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The "Green Shot" Competition for Students Films
Winner - Mini Nature
The short films, created by students, display the relations of love and exploitation man has with nature, explore the effects of globalization, the fauna and flora in urban surroundings, the relations between wealth and the government, government and the environment and raise questions concerning today's consumer culture. The competition is a way for students from all over Israel to present their unique point of points of view of the environmental changes they witness via cinema, in films no longer than 10 min each.
Competition Winner - Mini Nature, By Anat Masad and Anat Rimald from Holon Institute of Technology.
The winning film will be awarded a 7000 nis prize.
The "Green Shot" competition is supported by Applied Materials.
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The "Green Jerusalem" International Film Competition
Winner - Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai
A central part of the EcoCinema Festival is the International Film Competition. The films are sent from all over the world, from such places as Canada, USA, China and even Luxemburg. The films topics range from the connection nature has with peace, through the lives of wild horses, beautiful sharks and the industry which feeds of them, fights for social justice in the Amazon and creative ways to conserve water and energy. This competition is the first of its kind in Israel.
Competition Winner: Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai. Vieres Choise: Sharkwater. Special Mention: About Water (Uber Wasser).
The films participation in the competition: Blue Gold: World Water Wars, About Water (Uber Wasser), Chasing Wild Horses, Crude, No Impact Man, Sharkwater, Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai, The Age of Stupid and Umbrella.
Jury Members: Filmmaker Noam Shnider, Actress and environmentalist Ricki Blich and CEO of Ecotourism Israel, Michal Vimer-Luria.
Jury's reasoning:
The judging committee has decided to grant the award for the International Competition for Environmental Documentaries at EcoCinema Environmental film Festival 2009, to the movie: Taking Root: The vision of Wangari Maathai. We feel that this film is most worthy of receiving a spotlight of importance and a warm recommendation to anyone and everyone to view this film and to learn from it.
In addition to this film being a well made, intriguing and exciting documentary, its greatest importance is of course Wangari Maathai herself, a woman who started her way as a young girl in a small rural village and is today a part of Kenya’s parliament and a Nobel Prize winner for peace.
Maathai’s amazing path, the first women in eastern Africa to hold the title of a professor, a path opener in the realm of equality, environment and society in Kenya, and has brought a true and deep change in the society in which she lives.
Her charismatic figure as it is revealed in the film, envokes in the viewer a feeling of true inspiration proving that any human can bring a true change in their personal lives as well as a worldwide change.
Her amazing, brave, touching and against all chances battle, in a patriarchal, corrupt, un-environmental, discriminating society and under a dictatorship, reverberates in the hearts of the viewers.
Maathai understood throughout her life, and explains in this film – the tight relationship between environment, society and politics. Why tree cutting, pollution and contamination of nature is strictly related to a weakened society, prevention of basic human rights, and a distorted government.
We feel that this is the most correct and immediate message that needs to reach viewers everywhere – every single person can make a difference. Every single person can fight for what is important to them and win.
An ecological, environmental perception does not end in recycling and cleaning up, it is a deep and determined social perception which demands justice, social and economical balance and maintaining human rights, the stopping of abuse, exploitation and coercion of nature, property and human lives which we whiteness on a daily basis all over the world.
Just as Wangari Maathai began with tree planting and ended with a change in the self perception of Kenya’s citizens for ever – we must change our perception from base up. This film truly gives the feeling that this can indeed be done. As simple as planting a tree, this movie should be screened in each and every school in Israel and around the world.
For all these reasons we are happy to grant this award to the movie Taking Root: The vision of Wangari Maathai.
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