Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2008

In Ghana, West Africa, a rural village eagerly awaits a shipment of recycled bicycles from the United States. This inspiring story begins in Boston where volunteers from Bikes Not Bombs (partnering with Village Bicycle Project) load a container with donated used bikes and parts. Through skillful packing, 450 bikes are loaded and the container is sent to Ghana. Ayamye* chronicles the lives of Nurse Letitia and Seth before they get the bicycles and again, one year later. These two individuals are very different from each other, the common thread being the need for transportation and the wish for positive development in their community. Ayamye* is a moving, life-affirming film that proves sustainable solutions to crisis are not always complex.

Burning the Future: Coal in America examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the Coal Industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based US energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation’s help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

Crude - an elegant and gripping saga of oil. Where does it come from? When will it run out? Where is it driving us? This extraordinary documentary sweeps through the ages: from the birth of oil deep in the dinosaur-inhabited past, to its ascendancy as the indispensable ingredient of modern life. Now, as we crest the peak of production, Crude reveals a disturbing irony: the latest scientific evidence suggests that our headlong rush to exploit the remaining resource will lead us down a dangerous road to the future. A road the planet has travelled before...

China has become the factory of the world.” A lesser-known role of China is, it is also the sewage system for a variety of wastes from the rich world. As the US government is turning a blind eye on regulating electronic waste dumping to poorer countries and the electronics industry's slow pace in phasing out toxic materials from manufacturing, the e-waste trade has been polluting the enrivonment and harming public health in China, India and other developing countries. And years from the first expose of this sad story, publics in the rich world still know too little about this inconvenient truth. If you want to learn more, go to michaelzhao.net/eDump for multimedia.

Dreams of whales lead a young man to question the promises of the dominant culture. 'Is this the life that was promised? Are we really on the path to a great and glorious new tomorrow?' As the dreams persist, more questions arise and soon the young man is confronted by the reality of a planet on the verge of ecological collapse.Using rotoscoped animation, this lyrical and heartbreaking piece explores what it means to acknowledge the atrocities of the dominant culture and the pains and triumphs of following your heart.

A documentary on the diminishment of cheap oil and what the future brings in alternative energy cars. It discusses the end of an era of oil on the transportation side, and how in the near future, the best alternative is the plug-in hybrid car. The current hybrids are a small step towards the plug-in hybrids and eventually pure electric cars. The 'Future is Green' if we all do our part to make it a bit greener.

'Heart & Soil' vignettes the lives of farming families who inspire us through their efforts to provide for a more sustainable planet. The film clips along to the pace of barefoot children and frolicking livestock, taking us on a journey into the rich landscape of the southwest. Pueblo Indians speak about their meaningful connection to the most important resources needed by all living things: clean air, clean water and clean soil. Water specialists offer a concise understanding of the inter- relationship of the environment and agriculture. The film highlights the importance of small scale farming as a means to cut down on fossil fuel usage, corporate take over of our food supply, and as a means to strengthen communities.

Time is running out for vast swaths of the Rocky Mountain West as the Bush/Cheney Administration turns over millions of acres of public land for oil & gas drilling. Westerners on the land for generations expose the dramatic changes to the landscape and their heritage and spark a backlash. Just who is in charge of our public lands, the oil & gas industry or the American people?

Cultural anthropologist and ethnographic filmmaker Zachary Fink paints this poignant and lyrical portrait of a changing American West as he chronicles the hardships of rural Coloradans forced to adapt to the conditions brought by the encroaching presence of the natural gas industry. Over the course of a year, amid the transformation of the Rocky Mountain landscape from wide-open ranchland to a patchwork of natural-gas drilling sites, Fink follows three locals to determine how the energy boom has affected their lives and livelihoods.