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Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores” — or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both dignity and despair as the catadores begin to re-imagine their lives. Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

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95 MIN

Based on the bestselling book by Jonathan Safran Foer and narrated by co-producer Natalie Portman, Eating Animals is an urgent, eye-opening look at the environmental, economic, and public health consequences of factory farming. Tracing the history of food production in the United States, the film charts how farming has gone from local and sustainable to a corporate Frankenstein monster that offers cheap eggs, meat, and dairy at a steep cost: the exploitation of animals; the risky use of antibiotics and hormones; and the pollution of our air, soil, and water. Spotlighting farmers who have pushed backed against industrial agriculture with more humane practices, Eating Animals offers attainable, commonsense solutions to a growing crisis while making the case that ethical farming is not only an animal rights issue but one that affects every aspect of our lives.

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95 MIN

In a fertile floodplain in El Salvador, a peasant movement discover new challenges, climate crisis, exacerbated by an economy of ruinous extraction. The solutions they come up with will be a revelation for audiences in the prosperous north. On the surface, the life of these campesinos may resemble the past: but in their model may lie the key to the future.

“I have been protesting outside the Swedish parliament every Friday to pressure the government to comply with the Paris agreement.” Sixteen year old Greta Thunberg has drawn international attention to her fight against climate change. She has now reached her 21st strike from school and inspired children all over the world to follow her. Meanwhile, 68-year-old Billy Barr, who lives in an isolated house at 2,900m altitude in the Rockies, has been measuring snowfall every day for 46 years. “I started writing down the daily weather, and that’s all it was, it was entertaining. But after five years I went back to my notebooks, and compared that winter to all the other winters, and I kept doing that year after year.” In 1990 a biologist learned of Billy’s data, and it is now crucial to scientists’ understanding of the rate at which climate change is occurring. “He’s someone that can convey how the world’s changing…he brings a story that people can connect to personally.”

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51 MIN

Hailed by critics as “immensely likeable,” “brilliant and quirky” and an “ode to the teenage science geeks on who our future depends,” and winner of the audience award at Sundance and SXSW, National Geographic Documentary Films’ SCIENCE FAIR follows nine high school students from around the globe as they navigate rivalries, setbacks and, of course, hormones, on their journey to compete at The International Science and Engineering Fair. As 1,700 of the smartest, quirkiest teens from 78 different countries face off, only one will be named Best in Fair. The film, from Fusion Media and directed by the DuPont Award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaking team Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster, offers a front seat to the victories, defeats and motivations of an incredible group of young men and women who are on a path to change their lives, and the world, through science.

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90 MIN

Protecting the beautiful conservation areas of Mozambique requires courage, ability and passion. In Gorongosa National Park, a group of men and women have endured rigorous training to realize their dream of becoming Rangers. In this 80-minute feature-length documentary, we tell the inspiring story of Rangers who are chosen to proudly wear the uniform. In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, a team of 260 Rangers are “on the front line” to protect this beautiful conservation area from a host of threats such as poaching and illegal logging.

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82 MIN

Thirty years after the nuclear reactor explosion, Chernobyl is showing signs of life. As the fears of older generations are replaced by the fascination of the new, Chernobyl is emerging as a popular tourist destination, and local industry is on the rise. However, with radiation levels still dangerously high, serious questions remain over whether the region can ever truly recover from its past

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52 MIN

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