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A filmmaker and travel enthusiast embarks on a global volunteering journey that takes her from the coral reefs of Fiji to a wildlife sanctuary in Uganda. What results is the film Volunteer.

Volunteer is an eco-adventure showing the perils and thrills of remote travel, and the excitement of having a hands-on experience in promoting natural preservation. Frustrations, triumphs, and anecdotes are all caught on camera, including how to approach an angry 15-foot python, what to do during a tsunami warning, how to tickle a chimpanzee…and the best way to have your teeth cleaned while 70 feet underwater

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73 MIN

We humans are a force of nature. At the same time human activities alter the basic elements of life – earth, air, water, and fire – those elements change human life.

In this riveting and visually rich drama, blending art and science, we follow renowned environmental photographer James Balog as he explores the impact of wildfires, hurricanes, sea level rise, a struggling coal mining community, and our changing air. With rare compassion and heart, THE HUMAN ELEMENT highlights people who are on the frontlines of climate change, inspiring us to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world.

In collaboration with Green Energy Ohio.

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Narrated by renowned scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, this feature-length independent documentary tells the larger natural history story of the world’s rarest sea turtle, the Kemp’s Ridley and how humans pushed a healthy population to the precipice of extinction and are now slowly helping it to recover. From the beaches of Massachusetts to Mexico, Texas and Georgia, this film highlights the collaborative work that is being done to save a species from going extinct.

Late each autumn, hundreds of sea turtles strand on Cape Cod, Massachusetts due to hypothermia. For more than 25 years, the New England Aquarium and the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary have worked together to rescue, rehabilitate and release thousands of these sea turtles, mostly Kemp’s Ridleys, the world’s most endangered sea turtle.

Over the last decade, the number of stranded turtles has steadily increased, but the late autumn of 2014 saw an unprecedented event as more than 1,200 cold-stunned sea turtles washed ashore. This massive wildlife emergency marshaled an inspiring response within and beyond Massachusetts, that reached from individuals to the federal government, involving over 10 states and 21 institutions. It even showcases “the largest airlift of an endangered species probably anywhere in the United States, quite possibly the world.”

Sponsored by Biological Sciences, Arts and Sciences.

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During the darkest hours of the night, while the rest of the world is sleeping, outdoor photographer Paul Zizka ventures out into the wilderness in search of the world’s starriest skies. His journey to photograph the celestial wonders takes him from his home amongst the peaks of the Canadian Rockies to the wild, desert dunes of Namibia and remote ice caps of Greenland. Ever the adventurer, he must balance his work and passion for photography with his equal devotion as a family man. In the Starlight is an intimate portrayal of Paul’s quest to capture the night skies, and what his time spent under the stars has taught him about life, love, adventure, and our place in the universe.

Sponsored by Little Fish and Solar United Neighbors

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52 MIN

The palm oil industry has papered over vast swathes of the planet, much of it valuable and ecologically diverse. Forty million tons are produced annually, and it can be found in 50% of all packaged foods. Traveling from Cameroon, to Guatemala, to Colombia the film investigates what has catalyzed this new industry and the social and environmental impact of its exponential growth. Palm oil has dominated the environmental press in recent years, amid claims of deforestation and the detrimental effects of monoculture. Michael Dorgan set out to investigate these claims.

Sponsored by Athens Impact Socially Responsible Investments and Arts and Sciences Sustainability Theme

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60 MIN

An evening with Sean Peoples and his work. Discussion on creating environmental documentaries covering:

Hurricane Maria -A compilation of three films

Broken Landscape, Confronting India’s Water-Energy Choke Point

In India’s resource-rich Meghalaya State, demand for coal is transforming the environment and the people who depend on it. Coal mine owners are prospering from booming production, but few laws regulate the dangerous and polluting practice known as “rat-hole” mining. Until now.

A new government tribunal recently banned all coal mining in the region, effectively shutting down the economy. Mine owners and workers staged protests, while people living downstream are struggling to cope with dead rivers that once provided their livelihoods, food, and drinking water. Nepalese migrants who crossed the border to work in the mines are stuck in the middle.

Broken Landscape examines the lives of those on the front lines of India’s water-energy choke point.

Scaling the Mountain: Protecting Forests for Families in Nepal

In the foothills of Nepal, extreme deforestation has pushed many rural communities onto marginal lands. In “Scaling the Mountain,” the second film in the Wilson Center’s “Healthy People, Healthy Environment” series, villagers in Jogimara and Naubise districts find that combining conservation efforts with reproductive health services has helped them to support their families and their communities more sustainably.

Sponsored by Ohio University Global Arts Festival

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In celebration of Earth Day!

The Guardians, a breathtaking documentary illuminates the delicate balance between humans and nature in Donaciano Ojeda, Mexico. This mountainous region is home to the ancestral lands of the local Indigenous community and is part of the protected Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.The film explores how these communities are working to protect the monarch butterfly. Filled with the sacred Oyamel tree, these towering firs are home to millions of monarchs who travel 3,000 miles across North America to hibernate.

Sponsored by Ohio University Office of Sustainability

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Athena Cinema, Environmental Studies, and the Alden Library present the sixth year of the Sustainability Film Series, working in partnership with many sponsors. Our vision and goal are those of years past: to offer attendees the opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of the current issues related to global environmental and sustainable challenges and solutions. We aim to bring together students, faculty and regional community members. The program recognizes the strength of this integration, coming together and learning from each other. Following each screening, we invite audience members to join us for a panel discussion hosted by faculty members, students, and community members. Please join us for a conversation following these beautiful, thought-provoking and timely films. All admissions free.

Person of the Forest (17 mins)

In the vanishing lowland rainforests of Borneo, research is underway to uncover and understand the unique cultural behaviors of wild orangutans before it’s too late.

Letter to Congress (3 mins)

The film was created as an homage to Wallace Stegner and the words he wrote in his famous ‘Wilderness Letter’ to Congress in 1960. In this current political climate, his words began to take on new meaning. His plea for what wilderness can do for us is now more relevant than ever.

Other shorts playing this night are TBA.

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Athena Cinema, Environmental Studies, and the Alden Library present the sixth year of the Sustainability Film Series, working in partnership with many sponsors. Our vision and goal are those of years past: to offer attendees the opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of the current issues related to global environmental and sustainable challenges and solutions. We aim to bring together students, faculty and regional community members. The program recognizes the strength of this integration, coming together and learning from each other. Following each screening, we invite audience members to join us for a panel discussion hosted by faculty members, students, and community members. Please join us for a conversation following these beautiful, thought-provoking and timely films. All admissions free.

Remember Bill Nye, the man who engaged children and adults alike with science? Well, the beloved American icon continues his quest to bring the wonders of science to the public. Bill Nye is a man on a mission: to stop the spread of anti-scientific thinking across the world. The former star of the popular children’s show Bill Nye The Science Guy is now the CEO of The Planetary Society, an organization founded by Bill’s mentor Carl Sagan, where he’s launching a solar propelled spacecraft into the cosmos and advocating for the importance of science, research, and discovery in public life. With intimate and exclusive access – as well as plenty of wonder and whimsy – this behind-the-scenes portrait of Nye follows him as he takes off his Science Guy lab coat and takes on those who deny climate change, evolution, and a science-based worldview. 

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101 MIN

Athena Cinema, Environmental Studies, and the Alden Library present the sixth year of the Sustainability Film Series, working in partnership with many sponsors. Our vision and goal are those of years past: to offer attendees the opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of the current issues related to global environmental and sustainable challenges and solutions. We aim to bring together students, faculty and regional community members. The program recognizes the strength of this integration, coming together and learning from each other. Following each screening, we invite audience members to join us for a panel discussion hosted by faculty members, students, and community members. Please join us for a conversation following these beautiful, thought-provoking and timely films. All admissions free.

This film takes place in SE Ohio and West Virginia, close to Athens. Unraveling one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, a group of citizens in West Virginia take on a powerful corporation after they discover it has knowingly been dumping a toxic chemical – now found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans – into the drinking water supply.

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88 MIN