The 8th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival is about to descend upon Orange County this month, showcasing more than 350 films from around the world. Between April 19 - 29, over 35,000 people are expected to attend screenings for a variety of features, shorts, documentaries, and animation that will be competing for Jury and Audience awards.
While I've never had much interest in the festival before, several of this year's offerings certainly caught my attention. Below is a quick rundown of some the festival's greener shorts and documentaries:
Sunday April 22, 2007
The Earth Day Program will feature six short films: Mountains Without Barriers, Whale Sharks Of Holbox - How A Tiny Island Is Helping Save The World's Biggest Fish, Sharks: Stewards of the Reef, Edge of Eden: Living with Grizzlies, Revolution Green, and Fridays at the Farm. The screening begins at 11 am at the Muth Interpretive Center.
Also on Sunday, Land Out of Time will be screened at 4 pm at the Edwards Island Cinemas (F & M Screen). This hour-long documentary talks about the massive land grab in the Rocky Mountains, of which the oil and gas industry has already leased more than 35 million acres of.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Recycled Life, a short documentary about Guatemalan families who eke out a living by recycling items they find at the toxic Guatemala City Garbage Dump. This short will be shown as part of the Oscar Nominated Short Documentaries series, which starts at 7 pm at the Edwards Island Cinemas (Cox Screen).
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Finally, on Wednesday, Sustainable Table: What's On Your Plate? will be shown at 3:30 pm at the Edwards Island Cinemas (Absolut Screen). This 52-minute documentary by Mischa Hedges takes a look at food production in the western U.S. and includes interviews with: Howard Lyman (Author of Mad Cowboy), Kenneth Williams (champion vegan bodybuilder), Marc Grossman (spokesman for United Farm Workers), as well as actor/activists Ed Begley Jr., James Cromwell, and others.
