Most people think that documentaries are dull. And when they're environmental documentaries? Forget it.
That perception changed a lot last summer, when An Inconvenient Truth showed that even a lecture delivered by Al Gore can be compelling and urgent.
The box-office and critical success of An Inconvenient Truth provided a lot of guidance to the organizers of the second Environmental Film Festival, which will run from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 24, at Davenport's Unitarian Church (3707 Eastern Avenue). The free event is co-sponsored by the church and the Eagle View Group of the Sierra Club. Food will be available from Greatest Grains.
The festival features An Inconvenient Truth, and that Oscar-nominated film prompted organizers to focus on global warming. The other feature-length film - the well-reviewed Who Killed the Electric Car? - also deals with climate change, as do two shorter movies: Too Hot Not to Handle and Baked Alaska.
Kathryn Allen, one of the organizers of the film festival, said that An Inconvenient Truth touched a nerve because it made climate change tangible - to many people for the first time - by showing the loss of glaciers, particularly on iconic mountains and ranges. "They got a lot of attention because they're places of the imagination," Allen said. "This isn't in the realm of theory anymore."
While Gore's movie grabbed the public's attention last year, another engaging, environmentally themed documentary was garnering strong reviews, even though it wasn't widely released. Who Killed the Electric Car? deals with General Motors' EV1, an electric car that drew raves for its looks and speed in addition to its environmentalism. The car was introduced in 1996 and attracted many high-profile enthusiasts, including Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson.
The movie is cast as something of a murder mystery, because GM not only stopped production of the cars but also took them back from owners and destroyed them. And although filmmaker Chris Paine certainly mourns the death of the electric car, by most accounts he's fair, allowing GM to have its say and noting that the EV1's enemies included the auto-parts and oil industries.
The Baltimore Sun wrote: "Who Killed the Electric Car? makes you feel that no good idea, let alone good deed, goes unpunished. Only the exuberance of the moviemaking keeps your spirits high."
Allen hopes to double last year's attendance (which was more than 100 people) and to attract audiences beyond those already with a keen interest in the environment.
But even if the event draws only active environmentalists, she said, those people will reach out to others and spread the message. "It's okay to preach to the choir," Allen said, "because the choir has a lot to learn."
Environmental Film Festival Schedule
Sanctuary
2 p.m.: An Inconvenient Truth
4 p.m.: Who Killed the Electric Car?
6 p.m.: Too Hot Not to Handle
Community Room
2 p.m.: Tallgrass Prairie
3:30 p.m.: Edens Lost & Found - Chicago
5 p.m.: Crapshoot
6:30 p.m.: Life Running Out of Control
Lounge
2 p.m.: Affluenza
3:30 p.m.: Escape from Affluenza
5 p.m: Buyer Be Fair
6:30 p.m.: Up Close & Toxic
Board Room
Short films running continuously from 2 to 8 p.m.
