The Canadian Museum of Nature is breaking free from the regular run-of-the-mill guided tours and everyday exhibits.
On April 5, the museum will host The Best of the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival in conjunction with the Planet and Focus Film Festival organization and the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada.
The festival will feature 11 environmentally-conscious films which spotlight concerns from the environmental community largely unknown to everyday folk.
John Kubicek, head of national education programs for the Nature Museum, says the festival is a venue at which people can educate themselves on issues concerning everything from the world’s water shortages to the most recent colony collapse disorder, the crisis of the world’s bees’ disappearing from their hives.
“It’s a documentary film festival, which means it’s focusing on accounts of particular situations involving real people and real issues,” Kubicek says.
This is the festival’s second year. Kubicek says they have taken into consideration guest feedback from last year, and have implemented changes to the event to cater to audience demands.
“Our audience last year gave (the festival) high marks in terms of content, but wanted more opportunities for discussions, as opposed to just showing the films,” says Kubicek.
As a result, a nightly discussion during intermission will take place, hosted by various guest speakers involved with environmental education. Among the guest speakers is film director Liz Marshall, who says documentaries provide movie goers with a different experience.
“It’s learning that takes you on a journey, a three dimensional platform,” she says. Marshall’s most recent film endeavour, a documentary entitled Water on the Table, is scheduled to be shown during the festival.
Marshall based her film on the works of Maude Barlow, nicknamed the international water warrior, who works as the national chairperson for the Council of Canadians.
The film focuses on the water warrior’s crusade to have water protected as a human right and a sacred covenant, as opposed to a commodity like any other, says Marshall. The filmmaker says film is a powerful medium to relay important messages and, in this case, create a general sense of environmental awareness.
“It’s why I do what a do,” she says. “Film audiences are less passive and more mobilised when it comes to documentary.”