Environmental Film Festival Melbourne 2014

CELEBRATING its fifth year as a festival, Environmental Film Festival Melbourne 2014’s program of films aim to challenge audiences’ perception of the natural world and raise awareness of ongoing environmental issues. Hieu Chau has a deeper look into the festival. 

If you’re after an alternative film festival with a very considered agenda, Environmental Film Festival Melbourne 2014 will have you covered in September.

Kicking off from September 4 – 12 down at the Palace Kino Cinemas on Collins Street, the yearly Environmental Film Festival will be celebrating its fifth year as a festival. Though people may be quick to write off a film festival dedicated to spreading awareness about the environment, the festival is far from just a tree-hugging affair.

With 17 films and 16 shorts looking at various facets of environmental concerns – from observational concerns around Tokyo’s crows (Tokyo Waka) to the effect that tourism leaves on a culture’s surrounding environment (Gringo Trails) – the festival seeks to alert its audience about ongoing matters in the world that they mightn’t have even considered before.

Opening the festival is Once Upon A Forest, a documentary that celebrates the Amazon Rainforest. Image supplied.

Opening this year’s festival is Once Upon A Forest, a documentary from Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), about the beauty of the world’s greatest tropical rainforest – the Amazon. The documentary functions as a spectacle-laden appreciation of the world’s natural wonders.

Closing out the festival will be Planet RE:Think, a documentary that evaluates the two global problems facing the world today: the financial crisis and the exploitation of natural resources. This documentary aims to shed light on the matter while suggesting alternatives around the problem.

Slow Food Story examines Carlo Petrini’s goals of changing the way people think about food consumption. Image supplied.

Select films from the program will be followed by engaging panel discussions with a range of industry experts and environmental specialists where they will talk about some of the important issues facing the environmental world today. Slow Food Story, one of the features shown at the festival, will be followed by a slow food tasting.

With a promising program aimed to challenge the way you think about the world around you, the fifth edition of the Enviornmental Film Festival will no doubt be an educational and informative experience to be had.

Environmental Film Festival Melbourne 2014 will take place between September 4 – 12 at Palace Kino Cinemas on Collins Street. For the full program of films, ticketing and other tidbits of information, visit the film festival’s official website for more insight.