The fifth annual San Francisco Green Film Festival rolls out its avocado-colored carpet this May 28 through June 3. With more than 60 new films and 70-plus filmmakers and special guests in attendance, this human/planet-focused fest will examine the most pressing environmental issues and the innovative solutions being created in response.
Kicking off this green party of film and ecological prowess, the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco will hold Opening Night festivities, while the films will be presented at the Roxie Theater throughout the week. Other events will be held at 518 Valencia and the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street.
As many San Franciscans are fully aware, the pace and population of urban life rapidly and constantly grows; this year's theme, Changing Cities, will reflect upon these elements. Throughout the festival, films and their directors will inspire and explore ideas for better urban communities. Many of the films will focus on positive changes to major cities with alternative takes on transit, housing, parks, and overall quality of life. Hopfully, audiences will be leave their theatre seats, yearning to head out into their own cities ready to make a difference.
Here's a sneak peek of just a few of the nature-friendly reels:
Opening Night Premiere - Bikes vs Cars
Fredrik Gertten, Sweden, 2015, 91 mins
This film focuses on the determination of environmentally-conscious bicyclists in a car-dominated. From car-riddled cities like Los Angeles to bibycle commuters in Copenhagen, this film will open your eyes to a revolutionary change in how we get around.
Deep Time
Noah Hutton, USA, 2015, 89 mins
Focusing on the relationship between indigenous peoples of North Dakota and their growing fossil wealth, this film explores the paleo-cycles, climate change, and the dark ecology that will soon plague this earth.
An Omnivorous Family's Dilemma
Hwang Yun, Republic of Korea, 2014, 105 mins
Filmmaker Hwang Yun witnesses hundreds of pigs being buried alive in neighborhood after a nationwide slaughter of all livestock after a breakout of foot-and-mouth disease. Upon viewing this horrific act, Yun decides to become a vegetarian to her family's dismay. The film evokes the question: animals' welfare or family values?
