Before this collection of shorts started I was excited. I was ready to learn and be inspired anew about environmental causes by stories on the forefront of the green movement. There were UWM staff in attendance who I know from my work at the university, and we chatted before and after the film about what we hoped for the screening.
There were nine short films which were part of the 90 minute event. Big River, a companion film to the acclaimed short Big Corn by Ellis and Woolf. There were two shorts sponsored by VW which used what they termed "the fun theory" to promote awareness about how enjoyment can change attitudes and practices. Planting Hope: Wangari Maathai & The Green Belt Movement, a film about a tree planting effort by a woman who earned a Nobel prize for her efforts in Africa. The Secret Life Of Paper, another of INFORM’s Secret Life Series. Signatures, a film by Nick Waggoner that featured skiing and surfing as an art form. The New Amsterdam Market, a film about an effort to create a farmer's market in NYC. And Watershed Revolution, a film about the Ventura River watershed conservation movement.
When all was said and done on screen, my friends and I were a bit disappointed. We remarked that we've seen better on POV or Independent Lens, and we agreed that we hadn't learned anything which we didn't already know.
I did appreciate the "fun theory" spots, and Big River was somewhat enjoyable albeit rather simplistic and lacking continuity. It would likely be better if I had seen the companion film first because it really couldn't stand alone.
I found it hard to understand the inclusion of Signatures, which was gorgeous but irrelevant. I felt that it was an indulgent film amidst what ought to have been films which celebrated conservation.
The film about the NYC market was a nice film, but it wasn't anything special, and we're way ahead of them in Milwaukee at this point. I do appreciate that the challenges in their neighborhood might mean that it takes more effort to pull off, but I would have rather seen something which highlighted the lessons learned after the birth of the market, to know what a developed system had shown them about how to sustain such an entity.
The Secret Life Of Paper did remind me of some things I already knew, and galvanized my efforts to reduce paper waste. I like that they brought up European efforts to remove paper boxes from things on store shelves and the reminder of how much water is used in the process of making paper. That's going to be more important than even the trees are as time goes on.
Planting Hope was confusing because my friends and I were asking questions throughout which the average person would. How did planting trees help the woman get food, a new dress, and become prosperous? What did planting these trees do to improve the lives of the Africans who lived nearby? The film left more questions than answers. It was quite odd. If you're a hard-core tree-hugger you'll probably not care. But I cannot see from this film why Maathai won a Nobel Prize.
Watershed Revolution was a solid film about a place which was mildly inspiring. There are some translatable lessons about water conservation within this film, but the context was so closed that it made it hard to find them. I think that the film would have been better if they'd finished it after the dam mentioned in the film was removed, so that we might see the scope of what could be done, and the complications of dam removal and environmental restoration.
I was disappointed. I'd like to see some local filmmakers do shorts about people like Will Allen and Growing Power or local spots like the Riverwest Co-op. We've got a vibrant series of local farmers markets here in Milwaukee which could educate the world far more than these films did. Allen is being acclaimed throughout the nation but largely ignored in his hometown. Next year I would love to see a collection of shorts entitled: Brewtown Green or Growing Power: The Rise Of Urban Farming.
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