Sam Longo

A student at Unity College enrolled in a Sustainability Science Documentary Film Series

[slongo11]

Would You Bid On Our Future?

Would you risk your life just to make a point? What if you know you would go to jail for it but it would have a big impact on what you are advocating for. This is exactly the risk college student and environmental activist, Tim DeChristopher took. The documentary Bidder 70 by Beth and George Gage follows his journey, through the act, the wait period, and the conviction. 

The films call to action was to empower people to take and stand and make change. Tim DeChristopher made huge strides as an activist because he was willing to take a real stand. I enjoyed the part of the film where they discuss people in history who went to jail for something they fought for. Peaceful civil disobedience can make huge waves in a movement and is in our history a way that real change has been brought about. 

As someone who is studying environmental policy and law, I have always found the idea of civil disobedience interesting. I know it shows that people are interested and willing to take a stand, but I don't know if it actually does anything important to a movement in creating change. I think that Tim DeChristopher's act of civil disobedience was enlightening to what the issue was and what was going on, but also something that made headlines for 3 years after the fact, and helped build a stronger movement, creating real change. 

I really enjoyed the way the documentary was filmed. I think it was really important to start from the beginning of the story, to even what Tim DeChristopher was thinking before he stepped foot in the auction. I also really enjoyed the beautiful footage of the state of Utah. This helped me connect to the beauty of the area and why it was so important for people to fight to preserve it. The film has got me thinking about the role that I want to play in the environmental movement. 

[slongo11]

[slongo11]

Living Off the Land? Or Living Off Corporations? You Soon May Not Have a Choice

The agriculture system in America has developed into a very interesting, different system. In the beginning many people families farmed their food. They also supplied food to the local areas. Everything was local and eaten seasonally. Today's food system is an industry. People don't have small farms anymore, it's all industries paying farmers to mass produce goods. In the documentary Eating Alabama the filmmaker Andrew Beck Grace shows just how much the food system has changed. 

The film follows a young couple who returns to their home state of Alabama with the hope of returning to eating how their grandparents ate. The film starts off very optimistic with the idea of eating all local foods. It later turns sad when the film shows that there are not many local farms selling produce to people, and sometimes even the claimed local food at some farmers markets weren't even local. The films call to action to me was to encourage people to reconnect with where their food comes from. The couple in the documentary expressed how their life changed when they knew where their food came from, and how they put much more thought into their meals, making it family time. The film really got me thinking about the food systems. The only thing I didn't enjoy about the film was the fact that there didn't seem to be an ending message. I didn't feel like I gained any new information.The specialized stylistic choice that the filmmaker made was the beautiful shots of Alabama. These shots gave the film beautiful aesthetic appeal but also showed how amazing the land is and the disconnect of where food comes from.

As someone who is interested in environmental policy, I can see my self working on agricultural and food security policies to help solve this issue. I hope that people understand this problem in our food industry, especially with things such as GMO's and corporations such as Monsanto. Monsanto owns patents to millions of seeds, an example is showed in the film at a wheat farm. Monsanto owns our food, not us the people. It is up to us to make a change.

Here is the films trailer

http://vimeo.com/35904848

[slongo11]

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever"

This quote by Jacques Cousteau is a perfect way to describe the power of the sea. 2/3rd of the Earth is covered by the ocean and it has a major influence on many of our lives. The documentary Shored Up by Ben Kalina shows how big this influence is on coastal towns on the east coast of the United States, especially after Hurricane Sandy.

Although the documentary does not focus specifically on the effects of Sandy it focuses on mitigation projects taken on my these towns in Jersey and North Carolina. The documentary creatively goes through a serious of animations and present footage to show the development and settlement of coastal areas. The films calls to action seems to be to show people what these coastal towns are dealing with and the resources that they are going through to keep their property afloat, even though these areas are not meant to have houses on them. The film portrays the vicious cycle of dredging sand, using sandbags, building dunes, and jetty's for the sand to be washed back into the sea and land to be eroded, it's just a matter of time. 

If I was the director of the documentary I would give a bit more focus on hurricane Sandy. Here is a photo from the United States Geological Survey showing an area on Long Island before and after Hurricane Sandy showing the massive erosion caused by one storm. 

This single picture shows the power that the storm had. The film in the beginning slightly focuses on hurricane Sandy but does not go into detail of the impacts of the storm. It instead shows the precautions the towns are now taking. I believe by giving a little bit more background of the storm and of the effect it would have given people a better and fuller idea of the situation. As someone who has personally been effected by hurricane I was already aware of the impacts the one storm made, but I believe that some people did not understand the devastation to those areas. Instead the focus was on the money pooled into these mitigation projects that seem to be a waste of money and trying to fight against nature. This point is very vital but I believe without showing the devastation first you miss a key component of the situation. 

The film was very informative and as someone who lives in a coastal town I gained a lot of information I was not aware of. These coastal towns effected by rising sea levels, increase of erosion, and increase of natural disasters are definitely tangled in the net of wonder the sea creates. 

[slongo11]

Good For Nothing... Or So We Think

At Unity College in Maine the main focus of the students here is to preserve and protect the environment. This can cause some difficulty when trying to have a real conversation about environmental challenges the world is facing, such as mining for natural resources, since both sides are not taken into effect. As environmental stewards we are quick to say no to anything that would harm the environment in any way. In the film Uranium Drive-In, a documentary by Suzan Beraza that focuses on a proposed uranium mill in a Colorado town, the focus is not on one side of the issues. One of the most refreshing things I have seen in awhile is a documentary that is not trying to jab a one sided theme down your throat.

The film was engaging and spent a good amount of time of each side of the issue.The film really got you thinking about how most environmental challenges are a much for serious issue because of the human and social aspect. People are starving a need money why would they deny any economic opportunity that comes their way? This question has often been lacking in many films. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the following of two separate characters and their stories on either side of the issue. This technique gave a deep view into each person's life and the reasoning of their belief. Sometimes not enough time and detail is spent on character profiles, and this sometimes makes audiences lose interest very easily. 

Besides being about a very interesting and controversial topic the movies had a great style to it. A great mix of beautiful footage from the area and interviews of the people. If there was one thing I could change about the style of the documentary I would say the placement of some of the footage. At times there would be a clip of someone who lived in the town doing something a little out of the ordinary. Although the clips gave the town more character and gave you better understanding, I did not enjoy where they were placed in the film. 

This documentary really gets you thinking about the topic of uranium mining but it also gives you a new perspective on most environmental issues. 

For more information check out the trailer here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3xiMu6HgEk