SAB will present Whole Foods Market’s Do Something Reel™ Film Festival, a collection of six films focused on passionate people making a world of difference. They will show at the Floyd Theater, Swain Student Activities Center, Belknap Campus, on April 18 and 19.
Louisville is one of 70 cities in which Whole Foods is showing the films this month in celebration of Earth Day.
“Through our Whole Foods Market Do Something Reel Film Festival we want to raise awareness of environmental and food issues, and support filmmakers who are creating films that inspire people to question the impact our choices have on our health, body and environment,” said Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market. “We see film as an inspirational medium that can spark an active dialogue and encourage people to take action locally.”
UofL’s Student Activities Board members said they were excited to become involved with the festival, which will coincide with campus Earth Day activities taking place throughout the month.
“We are very happy to have the opportunity to host this festival. We always try to schedule several documentaries throughout the year because they are a great way to raise awareness about important issues, and environmental sustainability is definitely an issue that people should know about,” said Franklin Neff, SAB’s film chair.
Whole Foods selected the films because they support the company’s mission and cover a broad range of provocative topics. Here are the schedule and film descriptions:
4 p.m. Monday, April 18, “Bag It!” – In this highly entertaining and eye-opening film, filmmaker Suzan Beraza follows Jeb Berrier as he navigates the plastic-reliant world. Berrier is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at the cultural love affair with plastics.
6 p.m. Monday, April 18, “PLANEAT” – This visually stunning film from filmmakers Shelley Lee Davis and Or Shlomi tells the story of the scientists, farmers and chefs tackling one of the greatest problems of our age: Western culture’s love affair with meat and dairy. Through an extraordinary personal and mouthwatering culinary journey the audience discovers the wide range of medical and environmental benefits of eating veggies.
7:30 p.m. Monday April 18, “Urban Roots” – Filmmaker Mark MacInnis tells the story of a group of dedicated Detroiters working tirelessly to fulfill their vision for locally grown, sustainably farmed food in a city cut off from real food and limited to processed fast food. This group has taken on the enormous task of changing this reality.
4 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, “Lunch Line” – Filmmakers Mike Graziano and Ernie Park follow six kids from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago as they set out to fix school lunch and wind up at the White House. Their unlikely journey parallels the dramatic transformation of school lunch from a patchwork of local anti-hunger efforts to a robust national feeding program.
6 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, “On Coal River” – A narrative on the human costs of coal and strip-mining, this film from Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Woods follows the journey of a former coal miner and his neighbors, residents of Coal River Valley in West Virginia, as they transform from so-called victims to fearless and informed experts on mountaintop removal.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, “Vanishing of the Bees” – Narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page, this cautionary tale from filmmakers George Langworthy and Maryam Heinen reveals the mystery of the disappearing bees, and the links to industrial farming and our attitude toward the natural world. Starring in this real-life drama is a commercial bee farmer who sounded the alarm when his bee colonies collapsed and his business was decimated.http://www.vanishingbees.com
Admission is free. Whole Foods will provide refreshments.
Advance tickets are available to each film by sending an e-mail that includes your name, the film(s) you’d like to attend and the number of tickets needed for each one to Floyd Theater. If tickets remain, they will be available at the door before each film showing.