Lights, Camera + Action | A Green Movie Club

August 30, 2010

With the cooler weather and shorter days beginning to arrive in the northwest, I start thinking about one of my favorite indoor activities, watching movies. Building on a earlier post describing a green book club, why not take it a step further to include lights, camera and action with a Green Movie Club. This can be an informative and fun community building event hosted by a community center, city hall, library, bookstore, performing arts space, or local school. Basic equipment needs are a laptop to play your DVD, a screen and a projector (Author’s note: It is suggested that you contact the appropriate movie staffer for permission to show their movie publicly). I listed some suggested green movie theme titles but, there are many other options, too including blockbuster movies with environmental messages such as: Silkwood with Meryl Streep or Erin Brockovich with Julia Roberts.

An Inconvenient Truth
Director-producer: Davis Guggenheim created this Oscar winning documentary with former Vice President Al Gore’s plea for the environment resulting from climate change.

A Passion for Sustainability
Director: Eric G. Stacey shares the pathway inspired by the Natural Step Network taken by several Portland, Oregon based businesses.

Food, Inc
Director: Robert Kenner’s Oscar-nominated documentary explores the food industry’s detrimental effects on our health and environment.

Fresh
Director-producer: Ana Sofia Joanes looks at the reinvention of our food system in America.

H2Oil
Directed: Shannon Walsh investigates the environmental and human impact of extraction from Canada’s oil sands.

Tapped
Director: Stephanie Soechtig reveals the dark side of bottled water and it’s industry.

Trashed
Director: Bill Kirkos provides an investigation of the garbage business and a resulting look at American culture.

Who Killed the Electric Car?
Director: Chris Paine seeks the story behind the short life of the GM EV1 electric car.

If you decide to host a local sustainable movie series, consider inviting a speaker knowledgeable on the film’s subject to introduce the film and promote a wrap-up social forum to discuss some of the issues raised by the movie. Additionally, create a fundraiser – pop your own locally sourced popcorn, serve in compostable bags, make your own organic lemonade and encourage patrons to bring their own mugs, offer home-baked healthier treats, and use your concession booth to support your favorite local charity. Rotate community volunteers to staff the concession booth and, before you know it, this experience will serve as a catalyst for new connections and conversations among neighbors.

Please share with our readers any other titles that you would recommend for a Green Movie Club. If you decide to direct your own local event tell us how you produced it, the main actors involved and review and rate the experience from one to five stars.

Lights, cameras and see YOU at the movies!.– alex

Filed under: general musings,Green blog,green marketing,Green movies

Tags: community building, environmental movies, green fundraisers, green movie club, local sustainable events