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2021 Festival Guide
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival acknowledges that our festival is held on Indigenous peoples’ traditional homelands, including the Anishinaabe, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, and the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples. These proud, Indigenous Peoples are not a part of the past. They remain an essential part of North Dakota today. Our festival recognizes the ever-present systemic inequities perpetrated against these cultures in our state, and we commit ourselves indenitely to respecting and reconciling this long history of injustice.
3Cover: ICE REQUIEM | Directed by Lionel Cariou and Eric Larose Opposite: FOREST | Directed by Dermott BurnsWelcomeSean Coffman Executive Director, The Human Family 2021 Festival Director, NDERFFOver the past ve years, The Human Family has worked tirelessly to bring current and relevant human rights and social justice content to the northern communities of North Dakota. As the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival festival progressed, we discovered that we were receiving a high number of incredibly important and well-made lms about the impacts of changing climates and the connections between the environment and human rights. But because of our desire to have a balanced festival, many of those lms, unfortunately, found themselves on our proverbial ‘editing room oor.’ So, we crafted an experiment. We prepared an opportunity for environmental-specic lms to have a space of their own. We weren’t sure if the festival would be of interest to lmmakers. To our surprise, we had nearly 100 lms and over 90 hours of content submitted. The experiment was a success, and we’re so thankful for that. The result is that we’re now presenting lms that are essential viewing for our northern audiences. For our opening year, we have 44 lms from around the world to share. Stunning lms about the environment and sustainability. Educational works about the history of federal policy in the United States and the connections between religion, money, science. And inspirational lms about eco-activists giving all they have to protect the environment and the world we call home. It is our pleasure to celebrate Earth Day 2021 with this inaugural festival. We hope you leave the festival concerned about the sustainability issues we face and inspired by the individuals working to protect our futures seven generations ahead. Welcome to the rst annual North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival.Sincerely,
4TicketsPasses and Individual ticketsAll-Movie Pass $45Provides access to all lms in the festival.Curated Film Block $15The festival has 10 curated lm blocks designed to replicate a “night at the cinema.” Each block runs approximately 2.5 hours. Individual Features $10Watch an individual feature in the festival.Individual Short $5Watch an individual short in the festival. Each ticket is also subject to a $3.83 Technology Fee from Eventive, the platform hosting our festival. When purchasing your pass or ticket, please consider also making a tax-deductible donation to the North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival. Your support helps bring these important lms to the northern communities of North Dakota.How to buy ticketsOnline ticket sales begin Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Tickets are available at www.nderff.org. Tickets are sold via Eventive. Once your order is complete, you will receive an email conrmation and receive access to the lms in your package.Online and Box Ofce payment: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted. Cash and Checks are not accepted.The Fine Print: All orders are nal. No refunds, exchanges, substitutions, or replacements. The Human Family is not responsible for lost, stolen, forgotten, or damaged tickets or passes, or any item misdirected by the Postal Service or spam lters. If a screening is canceled, attendees will have an opportunity to attend a rescheduled screening. Service fees for returned rescheduled passes or tickets are non-refundable. The service fee is $1.00 per pass or ticket.AccessibilityClosed-captioning is available for certain lms and for pre-recorded panel discussions and lmmaker Q&As.To request specic accommodations, email ADA@human-family.orgConnect with usWebsite NDERFF.orgPhone (701) 205-0248 FAX (701) 212-4197How to Join UsBecause of the pandemic, the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival has moved online for our rst season. The festival will take place using the Eventive platform. You can access the online platform from our webpage at www.nderff.org or directly at https://watch.eventive.org/nderffE D Q
5How to WatchGetting StartedThis year, the North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival will only be available online. We are using the Eventive Platform, which allows you to screen lms to your television, on your desktop or laptop computer system, or via your tablet or mobile phone.The online festival is available at: https://watch.eventive.org/nderffYou can also nd a link to the online festival on our main website at: www.nderff.orgCreate Your Log-inWhen you make your rst purchase of a pass or individual ticket, you will be asked to create an Eventive log-in. You will need this to sign in on your devices to watch.Once you’ve created your login and purchased a pass or ticket, simply go to the lm or program you would like to view and click “Unlock.” You’ll have immediate access to the lm on any of your devices!Watch on Your Television Eventive allows you to screen the lms in the festival via your television several ways: If you're an AppleTV or Roku device user, you can download the Eventive App from the app store to your device. Once the application is installed, you'll receive instructions on how to link your device with your online prole.Alternatively, you can cast from your browser to your SmartTV. Please note that you must rst unlock content on a computer or mobile device before you can view it via either of the apps.Watch on Another DeviceYou can also experience the festival from your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device. Simply go to the festival and purchase your pass or ticket, go to the lm or program you would like to view and click “Unlock.” You’ll have immediate access to the lm on any of your devices.Video on DemandAll of the lms in the festival are available Video On Demand. That means you can watch lms as your schedule allows.All lms are available to screen midnight, Sunday, April 11 to midnight, Sunday, April 25.Please RememberDue to licensing restrictions, certain lms may be limited to their screening radius or screening time. Be sure to review the requirements of a particular lm prior to purchasing a pass or ticket.Once you hit play, you have 7-days to watch that feature or shorts package. You can pause, stop, and restart at any time during that time period.You can only watch from one device at a time. If you are experiencing technical difculties, click on ‘Need Help?’ from your browser.
6ContentsWelcome 3Tickets 4How to Watch 5Curated Blocks 7Feature films 20Shorts FILMS 33Animation & Experimental 58 About 68
Curated BlocksA VOICE FOR WHALES | Directed by Selket Kaufman | 2020
The festival has ten curated cinema Blocks. Each Block is designed to replicate a theatrical screening experience and features hand-selected short narratives or documentaries, animated or experimental lms. A feature lm wraps the evening. The average length of each Block is approximately two and a half hours.Unsure of which lms to watch or want to hit play and enjoy a wide variety of themes and discussions? These Cinema Blocks are the perfect option for you.In the coming pages, the lms in each Block are identied. Learn detailed information about each lm in the Features and Shorts sections of this program.8Curated Blocks
Soiled Documentary Short | 18 minBLOCK 1 6-FILM PACKAGE | 123 MINUTESRYORIAnimated Short | 5 minThe End Narrative Short | 2 minThe Global Food Waste Crisis and the Danish SolutionDocumentary Short | 19 minKeystone Documentary Short | 28 minSOCKEYE SALMON. RED FISH.Feature Documentary | 51 min9
End of the Line: The Women of Standing RocKDocumentary Feature | 87 minBLOCK 2 4-FILM PACKAGE | 126 MINUTESAlong the Winsik RiverDocumentary Short | 10 minSentinels of Silence? Whale Watching, Noise, and the Orca Documentary Short | 26 minMini Wiconi: Water is Life Animated Short | 3 min10
MeKong 2030 Narrative Feature | 90 minBLOCK 3 4-FILM PACKAGE | 128 MINUTESThe Man of the TreesDocumentary Short | 19 minForest Animated Short | 3 minGold of CajamarcaDocumentary Short | 16 min11
BLOCK 4 6-FILM PACKAGE | 144 MINUTESIlluminating the Dark Fleet Documentary Short | 4 minKokolyDocumentary Short | 15 mindiminuendo Experimental Short | 4 minUnbreathable: The Fight for Clean AirDocumentary Short | 29 minPlants, Pollinators & Prayers Documentary Short | 40 minIce Requiem Feature Documentary | 52 min12
A Year in the Field Documentary Short | 33 minHard Road of Hope Documentary Feature | 55 minNecessity: Oil, Water and Climate ResistanceDocumentary Feature | 60 minBLOCK 5 3-FILM PACKAGE | 148 MINUTES13
BLOCK 6 4-FILM PACKAGE | 129 MINUTESThe Race to Save the WorlD Documentary Short | 110 minReturning HomeNarrative Short | 6 minAll Possible Futures Experimental Short | 4 minETHYL Part TwoDocumentary Short | 9 min14
Rebel Bells Documentary Short | 13 minSave Our Species Animated Short | 2 minYehowDocumentary Short | 13 minBLOCK 7 5-FILM PACKAGE | 128 MINUTESFuture Ancestor Documentary Short | 10 minBone Cage Narrative Feature | 90 min15
BLOCK 8 4-FILM PACKAGE | 142 MINUTESPeloton Against Plastic Documentary Feature | 90 minEchoes from Lock One Documentary Short | 26 minHui Malama Loko l’a Documentary Short | 6 minGod $ Green: An Unholy Alliance Documentary Short | 20 min16
A Voice for Whales Documentary Short | 13 minAYEO Animated Short | 2 minThe Beauty of the BeastsDocumentary Feature | 50 minBLOCK 9 4-FILM PACKAGE | 143 MINUTESThe Mountain that WeepsDocumentary Feature | 67 min17
Growing Hope Narrative Short | 5 minRebel Bells Documentary Short | 13 minPlanet Blue - Journey to Eco Animated Short | 6 minBLOCK 10 6-FILM PACKAGE | 80 MINUTES - INSPIRING YOUTHThe Protectors of the Wood: Dreamstone Warriors Animated Short | 22 minEchoes from Lock One Documentary Short | 26 minCoyote & Big Buff Narrative Short | 8 min18
AT HOMENext ShowOnline and In-person Get tickets at TheatreB.org
Feature FilmsTHE BEAUTY OF THE BEASTS | Directed by Verena Endtner | 2020
Track down the poachers with dogs. This is the order the Swiss veterinarian Marlene Zähner got from the Congo. Unique mountain gorillas and other wild animals live in the Virunga National Park, but rebels and poachers are threatening paradise.In 2011, she unexpectedly received a phone call from Congo; the director of the park asked her to help with the rampant poaching. Marlene Zähner is an internationally sought-after specialist in man trailing. She trains bloodhounds and their guides to target criminals. But the plan turns out to be difcult: the rangers of the park have no experience with dogs and are frightened by the large animals. Most of the infrastructure has been destroyed – there are hardly any stores. Everything Marlene needs for her dog THE BEAUTY OF THE BEASTSDIRECTED BY VERENA ENDTNER | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 50 MINUTES | 2020 | SWITZERLANDsquad has to be imported from Switzerland. All of a sudden, smoldering conict breaks out, and she nds herself caught between the war fronts. But de-spite the constant adversity, she continues her work undeterred. Six times a year she travels to the Congo for two weeks a time to advance the anti-poaching project.21
Jamie (Taylor Olson) works a wood processor, clear-cutting for pulp in small-town Nova Scotia. At the end of each shift, he walks through the destruction he has created looking for injured animals and rescues those he can. Adapted from a play by Nova Scotian author Catherine Banks, Bone Cage is an impressive rst feature from Halifax actor/lmmaker Taylor Olson that sensitively excavates the tragedy of how young people in rural communities, employed in the destruction of their environment, treat the people they love at the end of their shift.BONE CAGEDIRECTED BY TAYLOR OLSON | FEATURE LENGTH NARRATIVE | 89 MINUTES | 2020 | CANADA22
From acclaimed documentary lmmaker Shannon Kring comes END OF THE LINE, the incredible story of a group of indigenous women willing to risk their lives to stop the Dakota Access oil pipeline construction that desecrated their ancient burial and prayer sites and threatens their land, water, and very existence. They are the brave survivors. Among them, the descendant of the female warrior who fought the US Cavalry alongside Sitting Bull. The great-grandmother who was red upon at Wounded Knee in 1973. The lifelong activist who became a part of the system in order to defeat it. END OF THE LINE: THE WOMEN OF STANDING ROCK DIRECTED BY SHANNON KRING | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 87 MINUTES | 2021 | UNITED STATESThey are the daughters and granddaughters of brave survivors. People who escaped genocide, only to be robbed of their lands and herded onto reservations. Children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Native boarding schools and foster homes where they suffered further abuse. Today, these women tell their own tragic stories. Stories ranging from forced sterilization to substandard medical care.Yet somehow the spirit of these women has not been broken. The women of Standing Rock vow to protect Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. It is their responsibility to the ancestors and to the seven generations to come. This is their last stand. 23
A journey into West Virginia: the radical history that’s been amputated from the people there and how folks are working to ght both dying king coal and the rise of fracking in this forgot-ten resource colony.HARD ROAD OF HOPEDIRECTED BY ELEANOR GOLDFIELD | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 54 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES24
What if, to better understand how ice is born, lives and dies, we just had to listen carefully?The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than predicted - scientists still lack data to rene their predictions. For example, the precise thickness of the ice is difcult to determine.To help solve this problem, Grenoble-based researchers will, for the rst time, set up micro-phones in the closest inhabited region to the North Pole. The Svalbard archipelago has long been attractive for its coal deposits, and is today at the forefront of climate change.ICE REQUIEM DIRECTED BY LIONEL CARIOU & ERIC LAROSE | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 52 MINUTES | 2019 | FRANCE25
MEKONG 2030 is a lm anthology, comprising ve stories that envision the future of the Mekong River from different cultural perspectives. Set in the year 2030, it aims to both entertain and inspire audiences to actively protect this critical life source.MEKONG 2030 ANTHOLOGY WITH MULTIPLE DIRECTORS | FEATURE LENGTH NARRATIVE | 93 MINUTES | 2020 | LAOS26
THE MOUNTAIN THAT WEEPS is a 2019 documentary lm about the most contentious land-use battle in Riverside County, California, history.In 2005, Granite Construction Company proposed a seventy-ve-year open-pit mining project on the southern border of the City of Temecula, California. The project, branded “Liberty Quarry”, ignited community outrage which led to seven years of heated debates and public hearings.Liberty Quarry was quickly opposed by The City of Temecula, “Save our Southwest Hills” a local grassroots group, The Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and the Pechanga Band THE MOUNTAIN THAT WEEPSDIRECTED BY BRADLEY MUNOA | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 67 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATESof Luiseño Indians. These four entities came together in an unprecedented effort to contest the quarry project claiming it would destroy quality of life, ruin air quality, cause an increase in trafc and pollution, and devastate a site held sacred to the Pechanga Tribe.Despite opposition and denials on multiple levels of Riverside County Government, politics and back door deals kept the project alive, allowing a giant corporation to supersede the will of the public.27
NECESSITY traces the ght in Minnesota against the expansion of pipelines carrying toxic tar sands oil through North America. Home to much of the world’s precious fresh- water resources, the state is also the site of expanding oil industry infrastructure. The lm follows indigenous activists and non-indigenous allies in their resistance to the pipelines traversing native lands and essential waterways.NECESSITY: OIL, WATER, AND CLIMATE RESISTANCE DIRECTED BY JAN HAAKEN & SAMANTHA PRAUS | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 59 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES28
Plastic is choking our planet, don’t dwell on it, let’s act. Embark on an odyssey as two Aussies and a bunch of eco guardians ride bicycles from Hanoi to Bangkok meeting proactive locals tackling plastic pollution. Our foe is strong, lightweight, greater in numbers and cheap, but we will prevail!PELOTON AGAINST PLASTIC DIRECTED BY JAMIE LEPRE & PAUL HELLIER | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 85 MINUTES | 2020 | AUSTRALIA29
THE RACE TO SAVE THE WORLD follows the passion and commitment of regular everyday people who are devoting their lives to ghting climate change. They are climate change activists from all walks of life, from ages 16 to 72, risking prison time, their families and relationships and even their lives to make their voices heard. The subjects in this lm aren’t putting their heads in the sand, or waiting for someone else to do something, they’re in the trenches doing anything they can to try to turn this around. Where most climate change lms tell people how bad things are and how much worse they will get (all true) and try to frighten people to THE RACE TO SAVE THE WORLDDIRECTED BY JOE GANTZ | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 102 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESget them involved, the subjects in THE RACE TO SAVE THE WORLD will inspire viewers with their unwavering determination to do all that they can to ght for a livable future.The subjects in the lm are not portrayed as heroes, they are no different than those watching this lm— except that they are taking action. We believe that such a lm will motivate audiences to say, “Hey, if these folks can do something, then so can I!”30
Sockeye, a species of wild salmon, is born in Kamchatkan waters and spends its entire life in the Pacic Ocean. Only once does it return to fresh waters - to give offspring, start the circle of life, and die. It is an inexhaustible resource that feeds billions of people on the planet, restored every year! But soon, we may nd ourselves facing the unimaginable: humans will exhaust the inexhaustible!SOCKEYE SALMON. RED FISH. DIRECTED BY DMITRIY SHPILENOK & VLADISLAV GRISHIN | FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY | 51 MINUTES | 2020 | RUSSIA31
Short FilmsFUTURE ANCESTOR | Directed by Josue Rivas | 2020
In 2018, Pacic Whale Foundation’s founder Greg Kaufman passed away after a hard-fought battle with cancer. A VOICE FOR WHALES was created to tell the story of his ght to save humpback whales from extinction by educating the public, from a scientic perspective, about whales and their ocean habitat.A lm created by Greg’s wife, PWF team member, and acclaimed photojournalist Selket Kaufman, the 20-minute piece tells a story of hope and of “standing up for what you believe in, no matter the odds,” according to the lmmaker, who traveled to Tonga, Slovenia, Australia and the continental U.S. to interview, friends, colleagues and people who knew him best to help tell his story.A VOICE FOR WHALESDIRECTED BY SELKET KAUFMAN | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 23 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES34
A YEAR IN THE FIELD shows, through the experiences of Joonas Plaan, a young Estonian anthropologist, how cultural anthropologists conduct eldwork. More than any other methodology, ethnographic eld research gives cultural anthropology its unique identity. By immersing themselves in the life of another culture for an extended period, anthropologists acquire an insiders’ understanding of a culture.Set in a shery-dependent village in Newfoundland, A YEAR IN THE FIELD illustrates all the main elements of ethnographic eldwork, from arrival, learning the language, nding a role in the community, and developing rapport to conducting participant observation, interviewing, and recording data in daily eld A YEAR IN THE FIELDDIRECTED BY DENNIS LANSON | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 33 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESnotes. While Joonas at rst struggles to gain acceptance, he soon earns the community’s respect and trust by working alongside local shers as a crew member on crab and lobster boats. As Joonas discovers, eldwork not only respects and prioritizes local knowledge, it is also a transformative experience for the individual who engages in it.35
In Canada, a remote Indigenous community is ghting for its survival in the age of climate change. Extreme weather, changes in ice formation, and wildres have made hunting and gathering for traditional food more and more dangerous and difcult. ALONG THE WINISK RIVER is a portrait of a community as it comes together to embark on a caribou hunt in the freezing subarctic winter of Canada. The lm explores the impacts of this struggle against a backdrop of systemic discrimination and calls for the government of Canada to do better to protect Indigenous communities.ALONG THE WINISK RIVERDIRECTED BY JANNA KYLLÄSTINEN | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 10 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES36
On October 8, 2017 in the middle of the night, Beau Decker and Yoosha Carson were awaken and hurried out of their beds as a rabid forest re swept through their neighborhood. Both boys lost their homes that evening, along with many others in Redwood Valley, California.These are their stories; for their fellow neigh-bors who have lost and their advice on how to heal.Animated and lmed on top of audio recordings of Beau (5 years old) and Yoosha (11 years old). I asked them, “What’s a story you’d tell someone who’s afraid of re?” and these are the stories they made up.COYOTE & BIG BUFF DIRECTED BY ILENA PEGAN | NARRATIVE SHORT | 8 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATES37
The main culprits driving climate change will perhaps only realize their crimes against Earth and the ecosystem when none will remain to hold them accountable for their deeds.THE END DIRECTED BY SÁRA MIHÁLYKÖVI | NARRATIVE SHORT | 90 SECONDS | 2020 | HUNGARY38
ETHYL PART TWO takes us on a journey to Santa Fe Community College to see how Ethyl is educating surrounding communities to bring awareness to the impacts of plastic use and solutions a sustainable future.ETHYL PART TWO DIRECTED BY JODY MCNICHOLAS | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 9 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES39
Indigenous scholar and poet Lyla June challenges the status quo when she decides to run for House of Representatives in New Mexico’s District 47. FUTURE ANCESTOR follows her through a 7-day “fast for the future” on the steps of the Capitol building. Fueled by prayer and bone broth, Lyla is an unlikely candidate who reveals a new vision for leadership, urging us to “think seven generations ahead.”FUTURE ANCESTOR DIRECTED BY JOSUE RIVAS | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 10 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES40
Over one third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Because food-waste has severe social, economic, and environ-mental consequences, it is a key sustainability challenge. Fortunately, the people of Denmark are leading the effort to combat this global issue. THE GLOBAL FOOD WASTE CRISIS AND THE DANISH SOLUTION DIRECTED BY ELISE M. DADOURIAN | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 19 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES41
In this short documentary, viewers are taken on an eye-opening journey through decades of religious polarization, political propaganda, corporate deal-making, and environmental injustice based on systemic racism. It’s a story often told in light of social and cultural issues. It’s told less so in relation to the biggest crisis facing us today—climate change. GOD $ GREEN: AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE tells the story of how potent forces came together to mount an army of climate change skeptics in the name of God, country and capitalism.A Butlerlms Production for the Religion, Race & Democracy Lab at the University of Virginia.GOD $ GREEN: AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE DIRECTED BY JEANINE BUTLER | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 20 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES42
A short handcrafted 16mm documentary about the ghts against one of Colombia’s biggest open-sky goldmine projects.A black and white ballad through Tolima’s green mountains, in Colombian Andes, talking to Cajamarca’s valley inhabitants. On surface, green fertile lands and peaceful agriculture. But hidden under the ground, invisible elds of gold coveted by a multinational company could reshape this whole world.Sometimes with just their voices, sometimes accepting to show their faces, Cajamarca’s workers depict different aspects of their lives and the threat of the open-sky goldmine project they face, while their images slightly tend to disappear.GOLD OF CAJAMARCA DIRECTED BY ALEXANDRE REGOL | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 15 MINUTES | 2019 | FRANCE43
This is a short lm focusing on multi genera-tional tree planting and the long term benets for all. GROWING HOPE amplies the message of the non prot www.grandtrees.org and its initiative to plant trees by young and old for a brighter future for us all.GROWING HOPEDIRECTED BY IVAN RAMIN RADNIK | NARRATIVE SHORT | 5 MINUTES | 2020 | CANADA44
Hui Malama Loko I’a highlights the work Native Hawaiian’s are doing to restore ancient loko i‘a (shponds) across ka paeʻāina o Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian archipelago). This lm was made to support the work of KUA, an innovative, community-based initiative for protecting, restoring and caring for Hawaiʻi, and follows a hui (gathering) of loko i‘a practitioners from around the state as they malama (to care for) a loko i‘a of one of their members and vision in fellowship for a more equitable and sustainable future.HUI MALAMA LOKO I’A DIRECTED BY SCOTT E. SCHIMMEL | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 6 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATES-45
Rampant Illegal Fishing Exposed in North Korean Waters.Groundbreaking analysis from Global Fishing Watch, published in Science Advances, marks the beginning of a new era in satellite moni-toring of global shing activity and reinforces the importance of greater transparency to ght illegal shing.ILLUMINATING THE DARK FLEET DIRECTED BY RYAN FFRENCH | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 4 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES46
We are existing in an extremely pivotal time in human evolution. KEYSTONE is a story about the land, humans, ora and fauna. A story about the co-habitation that we must embrace as humans, in order to create planetary abundance for future generations. By re-integrating our economic systems with ecosystems we can create prosperity and environmental renewal. By working initially with keystone species as a super-power of regeneration. The signal that this is being achieved is by the return of biodiversity. This lm specically looks at the role Bison play in the American plains. By removing this key-stone species we have altered an ecosystem and affected all of its inhabitants. Not only have we KEYSTONE DIRECTED BY MAGGIE O’DEA | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 28 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATESremoved this critical species we have introduced cattle into the landscape to further alter the ecosystem. To create more abundance, we look at bringing back the bison herds and restoring the western prairie. If we balanced our dependence on cattle for food with Bison we could also eliminate our need to grow GMO corn. This would open up vital agricultural land for organic farming and the raising of food for humans instead of livestock. The result of ecosystem renewal is planetary abundance for humans and all life forms. By working with nature and keystone species we can generate prosperity in the landscape for present and future generations. 47
KOKOLY offers an insight into the life of an incredible woman. Against a backdrop of extreme poverty, personal loss and a marine environment changing beyond her control, Kokoly lives on a knife edge. Kokoly follows a traditional Vezo sherwoman Madame Kokoly – as she reects on her life experiences and carries out her daily routine in and around the coastal waters of southwest Madagascar. This lm features female-only voices from one of Africa’s most remote regions.KOKOLY DIRECTED BY RYAN FFRENCH | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 4 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES48
Inspired by the decline of monarch butteries in the Midwestern prairie, a gardener, educator, and pastor transform a rural church’s backyard into a sanctuary for pollinating animals, an educational garden for the community, and a sacred space for spiritual contemplation.PLANTS, POLLINATORS & PRAYERS DIRECTED BY RANDY CASPERSEN | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 40 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATES49
Daniel Balima is a senior horticulturist from Tenkodogo, a small Sub-Saharan African town in Burkina Faso, where he lives with his large family and has worked since he was born 67 years ago. As a child, Daniel falls ill with polio and, although growing without the use of his legs, he is able to follow his father in the family nursery, walking on his hands. Daniel has chosen and won this great challenge and, every day, he sows and cultivates with great effort and gratitude many vegetables and plants. Often those who have no food go to the garden, because they know that even without money can open that gate, look into the eyes this generous man, who with a few gestures and a few kind THE MAN OF THE TREES DIRECTED BY ANDREA TRIVERO | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 19 MINUTES | 2018 | ITALYwords will make him collect and bring home what is necessary to feed. In over fty years of activity he has given life to more than a million trees and this is what is most important for Daniel because, as he tells us, his country, because of the drought, needs many trees and does not stop, on the contrary, he dreams of planting another million. 50
“If Black Panthers and Girl Scouts had a baby, it would be the Rebel Bells.” - Pilar Rodriguez REBEL BELLS is a documentary short lm about an all-girls radical collective located in the Calumet region connecting southeast side Chicago, Illinois and East Chicago in northwest Indiana. The Calumet region is an economically precarious, environmentally-polluted industrial corridor in the U.S. Midwest. The Rebel Bells was started in 2016 by three mothers who are leaders in the environmental justice movements in their respective communities. The goal of the Rebel Bells collective is to teach young girls about social justice and community activism in an empowered and safe REBEL BELLS DIRECTED BY ANNE COLTON & MICHELLE YATES | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 13V MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESenvironment. Though they receive guidance from the moms that are involved in the group, the girls take ownership over the curriculum and typically lead the meetings and activities of the group.51
Spoken word poetry short lm, written from the Earth’s perspective from the beginning of time to present pandemic.RETURNING HOME DIRECTED BY SHELBY REID | NARRATIVE SHORT | 5 MINUTES | 2020 | CANADA52
Does whale watching protect or harm whales? This lm explores heated controversies over whale watching, boat noise, and orca conservation in Washington State and British Columbia. Whale watching companies claim that they serve as “sentinels” protecting the orca from unwary recreational boaters, ferries, and ships. A number of local conservationists and scien-tists have argued that whale watching boats crowd and harass whales, while adding noise to the orcas’ immediate environment that makes it difcult for the social species to survive. The Pacic Whale Watch Association has hired lobbyists and brought suit against their local opponents. SENTINELS OF SILENCE? WHALE WATCHING, NOISE, AND THE ORCA DIRECTED BY MARK PEDELTY | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 13 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESSENTINELS OF SILENCE? uses dramatic imagery, peer-reviewed science, and interviews with conservationists, scientists, and industry ofcials to bring a fascinating chapter in the orca conservation story to light.53
When Julie Lay and her family began smelling a stench so powerful it reminded her rst-responder husband of the smell of dead bodies, she decided she needed to nd out more.She found that in Alabama she was far from alone. She left her career in agriculture and food safety to investigate. Waste by-products, including treated human sewage and the waste from poultry processing plants, is being applied directly to farmland throughout the country. Who is regulating this practice and what kind of pollution or toxins could be getting in our food that is growing in the soil mixed with this sludge?SOILED DIRECTED BY MCKINLEIGH LAIR | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 18 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES54
UNBREATHABLE: THE FIGHT FOR HEALTHY AIR weaves historical milestones of one the nation’s most critical health laws, the Clean Air Act, with current day stories of envi-ronmental injustice and community action.Nearly half of all Americans still live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, particularly those in poorer communities. Asthma is the number one health issue for children in the U.S. today. Recent research links air pollution to higher cases and deaths from COVID-19. Yet, environmental regulations and the enforcement of existing laws are being stripped away.UNBREATHABLE THE FIGHT FOR HEALTHY AIR DIRECTED BY MAGGIE BURNETTE STOGNER | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 29 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES55
This documentary lm tells the story of two women coming together to ght a pipeline expansion project in South Snohomish county in Washington State, uncovering major climate and environmental impacts along the way.YEHOW DIRECTED BY SARA HOLZKNECHT & PAMELA CHELALAKEM BOND | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | 13 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESTHE ARTS CENTER| APRIL 22 - JUNE 5, 2021 | NDHRAF.ORGJames Memorial Preservation Society56
THE ARTS CENTER| APRIL 22 - JUNE 5, 2021 | NDHRAF.ORGJames Memorial Preservation Society
Animation & ExperimentalDIMINUENDO | Directed by Henrike Lendowski
Set in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and over-looking the scenic Truckee Meadows, ALL POSSIBLE FUTURES is a journey through time that focuses on the possible impact of for-gotten nuclear waste storage on three ctitious societies, existing many millennia in the future.The societies consist of: alien colonists repopulating a barren Earth, a species that lives in pure congruence with the environment, and a society that revived life on the planet in the model of the Sumerian city of Uruk, hoping to not make the mistakes of ancient Homo Sapiens. All Possible Futures asks what our responsibility is to future cultures and how our decisions impact a future we cannot possibly know.ALL POSSIBLE FUTURES DIRECTED BY PETER WHITTENBERGER | EXPERIMENTAL | 4 MINUTES | 2019 | UNITED STATES59
In the midst of a desolate wasteland, a farmer boy hopes and dreams that he may one day see a real live bird. Amidst the wreckage of climate change and on the heels of mass extinction, little AYEO represents the future of humanity if climate change is not addressed. In the parlance of the Internet, AIO means “All In One”. Spelled a little differently, little AYEO represents the reality of our interconnectedness and our need to behave as one people.AYEO DIRECTED BY JACOB UPDYKE | ANIMATION | 3 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES60
DIMINUENDO visualizes the detrimental effects plastic waste has on marine life and the environment from an emotional point of view. Through visual metaphors, the viewer is guided through sceneries that get more and more covered by plastic. To emphasize the contrast between the natural world and the plas-tic world, the animation is done entirely with ink on paper, except for the plastic, which stands apart from the oceanic life in bright digital yellow. The two parts are united through the pulsing paper texture that shines through the semi-opaque yellow as a constant reminder of the underlying life it covers. But there is room for change. In the end, it is never too late for a helping hand.DIMINUENDO DIRECTED BY HENRIKE LENDOWSKI | EXPERIMENTAL | 3 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES61
FOREST is an experimental short lm rendered using real-time graphics. Through contrasting a vibrant virtual paradise with a dark reality, the lm reects upon humanity’s ignorance of their destructive nature on earth; the innocence of youth and the indifference of adulthood.FOREST DIRECTED BY DERMOTT BURNS | ANIMATION | 3 MINUTES | 2020 | IRELAND62
A short lm on the environment and how the fossil fuel industry is affecting climate change. It’s a black and white hand drawn lm dedicated to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Dakota Territory. The main theme is about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The intention of the lm is to create social awareness regarding contamination of natural resources.MINI WICONI: WATER IS LIFE DIRECTED BY MIGUEL ANTONIO GENZ & JEREMIAS GALANTE | ANIMATION | 3 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES63
A cast of characters and friends rally to save the rain forest from deforestation and wildre.PLANET BLUE - JOURNEY TO ECO DIRECTED BY RICKEY BOYD | ANIMATION | 6 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES64
RYORI (Cuisine in Japanese) is a Stop Motion Animated Film that depicts an Ojizo San Statue (guardian of the wayside) coming from within the forest to have a Shojin Ryori meal. Shojin Ryori is the traditional dining style of Buddhist Monks in Japan, the cuisine is made without meat, sh or other animal products. The lm animates the process of cooking with elements of change in nature. So as to highlight the interconnectedness between cuisine and the environment. The components of a Shojin Ryori meal are based on the idea of balance. The rule of ve is created between ve colors and avors in a meal; green, yellow, red, black and white as well as sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. This balance in color and avor is believed to provide nutritional balance while also bringing the body into balance with the seasons. RYORI DIRECTED BY BRIAN YULO NG | ANIMATION | 5 MINUTES | 2020 | JAPAN65
SAVE OUR SPECIES is a short experimental stop motion animation lm. The lm expresses the harm done to our planet’s species with relation to poaching, pollution, and deforestation. The endangered species are depicted through natural material, while the man-made materials are depicted through industrial waste.SAVE OUR SPECIES DIRECTED BY DELWYN JUDE REMEDIOS | ANIMATION | 2 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATES66
THE PROTECTORS OF THE WOOD AD-VENTURE SERIES is an illustrated story of a group of teenagers who save the world from climate change.Phoebe comes home from college to discover shocking changes threatening Middletown, her familiar childhood home. A gigantic corporation already owns many local “businesses, and is threatening to destroy the lands, legends, and heritage of her family and friends.Mysteries arise as Phoebe unravels the secrets in her small town, and realizes that they are connected to a global conict. Deep in the THE PROTECTORS OF THE WOOD:DREAMSTONE WARRIORS DIRECTED BY JOHN KIXMILLER & TAMARA KACHELMEIER | ANIMATION | 22 MINUTES | 2020 | UNITED STATESmarrow of her bones she feels that all her hopes are in danger of being lost. A powerful gem called Dreamstone appears at the heart of the mystery. They explore the forest together and nd the secrets they have been seeking: Large and very rare Dreamstone crystals can inspire visions that help guide people through the crisis and turning points of their lives.Together, Phoebe and her group of friends risk their lives to save the beautiful world around them called home.67
Dr. Sarah Mosher Executive Board Chair Grand Forks, NDAnna Johnson Executive Board Vice-Chair Fargo, NDCody Schuler Executive Board Secretary and Treasurer Fargo, NDJames Kambeitz Board Member Bismarck, NDSonya Jensen Board Member Fargo, NDRaymond Rea Board Member Moorhead, MN68Back Cover: ICE REQUIEM | Directed by Lionel Cariou and Eric LaroseAboutThe Human Family was established in 2017 and is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Fargo, North Dakota.We’re a multi-disciplinary media organization dedicated to creating, supporting, promoting, and distributing human rights, social justice, and social issue-based projects. The Human Family is the founder and facilitator of several annual events, including The North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival, which takes place throughout North Dakota January-September of each year; the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival, which takes place in November of each year; and now the North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival, which will take place in April of each year. In 2020, The Human Family became the stewards of the Fargo-Moorhead LGBT Film Festival. In 2021, that festival will celebrate its thirteenth year in the Fargo-Moorhead community. Learn more and support our work at www.Human-Family.org.Our Board
69www.NDERFF.org