Environmental Film Festival Marks 14 Years in D.C.

The acclaimed French actor, director and producer Jacques Perrin will host the Washington, D.C. premiere of The Monkey Folk, a companion piece to Perrin’s recent Oscar-nominated Winged Migration.  Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Ruiz will receive the James Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution at the screening of his classic film, Vuelve Sebastiana, also a D.C. premiere.

The Amazon, Cuba, Capuchins and Jacques Perrin:
Environmental Film Festival Marks 14 Years in D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. The 2006 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, March 16 through 26, will present 100 documentary, feature, animated, archival, experimental and children’s films selected to provide fresh perspectives on environmental issues facing our globe. The 14th annual Festival features cinematic work from 23 countries and 45 Washington, D.C., United States and world premieres. Forty-six filmmakers will be present at the Festival to discuss their work.

The acclaimed French actor, director and producer Jacques Perrin will host the Washington, D.C. premiere of The Monkey Folk, a companion piece to Perrin’s recent Oscar-nominated Winged Migration.  Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Ruiz will receive the James Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution at the screening of his classic film, Vuelve Sebastiana, also a D.C. premiere. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei will premiere his latest film, The Giant Buddhas, about the destruction of the Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan. British filmmaker Adrian Cowell will premiere his new film, The Jungle Beat, about intensified efforts to protect Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht will screen a new work in progress, The Tea Film, on China’s organic teas. Canadian scientist, author and broadcaster David Suzuki will introduce Cuba’s Green Revolution, a new episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, “The Nature of Things.”  John de Graaf will present the world premiere of Buyer, Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification exploring ways to make free trade fair.
 
Festival premieres include: The White Diamond, Werner Herzog’s adventure into the rainforest canopy; The Queen of Trees, exposing the co-dependent world of insects, birds and animals surrounding an African fig tree; The End of Suburbia examining the effect of rising oil prices on the suburban way of life; Witches in Exile about the lives of women accused as witches in Ghana; A Life Among Whales, which will receive the 2006 Earthwatch Institute Film Award and two local films, Brood X: Year of the Cicada and On the Edge: The Potomac River’s Dyke Marsh. 

A retrospective of Terrence Malick’s four films at the AFI Silver Theatre; Carroll Ballard’s critically acclaimed new film, Duma, at the Avalon Theatre; two IMAX films, Amazon and Volcanoes of the Deep Sea; a film-illustrated discussion of “Hollywood and the Environment;” winners from the 2005 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and selections from 2005 MOUNTAINFILM in Telluride are also part of the 2006 Environmental Film Festival. 

The Environmental Film Festival has become the leading showcase for environmental films in the United States.  Presented in collaboration with over 50 local, national and international organizations, the Festival has become one of the largest cooperative cultural events in the nation’s capital.  Films are screened at nearly 40 venues throughout the city, including museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters.  Most screenings are free to the public and include discussion with filmmakers or scientists.

For a complete film schedule, visit the Festival web site at http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/home.php or call 202-342-2564 for a film brochure. (Photographs available by email from envirofilmfest@igc.org.) 

 Contacts:
Helen Strong
Flo Stone
Annie Kaempfer 
202-342-2564

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