Frozen Planet Premieres Sunday

Thunderous three-ton elephant seals face off for control of the beach, orcas launch from the icy water, and Adéle penguins turn to a life of crime to build their nest — these are a few of the stories that unfold at the harsh, frozen ends of our planet.

Four years in the making, Discovery Channel's breathtaking new seven-part series, Frozen Planet premieres this Sunday, March 18 at 8 p.m.

To celebrate the Arctic's big moment in the spotlight, the Sierra Club is organizing viewing parties around the country. Attend one of the hundreds of Frozen Planet House Parties to view advance copies of the film and take action by signing postcards to urge President Obama to protect America's Arctic. If you can't make it to a party, click here to sign the Sierra Club's Protect America's Arctic petition.

The Arctic region hosts a thriving wildlife habitat, the largest gathering of seabirds on the planet, and an ocean teeming with fish, but it's threatened by global warming and gas and oil drilling. Invite your friends to get involved and help the Sierra Club continue to protect one of the Earth's remaining wild places. 

--Cyndy Patrick/image courtesy of Discovery Channel

Tron Bike to Be Auctioned at Fancy Movie Star Party

Before the Oscars on Sunday, there will be the pre-Oscars red carpet walk; and before the pre-Oscars red carpet walk, there will be innumerable pre-Oscars fancy movie star parties that you aren't invited to. One such party is Global Green's Annual Pre-Oscar Party, happening tonight at LA's fanciest movie star nightclub, the Avalon. If you were invited (which you weren't), you would see "such celebrities as Penelope Cruz, Adrian Grenier, and Orlando Bloom."

But if you're like us and want to know what's so green about the Global Green Pre-Oscar Party, you might be amazed to know that there will be an auction for a 100% electric-powered motorcycle that looks exactly like the Light Cycle from the TRON movies. (Then you'll be disappointed that you weren't invited to the auction, either.) It's called the Xenon, and it's manufactured by evolve, a company that specializes in electric motorcycles. It has an absurd starting price tag of $55,000, but then again, at least you won't be paying over $4 a gallon to fill its tank. 

Below is a video of some environmentally conscious guy with tens of thousands of dollars to blow riding this thing.

--Justin Cohn 

Zombie Species Roundup

Upon hearing the exciting news that the Bryan's shearwater, a seabird that was announced as a new species in 2011, may not be extinct, one might be compelled to root for the little guy and its repopulation efforts (it is extremely cute). However, this got us thinking: Maybe the rediscovered seabird is not alive, but undead. Skeptical? Check out Harvard ethnobiologist Wade Davis's research on zombies in Haiti, or, if you're seeking video evidence, find a copy of just about anything ever made by George Romero.

If human zombies aren't scary enough, here are five other recently rediscovered species that may be looking for some fresh blood:

 

America's Worst Superfund Site, Still Not a Pretty Picture

It's not such a pretty picture. . . nor is the story behind it, but writer-director Matt Myers, who grew up just 25 miles away, could find no peace until he told it.

Tar Creek is a hard-hitting environmental documentary of a prideful mining community and the Quapaw Indians who call this corner of Oklahoma their home — homes that sit right on top of America's largest Superfund site.

Once the most productive lead and zinc mining site on the planet, now only an environmental wasteland remains.

Set to the guitar twangs of blues legend, Watermelon Slim, Tar Creek follows a complex trail of shady deals, politicians, government agencies, and the folks caught on the front line. Designated a Superfund site in 1983, the EPA spent 30 years and more than $200 million to clean up the area, but ultimately they opted to buy out and relocate the entire community. Even now, the work is far from over.

Watch the trailer and read a short interview with the director below the fold.

 

Movie Review Friday: Howl’s Moving Castle

Fans of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki are likely already familiar with his frequent use of nature as theme, and his woven-in messages of preservation and peace. While all his films are excellent, a fan favorite tends to be Howl’s Moving Castle, the tale of a tortured wizard and the young woman who saves him in the midst of war and environmental destruction.

In Howl’s Moving Castle (available on DVD), misunderstanding triggers conflict. Throughout the film, Miyazaki manipulates the animation to show how both people and the land become corrupted and destroyed as war progresses. Images of rolling greenery and giggling girls at the beginning fade slowly into darkness and fear. By the end, even the titular wizard is becoming a monster. Blazing orange and red visuals illustrate the shift as land and people suffer. After a massive battle, ashen landscapes show what happens to the earth at the hands of humans.

When the war ends, however, there is hope. Pain remains, but with clarity and understanding comes new growth; the land and air become clean again.

Miyazaki’s animation proves to be an unexpected medium by which to portray the age-old theme of how wasteful war can be. Viewers recognize that a sudden return to normalcy is not possible after battle, making the film's ending more fantasy than reality. Still, the story sticks with you — not just because it's an enjoyable love tale, but because it resonates with the issues of our time. It reminds us that we are the stewards of this earth, and that when we drop bombs, we don’t just destroy a supposed enemy. We also destroy our own home.

--Sara J. Schmidt 

More Than a Desperate Housewife, Eva Longoria Talks Activism

EVA LONGORIA, who plays the self-involved Gabrielle Solis on ABC's Desperate Housewives, takes on extracurricular projects that set her far apart from her shallow onscreen persona. Longoria is the executive producer of The Harvest, a new documentary film which tells the stories of three of the 400,000 children who work as migrant laborers on America's farms. She's also a restaurateur, an entrepreneur, and an advocate for an array of organizations, including United Farm Workers. We wanted to know what inspires her to be so involved.

Q: Why did you want to produce The Harvest?

A: I've been a longtime advocate of farmworker rights. Shine Global, which makes films about the exploitation of children around the world, came to me and said, "We're doing a project about child farmworkers in America." I was pretty well versed in this world, but even I didn't realize how many kids are in our fields: 400,000. That blew me away.

They asked if I would help them raise money for the film, and I said absolutely. So that was my part, I just raised the funds and made sure the film got shot and edited and finished, and then, of course, the promotion.

Q: What do you hope to achieve with the film?

A: We want to humanize the kids and the issue. People associate farmworkers with illegal immigrants, and that's really not the case: The majority of these kids are American-born. They're stuck in a cycle of poverty. They can't go to school, they get to school late, they have to leave school early, and they're always migrating.

We want to use the film as a political tool to change policies regarding child farm labor in America. The best-case scenario is that we get the CARE Act passed, which would limit the age that children can work in the field — a type of law which every industry has except agriculture. 

Q: What did you learn about how pesticides affect these kids?

A: I always knew pesticides affected farmworkers. That’s why I always tell people, “eat organic.” Not just because it’s better for you but because you know the people who picked your food weren’t in a toxic environment. But what I really didn’t realize was that the EPA regulations for what's considered a safe dose to spray on workers in the field are based on the weight of a 160-pound man. The dosage these children are getting is usually three to four times the amount that their little bodies can take.

Q: Did you get to talk to the kids? 

A: Yeah. The biggest challenge is the dropout rate. Because they migrate so often, there are social issues that they face with a new location, new friends, new house, living out of a car, all the psychological effects of all that. We asked the kids in the film, “What’s your dream? What do you want to be when you grow up?” And one, a girl, said, “I don’t have a dream.”

This kid doesn’t even have the capacity to dream about her future. All she’s been presented with is generation after generation in the field, and she feels that her only destiny is being a farmworker. That’s powerless. That really affected me. 

Q: You grew up on a ranch, right? 

A: I grew up on a ranch, yeah. I was not a farmworker. People think I have a correlation because I was one, and I was not. I have a passion to do this work because I consume food. If you eat food or produce, you should take into account where that food comes from. 

Q: Why should someone like you get so involved in these issues? Why not just sit back and enjoy fame? 

A: [Laughs.] I grew up with the word “volunteer” as a very powerful word in my family. I was inspired by my mother and by how selfless our family was toward others who didn't have enough. I grew up with a sister with special needs, so I was always in this community of people who had less. Or people who were told they were lesser than the average human. I always found that to be problematic because I’d see my sister accomplish things that “normal” kids couldn’t accomplish. So I was an activist long before I was famous.

Movie Review Friday: Planeat

Planeat, another film about why meat is bad for us and the planet, delivers a message that by now seems age-old: If you go vegan, you and Earth will feel a lot better. This film, however, is more encouraging than its peers. There's no vendetta-stirring against factory farms, no sense that tiny individuals are lost in the shadow of the agriculture lobby. Instead, we leave the film rapacious to explore the bright-colored world of vegan cooking.

Indeed, Planeat makes us crave vegan food without making us hate meat. Think sandwiches of hummus, sliced lemon, and steamed kale on crisp bread; a cashew-based ice-cream sundae with candied nuts and agave syrup; or hearty squash soup, all without the cattle prods and lobbyists out to feed us toxic gunk. Our appetite is sparked, not squashed.

There is an anti-meat thread in Planeat, but it’s woven with a deft, light hand. The calm scientists do all the talking; Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s testimonies are especially convincing (he's famous for getting Bill Clinton to go vegan). During a 12-year study, he prescribed a vegan diet to 18 heart-disease patients, and 17 convalesced (the person who didn't get better had strayed from the vegan plan). We see before-and-after X-rays of clogged arteries that got cleared, and the good doctor’s wife teaches us a thing or two about vegan cooking.

If Planeat lacks anything, it’s narrative structure: The film is more like a collage than a story. But it still works. We are thankful for — and energized by — its concise 68 minutes. The extra time might be just enough for us to learn a new recipe before dinner.

There are no scheduled screenings in the U.S. but you can organize one or, for $6, watch Planeat online. For group screenings and educational use, contact Bullfrog Films.

--Jake Abrahamson

String Gardens Take to the Air

Most plants sit resigned to the ground or confined by a planter. Yet they grow, reaching up to the sun, anchored down to the earth.

Not so for String Gardens. These petals and leaves and roots and shoots grace the open air. Held aloft by a single line, these bright, blooming plants hang freely, defying the ground below.

With a bit of string, a willing subject, and his “secret” ingredients, Fedor van der Valk floats these magical gardens indoors and out. What could inspire such hovering horticulture? 

Puppets! A fan of Jim Henson, Van der Valk says his favorite character is Beeker, the clumsy lab assistant. As one who dabbled in engineering and computer science, Van der Valk ultimately found his passion working in filmmaking, scenery, sets, and puppets, while also building websites and pursuing other technical endeavors.

Despite being the creator of these horticultural heavenlies, Van der Valk says gardening's just a means to achieve his art. He finds peace with plants, a love that came from his mother, who always filled their homes with greenery, making Van der Valk feel “uncomfortable in cities without green.” He inherited her green thumb without realizing it: During a visit to his uncle’s home in Curaçao a few years ago, he innocently complimented the gardens. His uncle laughed and said, "I didn’t build this. You did." The artist had forgotten about the young plants he'd started around his uncle’s yard many years ago, plants now grown into lush landscapes.

Van der Valk, who lives in Amsterdam, is humble and grateful. He refuses compliments, preferring instead to commend his mentor, the artist and stylist Frank Visser, with whom Van der Valk works and for whom he built the original string gardens. He also praises Hilde, who first agreed to offer his string-garden designs for sale at her Pompon flower shop.

If this gracious artist can build plants spinning freely through the air, are his dreams for the future any different than ours? He hopes for success at an upcoming meeting. He wants to seal the deal on an inner-city workshop, where he plans to build large, permanent installations to display his puppets, work on films, and do whatever inspires him next. The city owns the structure, so he will have to keep it clean and make it available for community events. The interesting part: This greenhouse rests on land that houses an Amsterdam pump — the very same that keep the city barely above water.

And he stays afloat too, buoyed by inspiration. His art, he says, helps him overcome the troubles and heartache life throws in the way. What inspires him? Creating little worlds and sharing them. 

--Carolyn Cotney / photos courtesy of String Gardens & Fedor van der Valk

MOVIE REVIEW: The Island President

 

During The Island President, a documentary about the Maldives’ political leader/climate warrior Mohamed Nasheed, we encounter the odd pairing of paradisal coral atolls and Radiohead. The music seems tuned to a grimmer landscape than this. Or maybe the image just hasn’t caught up with the bleak melody. The soundtrack might synchronize more smoothly with an archipelago of 1,200 drowned islands.

Which is a valid fear for President Nasheed and every other Maldivian: Scientists project that ocean swelling will soon cover their country with seawater. Director Jon Shenk cuts his film with Nasheed’s campaign to fend off this troubling future. The president, it seems, spends most of his time strategizing about how to keep the islands at breathing level. It makes sense. He just came to office (his predecessor was an authoritarian with the gaze of a porcelain doll), and before you can govern a country, you have to have a country.

Much of The Island President is an affair of missed opportunities. We spend the first hour scrambling for guidance through a land of bright but loosely connected scenes. What exactly is the film about? The imminence of climate disruption drives us forward, but it’s a drama too familiar to provide any narrative spark, and Nasheed’s audacious character blocks out the islands' story. When we finally depart the Maldives for Copenhagen, site of the 2009 UN climate conference, the story hits its groove. A series of negotiations pit our hero against Chinese and Indian diplomats, who could easily squash the tiny Maldives on their trample toward development. They yell at each other, and we get our first case of the jitters.

Movie Review: Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time

 Seen a good eco-themed film  lately? Send us a short review and we might publish it.

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time (2011)

Available on DVD and at select screenings. The film will be shown on PBS in 2012.

“We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” —Aldo Leopold

Writer Aldo Leopold has influenced environmentalists and scientists for decades. Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time is the first feature-length film about Leopold. It centers around the evolution of his thinking, starting from his childhood, heading into his years as an early graduate of Yale's Forestry Management program, and finally, profiles him as a mature conservationist.

Produced with alacrity and a Wisconsonian lack of fanfare, this 72-minute documentary is narrated by Curt Meine, a conservation biologist who helped create the film by partnering with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the Center for Humans and Nature, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Meine brings Leopold's words into the context of his life and times with historical photos, event chronology, and interviews with his progeny. Even Leopold experts may find new inspiration in seeing the destroyed, fallow land he acquired and made into a family project. Today, the thousands of trees he and his children planted sway in gentle breezes as busloads travel to Sand County, Wisconsin, from around the world to pay homage to the quiet revolutionary.

As Buddy Huffaker, the executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, said, “What is exciting about Green Fire is that it is more than just a documentary about Aldo Leopold. It also explores the influence his ideas have had in shaping the conservation movement as we know it by highlighting some really inspiring people and organizations doing great work to connect people and the natural world in ways that even Leopold might not have imagined.”

Seeing this film brings Leopold’s seminal work, A Sand County Almanac, and remarkable essay “Thinking Like a Mountain” to a new level of experience. It takes viewers to the places that inspired, transformed, and nudged the author’s doctrine into something that ties the concept of a land ethic to each of us. And into something that still offers hope and invites action.

--Pamela Biery