Next Friday’s Eco Film will be Call of Life – Facing the Mass Extinction, screening December 30th at 7 p.m.

Genere: Documentary. 2010. English. 70 minutes.

Best Science Communication Film at Reel Earth Festival in New Zealand, Humanitarian Award at Accolade Competition, Award of Excellence at The Accolade Film Awards, John Muir Award at Yosemite Film Festival, Finalist Award/Film at International Wildlife Film Festival, Official Jury Nominee at Reel Earth Festival in New Zealand

All over the world species are becoming extinct at an astonishing rate, from 1000 to 10,000 times faster than normal. The loss of biodiversity has become so severe that scientists are calling it a mass extinction event. Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction is the first feature documentary to investigate the growing threat to Earth’s life support systems from this unprecedented loss of biodiversity. Through interviews with leading scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and indigenous and religious leaders, the film explores the causes, the scope, and the potential effects of the mass extinction, but also looks beyond the immediate causes of the crisis to consider how our cultural and economic systems, along with deep-seated psychological and behavioral patterns, have allowed this situation to develop, continue to reinforce it, and even determine our response to it. Call of Life tells the story of a crisis not only in nature, but also in human nature, a crisis more threatening than anything human beings have ever faced before.

Next Friday, December 23rd, will be Sadhana Forest’s 8th birthday and as you can imagine, we will celebrate it all the way. A full festival day filled with various workshops, vegan food and of course our weekly Eco Film. Check out the Festival Program. For this special occasion the Eco Film will be Freedom Ahead, a brandnew documentary also featuring Aviram and other Aurovilians.

Genre: Documentary. English. Filmmakers: Greetje Mulder and Rogier van der Voort, 76 minutes. 2011

Featuring Aviram Rozin, Krishna McKenzie, Vandana Shiva, Jon Jandai, Christian Shearer, Ramu Manivannan and others

Watch the official trailer here and a 10 min. Teaser further down:

In the documentary film Freedom Ahead we visit the people who are the conscience in a world which is losing its moral principles. These people regain control over their lives by being independent and living self-sufficiently. By doing so they obtain the highest valued asset of all times: real freedom. This collection of committed individuals does not constitute a movement. It is dispersed and fiercely independent. It is taking shape in universities, elementary schools, farms, communities and many other places. It is experimentally emerging as a global humanitarian movement rising from the bottom up. Freedom Ahead colourfully captures this almost instinctive response, the largest social movement in all of human history through lucid footage, inspirational stories and an evocative soundscape.

Our next Eco Film, screening Friday, December 16th, will be Planet Earth: Pole to Pole.

Genere: Documentary, BBC, 2006, English, 51 minutes.

PLANET EARTH’s premiere episode, “Pole to Pole,” ties the series together with a fresh understanding of how life in every nook and cranny of the globe is connected — from the highest mountains and darkest caves; shallowest water and deepest oceans; ice-covered lands and great plains; untamed jungles and giant forests; to freshwater and the harshest deserts. The sunward tilt of Earth’s orbit dictates all our lives, creating the seasons that trigger one of the greatest spectacles in the world — the mass migration of animals. It’s a unique view of the majesty of our planet and the amazing creatures that live here

Our next Eco Film on Friday, December 9th, will be The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Genre: Documentary, Comedy. Director: Morgan Spurlock. 2011. 90 minutes.

Director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, 30 Days) examines the increased proliferation of branding in every aspect of our lives while attempting to persuade big-name brands to sponsor his irreverent exposé. Companies love to push their products, and it seems like everywhere we go, someone is trying to sell us something. But have you ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors at some of the biggest advertising agencies in the world? In this eye-opening documentary, viewers follow Spurlock as he convinces a variety of high-profile sponsors to let him pitch their products as “The Greatest,” while still maintaining complete control over his creative vision — an arrangement that’s become increasingly rare in the high-stakes entertainment industry

Next Friday’s Eco Film, screening December 2nd at 7 p.m. will be Peaceable Kingdom.

Genre: Documentary. Director: Jenny Stein. 2004.  70 minutes.

A riveting story of transformation and healing, PEACEABLE KINGDOM  explores the awakening conscience of several people who grew up in traditional farming culture and who have now come to question the basic premises of their inherited way of life. Presented through a woven tapestry of memories, music, and breathtaking accounts of life-altering moments, the film provides insight into the farmers’ sometimes amazing connections with the animals under their care, while also making clear the complex web of social, psychological and economic forces that have led them to their present dilemma. Interwoven with the farmers’ stories is the dramatic animal rescue work of a newly-trained humane police officer whose sense of justice puts her at odds with the law she is charged to uphold.