuring Matthew Modine. (Many of the films in the festival are shorts.)

Audio: Listen to a clip from the Bicycle Film Festival movie – Perfect Circle.

The humble bicycle is an amazing thing. It can get you from A to B, doesn’t use oil, doesn’t generate pollution, costs almost nothing to run, keeps you fit and makes you feel great. It also takes cars off the road and makes cities more human.

A growing number of people are buying and riding bikes. And with it there’s a growing number of hard-core proponents. A few them are even making movies about their big bike love.

Useful links: Bicycle Film Festival Sydney program, Bicycle Film Festival Melbourne program, BFF Sydney blog.

More videos: at the Bicycle Film Festival international website.

The Cars That Ate China, Part 1 (how Western auto makers are scrambling to feed the beast)

Phil — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:25:25 +0000

At the recent Sydney Film Festival I saw a great new documentary called ‘The Cars That Ate China’. In this podcast the director Stefan Moore discusses the background to the film and we hear a clip with Joe White, China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.

Joe takes us to the Beijing car show and explains how foreign car makers are piling into China to make a killing in the last big score in car manufacturing.

Audio: Listen to The Cars That Ate China interview and movie podcast – part 1, Joe White and the Beijing Car Show.

Link: More about the film on the makers’ website Jumping Dog Productions.

Photo: Commutr, Creative Commons, Flickr

The Cars That Ate China, Part 2 (why the Chinese have gone car mad)

Phil Stubbs — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:10:59 +0000

Western marketing has moved into China in a big way. In this podcast we hear a clip from the film ‘The Cars That Ate China’ with Tom Doctoroff from J Walter Thompson Advertising. He explains how marketers have tapped into Chinese thinking. And specifically why the Chinese have gone so nuts about getting a car.

Audio: Listen to The Cars that Ate China movie podcast – part 2, Tom Doctoroff on Chinese consumer behaviour.

Photo: decade_null, Creative Commons, Flickr.

The Cars That Ate China, Part 3 (implications for the world’s environment)

Phil Stubbs — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:05:06 +0000

Industrialisation and consumerism at warp speed – China’s economy is growing so rapidly and there are so many people in that country, we will need 4 planets of resources to cope with the demand. In this podcast we hear from James Kyng who wrote the book ‘China Shakes the World’. He introduces us to the implications for the world’s environment of China’s mad rush to prosperity.

Audio: Listen to The Cars That Ate China movie podcast – part 3, James Kyng on the implications for the world’s environment.

The Cars That Ate China – epilogue

Phil Stubbs — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:00:58 +0000

China now has car hoons too. A new generation of hot rodding has grown up as China taken to the car. (Another interesting revelation from the film.) In this podcast we also hear some of the Chinese hip hop music that’s currently firing up Beijing’s young petrol heads.

Audio: Listen to the final bit of the interview with Stefan Moore, director of the film The Cars That Ate China.

‘Sharkwater’ will change how you think of sharks

Phil — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:23:05 +0000

Sharks have had a pretty bad rap for a long time. Now a new film, busts the myths about sharks and highlights the dire situation for shark populations around the world.

Rob Stewart, an underwater photographer, set out to show the beauty of sharks in his film ‘Sharkwater’, but stumbled instead onto the billion dollar shark fin industry. He found sharks having their fins cut off and their bodies thrown back in the ocean on a large scale. All to supply the demand for shark fin soup in Asia.

I went to see the film, then tracked down the director – who was in Paris on his way to Cannes – to flesh out the story. Click here to listen to the interview with the PR Manager for sharks, Rob Stewart.

Check out the trailer and the making of the Sharkwater film.

And if you want to help, you can adopt a shark through the Nature Conservation Council. They’re one of the few organisations campaigning to protect sharks in Australia.

‘Into the Wild’ film review and interview with author Jon Krakauer

Phil — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:22:25 +0000

This is a review of the Sean Penn film Into the Wild. You may be interested in this one if you’ve ever had the itch to ditch your hum-drum routine and see the world. The real world. It includes an interview with author Jon Krakauer who wrote the original book.

Listen to the ‘Into the Wild’ film review.