Earth Cinema Circle Distributes Thought-Provoking Environmental Films.
Films have influenced the popular culture for many years, often for the good and certainly sometimes to detriment,” according to actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr, the spokesperson and host of the newly launched film club Earth Cinema Circle. His environmentally-friendly resume is too long to list here, but includes his current starring role in Living with Ed, and just-released book Living like Ed, about the trials and tribulations of environmental living in modern-day Los Angeles.
He’s been involved in the environmental movement since the 1970s, and speaks to the gains made:
“We haven’t cleaned up the air totally in L.A., but we have four times the amount of cars in L.A. [since Earth Day, 1970], yet we have half of the pollution, half of the ozone and other pollutants at ground level that are such a problem. So we can do it. We have climbed halfway up the mountain and with more awareness about things like Earth Cinema Circle, we can go all the way to the top and clean up the urban cities like L.A. and many other cities.”
Awareness is certainly the currency of the day and knowledge and inspiration can spur action and send a call to people to make a difference. This is the aim of the Earth Cinema Circle. The club’s director of acquisition Anna Darrah finds films at festivals, from distributors, from filmmakers directly, scanning film festival and film websites, reading and voraciously screening titles for consideration. Each month’s selection features a variety of titles, including shorts and features, documentaries and animated films.
The Real Cost of Food, a recent selection, is an animated short with the convincing message to buy local. Garbage Warrior, a feature-length documentary, tells the story of avant-garde architect and builder Michael Reynolds, and his quest to build off-the-grid houses from discarded tires and other trash. It was a film close to my own heart, as I once had dreams of building an Earthship, Reynolds’ signature design, made partially from used tires and other discarded trash to insulate homes and give old items new life.
Ride of the Mergansers follows a group of North American fish-eating ducks through their funny and quirky lives. Until it became one of the Earth Cinema Circle’s selections, lucky film festival goers were some of the few to applaud filmmaker Steve Furman’s documentation of the baby ducklings.
A Life Among Whales
Films like A Life Among Whales, another Circle offering, are as a much a compelling story as a call for action. Bans on whale hunting were enacted in the 1970s, but are now in jeopardy as many countries have resumed whale kills in the name of science, a dubious claim in some areas. A Life Among Whales chronicles the compelling 40-year career of pioneering whale researcher Dr. Roger Payne who would take his entire family with him to live on beaches studying whales.
The environmental commitment transfers from the screen to the Circle’s monthly packaging: current film selections are all collected onto one DVD and packaged in a biodegradable case with a recycled pulp paper tray rather than a conventional hard plastic tray.
Many of these off-the-beaten-path films would be seldom seen outside of festivals, yet by being sent to homes around the world, Earth Cinema Circle introduces audience and filmmaker allowing these provocative films to uplift, and hopefully positively influence popular culture and our view of the environment in which we live. http://www.earthcinemacircle.com
By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.