The Island President (1:41) 2012

Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratic president of the Maldives, a nation of two thousand islands located in the Indian Ocean. Nasheed led his democratic party in overthrowing a long reigning dictator. Nasheed was arrested four times and spent eighteen months in solitary confinement before the Maldives held their first presidential election. Once Nasheed took office, he was faced with the overwhelming evidence that the Maldives are sinking. Well, not actually sinking but battling erosion of beaches due to rising ocean levels. Nasheed and his Cabinet participated in the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009 as they attempt to bring pressure on the participating countries to reach an agreement to lower carbon emissions in attempt to slow global warming. The Island President  is very well received last night at EFFY. It was an inspiring story of a man who is solving sand against the tide. This cautionary tale is told with humor, clarity and hope. This is a must see documentary.

Acqua (0:08) 2011

Containing no dialogue, a young woman undertakes a solitary pilgrimage to river. She enters the river with her large glass jug and brings the water back to her home. Water is an important of all of life's events.

Chasing Water (0:19) 2011

Chasing Water is nineteen minutes of beautiful, truly awesome video. Peter McBride traces the route of the Colorado River by air starting at the headwaters. The river winds several states and  the Grand Canyon to eventually the sea. Actually the mouth of the Colorado River is located at the Matagorda Bay which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. One rafter attempts to paddle the route which takes about five months. McBride joins the rafter towards the end of the journey so they can paddle to the bay. Unfortunately, with water being syphoned to provide drinking water for large cities, the duo are faced with an unpleasant surprise. I fell in love with this documentary.  Check out the following web site:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/video_colorado_river_running_near_empty/2443/

The Atomic States of America (1:35) 2011

Kelly McMaster experienced a typical childhood growing up on Long Island. Her home, however, was in a nuclear reactor community. Cases of a rare childhood cancer started to appear within the radius of the laboratory. The rare cancer was associated with low level exposure to elements which leak from reactors.
This documentary explains the history of nuclear energy, the use of nuclear energy as an energy source and the associated health risks.  A close up of the battle between Shirley residents and the laboratory is highlighted. This is an important documentary as President Obama has been a proponent of building new reactors. His stand is being closely scrutinized since the Fukushima reactor was heavily damaged by the tsunami.

663114 (0:08) 2011

663114 is a beautifully animated short about the life cycle of the cicada. The cicada, drawn in black ink, continously moves up a tree as the narration describes its sixty-six year life cycle. As the cicada inches up the tall tree to safely shed its shell and lay eggs, a earthquake shakes the screen. The cicada narrowly misses being washed away by the tsunami. And then there is the accident.

Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

The latest offering of the Environmental Film Festival at Yale was a sequel to an earlier documentary Bananas!* shown at EffY two years ago. Big Boys Gone Bananas!* relates the events that took place when Dole tried to suppress the showing of Bananas!*, a documentary about Central American farm workers exposure to unsafe working conditions. Shortly after the filmmaker Fredrik Gertten entered Bananas!*  in the Los Angeles Film Festival and put up his web site,  Dole reacted and reacted with full force. Dole filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers and put pressure on the LA festival to pull the film. The filmmakers received help from their own country, Sweden, as Sweden places a high value on free speech.
I don't want to give anymore details about the fight between David and Goliath other to say that at the end of the screening the audience leaped to their feet and gave the filmmaker a very enthusiastic and extended round of applause.

The Last Mountain (1:35) 2011

The Last Mountain is a fantastic movie, so far it has been my favorite of the EFFY documentaries. The residents of the southern part of West Virginia are fighting Massey Energy. Massey is a big powerful coal company that is  aggressively practicing mountain top mining which means they blow up mountains. The residents have to live with the deforestation of their environment, sludge piles full of highly concentrated heavy metals and polluted streams, rivers, and wells. The opening of the documentaries highlights one of the environmental activists speaking about six of her neighbors, including her brother who have all died as a result of brain tumors. Bobby Kennedy, Jr. has joined in battling the politically well connected corporation making the enforcement of the Clean Water Ace very difficult. Let's win one for the Gipper.