The island of Rota contains the last viable population of Flying Foxes in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. This paradisiacal setting is also home to Rotanese Chamorros who have proud traditions stretching back many centuries. The Chamorro word for Fruit Bat is Fanihi and these beautiful and fascinating creatures hold a special place within the culture as a coveted delicacy. However, in recent decades bat populations have declined to critical levels because of the widespread use of guns and a heavy commercial demand for the increasingly rare delicacy. Specifically targeted to Rotanese Chamorros, this film is currently part of community based outreach efforts to increase awareness of the plight of the Fanihi on Rota.
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WildFIRE PIRE is a National Science Foundation five-year project that is an international partnership coordinated by the Montana Institute on Ecosystems and Montana State University that focuses on the causes and consequences of fire in the past, present, and future. Scientists from research universities and agencies in the United States, Tasmania, and New Zealand have combined efforts to compare how past fire occurrences have influenced climate change and what these patterns can tell us about the future. With the primary areas of study in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, Australia’s Tasmanian conservation areas, New Zealand’s forests, and Patagonia’s wild places, the project is exploring how wildfires, which are often devastating, are related to climate change. Produced by: WildFIRE PIRE
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The films of Campo de la Cruz, Faces and Voices, are a complementary approach to tell the story of the catastrophic floods that occurred in Colombia's Caribbean Coast, during the rainy season of 2010-2011. After several months of heavy rains, the town and houses of Campo de la Cruz were covered under 20 feet of water and more than 30,000 people had to flee from their homes. However, some families stayed behind, built plastic shacks on the side of the road and waited for the water to drain. This multimedia approach tells the story of this people, of those who stayed behind and didn't want to leave their land. But, who is to blame? Produced by: Federico Pardo
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Eshe is an 18-year old French horn playing, basketball playing, systems thinker that just started her freshman year at Yale so she can continue to learn how to solve complex problems with comprehensive and feasible solutions. She is also one of the many youth from across the United States who is taking legal action to compel comprehensive, science-based, government action on climate change as part of the TRUST Campaign. Produced by: WITNESS
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The Olympic Peninsula is a land of snowy mountains, rocky tidepools, and crashing waves. Explore one small patch of coastline at low tide and you can find tiny sea stars, camouflaged fish, and eighty-year-old anemones. Fantastic seaweeds cling to wave battered rocks, and carnivorous sea stars stalk mussels and unsuspecting clams. These areas also serve as a rich natural resource for the four local tribes of Native Americans. Climate change could change all of that. Measuring snow depths on Hurricane Ridge and ocean temperatures in the intertidal zone, scientists share their hopes and concerns for the future of a rugged and incredibly diverse ecosystem.
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Winter Range is a documentary film that explores the consequences of rising levels of the livestock disease Brucellosis in elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area. New elk behavior patterns, often attributed to pressure from wolves and hunters, has brought them within critical proximity to cattle consequently making brucellosis a constant threat to the livelihoods of Montana livestock producers. Winter Range features a Montana rancher who reveals the measures, or lack their of, that she has to take to protect her cattle from infected elk and brucellosis. At the heart of the problem is a conflict between people and wildlife and at the heart of this film is a story about the complexity of managing the “political disease.”
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