James River Film Festival promotes environmental awareness

The James River Film Festival featured an “Environmental Triple Bill” on Monday night at the Carver Healing Arts Gallery. The triple bill entertained viewers through a light-hearted and comedic film “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History,” the visually stunning “Lost Worlds: Life In The Balance” and the dark, artistic film “The Beekeepers.”

The three films had little in common apart from raising environmental awareness. From the dialogue to the style, viewers had three highly unique perspectives. The films were generally interesting in content although some were more visually appealing then others. These films are sure to captivate any individual who is remotely environmentally conscious and still have things to offer others.

Cane Toads:

An Unnatural History

The first featured film, “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History,” was directed by Mark Lewis in 1992 and accomplishes a rare feat for many environmental documentaries. The film manages to introduce the unsettling environmental issue of foreign species and their impact on the ecological balance of an ecosystem with a humorous narrative done in part by interviewees and the narrator.

Lewis emphasizes the Hawaiian cane toad, imported into Australia to protect sugar crops from the cane beetle, as a nuisance and depicts the necessary but comical means by which people deal with the overpopulated cane toad species.

In one scene, a vehicle swerves and screeches to avoid hitting cane toads that have infiltrated the road. The cane toads eventually meet their match with the cars in the film. Lewis reveals the cane toads have worked their way into family homes as house pets for children.

Lewis showcases the cane toad’s diet, which includes practically anything that is smaller than the animal itself. In one scene, a cane toad hops off to investigate an appetizing Ping-Pong ball and in another a crescendo (similar to the infamous Jaws theme) follows the cane toads capturing a mouse.

While Lewis’ 90s documentary asserts a lighter humor that was more common during its release, the documentary sends a message that remains relevant today.

Lost Worlds:

Life In The Balance

The interaction of Earth’s species was presented in the eye-catching documentary “Lost Worlds: Life In The Balance,” directed by Bayley Silleck and released in 2001. The story line takes viewers from the comforts of an American household in New York to the California coast, the jungles of Guatemala and the mountains of Venezuela.

The big budget for the film allowed for stunning camera shots that showcase the planet’s natural beauty.

Silleck flaunts some of nature’s most stunning features and incorporates equally visually appealing graphics. One scene depicts the ruins of an ancient Mayan civilization digitally restored.

The film sends a powerful message, which draws on the aesthetics of several ecosystems. Silleck and the crew examine the balance of otters and sea urchins on the California coast, the past societal impacts of an ancient Mayan civilization on the jungles of Guatemala and the adaptations of plants and animals in the harsh environment of the mountains in Venezuela.

The end result is a final production that showcases the adaptations of animals and the environments they inhabit as well as societal impacts. This documentary is attention grabbing and strong in conceptual and visual components.

The Beekeepers

Of the three films to be shown, Richard Robinson’s “The Beekeepers” explores “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or the issue of the worldwide disappearance of bees due to the ever-changing environment.

Robinson is a VCU photography and film graduate and “The Beekeepers” was recently selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

The short film analyzes beekeeping as one of the world’s most ancient professions and discusses some of the resourcefulness today’s societies have found. The final conclusion the film seems to arrive upon is that the disappearance of bees is one of the many signs that humans are negatively impacting the environment, changing its natural balance and affecting future living
conditions.

The documentary is narrated in a soft, timid voice and frequently jumps from black and white imaging to color. Robinson plays with scene transitions and film effects. The opening scene is a negative of a bee in a person’s hand. There are also clips from older public announcements and space shuttle footage interjected later in the film.

Robinson has created a dark work of art that reinforces the ending of a historical profession. The concept and visual imagery build off each another and give the viewer an impression of impending doom, however, the still frames from the bold and stark scenes could be highly artistic photographs.