Climate|Culture|Change - screenings and discussions in Dublin

Designed to challenge, illuminate and inspire, the series presents a panorama of interconnections, from the causes of climate change to the roles of individuals and societies in addressing the issues. The films and speakers in Climate. Culture. Change are from six European countries giving an international perspective on the issues around climate change. Cultivate’s Davie Philip will facilitate the discussion after each screening with film makers, activists and scientists.
 
When: 1 May, 15 May, 29 May, 5 June, 12 June 2012, 7.00 pm
 
Where: Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland
 
Admission: Free, booking required by email to bookings@cultivate.ir or phone: +353 0505 56063

This is a collaborative project involving Cultivate and EUNIC Ireland.
The following EUNIC Ireland members are involved in this event: Goethe-Institut, British Council, Austrian Embassy, Alliance Francaise and the Italian Institute of Culture. With additional support from the European Commission Representation in Ireland.

Birdwatchers, 01 May, 7pm
La terra degli uomini rossi
Italy / Brasil 2008
Marco Bechis. 108 min
In the southern region of Mato Grosso do Sul, near the border of Brazil and Paraguay, the most populous indigenous nation of the country silently struggles for its territory. Thousands of hectares of sugarcane have been planted on their land by multinational companies that, in cooperation with the Brazilian government, promote ethanol to the world as an environmentally friendly and "clean" fuel. When a tribe of Guarani Indians attempt to re-inhabit their ancestral land, tensions escalate.
Panel discussion with:
Peadar Kirby is Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Public Policy at the University of Limerick. In the early 1980s he was Irish Times correspondent on Latin America.
Colette Spears is the former coordinator of LASC where she worked on Guarani Kaiowá land rights. She has previously worked in Brazil on the issue of housing and land occupation and is currently working with the Irish Traveller Movement.
Barbara Tomasella, MA Responsible Tourism, is managing director of Sustainable Tourism Ireland.
 
About Water, 15 May, 7pm
Über Wasser
Austria / Luxemburg 2007
Udo Maurer. 82 min
This dizzyingly fresh look at the world’s most common element offers up unforgettable portraits of humanity’s precarious, dependent relationship with water from Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Nairobi. The people and images poetically remind us that the most abundant element sustains and threatens us all in equal measure.
Panel discussion with:
Director Udo Maurer has filmed and directed a number of documentaries for ORF, Spiegel TV and Discovery Channel.
Sinead O'Brien is the network coordinator of Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), a coalition of 24 of Ireland’s leading environmental organisations working together in a coordinated way on water issues.
Dom Hunt is the Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor at CONCERN Worldwide who has seen firsthand the impact climate change has on developing countries such as Bangladesh.
 
Before the Flood: Tuvalu, 29 May, 7pm
UK / France 2004
Paul Lindsay. 62 min
Tuvalu, an island in the Pacific Ocean, may seem like paradise, but it will sink beneath the waves within a few decades as a result of climate change. This film describes the impact of the modern Western lifestyle in a thoughtful and melancholic way, while pointing out the challenge of forgoing short-term consumption for the benefit of increased long-term quality of life, even when the terrible consequences are literally on their front doorstep.
Panel discussion with:
Gavin Harte is the Corporate Responsibility Consultant at Business in the Community Ireland, a movement of companies committed to responsible business practices. He is an active participant of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition.
Louis de Barros is a French geophysicist at UCD’s School of Geological Sciences. He is currently working on source mechanisms of volcano seismic signals and carbon dioxide storage monitoring.
 
People - Dreams - Actions, 05 June, 7pm
Menschen – Träume – Taten
Germany 2007
Andreas Stiglmayr. 90 min
A documentary about a small ecovillage established in the East German countryside in the 1990s. A group of around 120 people set up "Sieben Linden", an autonomous eco-settlement that satisfies all of their needs in harmony with nature. During the process, they are confronted with organisational, financial and, above all, social difficulties. Finding the balance between individual wants and group needs often requires tough decisions.
Panel discussion with:
Michael Würfel is a Sieben Linden ecovillage resident, filmmaker and author of a new book on Sieben Linden.
Trish Kinsella is a Cloughjordan ecovillage member who has worked extensively on the ongoing design and operation of the project.
Jonathan Dawson is the author of Ecovillages - New Frontiers of Sustainability, and Head of Economics at Schumacher College. He was until recently a long-term resident at the Findhorn ecovillage and is a former coordinator of GEN-Europe and President of GEN (the Global Ecovillage Network).
 
Just Do It, 12 June, 7pm
UK 2011
Emily James. 88min
Just Do It lifts the lid on climate activism and tells the story of people standing up for what they believe in. Documented over a year, Emily James' film follows a group of environmental activists as they blockade factories, occupy coal power stations and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks despite the very real threat of arrest. Articulate, funny and engaging, the ensemble cast care passionately about the environment on a global level, but work locally, with courage, determination and manners to take a stand.
Panel discussion with:
Christopher Hird is one of the leading figures in UK documentaries. A former chair of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the founder chair of the Channel Four BRITDOC Foundation and a trustee of the Grierson Trust, he is the founder and managing director of Dartmouth Films.
Molly Walsh is Policy and Campaigns Manager with Friends of the Earth Ireland, is active in Stop Climate Chaos and has been involved in direct action.
Barry McCarron was selected as one of 15 Irish climate advocates in a British Council programme called Challenge Europe in 2010. He was also part of the youth delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban in 2011.
 
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