1. Festival Low Down
2. Festival Highlights
3. Free for some, cheap for others
4. Cash and prizes to make your eco movie
5. Have your say, nominate someone today
6. All aboard the Turtle Train
Welcome to the third edition of the Yapping Turtle, the newsletter of Planet
In Focus: Toronto International Environmental Film & Video Festival, that
keeps you up-to-date on our latest news and events.
1. Festival Low Down:
From Wednesday September 25th to Monday September 30th the third annual
Planet In Focus comes to town. This year you'll have a chance to see 38
films and videos from Australia, Brazil, Canada (from coast to coast),
China, France, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, the UK and the U.S. - including 11
Canadian Premieres and 9 World Premieres. We're particularly happy with the
diversity of genres represented - feature film, short drama, animation,
claymation, and experimental works. The main venue once again is Innis
College, 2 Sussex Avenue (on St. George, south of Bloor Street) on the
University of Toronto's campus. (Go to www.planetinfocus.org to see a
complete schedule.)
2. Festival High-lights:
Opening Night: Jeff Spitz’s The Return of Navajo Boy – a stunning feature
length documentary that focuses on the Cly’s, a Navajo family, and their
brushes with Hollywood, nuclear technology, and colonialism, and their quiet
resilience. Wednesday September 25, 7:00 pm, Innis College, 2, Sussex
Avenue.
Friday Night Gala: Featuring Britannia Beach by David Vaisbord and a rousing
talk from David Suzuki. Friday September 27, 7:00 pm Royal Cinema, 608
College Street.
Saturday Matinée: From Brazil, the charming children’s feature film Tainah:
An Amazon Adventure is a cross between a beautiful travelogue, nail-biting
adventure, and comedy of fools. Saturday, September 28, 1:00 pm, Innis
College, 2, Sussex Avenue.
Media Panel: Who’s Covering the Biggest Story on Earth? brings together
some of North America’s leading environmental journalists for a lively
debate. Meet the Globe and Mail’s Alanna Mitchell, eye Weekly Contributor
and Co-founder of Greenpeace Bob Hunter, CNN’s Environmental Specialist
Natalie Pawelski, and The Nature of Things’ host David Suzuki. Saturday,
September 28, 1:00 pm, Innis College, 2, Sussex Avenue.
Business and Ethics Panel: Meet some of Canada’s pioneers of green business
practices on the Creative Bedfellows Panel. Share their challenges and
inspiration. Sunday, September 29, 1:00 pm, Innis College, 2, Sussex Avenue.
Video Popular: An opportunity to have intimate impromptu screenings of your
environmental film or work-in-progress. Sign up for a slot at a video booth,
gather your audience, and screen, screen, screen. It’s free!
Eco-Exchange: An outdoor (weather permitting) town square/info. fair/
marketplace/ gathering space. Inter-active and pro-active.
3. Free for some, Cheap for others
With festival passes and tickets so cheap, and some programmes completely
free, you can’t afford miss the amazing line-up of programmes. Passes for
$35 (entitles you to admission to 10 programmes) are available at four
locations:
West: Grassroots Environmental Products (408 Bloor Street West)
South: Pages Books and Magazines (256 Queen Street West)
East: Grassroots Environmental Products (372 Danforth Avenue)
North: Ten Thousand Villages (2599 Yonge Street).
Individual tickets are available in advance through our website
(www.planetinfocus.org), or at the on-site box office during the festival:
Adults - $8, Student, Senior, Unwaged - $6, Children under 12 - $3.
4. Cash and prizes to make your eco-movie
Got a great idea for an environmental film/video? Need some money and
in-kind prizes to help you make it. The Big Pitch was designed for you.
Send us a 1 to 2 page summary outlining your project, the story and
approach. Include a resume highlighting your background in film/video
production, previous works and an estimate of the overall budget. Up to 5
projects will be selected for The Big Pitch - A Filmmakers' Pitch Session on
Sunday September 29, 11 am – 1:00 pm. A distinguished panel (including:
Michael Allder, Executive Producer of The Nature of Things, Mary McCracken,
Associate Programme, Washington DC EnviroFest, Muriel Rosilio, Distributor,
FilmOptoin, Cynthia Reyes, President, ProMedia International, and Geeta
Sondhi, Independent Producer) will choose a winning pitch on the strength of
the story, originality in treatment and approach, and social and ecological
importance.
Send your proposal to:
E-mail:
piffest@hotmail.com FAX: 416-531-1612
Address: 581 Markham Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M6G 2L7
Deadline for submissions: Friday September 13rd, 5:00 p.m.
5. Have your say, nominate someone today
New to the festival this year are two new awards. The Outstanding Media
Maker Award will acknowledge the contributions of a Canadian individual or
organization that has made a significant contribution to the creation or
dissemination of environmental film/video in Canada. The Eco-Hero Award will
pay tribute to an individual Canadian who has helped create awareness and
action on environmental issues.
Nominations for these awards are invited. Please send us a couple of
paragraphs describing why your nominee deserves either of the awards, and
include her/his contact information. Send nominations to:
E-mail:
piffest@hotmail.com FAX: 416-531-1612
Address: 581 Markham Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M6G 2L7
Deadline for nominations: Friday September 13, 2002 at 5:00 pm.
6. All aboard the Turtle Train
As Planet in Focus rolls into town, volunteers are needed immediately for
distribution of flyers and poster, and to assist around the office. During
the festival we’ll need volunteers to help staff the box office, greet
people and rip tickets at the front-of-house, drive filmmakers and equipment
around town, billet out-of-town guests, etc. If you can give some time and
energy to making Canada’s only environmental film festival another huge
success, we’d like to hear from you. Check out the Volunteer section of our
website for details, and then send an e-mail to Marjorie at
pifvolunteer@hotmail.com indicating your interest and availability. We look forward to meeting you in-person at the festival. Until then, feel
free to contact us at:
yappingturtle@hotmail.com with your comments about the newsletter.
Feel free to distribute this newsletter to anyone who might be interested in
PIF.
Planet in Focus Toronto International Environmental Film & Video Festival
581 Markham Street, 3rd floor
Toronto, ON, Canada
M6G 2L7
phone: 416-531-1769
fax: 416-531-1612
_________
Festival Dates: September 25 to 30, 2002
Tickets:
piftickets@hotmail.com Full schedule: www.planetinfocus.org
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