Interesting fact no.1: The Green Film Festival* (supported by Friends of the Earth) showcases great films with a sustainability-related theme at a number of cities… including Birmingham!
Interesting fact no.2: Birmingham has a well-established Co-operative Film Society, which also focuses on social and environmental themes. Just Film** meets every second Thursday of the month, 7pm at the BMI, Margaret Street, B3 3BS.
Putting the two together, this meant that Just Film was able to show two great films as part of the festival in May:
‘Happy’ is an award-winning film which takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. By combining real-life stories of people from around the world, and powerful interviews with the leading scientists in happiness research, HAPPY “explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion”.
‘Taste the Waste’ showed how, on the way from the farm to the dining-room table, more than half of rich-world food lands on the dump – most of it before it ever reaches consumers. This is a documentary about the worldwide destruction of food. Why do we throw away so much and how can we stop this kind of waste?
After the screening of Taste the Waste, BFOE campaigner John Newson talked about our work on Birmingham’s waste and Just Film announced that Midlands Co-operative is implementing a ‘Zero to Landfill’ approach to food waste management – so we can look forward to seeing how they get on. They also gave out free packets of FOE bee friendly seeds to everyone who attended.
You may have your own favourite green films, of course. How about: An Inconvenient Truth; The Age of Stupid; The 11th Hour; Dirty Oil; The Vanishing of the Bees; Bowling For Columbine; The Corporation; Black Gold… the list is endless.
STOP PRESS!
Just Film’s film in June (on Thursday 14th) will be:
‘Blood in the Mobile’
“We all love mobile phones. They connect us to our family and friends. But, inside our mobile phones are minerals that fuel conflict, create child slavery, and support other severe human rights abuses… a film above all about hope and the search for solutions.”
* (see http://www.foe.co.uk/news/ukgreen_film_fest_30121.html)
** (see http://www.JustFilm.coop/)
