EarthxFilm 2020 Program - Reimagined

2020 PROGRAM . DALLAS, TX

THE FIRST VIRTUAL RESERVE TO CONNECT, EDUCATE, AND PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT

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VICTORY PARK DALLAS 2020 VICTORY PARK DALLAS 2020 EarthX.org/wildvr COMING 2020 Teleport to the heart of wildlife in impossible proximity, by visiting dome April @ Klyde proximity.

Warren Park, Teleportour to immersive the heart of wildlife in 22 impossible and 4.24 - 4.26 @ Fair Park during Earthx2020

Our Mission EarthxFilm showcases films and emerging media that explore conservation, climate change and the environment while honoring the heroes working to protect our planet. Our mission is to turn awareness into action, through art and media. We achieve our goals by partnering with top environmental, film, and entertainment organizations across the globe.

Table of Contents Welcome Letter 3 How to Fest & Venues 5 Box Office & Ticketing 6 Feature Films 8 Shorts Programs 18 Jackson Wild Shorts Program 26 Family Friendly Films 27 Events 28 Panels 29 Awards 31 Judges 33 EarthXR 34 EarthxFilmEdu 48 Board, Founders, Council & Team 52 EarthxFilm Team 53 Sponsors & Special Thanks 55 Map & Venues 57

Cover Photo: Okavango: River Of Dreams, courtesy of National Geographic.

JOIN US AT EARTHX2020 AND BE

INSPIRED

BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS WHO ARE HELPING

PROTECT

OUR PLANET FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY USES THE POWER OF SCIENCE, EXPLORATION, EDUCATION AND STORYTELLING TO ILLUMINATE AND PROTECT THE WONDER OF OUR WORLD. TO L E A R N MO R E V I S I T N ATG E O.O RG

Welcome Letter Welcome to EarthxFilm 2020 We have been pointing towards this landmark year - the 50th anniversary of Earth Day - for a long time. We are proud to celebrate this milestone for the planet with an impressive body of work from top environmental storytellers in Film and Immersive Media, many in attendance at this year’s festival.

You will find numerous stories of people who are doing inspiring work to protect our planet for future generations. You will meet everyday heroes who are toiling away in relative obscurity with long odds, yet they remain deeply committed to their cause.

And then, there is the perseverant Jane Goodall who has seen the best and the worst this world can offer, yet won’t give up because she knows that out there, there are young people who will carry on her critical mission. She knows, and we know that we have to continue believing and fighting for this planet.

The world is heating up to the point we can no longer call it climate change, but rather the ever more urgent “climate emergency.” Multiple ecosystems are in crisis if not full-on collapse with untold ramifications for the future. These are some of the hard stories you will see during EarthxFilm, which are beautiful, powerful, and at times, painful to watch but, most of all, critical to know.

There is so much more to discover at EarthxFilm, including a world premiere concert experience created by artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford featuring the legendary Robert Redford, the world’s largest array of environmental VR, AR and MR projects at EarthXR and new this year, the Planet911 Youth Film Competition Winners produced in conjunction with Creative Visions and Instagram.

EarthxFilm is proud to be partnering with the Dallas International Film Festival powered by Capital One to screen films at the Magnolia Theater, Uptown in West Village, April 17-23. EarthxFilm will then continue at Fair Park from April 24-26 during Earthx2020.

Please dive into it all. Engage and step forward to make a difference. It’s the only way forward.

Michael Cain President & Founder, EarthxFilm

Trammell S. Crow Founder, EarthX

David Holbrooke Artistic Director, EarthxFilm

Tony Keane President & CEO, EarthX Welcome Letter 3

E A RT H X

P R ES EN TS

THE WORLD PREMIERE

T H E WA Y O F T H E R A I N HOPE FOR EARTH

A S y m p h o n y, C h o i r, F i l m & S p o k e n Wo r d Experience for Planet Earth

S Ib yl le Sz agga rs Red for d / / TI m Ja nI s F loyd Tho m as Mc Bee / / Robert Red for d H o p e f o r E a rt h Sym p h o ny & C h o Ir

C O M IN G FA L L 2 0 2 0

M u s I c H a l l // F a I r Pa r k // Da l l a s , T X Benefit Concert for EarthX & The Way of the Rain, 501(c)3 Organizations

POWERED BY

For tickets and more information, please visit:

W W W.EA RT HX.O RG

Green Transportation

BEING REIMAGINED

Transportation & How to Fest

We encourage attendees to ride the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to EarthxFilm/DIFF whenever possible. Visit the DART website to learn more about the Red, Blue or Orange lines to Cityplace/Uptown Station for the Magnolia Theatre - West Village stops: dart.org/incs/travelagent/movietheaters.asp Take the DART Light Rail to EarthxFilm @ Fair Park Getting to Fair Park is easy when using the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Green Line to the Fair Park stop, which lets passengers off between Gates 3 and 4. Visit the DART website to learn more about the Green line at: dart.org/riding/dartrailgreenline.asp

Hop the M-Line Trolly to EarthxFilm/DIFF @ Magnolia Theatre - West Village This nostalgic streetcar links the downtown Dallas Arts District with Uptown, including West Village and Klyde Warren Park, where you can transfer to or from DART Rail at Cityplace/ Uptown Station. M-Line service operates seven days a week, learn more at: dart.org/riding/mline.asp Rideshare to EarthxFilm If you need to take a car, we suggest ride-sharing with eCarra, Lyft, or Uber. Ecarra is excessively sustainable eco-luxe ride-sharing service, providing zero-emissions experiences in Tesla vehicles. Available for download in the App Store or at ecarra.com.

Carpool to EarthxFilm If traveling by car, please remember to carpool. The Magnolia Theatre is located in the West Village at 3699 McKinney Avenue Dallas, TX, 75204 on the corner of McKinney & Lemmon. West Village has over 800 free parking spaces centrally located in a parking garage.

When carpooling to Fair Park; parking will be open at Gates 2 and 5. Three light rail lines serve downtown Dallas, Dallas Area, and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) to provide commuter rail to and from Fort Worth.

How to Fest

1. Read through the film schedule and choose the films you want to see.

2.

Purchase a ticket to individual films or a pass if you plan to attend many screenings and events over multiple days.

Tickets and passes are available at EarthxFilm.org, dallasiff.org, at the Box Office at Magnolia Theatre, Fair Park, and various venues in the kick-off week leading up to EarthX.

3. Look online for free or discounted tickets at exhibitor booths throughout EarthX or through local businesses, coffee shops, and the EarthxFilm Community Partner Program.

4. Download the EarthxFilm app for film schedules, event information, and more!

5. Go see these impressive films and be sure to follow us on social and tag @EarthxFilm, #EarthxFilm, #EarthX, @wearedallasfilm, #WeAreDallasFilm, #DallasIFF2020.

Transportation & How to Fest 5

Box Office & Ticketing

BEING REIMAGINED

Box Office EarthxFilm (EXF) / Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) Box Office Located at the Landmark’s Magnolia Theatre (April 17-22) Address: West Village, 3699 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX 75204 Phone: 469-354-5712 Box Office Hours: April 16-23: 12:00-8:00 p.m.

Other Box Office Locations Thursday, April 23: 7:30p.m. - The Texas Theatre Friday, April 24: 12-8 p.m. - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Cedars Saturday, April 25: 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. - Fair Park Sunday, April 26: 9:30 a.m.-7:40 p.m. - Fair Park

Tickets & Passes Tickets and passes are available for sale at EarthxFilm.org, Dallasiff.org, at the EarthxFilm venues at Fair Park during the kick-off week leading up to Earthx2020.

All EXF / DIFF festival tickets and passes include general admission to Earthx2020 at Fair Park, April 24-26.

Tickets

EXF/DIFF Festival Individual Screening Tickets $13 Individual admission to any regular EarthxFilm (EXF) and Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) screenings.

EXF Centerpiece Film Screening $15 Individual admission to the EXF Centerpiece screening; includes access to after-party event with complimentary food on Thursday, April 23 at the Texas Theatre.

EXF Centerpiece Film Screening VIP Ticket $35 Individual admission to the EXF Centerpiece screening; includes access to Red Carpet Cocktail Reception and after-party event with complimentary food on Thursday, April 23 at the Texas Theatre.

Passes

DIFF/EXF RUSH Pass (NEW!) $40 Admits one (1) guest for an unreserved, single, first-comefirst-served seat if presented in the designated theater waiting lines pending release of unoccupied single seats 15 minutes prior to showtime No Festival Lounge Access EarthxFilm Only Pass $75 One (1) reserved seat for regular EarthxFilm screenings at DIFF 2020 and at the EarthxFilm venues at Fair Park* Excludes Opening Night Film, Closing Night Film & Centerpiece Film No Festival Lounge Access

6 Box Office & Ticketing

Box Office & Ticketing

Excludes Opening Night Film, Closing Night Film & Centerpiece Film Capital One Festival Lounge Access

BEING REIMAGINED

DIFF/EXF Festival Pass $250 One (1) reserved seat for regular DIFF/EXF 2020 screenings*

DIFF/EXF Star Pass $500 Includes two (2) reserved seats for all DIFF/EXF 2020 screenings, Opening Night DIFF/EXF films* VIP Access to Opening Night DIFF Party Closing Night DIFF Film* VIP Access to Closing Night Festivities DIFF/EXF Centerpiece Film* Capital One Festival Lounge Access

*Passholders must be in their seats 15 minutes before screening time to guarantee their seats.

Special Event Tickets

The Way of the Rain | Hope for the Earth Tickets $30-$250 Tickets available through Ticketmaster and the Box Office at Music Hall. For info, call 214.691.7200 or visit EarthX.org.

Charge by phone 800.745.3000. Purchase online at Ticketmaster.com. Event on Saturday, April 25 at the Music Hall - Fair Park.

EarthxGlobalGala Tickets $350+ Tickets available at EarthX.org for this eco-star-studded evening of elegance held on Friday, April 24, at The Statler Hotel.

Common Ground Tickets $50 Tickets available at EarthX.org for this pop-up dinner celebrating the story of food and the heroes behind what we eat, held on Monday, April 20 at location.

EarthxDance 2020 FREE to the public This free public event at Klyde Warren Park will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day through dance, music, art, film, and media. More information at EarthX.org.

Box Office & Ticketing 7

EarthxFilm is thrilled to partner with the Dallas International Film Festival, powered by Capital One (DIFF). All eyes from the local, regional, national and international film and environmental communities will be in Dallas this April 2020.

This partnership joins the largest film festival in North Texas, DIFF, with EarthxFilm, the leader in the environmental film festival space in the Southwest, to screen 180+ films from an estimated 40 countries. The following is the schedule for EarthxFilm showtimes.

For more information about and our full program, please visit EarthxFilm.org.

FEATURE FILMS 09 SHORTS PROGRAMS 18 FAMILY FRIENDLY 27

Feature Films CURRENT SEA Cambodia/Malaysia/USA, 2020, 90 min.

Overfishing of the ocean’s waters is happening all over the world, having a horrendous impact not only on marine ecosystems but also on the local fishermen who depend on these habitats for their livelihood. That is undoubtedly the case in Cambodia, where illegal fishing is devastating this once robust seascape. Current Sea explores the situation in a tense and riveting way by following a couple of deeply committed expats who are determined to end this scourge and bring justice to the perpetrators, but of course, put themselves into great peril along the way.

DIR Christopher Smith PROD Stephanie Lincoln, Christopher Smith

FIRE ON THE HILL: THE COWBOYS OF SOUTH CENTRAL L.A. USA, 2019, 79 min.

South Central Los Angeles is known for a lot of things, but being home to an urban cowboy culture is not top of the list. Fire on the Hill tells the story of this littleknown community, and how a mysterious fire in 2012 nearly wrecked it all, but ultimately, this film celebrates how resilience is the key to navigating life. They may have different paths, but being on a horse keeps these three cowboys moving forward against all the odds.

DIR Brett Fallentine PROD Brett Fallentine, Jenna Cedicci, Jordana Glick-Franzheim, Steven Amato, Jimmy Greenway, Sean-Michael Smith

Feature Films 9

Feature Films JANE GOODALL: THE HOPE USA, 2020, 88 min.

Jane Goodall is indefatigable. At 86 years old, she is on the move nonstop, rushing around the world to make sure that she can raise money for her critical work. The terrific documentary Jane, released in 2017, focused on this remarkable woman’s origin story while this new film, The Hope by National Geographic, gives an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the fascinating process of being Jane Goodall, global icon. We get a real insight into how she does what she does and also what it costs her. Somehow, she makes it all happen by having a top-rate staff, a keen strategic awareness, and endless good cheer, some of which is helped along by a little nip-at-night of alcohol. As she says once in the film while imbibing, “I think I have earned this.” Yes, she most definitely has.

DIR Elizabeth Leiter, Kim Woodard PROD Greg Henry, George Kralovansky, Isaac Holub

LAST WILD PLACES USA, 2020, 60 min.

The famed biologist E.O. Wilson has worked to start a campaign called Half Earth, which posits that we need to put aside fifty percent of the planet’s surface and dedicate it to animal species. It is a big, bold idea, and the National Geographic Society is making its own ambitious efforts on this with its own Campaign for Nature, which aims to protect thirty percent of the planet by 2030. Last Wild Places is a film that looks at different areas around the world where this effort is already underway, and it has to be given how quickly 2030 is coming up.

DIR/PROD Vanessa Serrao, Sarah Joseph

10 Feature Films

Feature Films MIRACLE FISHING USA, 2020, 106 min.

In 1994 agronomist Tom Hargrove was kidnapped

by FARC, a Colombian rebel terrorist group. Their strategy was pretty straightforward:to get a ransom or kill him. The Hargrove family were immediately thrust into a crisis situation as they had to desperately negotiate with Tom’s captors. The elder son Miles was an aspiring filmmaker who made the prescient - and perhaps therapeutic - decision to film the entire time his father was in captivity. Twenty-five years after the ordeal, Miles Hargrove has completed this gripping film, a true labor of love unlike anything else you have seen. Miles and his wife, Emily, are long-standing members of the Dallas film community and will be in attendance for this screening in conjunction with Dallas International Film Festival.

DIR Miles Hargrove PROD Miles Hargrove, Eric F. Martin, Christopher Birge

MOSSVILLE: WHEN GREAT TREES FALL USA, 2019, 75 min.

Mossville is haunting, disturbing and essential viewing. It tells the story of Mossville, a small town in Louisiana where a giant chemical plant has landed, displacing its long-time African-American residents. One of them says in a home video: “I am human just like you. I breathe. I think. Just like you.” She died from cancer not long after, and her son Stacey says, “That is why we fight.” In the long-time, uphill battle for environmental justice, “disposable people,” as another character says, are left behind. It is tragic and heartbreaking, but there are people - and you meet them in this forcible documentary - who are not going to go without a fight, which is deeply inspiring. “I want them to know that we existed.”

DIR Alexander John Glustrom PROD Catherine Rierson, Katie Mathews, Daniel Bennett

Feature Films 11

Feature Films MY OCTOPUS TEACHER South Africa, 2019, 85 min.

How often do we get to have a conversation with nature? That is at the essence of this incredibly special documentary, which tracks the unique friendship between a free diver named Craig Foster, who plunges daily into the cold waters off the coast of Africa, and an octopus. Yes, a friendship with an octopus. One day, Foster comes across the young octopod and returns to visit her again and again, slowly building a relationship that is captured on film.

What we see is strangely simple and wildly remarkable as the two creatures form an undeniable bond. The film gives enormous insight into how these astonishing creatures live, eat, defend themselves, and even play which this octopus does with her new human friend.

DIR Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed PROD Craig Foster

OKAVANGO: RIVER OF DREAMS Botswana, 2019, 94 min.

Initially framed as a “love letter� to the Okavango Delta, this visually stunning documentary takes its audience deep into this unique Botswana landscape. The film focuses on the diverse array of species that make their habitat there, creating legitimate movie stars out of lions and other delta dwellers. It is not easy to convey how this complicated ecosystem works in glorious concert, but somehow the filmmakers, the legendary Beverly and Dereck Joubert, achieve this lofty goal. While they manage to educate and edify us about its marvels, they also leave anyone who watches this film quite in love with the Okavango Delta itself.

DIR Dereck Joubert, Beverly Joubert PROD Dereck Joubert, Beverly Joubert, Ivo Filatsch

12 Feature Films

Feature Films PUBLIC TRUST USA, 2020, 96 min.

Our public lands are a complicated mix of good intentions and shady deals, which this documentary does its damndest to explain. What we learn is that very little is straightforward in this murky world as various entities, including politicians, ranchers, extractionists, and outdoor enthusiasts, all jockey for some part of what rightly belongs to every American. Narrated by Robert Redford and executive produced by Yvon Chouinard with Patagonia, Public Trust weaves together an assortment of stories, connected by the indefatigable journalist, Hal Herring. Working tirelessly to shine a light on the chicanery involved with public lands, Herring also shows us why they matter - or should matter so much to each of us.

DIR David Byars PROD Jeremy Rubingh

REBUILDING PARADISE USA, 2020, 95 min.

After the horrific wildfire in Paradise, California that claimed 85 lives (the most in the state’s history) acclaimed director Ron Howard, who had spent time in the town, had a simple idea: to understand what happens when the cameras leave after such a devastating calamity. The result is his important documentary, which follows a year’s endeavor to literally rebuild paradise. The efforts by the tight-knit community are heroic and inspiring, but also impossibly hard as the ashen scars from the inferno are both deep and real.

DIR Ron Howard PROD Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Justin Wilkes, Sara Bernstein, Xan Parker

Feature Films 13

Feature Films SPACESHIP EARTH USA, 2019, 116 min.

Imagine that the planet becomes uninhabitable, and these days, any number of scenarios could make it so - what would we do then?

That is the question that a brilliant thinker named John Allen tried to answer with something he called Biosphere 2 (Biosphere 1 is the Earth). His bold plan - largely funded

by Fort Worth resident Ed Bass - was to build a big structure in the Arizona desert with various systems water, plants, and other necessities of life - then have a crew go in there to see how they would survive in this alien landscape. Not surprisingly, this did not go according to plan. Still, even with some mishaps and missteps, this grand experiment resulted in real accomplishments and lessons that will come in handy when science fiction actually becomes a reality.

DIR Matt Wolf PROD Stacey Reiss, Matt Wolf

THE COST OF SILENCE USA, 2020, 86 min.

It has been ten years since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, causing one of the most hideous environmental disasters in American history. This epic malfeasance was perpetrated by the oil company, BP, which exacerbated its hellish damage on the delicate Gulf ecosystem by spraying a nasty chemical all over the region, intended initially to disperse the black stain. Director Mark Manning spent a good chunk of the last decade reporting on what happened to the communities who had to live amongst and breathe in the dispersant. The results are deeply disturbing with a litany of cancer clusters and other health scourges throughout the area’s working-class population. It is not easy to take this all in, but it is essential to understand how the system works to fail the people affected by this debacle.

DIR Mark Manning PROD Mark Manning, Langdon Page, Reuben Aaronson

14 Feature Films

Feature Films THE GREAT GREEN WALL USA, 2019, 91 min.

This documentary pulses with energy and purpose as it follows the Malian singer, Inna Modja, on her ambitious and inspiring journey across Africa. Her mission is to help build a green wall of trees that will start to offset the desertification happening in the Sahel region that is particularly feeling the effects of climate change. It is not an easy journey. There are multiple challenges from skeptics and other oppositions, but Modja is formidable and will not be defeated. Ultimately, this will be an 8000-kilometer edifice, the largest natural structure in the world, three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef. It is well on its way, so far, having built fifteen percent, proving determination can conquer the seemingly impossible.

DIR Jared P. Scott PROD Sarah Macdonald, Nick North, Charly Feldman, Jared P. Scott

THE SOCIAL DILEMMA USA, 2019, 93 min.

Director Jeff Orlowski is not afraid to take on hard subjects. He has directed two documentaries in the climate crisis canon Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral - but has now turned his keen eye towards another scourge: social media.

Orlowski jokes that this subject was scarier than making films about melting glaciers or dying coral reefs, but of course, the role of social media in our lives really is terrifying. The compelling experts in the film explain how these huge companies are rewiring our brains, and as one says, they are basically using billions of dollars and massive supercomputers to aim their powers right at our heads in unprecedented ways. A collapsing natural planet is alarming as hell, but so is what is happening in this terrifying new world of social media.

DIR Jeff Orlowski PROD Larissa Rhodes

Feature Films 15

Feature Films THE STORY OF PLASTIC USA, 2019, 89 min.

In the 1967 film, The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman’s character, Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, is told by a family friend, that the future is plastics. How right he was.

And how unfortunate that he was so right because single-use plastics have such a pernicious effect on our lives, it is often hard to comprehend. The Story of Plastic works to help us understand the scope and scale of this global scourge. Produced with the same folks who made the widely-seen Story of Stuff, this documentary takes us around the globe to see how plastic has taken over our world, having a deleterious impact that is far beyond anything imagined by screenwriters more than 50 years ago.

DIR Deia Schlosberg PROD Deia Schlosberg, Stiv Wilson, Megan Ponder, Kyle Cadotte

WATERSCHOOL USA, 2018, 67 min.

Waterschool is an empowering program that helps young women who live along major rivers understand how this precious ecosystem works.

The film is a global look at various Waterschools through the eyes of the students there, many of whom come from extremely challenging life circumstances. The schools do much more than educate, ultimately transforming the lives of these eager and sharp young women who are ready to make the most of this opportunity.

DIR A collaborative team effort with UCLA TFT Graduate Filmmaking Students equally sharing credit and responsibilities.

PROD Nadja Swarovski, Teri Schwartz

Feature Films 17

2020 EarthxFilm Shorts Programs Science in Action Shorts Is there anything more critical to the long term health of our planet and its people than the work of scientists?

This fun and smart program introduces you to an array of scientists who need to get out of the lab and into the field to do their fascinating work.

Golden • Chasing Ghosts Echoes In The Arctic • The Love Bugs

On the Edge Shorts The people you will meet in this exciting program have all made decisions to take the hard road. They could play it safe or make it easy on themselves, but some people just aren’t comfortable being comfortable, and that can be inspiring.

Ode To Desolation • The Long Haul • Venture Out Lowland Kids • Akashinga • Step Outside

Offbeat Green Shorts Many environmental films are earnest in their sensibility and storytelling style. That is certainly not the case with these films, which are wildly curious and wonderfully different in their approach and attitude.

Ferryman At The Wall • Melted Nobody Dies In Longyearbyen • Lost World Counter Mapping • The Church Forests Of Ethiopia

A FISTFUL OF RUBBISH Playing in front of The Story of Plastic Spain, 2019, 14 min.

This film feels funnily familiar because it takes some of the famous tropes of spaghetti westerns from a time gone by, and gives it a clever twist. What is significantly less clever is the real-world message that this doc conveys. It appears the iconic sets for these famous films have now been trashed with, well, trash. Luckily, there is an effort afoot to right this wrong and clean up the mess left behind.

DIR/PROD David Regos

AKASHINGA

On the Edge Shorts USA, Zimbabwe, 2019, 14 min.

The illegal hunting and killing of elephants has been an enormous challenge for Zimbabwe. In an effort to combat this scourge, the country has established an elite troop of rangers, all of whom are women, and called Akashinga. The film, executive produced by James Cameron, shows how the women’s training is brutal and rigorous, but their commitment unwavering, motivated by a steadfast belief in their mission.

DIR Maria Wilhelm PROD Kim Butts, Drew Pulley, Maria Wilhelm

CHASING GHOSTS

Science In Action Shorts USA, 2019, 16 min.

This all-too-true film is the stuff of myth and legend where obsessive people have strange yet intriguing quests that take them to alluring landscapes. The people in this story are scientists and photographers. The setting is a murky, muddy, alligator, and snake-filled swamp in a remote part of Florida, a character in itself. What consumes them is the Ghost Orchid, a rare and enigmatic flower. Their mission: to identify the pollinator - which remains unknown.

DIR/PROD Eric Bendick

COUNTER MAPPING

Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2018, 10 min.

Jim Enote, a traditional Zuni farmer and director of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, is working with Zuni artists to create maps that bring an indigenous voice and perspective back to the land. The goal, to counter Western notions of place and geography while challenging the arbitrary borders imposed on the Zuni world.

DIR Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften PROD Adam Loften, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Shorts Programs 19

ECHOES IN THE ARCTIC Science in Action Shorts USA, 2020, 17 min.

There is work being done all over the world that we rarely get to see. Two photographers and explorers, Cristina Mittermaier and Paul Nicklen are leading a team of scientists through the Norwegian Arctic. Their critical mission: to document the orca population in the area as it is the healthiest in the world.

Of course, there is also an interest in oil exploration there, which definitely imperils these remarkable creatures and their unique habitat.

DIR Andy Maser, Paul Nicklen, Tahria Sheather PROD Denise Withers, Tahria Sheather, Andy Maser, Sam Kretchmar

EPOCH Playing in front of Public Trust USA, 2018, 2 min.

This short is a visual poem about our land told through the aerial eye of Google Earth. We are challenged through this lens to understand how both resilient and fragile this planet truly is.

DIR Kevin McGloughlin PROD Adam Loften, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

FERRYMAN AT THE WALL Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2018, 16 min.

Nature knows no borders we learn in this short documentary spanning all three countries in North America. We begin down south, where we meet the Ferryman of the title and other compelling local characters with a smart take on what is actually happening in this controversial landscape. A hop north reveals that what is happening south of the border is wildly similar to what’s mirrored on the Canadian side, proving nature does not take sides.

DIR David Freid

PROD Mor Albalak

GOLDEN

Science in Action Shorts USA, 2019, 8 min.

Eagles are an iconic raptor in this country but not an easy species to study. It requires long travels to remote landscapes and feats of derring-do, like rappelling into eagle’s nests.

Perhaps, in part, it is those extra degrees of difficulty that drew Caitlin Davis to this challenging work, but it is, in fact, something that she actually dreamed about as a child. Once you meet Caitlin Davis in Golden, it will all make sense.

DIR Charles Post

20 Shorts Programs

PROD Charles Post, Dan Holz

GUARDIANS OF THE GULF Playing in front of Waterschool USA, 2020, 30 min.

The Gulf of Mexico is a unique, wildly diverse ecosystem that somehow manages to thrive despite being almost always under attack from hurricanes and humans. There have been massive oil spills (see The Cost of Silence) and overfishing, plus a myriad of other ways that this body has been mistreated.

In Guardians of the Gulf, we meet some of the local folks who live there doing the work to ensure its continued survival.

DIR Cait Martin Newnham, Ulla Laidlow PROD Aine Corby, Jenny Williams

HUDSON GEESE Playing in front of My Octopus Teacher USA, 2019, 6 min.

Geese mate and migrate together for life, a story that unfolds in this animated short that has a tender sensibility. Until it doesn’t. It is hard to explain why without giving it away, but Hudson Geese manages effectively to be both warm and fuzzy and edgy and subversive.

DIR Bernardo Britto

PROD Matt Thompson

LOST WORLD USA, 2018, 16 min.

National interests can end up creating some unusual unforeseen situations. Lost World tells a surprising story of how the small but financially ambitious city-state of Singapore dredges sand from under Cambodia’s mangrove forests to create an artificial “natural” landscape. Seen through the eyes of a Cambodian woman who knows how important mangroves are to ecosystems, we witness how much she and her country is losing in this unfortunate exchange.

DIR Kalyanee Mam PROD Kalyanee Mam, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften

LOWLAND KIDS

On the Edge Shorts USA, 2019, 22 min.

Of course, it is hard to know, but it is estimated that there will be 150 million people across the world who will become refugees because of the climate crisis and the attendant rising seas. Lowland Kids looks at the first Americans who will be forced from their homes. These people reside on the Isle de Jean Charles along the Louisiana coast, including a pair of teenagers who are desperately hoping to stay on the island where their family has lived for generations.

DIR Sandra Winther

PROD William Crouse, Lauren Avinoam

Shorts Programs 21

MATTHEW MODINE’S RIPPLE EFFECT Playing in front of Current Sea USA, 2019, 8 min.

For almost four decades, Matthew Modine has been making movies, leaving a real imprint on audiences. His own deeply thought-provoking directorial efforts are less known. With Ripple Effect, Modine, a longtime activist and environmentalist, seeks to find what famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau called “wavemakers,” the remarkable people making extraordinary efforts to save our seas. Modine will be in attendance in Dallas at the second screening if his shooting schedule allows it.

DIR Matthew Modine, Andrew Klein PROD Adam Rackoff, Matthew Modine

MELTED USA, 2020, 5 min.

Melted imagines the future of the world if nothing is done to address the global climate crisis. The year is 2098, the ice caps have melted and all the snow is gone. The world we live in is barren, dry, dystopian and inhospitable to human life. The pursuit of adventure remains as the protagonists seeks the thrill of skiing. Budding filmmaker and professional skier, Sierra Quitiquit makes her directorial debut with this beautiful and emotionally provocative plea to protect what is dearest to her - snow, the natural world and this beautiful planet.

DIR Sierra Quitiquit

NOBODY DIES IN LONGYEARBYEN Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2018, 9 min.

Longyearbyen, Norway, the world’s northernmost city, creates a challenge for people who live there: you are not allowed to be buried there. The permafrost preserves bodies in its icy embrace. Of course, it is tragically melting, creating new disturbing challenges, like the recent flooding of the famous Seed Bank in Svalbard. What the smartly directed film really wants to know is what zombie viruses or people - could emerge from this arctic underground?

DIR David Freid

PROD Mor Albalak

ODE TO DESOLATION On the Edge Shorts USA, 2020, 14 min.

Fire lookouts used to abound across the wilderness in North America, but like so much in the woods, they have become diminished. There are a variety of reasons, including less wild places and advanced technology, but there are some folks still out there looking for smoke amidst the trees. Ode to Desolation introduces us to Jim Henterly, a naturalist and illustrator who continues to do this unusual yet valuable work.

DIR/PROD Lindsey Hagen

ON A WING AND A PRAYER Playing in front of The Cost of Silence USA, 2019, 11 min.

The Louisiana Wetlands are a national treasure that few folks really know about. Filmmakers Nadia and Dominic Gill set out into this untold region to tell us more about a low-flying, high-risk happy pilot and the curious people who inhabit this incredible place in On a Wing and a Prayer, a section of the overall film Last Call for the Bayou.

DIR Dominic Gill 22 Shorts Programs

PROD Nadia Gill

SACRED STRIDES

Playing in front of Public Trust USA, 2018, 13 min.

For many, running heals, but the runners in this film are looking to do more than to feel good - they want their moving feet to have an impact on a critical issue: the Bears Ear National Monument. Since President Obama proclaimed the monument, entities who wish to extract from the mineral-rich region have contested it. On the other side are environmental activists and indigenous people running 800 miles to protect their sacred land.

DIR Forest Woodward, Anna Callaghan, Marie Sullivan PROD Anna Callaghan

SAVING SALMA

Offbeat Green Shorts Indonesia/USA, 2020, 7 min.

This clever short doc tells the story of a young Indonesian elephant named Salma. She had fallen into a hole and was near death when a local conservation group led by a Goldman-prize winning activist banded together with some other noble folks to rescue the gentle giant. The film is both gripping and strangely fun to watch as Salma finds her way back to health.

DIR James Robinson

SHOULDERS DEEP

Playing in front of Mossville USA, 2020, 7 min.

Aniya Wingate was 17 years old when Hurricane Harvey viciously swept into her hometown of Houston, Texas, and displaced her from her grandmother’s home. She tragically became a climate refugee, which will become an all-toocommon story with millions more expected to follow this bleak path in the future. However, Wingate was determined not to let this derail her life and decided to process this extremely challenging experience through a beautifully compelling dance performance.

DIR John Fiege PROD Anita Grabowski, Walter Hull, Christopher Lucas

STEP OUTSIDE On the Edge Shorts USA, 2020, 9 min.

The environmental movement has been working towards positive change for at least half a century, yet this remains hard to come by. That is why many in the movement believe that peaceful civil disobedience is the best tactic for change.

Step Outside tells the story of a one-day protest walk in the Bay area in an activist effort to shut down the Wells Fargo global headquarters.

DIR Quinn Costello

PROD Ralph King

Shorts Programs 23

THE CHURCH FORESTS OF ETHIOPIA Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2019, 10 min.

Allies in the environmental movement can be surprising sometimes. Cue Ethiopia, where the Orthodox Churches have stepped up in the effort to save the country’s forests. The Churches are often surrounded by pockets of primary forest, their faithful making it their duty to help preserve these native landscapes struggling and clear cut from farming and grazing. It is not easy work but perhaps made easier because the church people believe they are doing God’s work.

DIR Jeremy Seifert

PROD Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

THE LONG HAUL On the Edge Shorts USA, 2019, 14 min.

Keeping expeditions supplied is hard work out there on the northside of Alaska’s Denali mountain. Motorized support is not permitted, and the conditions are brutal, with efforts considered to be more perilous than the world-famous Iditarod.

Of course, the people who do this work are not famous, but this short doc shows just how challenging their task is and why they are the right ones to do the job.

DIR Scott Yorko, Zach Doleac

PROD Scott Yorko

THE LOVE BUGS

Science in Action Shorts USA, 2019, 34 min.

“Our love for each other is just beyond me to analyze … we’re scientists, not behaviorists,” says Charles O’Brien, lifelong entomologist, and dedicated husband. While he is reluctant to talk about their relationship, he is voluble about the work that he and his wife, Lois, did over their career, which has led to the collection and identification of more than a million insect species -- the world’s most extensive private collection. This joyful, and yes, loving film recognizes and appreciates their pure passion for each other and the marvelous yet peculiar field of entomology while highlighting their efforts to protect the future of their invaluable insect collection in their old age.

DIR Allison Otto, Maria Clinton PROD Allison Otto, Maria Clinton, Jane Julian

THIS LAND Playing in front of Last Wild Places USA, 2019, 10 min.

Conservationists used to be primarily white men - sometimes bearded, usually cranky - but today’s activists are often people of color. They are also young, passionate, and willing to put themselves in peril for their cause. Faith E. Briggs, advocate and owner of public lands, makes an impact by running 150 miles through three imperiled National Monuments. Arduous but worthwhile, her act inspires each of her fellow landowners to do more to preserve this land.

DIR Chelsea Jolly, Whit Hassett 24 Shorts Programs

PROD Faith E. Briggs

THE RIVER IS ME USA, New Zealand, 2018, 17 min.

This river is now legally a person, but what constitutes a river is up for debate.

DIR David Freid

THE WILD INSIDE Playing in front of Fire on the Hill: The Cowboys of South Central L.A. USA, 2019, 14 min.

Horses can be healing for people and in the short documentary Wild Inside, those people are prisoners and the horses they are learning to train are wild. It’s hard and dangerous work but it gives these men purpose and a real skill that could be helpful on the outside. It also can help them process their problems through that unique bond between man and horse.

DIR Andrew Michael Ellis PROD Andrew Michael Ellis, Shane Slattery-Quintanilla

VENTURE OUT On the Edge Shorts USA, 2020, 15 min.

For some people, coming out as LGBTQ is intimidating enough, but what about queer folks that also want to get out - as in outdoors? To lead the inexperienced, Perry Cohen started a non-profit called Venture Out that works to encourage and inspire the LGBTQ community to take trips into the wilderness and see what a life-improving - if not life-saving - experience this can be.

DIR Palmer Morse, Jamie DiNicola, Matt Mikkelsen PROD Jamie DiNicola, Palmer Morse, Matt Mikkelsen

WHEN THE EARTH MOVES Playing in front of The Great Green Wall USA, 2020, 7 min.

In 1970, Earth Day was a smart new idea that has since turned fifty years later - into a global phenomenon. This short documentary shares the origin story of how this all came about by using old footage and new interviews with people who carry on the critical work of saving our planet today.

DIR Julio Palacio

PROD Tia Nelson, Andy Adams

WILD SPACE Canada, 2019, 9 min.

This high-energy, fast-paced short documentary follows Natalie Panek who is an actual rocket scientist who focuses on space junk. She also loves getting into the backcountry and its wide open spaces, which is perhaps why she is so committed to also making sure that we clean up those outer orbits.

DIR Jordan Manley PROD Diana Bruccullieri, Kaitlyn Stewart, Angela Percival, James Kim, Jill Young, Laura Yale Shorts Programs 25

Jackson Wild Shorts Program Jackson Wild™ believes in the power of media to inspire wonder for our living planet and ignite action to restore and protect it through highimpact collaborations. A renowned international conference for almost 30 years, the Jackson Wild™/United Nations World Wildlife Day Film Showcase inspires a global commitment to restore the natural systems upon which all life depends and empower the radical changes that will be required to do so, within the next decade. jacksonwild.org WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY 3 min.

One word sums up the incredible variety of animals and plants on Earth.

It’s the magic ingredient that enables the world to work smoothly.

HOW TO RAISE BABY CORALS 3 min.

To help struggling coral reefs around the world, an international team of scientists has committed to planting more than a million new colonies of coral by 2021. But first, they have to grow them.

OCEAN FARMER 5 min.

Bren Smith, a former fisherman, turned ocean farmer, and the founder of GreenWave, shares how they are restoring their local seas by growing seaweed and shellfish.

THE STORY OF CABO PULMO 4 min.

The small coastal community of Cabo Pulmo in Mexico decided to stop fishing in 1995 to give their local, overfished seas a chance to bounce back. This is their incredible story of recovery.

FIREFOX GUARDIAN 14 min.

In a small village in Nepal, a native woman steps up as an unconventional warrior to change the unfortunate fate of the Red Pandas in her community forest. This film takes you on a mesmerizing journey with the first female forest guardian, through remote bamboo jungles, scaling the mighty Himalayan wilderness into the hidden world of Red Pandas.

NIGERIANS FIGHT TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S MOST TRAFFICKED MAMMAL 9 min.

Pangolins are believed to be the most trafficked mammals in the world.

As the four Asian species of pangolins have dwindled, poachers are increasingly turning to the African species to supply the trade. In this short film, meet the bold Nigerians who are fighting to protect this gentle and vulnerable creature.

BREATHE 2 min.

At 17 million acres, the Tongass is not only America’s largest national forest, it stores and absorbs more carbon than any other forest in the United States. Over the protests of Alaskans, Americans, and sovereign indigenous governments, the Trump Administration plans to strip protections for more than 9 million acres of the forest, pushing the world that much closer to climate collapse.

AY SANTA ANA 2 min.

A film-poem for Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, known as a Crown Jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The refuge has been threatened with border wall construction.

UNCLE ELEPHANT 5 min.

When he was young, Tuy Sereivathana (Vathana) dreamed of working in the forest. Today his dream is realized in Cambodia’s Prey Lang Forest, where Vathana conserves Asian elephants in collaboration with government partners and the indigenous Kuy community.

(RE)CONNECTING WILD - RESTORING SAFE PASSAGE 12 min.

The remarkable story of the decade-long effort by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and its partners to improve human safety by re-connecting a historic mule deer migration that crosses over both US-93 and I-80 in rural Elko County, Nevada. #NATURENOW 4 min.

A personal and passionate call to arms from Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot to use nature to heal our broken climate. Made with no flights, recycled footage, and zero net carbon. Given away for free.

Viewed 54 Million times.

HOW TO SAVE OUR PLANET 8 min.

“It’s simple.” Sir David Attenborough explains how humans can take charge of our future and save our planet.

26 Jackson Wild Shorts Program

Family Friendly Films Family Friendly Films We want people of all ages to enjoy the programming at EarthxFilm, but know that some of the tough subjects being examined at the festival may be too much for young children. In that spirit, we have scheduled family-friendly programs. The list below can also be used to guide younger audience members to films that are age-appropriate.

Films Any Age Would Enjoy A FISTFUL OF RUBBISH 14 min., Page 19 AKASHINGA 14 min., Page 19 CHASING GHOSTS 16 min., Page 19 ECHOES IN THE ARCTIC 17 min., Page 20 FERRYMAN AT THE WALL 16 min., Page 20 GOLDEN 8 min., Page 20 GUARDIANS OF THE GULF 30 min., Page 21 JANE GOODALL: THE HOPE 88 min., Page 10 LAST WILD PLACES 60 min., Page 10 LOWLAND KIDS 22 min., Page 21 MELTED 5 min., Page 22 MY OCTOPUS TEACHER 85 min., Page 12 ODE TO DESOLATION 14 min., Page 22 ON A WING AND A PRAYER 11 min., Page 23 SACRED STRIDES 13 min., Page 23 SHOULDERS DEEP 7 min., Page 23 STEP OUTSIDE 9 min., Page 24 THE CHURCH FORESTS OF ETHIOPIA 10 min., Page 24 THE LONG HAUL 14 min., Page 24 THE LOVE BUGS 34 min., Page 24 THE RIVER IS ME 17 min., Page 25 THIS LAND 10 min., Page 25 VENTURE OUT 15 min., Page 25 WATERSCHOOL 67 min., Page 17 WHEN THE EARTH MOVES 7 min., Page 26

EarthXR EarthXR returns to inspire audiences to explore the heart and soul of nature through audiovisual journeys across the globe and beyond.

With our most diverse global lineup to date, EarthXR highlights the adventurers and change-makers healing the planet and solving the greatest environmental challenges - from The Grand Canyon to The Amazon.

Immerse yourself with indigenous communities using ancient knowledge to protect the world’s greatest biodiversity, NASA astronauts monitoring climate from space, and scientists creating resilient future cities and using AI to protect rainforests.

Join the rescue teams on the frontlines protecting endangered species - walk with ocelots and pangolins, swim with manatees and gather with gorillas.

See the world from the depths of the sea, the tallest trees and the edges of outer space - all through AI, immersive art, sonic journeys, augmented, mixed and virtual reality.

Family Friendly Films 27

Events

BEING REIMAGINED

EarthxFilm Events Kick-Off Weekend April 17-21, $13 tickets, Various pass levels available EarthxFilm will host multiple screenings featuring filmmakers and Q&As and surprise musical performances throughout the weekend at the Magnolia Theatre and other venues.

Opening Night Screening After Party Friday, April 17, FREE entry with ticket Common Ground Community Dinner: A Celebration of Food, Film and Community Monday, April 20, 6:30-9:30 p.m., $50 Common Ground is a pop-up community dinner that celebrates the stories of food and the people working in innovative ways to produce, deliver, and prepare it.

Earth Dance | The 50th Anniversary of Earth Day Celebration Wednesday, April 22, 4:00-10:00 p.m., FREE, Klyde Warren Park Celebrate with EarthxFilm & Decks in the Park, through dance, music, art, film, and media.

Great Green Wall Post Screening Event Wednesday, April 22, 7:00-9:30 p.m., FREE entry with ticket, Magnolia Theatre Centerpiece Screening Thursday, April 23, 6:30-10:00 p.m., $15 to $35 VIP, Texas Theatre The official kick-off of EarthxFilm, this exciting event will feature a screening of director Dereck and Beverly Joubert’s visually stunning documentary, Okavango: River of Dreams.

Ticket price includes a reception before the screening, a live performance, and an in-depth discussion following the film.

The World Premiere of The Way of the Rain Hope for the Earth Saturday, April 25, 7:30 - 10:00 p.m., $30 - $250, Music Hall - Fair Park Created and Directed by Sibylle Szaggars Redford, in collaboration with music composer Tim Janis, performance ilm artist Floyd Thomas McBee, with a special narration – spoken word by Robert Redford.

EarthxFilm Awards Brunch Awards Brunch presented by Dallas Creative Services Sunday, April 26, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Craft and Growler - Exposition Park The EarthxFilm awards ceremony will include a full breakfast and slate of brilliant filmmakers.

For more info, schedules, and tickets, please visit EarthxFilm.org.

28 Events

Panels EarthxFilm Panels Conversations with Nature In the film, My Octopus Teacher, the main character befriends an octopus - you have to see it to believe it - creating the question of the levels of communication between humans and the natural world around us. A conversation implies two-way communication, but we can learn so much from animals and other creatures when we look at them closely. Caitlin Davis is a naturalist and star of the short documentary, Golden, Jeremy Rubingh is the producer of Public Trust, and Ellen Windemuth is the CEO of Waterbear and the Chair of the Jackson Wild. All three of these humans have spent real time in the natural world, bringing a vast and wealthy perspective on this topic.

Communicating the Climate Crisis We know that language matters, so how we talk about the rising temperatures on earth matters. Global warming and climate change have been the primary terms, but with the situation continuing to worsen in ways that are close to home (check out Rebuilding Paradise), climate crisis, climate chaos, and climate emergency are now part of the lexicon. Diving right into what this shift means and how can we use language to incentivize people to take action are Thimali Kodikara, the producer of Mothers of Invention, a podcast that looks at climate from a feminist perspective, Avery McRae, one of the climate kids suing the U.S. Government and Jeff Orlowski, director of the essential environmental docs, Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral as well as Social Dilemma playing at this year’s festival.

Panels 29

GlobalGala An Eco-Star-Studded Evening of Elegance

@TheStatler

SAT, SEP 26, 2020 6:30p.m. - 11:00p.m.

Master of Ceremonies

Dr. Evan Antin Host of Animal Planet's Evan Goes Wild

GRAMMY Award-Winning

Skip Martin Lead Singer of Kool & The Gang

Featuring

Bastards Of Soul EarthxGlobalGala House Band

Special Guest performance from

Compton Kidz Club

For tickets and more information, please visit:

WWW.EA RT H X.O RG

EarthxFilm Awards

BEING REIMAGINED

Awards

EarthxFilm is excited to award $20,000 in cash prizes to a variety of standout films and talented filmmakers. The Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 26, 11 a.m. outside Fair Park at Craft and Growler, 3601 Parry Ave, Dallas, TX 75226. Prizes include: Best of Festival Feature-Length $4,000 Films are judged by a panel of filmmakers, activists and environmentalists.

Best Short $3,000 Films are judged by a panel of filmmakers, activists and environmentalists.

Audience Awards $4,000

The audience will vote for their festival favorites, with the prize divided between the most popular feature and short.

Impact Award $4,000

This prize is given to a character from a film who is having a real and tangible impact on their chosen issue. The award money goes directly to the individual or advocacy group to further their mission.

Creative Storyteller Award $1,000

This award goes to a filmmaker whose inventive filmmaking style speaks to a singular vision that is executed at a very high level.

EarthxCatalyst Award $4,000

This award is intended to boost a project still in production that has enormous potential to impact its subject.

Planet911 Youth Film Competition Winners

EarthxFilm and Planet911 are excited to award Youth Film winners with a prize package that includes travel and accommodations to The March For Science Youth Summit and EarthxFilm 2020 Awards Ceremony, along with entrance to EarthX special events, including The Way of the Rain - Hope for Earth (a $1,000+Value). Most Motivated winners (School and Youth organization with the most entrees). Most Motivated school receives a $1,000 cash prize. Most Motivated Youth Organization receives a $2000 cash prize.

Grand Prize Award Finalist films are judged by industry professionals and environmental activists.

Impact Award

Films are judged by industry professionals and environmental activists who vote at the P911 website.

Social Media Award

Films are judged by peers who vote at the Planet911 website.

Most Motivated Award for Schools The school with the most entries wins.

Most Motivated Award for Youth Organizations The youth organization with the most entries wins.

Awards 31

pr e se nt s

This curated program highlights and supports short-form non-ďŹ ction media projects and powerful stories from community leaders addressing climate justice in Texas. It culminates in a day-long event that is a model for radical collaboration, offering cross-sector support for the featured projects. To learn more, visit goodpitch.org

Judges Festival Judges Feature Jury Thom Beers is a legendary television producer and filmmaker who created numerous hit series, including Ice Road Truckers, Deadliest Catch, and The American Farm, which screened at EarthxFilm last year.

Lynn Hirshfield is a longtime executive at Participant Media, which is one of the leading studios making films with a conscience. Her work at Participant operates on a number of levels, including how a film can have a real and tangible impact.

Thimali Kodikara is the producer of Mothers of Invention, a climate change podcast featuring former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins and its tagline is: Climate Change is a man-made problem with a feminist solution.

Shorts Jury Avery McRae is a teenager who is one of the plaintiffs in the landmark climate suit, Juliana vs. United States, which argues that the American government has endangered the future of children in this country.

N’Dambi is a GRAMMY nominated soul singer, songwriter, author, and daydreamer from Dallas who has traveled the world performing. She is also an activist and environmentalist, and her name means “most beautiful” in Congolese.

Shannon Wynne is a well-known restaurateur in Dallas whose quirky and creative establishments have helped define dining in Dallas. He is also a filmmaker who produced There’s Something in the Water about Caddo Lake, which won a prize at EarthxFilm in 2019.

Judges 33

EarthXR inspires audiences to explore the heart and soul of nature through audiovisual journeys across the globe and beyond.

With our most diverse global lineup to date, EarthXR highlights the adventurers and change-makers healing the planet and solving the greatest environmental challenges - from the Grand Canyon to the Amazon.

Immerse yourself with indigenous communities using ancient knowledge to protect the world’s greatest biodiversity, NASA astronauts monitoring climate from space, and scientists creating resilient future cities and using AI to protect rainforests.

Join the rescue teams on the frontlines protecting endangered species - walk with ocelots and pangolins, swim with manatees and gather with gorillas.

See the world from the depths of the sea, the tallest trees and the edges of outer space - all through AI, immersive art, sonic journeys, augmented, mixed and virtual reality.

EarthXR

Impact Reality Summit Showcase Impact Reality brings together leading artists, XR companies, and social impact organizations to discover, fund, and support the next wave of XR-for-Good projects. Supported by Vulcan Productions

A DROP IN THE OCEAN Duration 10 min.

Experience the ocean from an entirely new perspective in A Drop in the Ocean, a playful 10-minute social VR adventure. Shrunk down to about 2 inches tall, participants hitch a ride on a jellyfish as they encounter the mysteries of the deep and experience the plastic pollution crisis from the viewpoint of sea life. Participants gain new insights into the threats facing our oceans and their role in becoming part of the solution.

Conservation International, SC Johnson, Vision3, Vulcan Productions conservation.org | vision3.tv | scjohnson.com | vulcanproductions.com CREATORS Adam May, Chris Campkin, Chris Parks

DAUGHTERS OF CHIBOK Duration 11 min.

On the night of April 14th, 2014, a little-known town in Northeast Nigeria was thrust in the global spotlight when 276 teenage girls were abducted from their classrooms by one of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups – Boko Haram. Many girls have been rescued, but years after, 112 remain missing. Daughters of Chibok is a powerful documentary dealing with the aftermath of the kidnappings and explores global issues of gender rights and the right to education.

VR 360 Stories • vr360stories.com DIR Joel Kachi Benson

GHOST FLEET VR Duration 8 min.

Ghost Fleet VR immerses viewers in the true story of slavery in the Thai fishing industry, based on the feature documentary, Ghost Fleet, which exposes the dark side of illegal fishing and the heroes working to end it. Enter the heroic story of Tun Lin, who was kidnapped when he was 14. He retraces his ordeal, years of horrific treatment aboard the slave ship, and his brave escape from a prison made of water.

Catovia, Seahorse Productions, Vulcan Productions Film catovia.com | seahorseproductions.org | vulcan.com DIR Lucas Gath, Shannon Service

THE CROW Duration 12 min.

Inspired by the Native American legend, Crow: The Legend, is a fully immersive journey that explores themes of self-discovery, diversity and selflessness. In a time before mankind, there exists only Spring. The world is always sunny, and the animals live content and free of worry.

Of all the animals, Crow is most admired for his dazzling plumage and mellifluous voice. From the director of Madagascar, starring John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Constance Wu, Sarah Eagle Heart, Diego Luna.

Baobab Studio • baobabstudios.com DIR Eric Darnell

EarthXR 35

EarthXR

X-RAY FASHION 360 Duration 10 min.

X-Ray Fashion 360 is a cinematic VR documentary that illuminates the environmental impacts of fast-fashion and highlights sustainable fashion solutions: from cotton farm to sweatshop, and from the catwalk to consumer purchase to the afterlife of the garment. The piece packs a powerful punch exposing the impacts of the 2.5 trillion-dollar fashion industry, which is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, 20% of wastewater, and a quarter of the world’s insecticides.

MANND, Vulcan Productions Film, World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate Mannd.dk | vulcanproductions.com | connect4climate.org DIR Francesco Carrozzini

The Overview Collective’s New York City Showcase The Overview Collective brings big ideas down to Earth by providing fun and engaging ways to connect to the climate movement, sustainable lifestyles, and the green economy. These new approaches to education, vocational training, and workforce development and recruitment include XR content production and immersive activations such as hackathons, escape rooms, workshops, and exhibitions.

This showcase highlights nature-based and people-powered solutions in New York City. Experience a day in the life of green professionals and climate activists transforming our economic and environmental future.

PEARLS OF NEW YORK Duration 6 min.

In the 1600s, there were 220,000 acres of oyster reefs in a thriving NY Harbor; but by the 1900s, it was mostly lifeless due to pollution, dredging, and overharvesting. Join students of the NY Harbor School, Billion Oyster Project staff, Research Associate Technicians, and volunteers as they incubate, harvest, and regenerate this delicate keystone species in an attempt to reintroduce 1 billion oysters by 2030.

Overview Collective, Billion Oyster Project • overviewcollective.com DIR Tarik Mohamed, Kristin Gutekunst

STRIKAR Duration 10 min.

StrikAR is a platform that makes local activism accessible on a global scale by allowing anyone to send a virtual avatar to a geolocated live event or protest to be viewed through the StrikAR app by those in attendance. Come participate in a demo of the StrikAR app by sending a digital representation of yourself to New York, where our team at home will be live streaming.

StrikAR, Overview Collective, Garage Stories • strikar.co DIR Richard Farmer, Christy Casey

SUBWAY THERAPY Duration 5 min.

Subway Therapy is an ongoing participatory public work that makes people smile, laugh, and feel less stress. In public space, the installations are often crowd-sourced mosaics comprised of handwritten notes responding to a specific topic, question, or prompt. The intent of each public work is to invite peaceful expression and build connections in vibrant and diverse communities. The question for this installation is a collaboration with Resilience, an experience.

Subway Therapy, Resilience Subwaytherapy.com | resilience2032.com DIR Matthew “Levee” Chavez

36 EarthXR

EarthXR

Guanajuato International Film Festival Epicentro Showcase Epicentro promotes innovation exploring current topics in innovative ways, with a special emphasis on eco-social impact. In 2019 EarthXR and GIFF Epicentro began a partnership to collaborate and share innovative XR from both festivals across the US and Mexico border.

DREAM OF THE JAGUAR’S DAUGHTER Duration 8 min.

Dreams of the Jaguar’s Daughter is a surreal VR documentary where Achik’, the spirit of a young Maya immigrant, guides the viewer through her dreams and memories of her arduous journey north.

Tribeca Film Institute • jaguarsdaughtervr.com DIR Alfredo Salazar-Caro

EVEREST VR Duration 10 min.

Only 175 people have ever stood on Earth’s highest point without the use of bottled oxygen; more people have been into space. While Sherpa Tenji has already summited Everest without the use of bottled oxygen before, would he have what it takes to do it again? Follow him as he climbs higher and higher into the Death Zone, an area that contains so little oxygen that his body cannot survive for long. everestvirtualreality.com DIR Jon Griffith

PLANET INFINITY Duration 7 min.

PLANET ∞ is an organic tale in Virtual Reality.

Barberousse Films, ARTE & AWKEYE • setomomoko.org/planetinfini DIR Momoko Seto

Voices and Colors of the Earth Indigenous Climate Action Showcase Voices and Colors of the Earth presents interactive media exhibits featuring indigenous artists and leaders. They highlight the crucial role of threatened indigenous communities that protect the world’s greatest biodiversity. Learn ways to support and empower communities as they fight climate change by protecting their land, culture, and rights.

BLINK TEST Duration 1 min.

This unique AR-Human interface builds awareness about disappearing indigenous cultures around the world. The average human eye blinks every 10-15 seconds. Warning us that if we blink, they’ll be gone and so will the world’s cultural diversity. Created to engage people with the life’s work of legendary photographer Jimmy Nelson, who traveled to the farthest corners of the world, as he documents the culture and communities of over 36 isolated indigenous tribes. jimmynelson.com DIR Jimmy Nelson

NATIVE LAND INTERACTIVE MAP Duration User Determined Native Land began in 2015 as a resource for North Americans to find out more about Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages. The project has grown over the years to encompass nations beyond North America and is now a fledgling nonprofit with an Indigenous-majority Board of Directors. The project questions Western methods of mapping, encourages input and corrections from communities, and attempts to open a door for further and more in-depth education about Indigenous ways of knowing.

Native Land Digital • native-land.ca CREATOR Victor G. Temprano EarthXR 37

EarthXR

SACRED COCA Duration 8 min.

Sacred Coca, a VR cinematographic immersive documentary, will take the viewer in an expanded sound and visual journey into the territory of the Jaguar Shamans of Yurupari, Yurupari of the Piraparaná River, Northwest, Amazon, and Colombia. An opportunity to witness how people keep alive a 14,000-year-old tradition that involves an intimate relationship with the Coca plant.

4Direcciones Audiovisual, DEEP Canad, New Media Fund DIR Diana Rico, Richard Decalliet

UNCEDED TERRITORIES Duration 7 min.

Unceded Territories is a provocative interactive VR experience that deals with climate change and indigenous civil rights. The VR brings audiences into a world formed of indigenous artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s iconic work, engaging viewers in an interactive landscape grappling with colonialism, climate change, and indigenous civil rights. Music by A Tribe Called Red. uncededterritories.ca CREATORS Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Paisley Smith

YAWARANI Duration 5 min.

Yawarani is a VR 180° film created in collaboration with the indigenous community in Yawarani, deep in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. To preserve their sacred culture and the wisdom of their elders, the community set out to immortalize their culture in film and VR. They create documentaries to educate their youth as well as broadcast their beautiful, sustainable lifestyle to the outside world. danielbury.com DIR Daniel Bury

HabitatXR Habitat XR’s mission is to reconnect people to nature using immersive technologies. Based in South Africa, they produce award-winning experiences about wildlife and the natural environment using holograms and both augmented and virtual reality. habitatxr.com

A PREDICAMENT OF PANGOLINS World Premiere Duration 8 min.

Be immersed in a true tale of tribulation following two ground pangolins in the Kalahari desert as they search for one another amidst the backdrop of a rapidly changing environment. A Predicament of Pangolins is a story about pangolins, climate change, and you.

HabitatXR DIR Ulrico Grech-Cumbo

GORILLAPALOOZA Duration 5 min.

Created for The Ellen Fund, Gorillapallooza creates empathy by immersing people in the Rwandan jungles as if they were a gorilla hanging out with their own family group. Showcased to celebrity audiences in Los Angeles, this VR helped raise $5 million dollars for endangered gorillas.

The Ellen Fund, HabitatXR • theellenfund.org DIR Ulrico Grech-Cumbo

38 EarthXR

EarthXR

360 Labs 360 Labs is a production company specializing in 360° immersive panoramic photography and video based out of Portland, Oregon.

Their goal is to create meaningful and memorable experiences for virtual reality, desktop and mobile applications. 360labs.net

“AS IT IS” GRAND CANYON INTERACTIVE EXPLORER Duration 17-19 min.

As it is takes you into the Grand Canyon to see it as too few do, from the bottom up. Take interactive “side hikes” off the main story to immerse yourself entirely into history, geology, river trips, and the many threats facing America’s “outdoor cathedral.” With over an hour of additional content & built for 6DoF interaction, we expand on the story in a new branching narrative format for interactive feature films.

360 Labs DIR Thomas Hayden

CATARACT CANYON Duration 4.5 min.

Cataract Canyon is a 100-mile long chasm in the heart of Canyonlands National Park, and home to the wildest section of the Colorado River with HUGE class V whitewater rapids. The area offers some of the most beautiful scenery along serene stretches of flat water where you can calmly soak it all in. This 4-day river trip with Western River Expeditions is a must-have experience for hikers, campers, thrillseekers, and those just looking to relax.

360 Labs DIR Matt Rowell

Interactive Installations Get active, get involved & be part of the change. Explore & share your passions through, augmented, mixed and virtual realities, selfie stations, and even an exercise station.

EARTHSONGS | MAGIC LEAP Duration 10 min.

EarthSongs is a celebration of wild soundscapes that uses the affordances of spatial computing and immersive technology to enthrall, enlighten and inspire a personal connection with nature in a new and intuitive way while gently encouraging players to consider our disconnection with the natural world.

Bramble Media Ltd • bramblemedia.co.uk DIR Mitch Turnbull

REEF TO RAINFOREST Duration User Determined Reef to Rainforest is a cinematic, 6DoF conservation training simulator that addresses the effects of climate change through a series of interactives. The objective is to provide cutting-edge training tools to those on the front lines of the climate crisis while educating and inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. Phase one of this Virtual Reality Conservation Training Simulator (VRCTS) targets three proven activities across three distinct environments: coral reef restoration, mangrove restoration, and afforestation.

Jiva VR, Reef Explorer Fiji • jivavr.com DIR Steve Engman, Jay Henningfeld

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EarthXR

SDG BUTTERFLY EFFECT Duration 3 min.

Through Augmented Reality, transform into a beautiful butterfly, and make your individual commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals visible. Share your video on social media to inspire others to join you, creating a butterfly effect for accelerated action.

United Nations SDG Action Campaign • sdgbutterflyeffect.org STEP INTO A BRIGHTER FUTURE (CLIMATE CHANGERS) Duration 6 min.

Step Into A Brighter Future uses the latest VR tech to bring some much-needed positivity into climate development conversations to inspire viewers with immersive stories of individuals and organizations innovating for a better future. Housed within an interactive VR hub that embraces the UN’s SDG design, this collection gives audiences agency to browse, explore, and dive into the worlds of people who are creating a positive impact on their communities. You’ll leave feeling inspired to take action.

Surround Vision, SDG Action Campaign, Unity for Humanity surroundvision.co.uk | sdgactioncampaign.org | unity.com/humanity DIR Mary Matheson

THE VIRTUAL WILD OCEAN SELFIE STATION Duration User Determined The Virtual Wild invites visitors to immerse themselves in selfie stations consisting of a photo booth backdrop, custom animated projectionmapping, and custom laser cut props. Enter a jungle scene full of wild plants and animals or dive underwater into a seascape filled with exotic ocean life. Here visitors are encouraged to take photos and share them on social media using specified hashtags to spread environmental awareness.

The Virtual Wild • thevirtualwild.com DIR Jay Rutherford

WALK WITH ANIMALS World Premiere Duration 5 min.

Walk With Animals invites festival-goers on a magical trek with lifesize augmented reality animals. Social and fun, this experience for all ages promotes wellness for people and animals, educates about animal migration, and raises funds collectively for the protection of wildlife, habitats, and ecosystems.

Glowbox • kristinlucas.studio DIR Kristin Lucas

Immersive Installations Immerse yourself in nature through a collection of augmented and immersive art installations, interactive films, projections, and sonic journeys.

LOST CITIES Duration 20 min.

Lost Cities is an interactive film that reveals the incredible hidden world of corals. With its immersive design, expressive soundscape, and non-linear narrative, it pushes the boundaries of the traditional nature documentary and turns it into a participatory experience. As we explore what lies beneath the surface on our own unique journey, Lost Cities brings to light the surprising way the lives of corals are interwoven with our own.

Caravan Lab Productions, Belle & Wissell Co. • lostcities.org DIR Marita Davison, Jennifer Moslemi

40 EarthXR

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OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND|GOOGLE EARTH + UNDERWATER EARTH IMMERSIVE EXHIBIT US Premiere Duration User Determined Wildlife photographer Christophe Bailhache exhibits for the first time a selection of his most spectacular immersive and interactive images taken around the planet. Through QR codes, the visitor dives in full 360° into iconic, remote, and exclusive locations. Underwater Earth has created the largest virtual diving platforms in partnership with Google. Declared amongst the top new scientific discoveries, the SVII camera will be exclusively on display, together with VR experiences narrated by Sylvia Earle.

Underwater Earth, Seaview 360, ITRAMAS underwater.earth | Itramas.com DIR Sophie Ansel, Christophe Bailhache, Lorna Perry

PX.LAB | MIXED PROJECTIONS Duration User Determined px.lab is a mixed reality studio focused on large-scale new media productions. They specialize in performative technologies including projection mapping, interactive audio-visual installations, and AR/VR experiences. pxlab.studio, @px.lab DIR Eric Trich & Taylor Cleveland

SWEET TOOTH HOTEL’S INTANGIBLE Duration User Determined Sweet Tooth Hotel is an experimental art venue creating immersive and interactive experiences. Since 2018, the Dallas venue has become a center for creativity. They offer a space showing unique curated art installations, giving creatives the platform to reach thousands weekly.

Their fourth installation, Intangible will showcase a colorfully immersive environment made entirely of fiber, exploding with vibrancy, showcasing an all-female lineup of some of the top fiber artists from around the US. sweettoothhotel.com CREATOR Jencey Keeton

THE OUTLAW OCEAN MUSIC PROJECT Duration Varies Musicians and journalists are both storytellers; one uses sounds, the other leverages words. The Outlaw Ocean Music Project is a first-ofits-kind collaboration of such creators. In combining their mediums, these narrators have conveyed emotion and a sense of place in an enthralling new way. The result is a captivating body of music based on Ian Urbina’s New York Times best-selling book The Outlaw Ocean, which chronicles a lawless realm that few of us realized existed.

The Outlaw Ocean, NYTimes outlawocean.com | outlawoceanmusic.com DIR Ian Urbina

THE WILD IMMERSION ENDORSED BY JANE GOODALL World Tour Duration 10 min.

The Wild Immersion produces breathtaking 3D experiences that plunge spectators into nature 360° action films. Experience the all too real feeling of being in the middle of the wilderness, discovering mind-blowing real-life situations. Cross 5 continents to explore flora and fauna across the world. Go all around the planet: hot and cold lands, jungle, savannah, and oceans to see the animals as you have never seen them before.

Jane Goodall Institute • wildimmersion.io | janegoodall.org DIR Adrien Moisson, Raphael Aupy EarthXR 41

EarthXR

YOU ARE ME AND I AM YOU | THE STORY OF CARMEN CUMBA Preview trailer for feature film in production Duration 2.5 min.

Carmen spent years studying the ways of the Partera’s (midwives) and Yachak’s (shamen) learning about plant medicine. Through curiosity, stubbornness, tireless dedication, and hard work, she now has one of the largest organic, medicinal plant gardens in the Andes. It serves as her pharmacy, where she, much like a pharmacist, expertly gathers all the right ingredients straight out of the ground creating medicine to treat her patients and turning no one away.

Little Village Big Mountain • littlevillagebigmountain.com/youareme DIR Melissa Kirkendall

AJ Contrast Through character-driven, innovative virtual reality, and 360° documentaries, Contrast VR explores some of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time.

FROM WASTE TO TASTE Duration 7 min.

Join Brazilians as they fight to end food waste by rescuing food that would have otherwise been thrown out, teaching future generations about the importance of food waste management.

AJ Contrast, Sete Leguas Films DIR Maria Fernanda Lauret

SAVING KENYA’S FORESTS Duration 2 min.

This seven-year-old is trying to save Kenya’s forests by planting one tree at a time.

AJ Contrast

THE CURSE OF PALM OIL Duration 7 min.

Travel to the rainforests in Malaysia to see how the indigenous Orang Asli people are coping with deforestation caused to make way for oil palm trees, which produce the most used vegetable oil in the world.

AJ Contrast, 101 East DIR Viktorija Mickute

THE DISAPPEARING OASIS Duration 6 min.

Journey to the frontlines between a Moroccan oasis and the encroaching Sahara to explore the effects of desertification that threaten the livelihood of more than two million people living in the oases of Morocco.

AJ Contrast, EFI, The Lookout Station DIR Viktorija Mickute

THE OIL IN OUR CREEKS Duration 8 min.

Follow Lessi Phillips through her village in Nigeria, to the farm and into the creeks and classrooms as she shows us both the environmental devastation caused by the 2008 Shell oil spill and the youth who provide her community with a sense of hope.

AJ Contrast DIR Zahra Rasool

WINTER, LEAVE Duration 7 min.

In North Macedonia’s capital Skopje, three residents struggle to stay warm – and healthy – inside their homes, amid deadly winters and extremely polluted air.

AJ Contrast, Habitat for Humanity DIR Viktorija Mickute

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BBC Earth Celebrating nature, science, space, and the human race, BBC Earth brings you face to face with heart-pounding action, mind-blowing ideas, and the sheer wonder of being part of this amazing planet we call home.

ATTENBOROUGH AND THE GIANT DINOSAUR Duration 4 min.

Sir David Attenborough tells the story of the discovery and reconstruction in Argentina of the world’s largest-known dinosaur, a brand new species of titanosaur.

BBC Natural History Unit, Hello Charlie • bbc.com DIR Sam Hume and Jason Mullings

EARTH FROM SPACE Duration 6 min.

Get closer than ever to a total solar eclipse and observe it from all possible angles in this stunning virtual reality video. bbc.co.uk | sentintospace.com PROD BBC Earth

OUR BLUE PLANET 360 3D - MEXICO Duration 9 min.

What’s it like to dive alongside ocean giants? Adventure under the waves with marine biologist Erick Higuera and find yourself face to face with some of our oceans’ most curious and majestic creatures. ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com PROD BBC Earth

OUR BLUE PLANET 360 3D - CANADA Duration 6 min.

Canada’s green seas are home to some surprising creatures. From fascinating wolf eels to the largest known octopus in our oceans. Take a deep breath and join diver Tiare Boyes on an adventure into an underwater forest. Use your headset to watch this video in 3D Virtual Reality. ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com PROD BBC Earth

SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET Duration 15 min.

Sir David Attenborough reveals the extraordinary wildlife stories and unseen wilderness of our seven unique continents with an environmental message. bbcearth.com PROD BBC Earth

360° Cinema View the Earth from space, get up close and personal with majestic animals and visit the frontlines of climate action with changemakers around the world through this collection of 360° documentaries.

24 HOURS IN BASECAMP Duration 7 min.

At the foot of the highest mountain in the world, in the sprawling city of tents that is called Everest Base Camp, we meet the climbers who are determined to reach the top of the world for the first time, and the people who have worked on the mountain for years.

IVAR Studios • ivar.studio DIR Manne Nyman

AFTERMATH | CAMPFIRE 2018 Duration 7 min.

The deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history rolled through Paradise, California, on November 8, 2018. This 360-degree immersive documentary was filmed November 13th and 14th and shows first-hand the devastation of the campfire in Paradise.

DIR Steve Cooper EarthXR 43

EarthXR

AFTER THE FALLOUT Duration 13 min.

After The Fallout pushes past traditional documentary tropes to evoke the reality and emotional gravity of life in Fukushima, ten years after the 2011 nuclear disaster.

Emblematic Group, Google Jump • afterthefallout.org DIR Sam Wolson, Dominic Nahr

BEING AN ASTRONAUT Duration 15 min. (Part 1 - Training) + 17 min. (Part 2 - Mission) Being an Astronaut is a VR documentary in which we follow astronaut Thomas Pesquet at the NASA training center in Houston to Baïkonour, Kazakhstan, to his mission on the International Space Station. In this one-of-a-kind experience, the stunning beauty of the images shot in space in partnership with NASA and ESA, allow space-geeks and thrill-seekers to share the most intense moments of the Proxima mission.

La Vingt-Cinquième Heure, NASA • 25eheure.com | nasa.gov DIR Pierre-Emmanuel Le Goff, Jürgen Hansen

GROWING A WORLD WONDER Duration 5 min.

Growing a World Wonder is an award-winning VR film about the Great Green Wall – an African-led initiative that aims to transform the lives of millions living on the frontline of climate change. Told through the eyes of 8-year-old Binta, the film transports the viewer to the heart of a community in Senegal – one of the thousands of villages across the Sahel region of Africa growing this epic, 8000km new world wonder.

Great Green Wall, Surround Vision, UNCCD • greatgreenwall.org DIR Richard Nockles

PROD Mitch Turnbull

LE LAC Duration 9 min.

The oasis of the Sahel, Lake Chad, is not who she used to be. Ninety percent of her water is gone, leaving her feeling depleted, wary, scared, and insecure. Climate change has made millions of people who depend on her vulnerable and induced the threat of Boko Haram insurgency. Step into the lives of Mahamat, a once-wealthy pastoralist, and Nassuri, a refugee-turned-fisherman, as the lake herself hopes for their survival amidst her scattered ponds.

Electric South • electricsouth.org DIR Nyasha Kadandara

LIFE ON THE EDGE 360 Duration 8-11 min.

From the stories of an ex-poacher to a ranger working for Wildlife Alliance, we learn about how the natural environment and wildlife living in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia has been threatened and subsequently protected. The sounds of nature are the overture that leads the audience on this journey of discovery, where we meet different endangered animals and discover how Wildlife Alliance works with the local communities to save them.

Wildlife Alliance, Spatial Audio Labs, Sounding Wild wildlifealliance.org | spatialaudiolabs.com | soundingwild.com DIR Axel Drioli

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LOS GUARDIANES Duration 11 min.

Los Guardianes is the story of Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park, where the generations-old tradition of animal tracking and cutting edge artificial intelligence intersect. Meet the rangers, biologists, and engineers paving new ways to help protect the rainforest from threats, and how the technology of tomorrow gives power to the methods of the past.

LumeireVR, Rainforest Connection, Huawei lumierevr.com | rfcx.org | huawei.com DIR Hugh Hou

PROD QinYa (Jenny) Guo

MY WORLD 360° Duration Varies MY World 360° invites young and emerging creators to use Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), 360° video, and all forms of immersive storytelling to inspire everyone to take action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global initiative brings the creators’ vision for a better world to people and decision-makers across the globe. This selection features stories of how climate action lies at the core of achieving a better world for people and planet.

The United Nations SDG Action Campaign, Digital Promise, Oculus myworld360.org DIR Various

National Geographic VR See the Earth’s most extraordinary places like never before on virtual reality explorations led by world-renowned National Geographic Explorers.

SAVING OUR ISLAND: YOUTH FROM THE PACIFIC Duration 7 min.

Climate change is having a dramatic impact on our world, and no region is more vulnerable than the fragile, beautiful Pacific islands.

These small island states are threatened by more frequent and more intense natural disasters as well as rising sea-levels. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to the islands of Fiji, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu to meet young climate activists who are showing courage, tenacity, and vision in rallying the world to action.

The United Nations DIR Dajo Brinkman

SPACE SAFARI Duration 5 min.

We can’t send all of Earth’s citizens into space, but with 360° VR Space Safari, we can get you as close as possible. Ørsted has teamed up with American and European astronauts to send you on a virtual space mission. We believe that if more people could see the world as astronauts do, it would create a greater sense of responsibility for our shared home and speed up green action. Ørsted, KhoraVR • orsted.com/en/explore/space-safari DIR Niels Rahr, Peter Fisher

EarthXR 45

Studio Movie Grill is committed to making a positive difference in the communities we serve.

We tirelessly contribute to issues impacting our team, guests, and partners. We want our involvement to extend beyond the walls of our theaters with an authentic and clear vision to make the world a better place by opening hearts and minds, one story at a time through the power of film and sharing a meal together.

EarthXR

EarthXR + Samsung XR EarthXR partnered with Samsung XR to host a playlist of environmentally-focused 360-video content by filmmakers and brand partners.

The EarthXR includes 12 projects to be viewed free-of-charge on web, mobile, and headset platforms, with future premieres to follow throughout 2020. By working with production companies who specialize in topics often ignored by the entertainment industry, this new partnership will shed light on environmental and social justice issues. Immersing viewers with real-world experiences will give a first-hand look at what we can all do to enact positive change.

XR Sponsors

XR Showcases

EarthXR 47

Through film and emerging media, EarthxFilmEdu presents the tools to grow the next generation of heroes for our planet, guiding them to understand, shape, and drive a sustainable future.

Visit EarthxFilm.org to learn more.

Take the Planet911 Challenge

Become a Reporter

Explore Virtual Worlds

EarthxFilmEdu EarthxFilmEdu Expo Activations Coming Soon Become a part of the EarthxYouth movement by participating in one of these empowering activities, which will not only help you make an impact on the environment and your community but help save Mother Earth.

Attend EarthxYouth Popups You’ll have a chance to learn filmmaking, experience virtual reality or, if you’ve ever been a part of our Youth Film competition, see your film.

Take the Planet911 Challenge Mother Earth is calling. Will you answer the call? Tell us or show us how you will pledge to protect the planet. Be in the spotlight - take the mic and be interviewed at one of our EarthxYouth activations It’s your turn to tell us what you think it will take to save our Earth.

Visit Planet911.org.

Become a EarthxFilm Cub Reporter With direction from professional filmmakers, kids and young adults will go behind the scenes to learn filmmaking basics. They’ll have an opportunity to get in the field and in front of the camera to produce a report at EarthX. To ensure availability, sign up in advance at Earthx.org/cubreporters Recommended for 10 to 22 year olds.

Experience Virtual and Augmented Reality Go on a wild immersive journey through technology, then share your experience with your friends.

Attend the March For Science Global Youth Summit Visit the For Science Media Zone or watch the live stream on Facebook.

Date & Time TBA

See the Compton Kidz Club perform live at EarthX Date & Time TBA

EarthxFilm and Planet911 Youth Film Competition Finalists Screening See Your Film on the Big Screen!

Awards Ceremony to follow screening.

Reserve tickets in advance as this screening fills up.

Meet the Filmmakers Catch guest appearances by filmmakers in the EarthxYouth Activation.

Meet other youth activists and filmmakers from around the world!

Attend the Youth Film Competition Awards Share in the excitement of the festival winners.

Date & Time TBA

Be Inspired: Create Your Own Youth Film and Enter the Next Competition For details, entry guidelines, and deadlines visit Earthx.org/Education.

EarthxFilmEdu 49

EarthxFilmEdu Sponsors

KDSTUDIO.COM | 214.638.0484 | DALLAS, TX

ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMS IN:

ACTING MUSICAL THEATRE FILMMAKING

50 EarthxFilmEdu Sponsors

EarthxFilmEdu Year Round Filmmaking Competitions Celebrating the power of youth, EarthxFilm Education invites young filmmakers to compete for cash and other prizes, including a $1,000 prize for the school and a $2000 prize for the youth organization with the most entrants.

Spring 2020 In partnership with Planet911 and Creative Visions and in collaboration with Instagram, EarthxFilm launched an international campaign to give the world a Planet911 “Wake Up Call!.” See the top 25 films this Spring at EarthX.org.

Summer/Fall 2020 Help design the next Youth Film Competition. Email edu@earthxfilm.org to submit your creative idea for the next competition topic.

Visit Earthx.org/Education to find out about future competitions.

Project Planet opens as a part of the One World Exhibit this Summer at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. Powered by EarthxFilm. See past EarthxFilm Youth Film Competition entries on display through January 3, 2021.

Go to fwmuseum.org/exhibit/earth-week for more information.

Filmmaker on Tour At least twice a year, EarthxFilm builds an opportunity for students to meet and dialogue with award-winning filmmakers about key environmental topics like single-use plastics and climate change.

EarthxFilmEdu has visited schools in 7 local school districts, multiple private schools, and summer camps, with over 4,000 students and over 40 school visits since the program began in 2017.

In January 2020, we screened the award-winning film Detroit Hives at 10 area schools. Detroit Hives explores the importance of bringing diversity to beekeeping and rebuilding inner-city communities one hive at a time. As a follow-up, students were offered the opportunity to volunteer with the EarthX team at Bonton Farms as they work to clear land for their own apiary.

If you’d like your school to participate in the fall tour email edu@earthxfilm.org.

Internships EarthxFilm offers year-round internships to College students and summer internships for High School students. To find out more information, send an email to edu@earthxfilm.org.

EarthxFilm Education gratefully acknowledges our education partners and sponsors: Creative Visions Instagram KD Conservatory PatentDive Planet911 SmurfitKappa Studio Movie Grill

Would you like to support the EarthxEducation Mission by becoming a partner or sponsor?

Contact Melanie Yonks at edu@earthxfilm.org.

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Board, Founders, Council & Team Board of Directors Trammell S. Crow - Founder & Chairman Michael Cain - Founder & President Praveen Varghese - Secretary King Hollis Louie Psihoyos Leilani MĂźnter Jessica Hall Upchurch Stephen Nemeth Danni Washington

Founder’s Circle Garrett Boone Stuart M. Bumpas Trammell S. Crow Barbara & Steve Durham Scott Ginsburg Judith Lifson

Lynn & Allan McBee Megan & Casey McManemin Sandra & Sam Moon Jackie & Peter Stewart Jessica & Matthew Upchurch Amanda Ward

Advisory Council Olivia Ahnemann Sophie Ansel John Beitter Dennis Bishop Janis Burkland Joey Cade TJ Callaway Karl Chiao Chip Comins Joe Dishner Adrienne Faulkner James Faust Veletta Forsythe-Lill Christian Gaines Rich Goldberg Kristin Gutekunst John Haden Stina Hamlin J.V. Hart Danielle Hawthorne Amy Hofland Amy King Lori Madrid

Ron Maxwell SJ Murray Norry Niven Lee Papert Chuck Peil Lisa Russell Zak Shelton Renee Shippey David A. Small Mary Stamm Don Stokes Derek & Carrie Stumfall Chris Taylor Pam Teagarden Stephanie Trest Kathy Tyner Larry Waks Bart Weiss Rick & Beth Wilbins Brandt Wood Angus Wynne Kimm Wynne

Festival Staff - Year Round Michael Cain Founder+President+Programming David Holbrooke Artistic Director Tiffany Kieran Director of XR Programming & Partnerships Paul Levatino Executive Producer + Creative Direction Melanie Yonks Director of Education & Outreach Sarah Bisnette Development & Outreach Manager Rebecca Santos EarthxFilm & EarthXR Coordinator Morgan Bowie Production Coordinator, Assistant to Producer Dennis Bishop Co-Founder / Senior Consultant

52 Board, Founders, Council & Team

EarthxFilm Team Festival Staff Dawn Spalding Strategic Partnerships & GlobalGala Matt Ostasiewski Director of Operations Hayley Nenadal Program & Submissions Manager Kristin Gutekunst XR Programming + Partnerships Producer Will Cherry XR Technical Producer Melina McKinnon Cain Good Pitch Local Texas 2020 Co-producer / Outreach Manager

Tammy Lynn Gilmore Good Pitch Local Texas 2020 Producer / Media Maker Outreach Manager

Patricia Finneran Producer Doc Society / Good Pitch Local Texas 2020 Shannon Thomas Program Manager Doc Society / Good Pitch Local Texas 2020

Burn To Light Film Presentation Team Vanessa Cook Theater Manager Holland Coleman Box Office Manager Sprinkles Creative: Christina Bluford, Courtney Garza, Carissa Pitalo Social Media Holmes Millet Website Development Marc Lee Marketing Support Jeremy Word Video Editing Wendy Teague Program Guide + Website Copy Editor Robert Zepeda (El Creative) & Paul Levatino Program Design Keith Nix Community Outreach Andrea R Newham Cub Reporter Producer Anietie Antia-Obong Education Assistant Press Kitchen: Amanda Drum EXR Publicity Wildworks PR: John Wildman + Chris Gardner EXF Publicity Ariel Herr EXF Publicity Colibri: One by One Marketing Street Team Marketing & Outreach Madi Bready XR Associate Producer Will Cherry XR Technical Director James Wallace XR Technical Coordinator Evelyn Pecikonis XR Production Coordinator Caleb Pond XR Production Coordinator Karen Vanderpool-Haerle XR Production Coordinator Pedro Rocha Intern Liz Jensen Intern Samantha Cruz Intern Johana Jarbol Intern Christian Hernandez Intern Avery Echols Intern Jacqui Murguia Intern Tarniesha Floyd Intern

EarthX Leadership Trammell S. Crow - Founder & Chairman Tony Keane - CEO EarthX

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O U R C I T Y. O U R F E S T I VA L .

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Sponsors & Special Thanks Film Sponsors

Education Sponsors

Special Thanks Agency Dallas Caroline Beaton Dennis Bishop Janis Burklund Jessica Burnham Jessica Burnquist Athena, Delphine & Melina Cain TJ Callaway Pat Chandler Ella Charon Creative Visions Dallas ISD AndrĂŠa De Angelis Pamela Deckard Geraldine Denis Jane Didear Kathy Eldon Exposure Labs Ivan Sawyer Garcia Jo Geltman / ALTOUR Sunnye Goldston Arnila Guha Emily Hargrove Kitty, Wiley, Sarah Holbrooke Janel Humphries Tim Paule Jackson KD Conservatory Nicole Lindsey Adrian Lopez

Kaci McCartan Casey and Megan McManemin Lynne McQuaker Adrien Moisson Gregoire Moisson Leslie Morioka Palmer Morse Brittany Neff Hayley Nendol Daniele Neuharth Steve Nix Jeff Orlowski Larissa Rhodes Richardson ISD Doug Roberts Benjamin Ross Kris Severson Julie Seymour Spruce Tone Films Sarah Steele Jared Tavares Anna Ticktin Quan Tran Kathy Tyner Valentino Vetorri Charlotte Vick Bart Weiss Jeremy Word Alex, Haley & Michael Yonks

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Hall of State 3939 Grand Ave. Dallas, TX 75210 (214) 413-3947

ROBERT B. CULLUM BLVD.

ROBERT B. CUL

Tower Building - EarthXR 3809 Grand Ave. Dallas, TX 75210 (214) 670-8400

ROBERT B. CULLUM BLVD.

Music Hall at Fair Park 909 1st Ave. Dallas, TX 75210 (214) 565-1116

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Map & Venues

Women’s Museum 3800 Parry Ave. Dallas, TX 75226 (214) 670-8400

Others Venues Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Cedars 1005 S. Lamar St. Dallas, TX 75215 (214) 914-4443

Klyde Warren Park 2012 Woodall Rodgers Fwy. Dallas, TX 75201 (214) 716-4500

Bonton Farms 6915 Bexar St. Dallas, TX 75215 (972) 982-2245

Magnolia Theatre 3699 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 520-0394

Craft and Growler 3601 Parry Ave. Dallas, TX 75226 (214) 821-1122

Texas Theatre 231 W Jefferson Blvd.

Dallas, TX 75208 (214) 948-1546

ROBERT B. CUL

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“EarthX remains unwavering in its commitment to shed light on the environmental challenges facing our planet and this recent crisis has been a testament to our strength in collectively spreading awareness and seeking solutions in the face of adversity. We are all in this together.�

- Trammell S. Crow, Founder of EarthX EarthX2020 will be held virtually from April 23-25 in Partnership with the National Geographic Society to mark the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. More details at EarthX.org