March 11, 2009
Green (and Blue) Films Hit DC
BY: Emily Fisher
Today marks the start of DC’s 17th annual Environmental Film Festival, with 141 films at 52 venues. The best part? Most of them are free.The Festival includes about 30 films about the sea, several of which I’m putting on my calendar: 1. A Sea Change (world premiere) — Saturday March 14 at 3:30 at the National Museum of Natural History.The film explores the growing crisis of ocean acidification. Bonus: Oceana’s Pacific Science Director Dr. Jeff Short is one of the experts interviewed in the film.2. The Silent World, (Le Monde du Silence) — Thursday March 12, 7 pm at the Library of Congress.Jacques Cousteau’s classic film, which follows the ship Calypso on a voyage across the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean, won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Documentary and introduced scuba to viewers for the first time. 3. The State of the Planet’s Oceans (world premiere) — Friday March 13, noon, at the National Museum of Natural HistoryHosted and narrated by Matt Damon, this film examines a host of issues including the glacier melt in Greenland; the loss of sea ice in the Arctic and its world-wide effect on fisheries and wildlife; the dual impact of climate change and unsustainable fishing on coral reefs; the success of marine preserves in the Florida Keys and off the coast of Belize and a first-person essay by world-renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle.