Let's Review Some Movies

Hi my name is Mathias Hellner, this is my blog where I review various documentary films that I have seen from the Camden International Film Festival or CIFF.

[mhellner-blog]

How much time?

This movie really made you think.  It was like it was making you pick a side for a war that hasn’t even started yet.  The main character was opposed to GMO’s not because they are some scary food monster but because they are all the same and one day will al become infected with a virus or fungus that we have not discovered yet.  Even though companies that run GMO programs do everything they can to include genes that provide natural pesticides, I think that all we are doing are giving firepower to bugs we haven’t seen before.  This movie really let you take a look back in time too, to see different fruits and vegetables that you most likely haven’t seen before.  As an informational movie it did a great job of showing you what’s being done now and showing you what there was in the past.  I personally think that we need to drop GMO’s and go back to our roots, literally, and find what plants are naturally native to our different areas and focus solely on those.  That might mean that people will have to make sacrifices, but I think that will be a lot less painful then whole states being infected with some super bug.

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Not-so-invisible Killer

thought this movie took a great look into the world of oil. You always think that these companies have backup plans and know exactly what they’re doing, but this movie took a slightly comical look at how ill prepared they are.  It starts off with them talking about how they have the most technological advanced oil rig known to man, and then the thing has so many problems.  It makes me wonder how much of the money they spend on research and development is actually well spent and not going to the pockets of the CEO’s.  Then when these companies are questioned about their backup plans, you realize they have no idea what they are doing, they just hire another company to do it.  Even though these are the companies that should know the most about their product. Although the movie had a very serious tone, like I said it was comical at times.  One scene that I thought was perfect, and fits everybody’s opinion of Oil CEO’s, here they are sitting at a private table, smoking cigars, drinking fine whiskey and just laughing about how much money they have.  I do not have any suggestions for this film but I thought that it was very well done.

[mhellner-blog]

Water you waiting for?

The movie Divide in Concord had one call to action, this was to stop buying single serving water bottles, and to start using refillable water bottles. Normally in these kinds of movies you will witness interviews with scientists telling you that this is a problem, and show dramatic shots of island of plastic in the Pacific.  This movie was different, it followed the journey of an older lady who was dead set on making a difference in her town.  Instead of just talking about the problem, she attended the town meetings and acquired signatures in the hopes that she could get bottled water banned in her town of Concord.  I think this is such a simple thing too, all the people against this law were talking about how plastic is so much better. But guess what... its not. Nalgene's are going for about $10 a bottle right now, compared to buying a $1 water bottle everyday, that sounds like a lot of saving.  Oh and you never have to pay someone again for that bottle, it's yours forever.  It takes zero effort to fill the water bottle up each day, or even every time you pass a water fountain.  It's all about convenience I guess, "I want this now, and ill pay whatever it takes."  I see reusable water bottles as a bigger convenience then the non reusable ones.  Anyways.  The director used a lot of interviewing and following the main character around to show you her journey.  I personally would not have made any changes to thuis movie.

[mhellner-blog]

A Firestorm of Environmental Activism

This film is another example of people standing up for what they have a passion for.  This films call to action was if you something wrong in the world, something you don't agree with, stand up for it.  If you make a stand then people will feed off of your bravery and stand by your side.  This is very evident in the clip on Love Canal, these people saw that the chemicals were harmful to their kids so they tried to do something about it, they may have had some rough times but they still stood their ground.  I think that's the one take away from this movie, even if your facing the eye of a hurricane, stand your ground if its for something you believe in.  This film was very similar to Elemental, in that it followed in these peoples footsteps, so you not only saw problems that you knew existed but you saw what they were doing to right the wrongs.  I think the one technique that really works for this film is that it's five short films.  When it is arranged like this people are more likely to stay attentive as once they get bored of one story, they might find interest in the next story.

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Those Who Stare at the Tide of Environmental Destruction

This film has a simple call to action, if you have any appreciation for nature then do something.  Do anything, with small steps any one person can help make a difference in the world.  This film follows the footsteps of three people trying to make a difference in the world.  Through their eyes we not only see the problems at hand, but we see the steps they take to make a change for the better.  This film used very interesting stylistic technique, each time one of the characters were in a setting, they would over look the destruction that stood before them.  For example when the government official Rajendra Singh was looking over the Ganges River, you could see all the pollutants in the river, and you could easily see how this made him feel just by reading his face, you could tell it genuinely pained him to see that.  But overall this was a great film, if you have any heart and have an interest in seeing nature remain mostly untouched then you should see this film.

[mhellner-blog]

OMG The Hidden Truth

To think that most Americans don't even know what a GMO is insane.  Some countries are "at war" with Monsanto over a small genetically modified seed. This movies main call to action is to be unlike the average American, and care where your food comes from.  This also applies to how it was grown.  In order to show the audience how big of a problem GMO's are, the main character did a simple survey of people he met on the street. Most didn't even know what GMO stood for.  And if they did, they did not know what it meant.  This movie takes a similar approach as the movie Truthland, you follow the adventure of a homeowner that's just looking for answers.  If you're looking for the truth behind where your food comes from and how it is grown then definitely give this movie a watch! For me this movie was great, but if I were to make any changes I would have possibly changed the main characters attitude toward it all.  He is driven by the fact that he wants to protect his family from harm but I think it would be more interesting if he pressed these companies for information more so then just a phone call.

#CIFF #UnityCollege #GMOOMG #JeremySeifert #UCCPA