More Than Honey

The third annual San Francisco Green Film Festival is pleased to present the San Francisco premieres of over 20 internationally acclaimed environmentally focused feature films. The highly anticipated festival will take place Thursday, May 30 through Wednesday, June 5, 2013 ending appropriately on United Nation’s World Environment Day. Festival tickets are on sale now at the festival website: sfgreenfilmfest.org. Tickets are $12 per screening or $200 for a full pass to the festival’s over 50 films and events.

The 2013 San Francisco Green Film Festival includes over 50 films from around the globe, with over 70 visiting filmmakers and guest speakers covering environmental topics surrounding clean energy, green chemistry, food, housing, trash, water, and art in the environment.

The festival’s main venue and headquarters is New People Cinema in Japantown. Other Festival Venues Include: Goldman Theater at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, Superfrog Gallery in Japantown, and SPUR Urban Center. Lead sponsors of the 2013 event include Earthjustice and Recology.

For ticket information and festival updates please visit sfgreenfilmfest.org.

Festival Highlights

• Opening Night SF Premiere of Rebels With A Cause.
• SF Premiere of Bidder 70 with filmmakers Beth and George Gage and special guest Tim DeChristopher in attendance, following his release from prison on April 21, 2013. Discover DeChristopher’s extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability.
• SF Premiere of Dear Governor Cuomo with director Jon Bowermaster. Watch incredible acts of ‘fracktivism’ in the push for a ban on fracking in New York State. The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo, Joan Osborne, Citizen Cope, Medeski Martin and Wood and many more.
• SF Premiere of Mark Decena’s Watershed with special guest Jamie Redford in attendance.
• West Coast Premiere of Tiny – A Story About Living Small with filmmakers Merete Mueller and Christopher Smith. Learn about the tiny house movement in a special outdoor screening at SPUR Urban Center.
• Centerpiece screening and Northern California Premiere of More Than Honey, a dazzling in-depth look at honeybee colonies from Academy-Award nominated director Markus Imhoof.
• Spotlight of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer (Rivers And Tides, 2001) with SF Premieres of two new feature films, Breathing Earth and Garden In The Sea.
• Kalyanee Mam’s A River Changes Course, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Winner at Sundance 2013.
• Closing Night SF Premiere of Andrew Garrison’s Trash Dance on UN World Environment Day, June 5.

Festival Feature Films

Wednesday, May 22
Tiny follows one couple's attempt to build a Tiny House from scratch with no building experience, and profiles other families who have downsized their lives into houses smaller than the average parking space. Fresh off its premiere at SXSW 2013, Tiny will feel perfectly sized for an outdoor screening in the street-turned-pedestrian plaza atmosphere of Annie Alley. With short film Eskimal. This sneak peek of the 2013 San Francisco Green Film Festival will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, on Wednesday, May 22 at 7:00pm at Spur Urban Center.

Thursday, May 30
Rebels with a Cause officially opens the SF Green Film Festival on Thursday, May 30th. Bay Area filmmakers Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto will attend this SF Premiere. The film celebrates the compelling and epic story of those who fought to save the Marin County coast. Shows Thursday May 30, 7 PM at New People Cinema. Opening Night Party to follow at 9:00 PM.

Friday, May 31
Watershed, directed by Bay Area’s Mark Decena, premieres in SF premiere on Friday, May 31st at 6:00 PM. Watershed is co-produced by Jamie Redford and explores the dramatic changes that the Colorado River has undergone and inspires viewers to make more sustainable water choices. Mark Decena and Jamie Redford in attendance.

Dear Governor Cuomo, directed by Jon Bowermaster premieres in SF on Friday, May 31st at 8:00 PM. The film documents a music concert that was urgently produced by environmental activists in an effort to ban hydraulic-fracturing in New York. Jon Bowermaster will attend the screening and the film will be followed by a panel discussion hosted by Climate One (Commonwealth Club) on fracking in California. 

Saturday, June 1
Garden in the Sea (Jardin en el Mar), directed by internationally acclaimed director and cinematographer Thomas Riedelsheimer is a visually stunning documentary about art, landscape and environmental conservation. The story follows Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias as she creates a commissioned underwater installation in the Sea of Cortez. Shows at 12:00 noon on Saturday, June 1st.

Terra Blight, directed by Isaac Brown will premiere in SF at 2:15 PM on Saturday, June 1st. and followed by panel discussion Cradle-to-Cradle. The film exposes the life cycle of computers, from the US gamers who play en masse, to the young Ghanaians who mine toxic waste dumps to salvage metal for their school tuition.

Shored Up, directed by Ben Kalina looks at the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and lessons learned from continually rising sea levels. Shows at 4:00 PM on Saturday, June 1st.

Powerless, directed by Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar examines the power struggle in Kanpur, India because the balance of supply and demand for electrical power is disrupted. The conflict highlights the effects on paying customers, impoverished Indians who splice power lines for their power and the power companies. This sneak preview is at 6:30 PM on Saturday, June 1st.

A River Changes Course, directed by Kalyanee Mam follows three Cambodians who struggle to support themselves and their families as the environment rapidly changes. This will show at the David Brower Center in Berkeley at 7:00 PM on Saturday, June 1st.

La Source, directed by Patrick Shen documents Josue Lajeunesse’s return to his native Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He leaves Princeton New Jersey to help a rural community create a viaduct to access clean water. Shows at 8:45 PM on Saturday, June 1st. Patrick Shen in attendance.

Sunday, June 2
Vanishing Point , directed by Stephen A. Smith and Julia Szucs premieres in SF at 11:00 AM on Sunday, June 2nd. This film is about Polar Eskimo’s “finding the way in a shifting world”. With the intrusion of technology and climate change, Vanishing Point looks at the effects on the tradition and lives of the fewer than 1000 Polar Eskimos still living in the northwest region of Greenland and Baffin Island, Canada.

Because I Live Longer than You, directed by Henriette Bornkamm and Carl Fechner, premieres in the USA at 1:00 PM on Sunday, June 2nd with English subtitles. Starting when he was 9 years old, Felix Finkbeiner has collaborated with youth internationally to address both environmental and social issues. Whether he challenges politicians regarding environmental policy, works with a 15 year old Nairobi girl to fight against female genital mutilation in her slum, or campaigns with a 13 year old Iraqi boy against child abuse, Felix is inspiring and inspired whose passion gives hope for the future.

Unacceptable Levels, directed by Edward Brown will premiere in SF at 3:00 PM on Sunday, June 2nd. “It tells the story of toxic chemicals in just about every aspect of our lives, and the egregious lack of regulation. Our ability to protect our families is at stake." - Joan Blades. Followed by panel discussion with the filmmakers and leading experts.

Trashed, directed by Candice Brady will show at 5:30 PM on Sunday, June 2nd. Jeremy Irons takes us through the landscape of trash worldwide that result from over-consumption and wastefulness. The film profiles San Francisco’s adoption of the Zero Waste recycling and explores solutions to this urgent problem. The score for Trashed was composed by Academy Award winner Vangelis.

More Than Honey, directed by Markus Imhoof, is the Festival Centerpiece and shows at 8:00 PM on Sunday, June 2nd. This is the bee movie to end all bee movies. We discover the world from the perspective of the bees. Markus Imhoof will be in attendance at this Centerpiece screening.

Monday, June 3
Bidder 70, directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, premieres in San Francisco just weeks after the film’s protagonist, Tim DeChrstopher was released from prison after serving a sentence for an act of nonviolent civil disobedience. Shows at 5:30 PM on Monday, June 3rd and will be attended by Tim DeChrostopher and Beth and George Gage.

Switch, directed by Harry Lynch is showing at 8:00 PM on Monday June, 3rd. The film explores the vast landscape of energy generation from coal mines to oil rigs, granted access to a hydro facility and see world’s energy sources and consumption through the metrics and understanding of a trained geologist, Scott Tinker.

Tuesday, June 4
Plastic Paradise, directed by Angela Sun will show at SF Public Library Main Branch at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, June 4th in the Festival’s free youth program. An island of garbage stars in this film as Angela Sun discovers the Pacific’s mysterious Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

In Organic We Trust, directed by Kip Pastor, the film shows at 5:45 on Tuesday, June 4th and investigates the meaning of “certified organic”.

Breathing Earth, director Thomas Riedelsheimer’s second film in this year’s festival, will premiere in California at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 4th. Following Japanese sculptor Susumu Shingu as he creates art that come to life interacting with the natural elements, specifically, the wind.

Big Boys Gone Bananas!*, directed by Fredrik Gertten will show at 8:15 PM on Tuesday, June 4th. As a muckraker, Gertten took on the Dole Food Company in 2009 and has since experienced the PR and legal battles that inevitably followed. A discussion on media censorship follows the screening.

Wednesday, June 5
Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth, directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black, premieres in SF on UN World Earth Day at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, June 5th. Following six indigenous Maya in Guatemala and Chiapas through their daily and sacred ceremonial lives, the film provided an alternative vision of the world.

Trash Dance, directed by Andrew Garrison, is an uplifting and inspirational film for SFGFF closing night. Premieres in SF at 8:00 PM on Wednesday, June 5th. This film has won audiences over at various festivals and the showing coincides with UN World Environment Day. Andrew Garrison in attendance.

About the San Francisco Green Film Festival
The San Francisco Green Film Festival (SFGFF) is the West Coast’s leading destination for groundbreaking and compelling films on the urgent environmental issues of our time. Our mission is to educate and connect communities through forward-thinking programs of environmental films and discussions. Launched in 2011, SFGFF presents an annual film festival each spring, along with year-round community screenings and events in the San Francisco Bay Area. SFGFF brings critical and contemporary environmental issues to local audiences and highlights the vital work of our many partners, including local businesses, schools, and non-profit organizations. Since 2011, we’ve partnered with over 30 community organizations, presented over 150 programs, and inspired over 5,000 attendees.

For ticket information, and the full Festival Program please visit: sfgreenfilmfest.org.

San Francisco Green Film Festival

San Francisco Green Film Festival

The San Francisco Green Film Festival is the West Coast’s leading destination for groundbreaking and compelling films on the urgent environmental issues of our time. As global temperatures skyrocket and media coverage of climate change vanishes, our mission is to educate and connect communities through forward-thinking programs of environmental films and discussions. Launched in 2011, SFGFF presents an annual film festival each Spring as well as year-round community screenings and events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Find out how you can get involved and take action!

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