Wisconsin Experience: Environmental Studies Film Festival
The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies hosted its fourth Tales From Planet Earth environmental film festival in November. With a theme of “Futures,” the festival showcased more than three dozen speakers and films covering various global issues, narratives, and settings. More than 3,500 people attended.
Student films were also screened at the festival as part of a course offered through the university’s Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence Program. New York-based filmmaker and digital artist Alex Rivera taught a course, From Ecotopia to Ecopocalypse, which focused on communicating social and environmental justice through film. Working with Gregg Mitman, history of science professor, Rivera and students produced short films that transposed into the future stories of environmental concern.
To learn more about this year’s festival, check out the website, the event’s Storify, a map showing the settings of each film, or the Tales From Planet Earth Facebook page.