WORLD TEACHERS' DAY
Environmental film fest sparks change
October 1, 2009
Valerie Hauch
TORONTO STAR
There's a reason why Emma Sanges takes short showers.
The Grade 12 Hamilton-area student had something of an environmental epiphany last May when her school, Highland Secondary, took part in the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF) Environmental Film Festival and she saw the 2008 documentary Flow: For Love of Water.
Filmed in 12 countries by French-born director Irena Salina, the documentary examines the global water crisis and how it's being exploited for profit by multinational companies, which have turned it into a $22-billion-a year industry.
The U.S.-produced film, which debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, contends that while westerners have been manipulated to spend millions on bottled water, companies have plundered water sources around the world, leaving some poor communities to scrabble for clean water. The film hints of a dark future in which only those who can afford to pay for water will survive.
"I take shorter showers now," says Sanges, who was involved in the student-teacher team that produced the Dundas school's film festival. "Before I saw Flow, I had no idea about the water situation ... I saw how people were being exploited – some of them in Third World countries but also ... all over the world. Now, I really appreciate the easy access to water I have. I try to reuse water bottles and I recommend to other people that they see this documentary."
Highland's environmental film festival, which included the documentaries Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home; Edge of Eden: Living with Grizzlies; Addicted to Plastic and Water Detectives, was the result of a joint initiative of the OTF and Planet in Focus, which runs an annual environmental-themed film and video festival (this year's is in Toronto Oct. 21-25) and also provides films to schools throughout the year.
The OTF invited schools across the province to submit proposals explaining why their school and community would benefit from an environmental film festival, airing films supplied by Planet in Focus.
From the 50 schools that applied, four were chosen: Highland, St. Mary's College in Sault St. Marie, J.W. Walker School in Fort Frances and Collège Catholique Samuel-Genest in Ottawa. Each had student-teacher teams that selected films from the Planet in Focus library.
"We have 3,000 films – a treasure trove at our fingertips," says Planet's artistic director Candida Paltiel. The group is joining with OTF in sponsoring another festival. This time, eight schools will be chosen.
"We have a mission to try and engage as broad an audience as possible," says Paltiel.
About 600 Highland students from Grades 9 to 12 attended the school's film festival, held at McMaster University.
It got everyone talking about environmental issues, which was the whole point, says Highland teacher James Curtis, who was the team leader for the project.
"I don't think they went in knowing how they would be affected ... but so many of them afterwards would say, `What do we do now?' and there would be discussions about how to get involved," he says.
Pieter Toth, a teacher on the organizing team, says the students clearly enjoyed and were challenged by the films and asked some amazing questions, and even proposed some interesting and challenging ideas of their own.
"The hope was to create a spark within the students that would lead to practical changes in how they think and act towards the environment in their lives, homes and schools."
It wasn't just students who were affected. After watching Addicted to Plastic, Toth said his reaction was "Wow, what an eye-opener. It has completely changed the way I think about plastic."
Based on the positive response to last year's festival, Highland is organizing another on its own for next spring.
In addition to environmental documentaries, Toth says the festival will include interactive tours at McMaster, and information sessions led by environmental experts to help students find practical ways to make changes and spread the word beyond the two-day event.
"We are hoping to make big strides with small (carbon) footprints."
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