Alex Howe

My name is Alex Howe and I am a sophmore at Unity College majoring in Wildlife Biology. This blog will track the three days spent in Camden, Maine  attending the Camden International Film Festival. It will give you a glipse of some of the documentaries screened as well as other adventures along the way. Hope you enjoy! 

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A WIll For The Woods: Stay Green and Stay You

A Will For The Woods is very new outlook on how one man is making a difference having a green burial and giving back what mother earth has provided to the individual named Clark. I feel the films call to action is an environmentally based look at how an individual can make a difference and a statement even when taking his final breaths in life. Musician, artist and folk dancer Clark Wang has been battling lymphoma and has only a short time to live, which when he finds this out empowers him to give back to the planet that brought him into this world. Clark along with his wife Janet come together in his most crucial point and start working along side a local cemetarian to use his idea of a green burial to have his site being in the North Carolina woods, which is in danger of being clear cut for lumber. He is to be buried in an all wooden casket, which will decompose and be put back into the natural world. Using this revolutionary environmentally based movement for a greener way of life Clark along with his wife guided by there spiritualism to be environmentally friendly as well as the idea that each living being can be connected to life even after death and stay apart of the natural planet. I think this movie takes an environmental approach to show how instead of taking from planet earth anybody can have the ultimate gift to give back to our planet and be apart of life as it moves on around our body soaking up all it has to offer back.

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This Time Next Year: A Storm Of The Ages

How does the film do more then just make viewers aware of problems that we already know exist? I believe this film resonated deeply with the public on the elephant in the room, which is global climate change. It effected not only the human race, which called this section along South Jersey's coast home, but also the other living organisms within this ecosystem. The quaint seaside town known as Long Beach, NJ, was rocked to its core  by a severe storm known as Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. The documentary portrays how this impacted citizens of the town personally as well as the efforts taken under way to build the ecosystem back that was destroyed by this hurricane. The storm decimated houses of there foundations and left cars floating down the street, which had now been made into a 5 foot deep river. It damaged beaches practically beyond repair along the shore that happen to be vital to horseshoe crabs for breeding grounds as well sand pipers who prey upon the baby horseshoe crabs.  After the storm had swept through the town had been left devastated, just as the citizens felt from the shear hopelessness. Yet still strength remained between families and a sense of community like no other gave them hope to restore there once thriving summer town before the boardwalk season opened as well as the breeding grounds for hundreds of species. When the season finally opened the town was able to rebuild and reestablish the ecosystem both these great people and other animals shared. It painted a short but powerful picture into what people who's lives that live on the coast could be effected with rising sea level. As well as just how global climate change can effect anybody be it humans or animals no matter where you live this pressing issue needs to be attended to as soon as possible, which hopefully this movie portrayed to show how the townspeople united together to protect there homes and ways of life.

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This Time Next Year Trailer

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Expedition To The End Of The World

Expedition To The End Of The World tells of an epic journey sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on a huge ship known as a three-mast schooner in course for the Northeastern side of Greenland. Accompanying the vessel are several men and women specifically picked for this voyage into the unknown due to there area of expertise, which are the captain of the boat, a geographer, a geochemist, a zoologist, a marine biologist, a archeologist, a artist, and an art photographer. All have set a course to have a greater understanding as to whats happening with our planet due to global warming and in particular the most vulnerable areas where huge sheets of ice have been melting at an alarming rate. When the team finally makes there journey to there destination they are met with amazing sights, some good and others not so good. One point of the movie I thought really hit the hearts of its viewers was to see a polar bear swimming along side a rock wall and climbing up it. Completely standing out among the rocks it really made you think of how threatened this great beast is from temperature changes. Normally designed for hunting seals through the ice it was completely alienated on the rocks and cliffs it had to swim to in order to catch its food on the decreasing ice packs. Its amazing to think that the top predator of this area is most likely going to be wiped out by the end of the century from changing habitat and food availability due to global warming. Other landscapes this movie showed in spectacular angles and footage of huge icebergs almost 100 feet high. While there the crew members took samples of the ice and soil the area had to offer showing them a quick glimpse into what life was like back millions of years ago as well as a glimpse into past and future climate changes. Overall I thought this movie used camera angles and zooms in and outs of the camera to a great advantage to show the contrasting ocean from the walls of ice surrounding the crew members. This movie I feel really promotes the feeling of change most likely as you can tell from the documentary footage, a change for the worst.

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Growing Local: Healthy Food Comes From A Healthy Source

This short film talked about one of the most important pieces to our society that help it run that most people often over look, which are the local farmers in your community, Maine to be exact. It's powerful message is to keep local farming as a key aspect of your community. This way you know where your food is coming from and your helping out your local farmers and community by buying the local product. Also through doing so you are aware that this is healthy and as fresh as it can get with no pesticides or chemicals used at all. This way of life is becoming less and less as big chain stores put these rural farmlands and farm folk out of business. This film had a impact on not only me but Unity College I believe as a whole because as soon as I got back I saw bulletins and flyers all over the cafeteria expressing this movie and the message behind it. Also being a big part of the Unity College way of life, sustainability and healthy environmental habits. I believe this would be even a very educational film to show at Unity College for whoever wants to learn more about where there food comes from.  

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While camping in the State Park in Camden I noticed this peculiar clump of mushrooms near our campsite. Just another amazing find along our journey in Camden!

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During our break in between screenings of documentaries our class decided to take a break. We drove up to the top of Camden Hills State Park where there were amazing views from all angles no matter where you went. Our class split up going in all different directions like kids in a candy store, but nope just Unity College students at there finest.

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Wild Home: Home Is where The Heart Is

This is my favorite documentary out of all the ones watched during the three day festival. This I feel is because it is so closely linked to my major and very much had a profound impact on me because of it. This film tells the story of how Bob Miner, a Vietnam War veteran found his calling in life when he found himself way back in the Maine woods rehabilitating abused and abandoned animals. Bob along with his wife use there home for animals of all shapes and sizes to come to seek refuge such as lions, tigers, hyenas, kangaroos, black bears, and 200 other species of animal. The great lengths these to caring people went to help these animals just astounded me when watching this film. It really shows that if you work hard enough anything is posibble. I know Bob would say the same as he found his two true loves coming hand and hand, which would be his wife and the animals they care for and have made apart of there family. Upon watching this film I had a huge urge to go out and peruse my dream as a wildlife biologist just as he had done being these animals and the life he had made for himself. Since there animal sanctuary is in Maine and is only one hour away from Unity College campus, as well as being open to the public, I exclaimed "we are going there!" to my friend as soon as the film had come to an end. I was supprised to find out however that the night was not over yet when Bob Miner himself along with his wife stepped out of the audience as surprise guests.

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Waiting For August: Motherly Georgiana

This documentary looked at a short glimpse into the life of a young Georgiana Halmac and her six siblings in there home in Bacau, Romania. While their mother is away working in Torino, Italy until the summer to support her family this young 15 year old girl becomes the new head of the household. This movie deals very much with this young girls struggle to be a normal teenager and the responsibility put onto her by her mother to be the motherly authority of her family. From beginning to end I feel this family and Georgiana in particular blossom's into the mature young girl she is today. This can be seen in such instances such as getting her little brothers and sisters ready for the day, cooking them meals, playing with them and into the end when you see her laying with a boy, which I feel was a huge step for her into adulthood. She also overcomes the discontent she has upon realizing she didn't get into the high school she wanted to when she talks to her mom realizing books smarts is not everything in life as long as you have family. The movie ends with them being reunited with there mom after such a long wait, the family now being closer then ever.

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Tomorrow We Disappear: India's Changing Times

This documentary focuses on the last small colony of magicians, acrobats, and puppeteers in Kathputli, India. This colony is the last of its kind shaped by traditional folk art and performances, which can be seen its its friendly, hospitable, poverty stricken people. This nearly fifty year old colony is rocked to its core when it is decided by the Indian Government that they will be issued relocation permits or in other words forcibly moved from there homes. The government plans on bulldozing this supposed "slum" for developmental purposes for building skyscrapers and expanding the city. The fight to save this historic landmark and its people ensues, which I think focuses on the issue of old versus new. On one had some people want to leave and start a new life, while others cannot give up what they have grown up and loved doing there whole life. Upon reflection of this documentary I would say the broad meaning overall would be "an hour may destroy what an age was building". This I feel truly shows that urbanization and human greed will most always overcome human creativity and traditional roots. I also feel although that many of the messages told from father to son in the film says that time heals all wounds and life moves on no matter what. 

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The Search For General Tso: The Surprising History Of A Great Chinese American Dish

This film explores the popular Chinese American dish General Tso's Chicken from its past to present and how this dish shaped the immigration of Chinese people to America and shaped there nation as a whole. Most of all this film brings to attention that this dish was not exactly first a Chinese dish. This dish was actually Americanized when Chinese food and culture was brought to America by young Chinese wanting work. Many of those who came here only knew of one thing, how to cook, but quickly learned an American taste was needed in order to make customers happy. Thus General Tso's Chicken was born. The director uses Chinese restaurants from all over the United States as examples to show how much change and tempering with there menu's have gone through to interest the American pallet.

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Rich Hill: Poverty Of Southern Youths

This film I feel hits so close to home with the audience in that it is actually is in our own back yard. It takes place in rural Rich Hill, Missouri and shows a quick glimpse into the life of three troubled teenagers Andrew, Harley and Appachey. Each have a story to tell as of how they came about to be the person they are now and the struggles they went through being forced to grow up to fast in a poverty stricken family. This film I feel shows its viewers just how bad people's lives can be in our own country when we turn a blind eye to them. These kids struggle with academics, relationships with those around them, and just being misunderstood and not getting the proper help they deserve. This film hopefully let people know just how lucky they are to live comfortably and how they too can help individual kids like these ones have a better future.  

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Point And Shoot: Sheltered To Soldier

This movie I believe had the biggest resounding impact on the crowd at the theatre. It tells the story of Matt VanDyke a once sheltered boy who has a sudden urge to travel around the Middle East and Norther Africa. While there he meets many interesting people and has some amazing adventures. Although, when he finds out the friends he makes in Libya are in a fight against dicatator Muammar Gaddafi he quickly joins them trying to overthrow his forces. These same forces eventually capture him for months and months, however when he finally is freed he comes back to civilization with a new outlook on life. I feel this movie was very well written and put together, however there are some aspects of the movie which I would have liked to have seen. Matt's wife for instance is a major factor in his life but is not shown throughout the film that much. Especially while Matt is missing it would have been good to have seen what his wife was going through and her thoughts on the matter. This film does a great job of portraying a first hand account of what a foreign war can be like from an Americans perspective. Media can warp and portray war so much different then it actually is on the front lines that people often don't know the real issue. This movie I feel opened up my eyes a lot on the struggles of war and how it can change you.

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The Iron Ministry: Classes Of Foreign Life

This documentary brings you on a journey through all the different railways that criss cross china's landscape. It uses a wide variety of camera angles to portray the different aspects of life aboard china's trains. Close ups of the train itself, rattling of the train, carts full of food being sold, and people sleeping were just some of the aspects of this film. There were also distinct classes of people who inhabited the train. This could be seen based by the conditions of the box cart and what the people were talking about. I think this film's meaning over anything else would be as the Chinese say, "be the first in the field and the last to the couch", which I think shows what this movie depicted that the working class of china works very long hard days for minimal pay.

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Bugarach: The Last Stronghold for the Apocalypse?

This film I thought was one of the most interesting topics in the entirety of Camden International Film Festival in that in dealt with the menacing topic of the coming Apocalypse. On December 21, 2012 the Mayas predicted the world would come to an end, however they did tell of one very small town in France, which would be the only town to survive this impending doom. The name of the town is Bugarach and it is tucked away hills of Southern France. This documentary describes the months leading up to the Apocalypse and how the town deals with the thousands of people trying to get into the town to save themselves from this day. This film shows what human kind is really capable of during such an event and what humans will do in order to survive. It brings out the good and bad in people and shows just how strongly nit this small community of 194 people really is. Upon reflecting back at this documentary I believe its message would be a friend in need is a friend indeed. This is because the community had to decide who could be let in and who couldn't based on the available space, but the question was who could be considered a friend and who not.

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Desert Haze: Barren Wasteland or Misunderstood Wonderland

This film gives a taste of the American West at a view most people don't normally see it. The deserts of America are seen as uninhabitable wastelands full of death and loneliness, which I feel they really captured using camera angles to show its openness with stray tumbleweeds rolling in and out of shots. However as you delve deeper into the movie it takes on a new approach telling of Native Americans of that region and how they have lived off this supposed "barren" land for centuries using the plants and animals adapted to life and learning off of them. It is also an area used for many military operations; from astronauts preparing for future missions to mars to deadly world war nuclear testing sights unknowingly in many peoples own back yards. This film had a very powerful meaning to it I believe which was never assume based off of your own observations. By the end of the movie the desert was no longer a wasteland, but a untamed wonderland filled with myth and reality.