Ecofilms, the International Films & Visual Arts Festival, held for the 6th time on the sunny Greek island of Rhodes, awarded the first prize of its short film section to Malgorzata Skiba’s Eco Dharma for the wealth of spiritual, social, political and environmental issues it addresses. Eco-Dharma is a documentary (28') about the life and sacrifice of the Bishnois, an Indian community that has been living in Western Rajasthan since 1542 when Guru Jambheshwarji Maharaj decreed the 29 commandments...
This year, Ecofilms, paid tribute to filmmaker Jonas Mekas, as the International Films & Visual Arts Festival in Rhodes presented two of his major diary films: Diary, Notes and Sketches or Walden (1969, 180’) and Reminiscences of a journey to Lithuania (1972, 82’).The Lithuanian-born poet, film critic and director became the cornerstone of the American avant-garde after he left the German and Soviet occupation to settle for New York City in the 1950s. In 1958, he began there the influential...
Although there is no competitive section officially dedicated to them, Ecofilms International Films & Visual Art Festival held this year in Rhodes, Greece for the 6th time, features some shorts that have an outstanding aesthetic interest, even if not related to ecology.Kitchen (25’), the first film directed by young screenwriter Alice Winocour, a graduate from FEMIS, the best film school in France, is definitely one of them.In this short, a woman (Elina Lowensöhn) tries to cook two lobsters f...
Ecofilms, the International Films & Visual Arts Festival in Rhodes, Greece, opened its 6th edition with the screening of Echoes of War by Joop van Wijk from The Netherlands.As he presented his film to the audience of the Rodon open air theater, the Dutch director stressed on what a paradox it is to open a festival on ecology with a film about war. But the choice quite reflects the spirit of the festival, which is to tackle ecology from a wide range of perspectives, and to see it as the preservat...
A good film festival must take you to unexpected places and modify your usual perception of a common concept. That’s precisely what Ecofilms does in its 6th edition held this year again on the sunny Greek island of Rhodes (20-25 June 2006). Through a selection of 115 films from 39 countries, the International Films & Visual Arts Festival shows us that ecology means much more than the protection of nature. It encompasses the preservation of the place we live in, in its broadest meaning: the in...
Our consumer society floods us daily with advertising messages designed to make us buy goods and services manufactured or provided by companies. But are these messages trustworthy ? Last year, Ecocinema presented an insight into the inner workings of the corporate world with The Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot. This year Ecofilms, as the international film festival on ecology held each year in Rhodes (Greece) is now known, educates us on how we are manipulated by advertising as it...
Since John Law, barter was considered a thing of the past, except maybe in some small self-sufficient communities or archaïc societies. Yet it still can be a temporary and local solution to the extreme poverty in some parts of our modern societies. Ecofilms, the international film festival on ecology held each year on the sunny Greek island of Rhodes, was the echo of such an amazing experience as it screened in its non-competitive panorama section the astonishing documentary Homemade Money by A...
Ecofilms, the international film festival on ecology which took place in Rhodes, Greece from June 21 to June 26, offered a broad perspective on how we protect and nurture life. Trying to capture what are really life and consciousness is part of that angle, and that's precisely the spiritual question the documentary Monte Grande by Franz Reichle tries to answer.In this film screened during the festival in the open air Rodon theater, the Swiss director follows philosopher and scientist Francisco V...
For the second year, Ecofilms presents a selection of films on water competing for a joint Ramsar-Medwet award at the annual film festival on environment in Rhodes. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty ratified by more than 145 countries and promoting the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and water resources while the Medwet is an initiative set up from this convention.Among the 15 short and feature-length films in competition for the award, The dream of water (2004, 57 mi...
Beside feature-length films in the main competitive section, Ecofilms, the annual film festival (June 21-26, 2005) dedicated to ecology in Rhodes, also screens a series of shorts related to the environment. Among them, it presented this year two short documentaries by Dutch director Jos Neutgens : Reminiscentia (2004, 10 minutes) in the short films competition section and Allocation (1999, 14 minutes) in the non competitive Panorama section.Both are creative documentaries expressing a fascinatio...
Criticizing the corporate world for unethical conduct has become a commonplace in documentaries these past few years, from The Big One by Michael Moore to the Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot, which won an award last year at Ecocinema in Rhodes, Greece. But to get a balanced opinion on this matter, we shouldn't leave so easily in the dark how some of these multinationals use their full clout to enforce a righteous behavior. That's precisely the fair spotlight offered by Ecofilms Int...
The international film festival on ecology held each year on the Greek island of Rhodes has just changed its name from Ecocinema to Ecofilms International Film and Visual Arts Festival. The plural certainly better reflects the diversity of the lights cast on ecology at this annual event (June 21-26, 2005) which in more than 100 feature films and shorts from around the world covers a broad range of issues related to how we protect and nurture human life. In fact, its rich programming tackles this...
