Community Corner

Six Movies to Watch on Earth Day

Environmentally-friendly documentaries are playing this month at Laemmle's Town Center 5.

Whole Foods is sponsoring a traveling film festival of environmentally-friendly screenings this month in 40 cities around the country.

The traveling “Whole Foods Market Do Something Reel” Film Festival is happening here in Encino at , located at 17200 Ventura Blvd. The films will be playing April 9-10, 16-17, 23-24, April 30; May 1, 7-8.

The film festival is a collection of six provocative, character-driven films that focus on food, environmental issues and everyday people with a vision of making a world of difference.

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Two of the documentaries have filmmakers locally based in the area; they include:

Mark MacInnis, Leila Conners (writer/director of The 11th Hour) and Mathew Schmid, directors of Urban Roots, are based in Santa Monica and co-directors of Vanishing of the Bees George Langworthy and Maryam Heinen, who are based out of Los Angeles. The six films chosen for the inaugural “Whole Foods Market Do Something Reel” Film Festival support the company’s mission and cover a broad range of provocative topics. They include:

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“Bag It!” – In this highly entertaining and eye-opening film, filmmaker Suzan Beraza follows Jeb Berrier as he navigates our .  Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics.  bagitmovie.com

“Lunch Line” – This deeply affecting film from filmmakers Mike Graziano and Ernie Park follows six kids from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago as they set out to fix school lunch – and wind up at the White House.  Their unlikely journey parallels the dramatic transformation of school lunch from a patchwork of local anti-hunger efforts to a robust national feeding program.  lunchlinefilm.com

“On Coal River” – A compelling and transcendent narrative on the human costs of coal and strip-mining, this provocative film from filmmakers Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Woods follows the journey of a former coal miner and his neighbors, residents of Coal River Valley in West Virginia, as they transform from so-called victims to fearless and informed experts on mountaintop removal. oncoalriver.com

“PLANEAT” – This visually stunning film from filmmakers Shelley Lee Davis and Or Shlomi tells the story of the scientists, farmers and chefs tackling one of the greatest problems of our age:  Western culture’s love affair with meat and dairy.  Through an extraordinary personal and mouthwatering culinary journey we discover the wide range of medical and environmental benefits of eating our veggies.  planeat.tv

“Urban Roots” – Filmmakers Mark MacInnis, Leila Conners (writer/director of The 11th Hour) and Mathew Schmid tell the powerful story of a group of dedicated Detroiters working tirelessly to fulfill their vision for locally grown, sustainably farmed food in a deserted, collapsed city cut off from real food and limited to processed fast food.  These urban farmers have taken on the enormous task of taking charge of their future and shaping a new world. urbanrootsaction.com

“Vanishing of the Bees” – Narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page, this cautionary tale from filmmakers George Langworthy and Maryam Heinen reveals the mystery of the disappearing bees, and the links to industrial farming and our attitude toward the natural world.  Starring in this real-life drama is a commercial bee farmer who sounded the alarm when his bee colonies collapsed and his business was decimated. vanishingbees.com

As part of the Festival, Whole Foods Market will also stream the documentary, Dig It on dosomethingreel.com on Earth Day, April 22. This energetic, call-to-action film features the members of the band Pearl Jam as they participate in tree-planting actions and beautification efforts in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

For additional information about the festival, a complete schedule of events in each of the 70 markets and details about the grant program, please visit dosomethingreel.com.


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