Hannah Grace

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The Determined Woman

Sometimes all it takes is one crazy person to change everyone’s opinion of the environment. That crazy person is an 84 year old woman named Jean Hill.  She has a dream that someday the world will ban the sale of bottled water and therefor begin reversing the damage that the human race has done on this planet.  She fought for three years trying to get the ban passed, and when she was about to give up, the ban was passed.  

One thing that really stuck out to me in this documentary was when they said there needs to be a balance between nature and human needs, but we have become used to just satisfying our needs.  

I thought that it was a very one-sided documentary, although they did state the opposing opinion, they did it in a bad way.  They portrayed the woman with the opposing opinion as, in my opinion, under educated.  I think that documentaries should show all sides of the issue equally.

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A New World

Seeds of Time is an inspirational film about seed banks.  Climate change is killing our crops, and to prevent the extinction of many plants we have to protect their seeds.  To do this the seeds are hidden inside a vault that is inside a mountain and is a constant 3-4 degrees Celsius.  The vault has 860,000 different seed samples.

I enjoyed the film a lot, I was not aware that these vaults and seed banks ever existed.  So learning that was shocking to me.  If I were the director I would have maybe put a few scene in that show what the world might become if we run out of crops.  

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Eye Opener

This film discusses how climate change is destroying us.  They talk about how fossil fuels are polluting the air and killing us.  The film was very engaging and I think if it weren’t the ninth movie that we had watched in three days I would have been more into it.  I would like to re-watch it when I am more awake and attentive so I could really take in the information.  If I were the director I would not change anything, the movie was amazing that way that it was.

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Strong

Thanks you for playing discusses the issue of childhood cancer.  This young boy had a brain tumor and his father makes a video game to memorialize his son.  The film shows you some of the video game footage and brings you into the game.  If I were the director I would not have changed anything about the movie.  I thought that it really focused on the real issue and that was this boys life. 

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On the Run from the World

In Transit’s call to action was that life is always changing and we as people need to learn to keep up with it.  The film makes viewers involved by having people talk about their lives and usually there is one or two stories that the audience members can relate to.  The film bounces around fromstpry to stpry to keep the audience invilved and interested.  I woulld not change anything about this movie.

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FBI

(T)error is about how the government accused an innocent man of being a domestic terrorist.  The film talks about how Muslims are often discriminated against for their religion.  It discusses the trial and how this little mistake screwed up this persons life forever.  A technique I thought was sneaky and well played was when they went to the “terrorist” and interview him.  I don’t think I would have changed any techniques in this movie, I thought It was very well made.

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In the Sky

Bluespace’s call to action is to find a way to live on Mars.  They were finding a way to create some sort of life in space and to see if it could someday sustain humane life.  The film make viewers see more closely the issues that this world faces.  It discusses how if we do not change how we treat our planet we will have to find a way to live on another planet.  The director did not finish the film so I can’t really comment on the stylist techniques.

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Town of Refuges

Uncertain’s call to action is discussing how across the US we have small towns like Uncertain that people escape to.  The film takes you into the story and makes you see what these peoples lives are like in this small town.  The film bounces around from story to story to show multiple peoples lives in the film. If I were the director I would not have made any not have made any changes.

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Photo Discrimination

Frame by Frame’s call to action is to raise awareness about how photos are banned in Afghanistan.  The film draws the view in and makes them involved in the issue.  This was by far my favorite film at the festival, the filmmakers were not very much older than I am and I found that incredibly inspiring.  The stylistic techniques they used really drew me in even more.  I would not change a single thing about those movie because to thought that it was done very well.

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Rugby Dad

The Ground We Won’s call to action was showing how rugby can turn boys into a man.  I don’t believe that there was even a problem in this film.  If there was I did not pick up on it.  The film was black and white to show that the life is not that exciting to an outsider, but it is these peoples lives. If I was the director I would not have done the film in black and white.  I would also have made the film more interesting to the every day person.

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Exposure

The film Containment’s call to action is to find a way to dispose of nuclear waste properly. The only way to currently “dispose” of waste is to bury it or let it just sit somewhere until it is inactivate.  Containment draws you into the film and makes you want to stand up and do something about the issue.  They discuss ways to help this problem of nuclear waste and how we might be able to help with it in the future.   The stylistic techniques that the directer uses in the film are animation to show what the world will look like in thousands of years when we discover the forgotten about nuclear waste facilities and similar situations.  No, I would not have sued any other stylistic techniques because I thought that the animations and music he used was very fitting for the topic.

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                                                 SILENT BIDDER

Tim DeChristopher was a protester a Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction.  He pretended to be a bidder to safeguard thousands of miles of land in Utah.  The protest was nonviolent, but DeChrisopher was still  indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.  The film Bidder 70, directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, is raising awareness of not only DeChristopher’s story, but also of the environmental crisis that we are in. 

Bidder 70 does more than just raise awareness, it also gets the viewer involved and passionate about the topic.   While watching this film I felt as thought I was one of DeChristophers friends or fellow protesters.  At one point in the film they used footage of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, comparing DeChristopher to them in the sense that they were peaceful protesters who were arrested.  The film also conveys its message in the music it played.  In times of “danger” they would play intense nerve racking music.  In times of easy or excitement they would play upbeat music.  I enjoyed a lot at the point where DeChristopher was in the court room being sentenced and they had the cartoon of what was going on inside.  If I were the director I think I would keep it the same.  I really liked the style choice and i thought the music they played was appropriate for scenes.