January 28

Colony

By Carter Bunn and Ross McDonnell

The unexplainable phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder has left landscapes of empty beehives all across America, threatening not only the beekeeping industry but our food supply as well.  Colony documents a time of unprecedented crisis in the world of the honeybee through the eyes of both veteran beekeeper, David Mendes, and Lance and Victor Seppi, two young brothers getting into beekeeping when most are getting out.  As Mendes tries to save the nation's collapsing hives, the Seppis try to keep their business alive amidst a collapsing economy. (Click here for film's site.)

2009, 88 minutes

February 4

Objectified

by Gary Hustwit

This film examines our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.  It's a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets.  Through verite footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative process of some of the world's most influential product designers and looks at how the thing they make impact our lives. (Click here for film's site.)

2009, 75 minutes

February 11

Split Estate

by Debra Anderson

Split Estate maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities, and their health.  Exempt from federal protections, the oil and gas industry has left this idyllic landscape and its rural communities pockmarked with abandoned homes and polluted waters.  As public health concerns mount, Split Estate cracks the sugarcoating on an industry touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, and poignantly drives home the need for real alternatives.  (Click here for film's site.)

2009, 74 minutes

February 18

A Small Act

by Jennifer Arnold and Thomas Schlesinger

When Hilde Back sponsored a young, rural Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it.  She certainly never expected to hear from him, but years later she does. Now a Harvard graduate and a human rights lawyer for the United Nations, Chris Mburu decides to find the stranger that changed his life.  Inspired by her generosity, he starts a scholarship program of his own to give new hope to the students of Mukubu primary school.  A Small Act bears witness to the ripple effect a single action can create.  (Click here for film's site.)

2010, 88 minutes

February 25

Burning in the Sun

by Cambria Matlow and Morgan Robinson

26-year-old Daniel Dembelle's goal is to electrify the households of rural communities in his homeland, Mali.  He sets out to achieve this goal by starting a local business building recycled solar panels from scraps - the first of its kind in this sun-drenched nation near the Sahara Desert.  Burning in the Sun tells the story of Daniel's journey of growing his idea into a viable company and seeing his dream of improving the lives of his countrymen realized.  (Click here for film's site.)

2010, 82 minutes

March 4

The City Dark

by Ian Cheney

This is a film about the loss of night.  After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question - do we need the stars?  Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights - including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above.  Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, The City Dark is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.  (Click here for film's site.)

2011, 83 minutes

March 11

Fresh

By Ana Sofia Joanes

Fresh celebrates the farmers, thinkers, and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.  Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity.  Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.  (Click here for film's site.)

2009, 72 minutes

March 25

Deep Down

by Jennifer Gilomen and Sally Rubin

Beverly May and Terry Ratliff grew up like family on opposite sides of a mountain ridge in eastern Kentucky.  Now in their fifties, the two find themselves in the midst of a debate dividing their community and the world: who controls, consumes, and benefits from our planet's shrinking supply of natural resources?  While Beverly organizes her neighbors and leads a legal fight to stop Miller Brothers Coal Company from advancing into her hollow, Terry considers signing away the mining rights to his backyard - a decision that could destroy not only the two friends' homes, but the peace and environment surrounding their community.  The two friends soon find themselves caught in the middle of a contentious battle over energy and the wealth and environmental destruction it represents.  (Click here for film's site.)

2010, 57 minutes

April 1

design e2

By PBS

April 8

Liquid Assets

by Tom Keiter, Stephanie Ayanian, and Mark Cooper

Liquid Assets tells the story of essential infrastructure systems: water, wastewater, and stormwater.  These systems - some in the ground for more than 100 years - provide a critical public health function and are essential for economic development and growth.  Largely out of sight and out of mind, these aging systems have not been maintained, and some estimates suggest this is the single largest public works endeavor in our nation's history.  Exploring the history, engineering challenges, and political and economic realities in urban and rural locations, this documentary provides an understanding of the hidden assets that support our way of life.  (Click here for film's site.)

2008, 90 minutes

April 15

If a Tree Falls

By Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman, and Matthew Hamachek

If a Tree Falls tells the story of the rise and fall of one cell of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) network by focusing on the transformation and radicalization of one of its members.  Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel McGowan on house arrest as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group.  And along the way it asks hard questions about envrionmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.  (Click here for film's site.)

2011, 85 minutes