Houston We Have a Problem to open Environmental Film Festival at Yale (EFFY)

The 2010 Environmental FilmFestival at Yale (EFFY) announced today it will open with the East CoastPremiere of Houston We Have a Problem on Tuesday, April 6. The documentary thatexposes the hard truths about oil from Texas oilmen themselves, and how the oilindustry must adapt to meet America's future energy needs.  Following thefilm will be a discussion with director Nicole Torre and one of the film'ssubjects Matthew Simmons, one of the world's leading experts on the topic ofpeak oil, and moderated by Douglas Kysar, Professor at Yale Law School.

"It is a great honor to be opening the Environmental Film Festival at Yale,"said Nicole Torre, director of Houston. "Yale provides an excellent environmentfor discussing and instigating progressive ideas and action."

The festival showcases feature-length documentaries and short films, as well asconversations with filmmakers, panel discussions and workshops that willexplore issues raised in the films. EFFY runs from April 6th - 11th in NewHaven, Connecticut.

"Our mission is to capitalize on the power of film to educate the public aboutcritical environmental issues, to encourage environmental stewardship, and toincite change," says Eric Desatnik, Executive Director and Yale gradstudent.

The fest will also include a Special Advance Screening of Disneynature'sOceans, scheduled for release on Earth Day.

"We are thrilled with the caliber of films we are showcasing," saysDesatnik.  "Our festival, in terms of quality, rivals any majorfestival out there."

A jury comprised of students and faculty chooses one feature and one short toreceive EFFY Grand Jury Prizes and audiences choose one feature for an AudienceAward.  Last year's winners were Joe Berlinger's doc Crude and the shortCheat Neutral.

The complete schedule can be found at http://environment.yale.edu/film.

FEATURE FILMS:

Houston We Have a Problem (USA) East Coast Premiere. We are fighting a cold waron energy, and both Wall Street and Main Street have no idea what to do. Wewill see a new form of Wildcatting in alternatives, and learn how many oilmenbelieve that being shackled to cheap oil is only destroying our empire.Directed by Nicole Torre.  

Blood of the Rose (UK/Germany/Japan) U.S. Premiere.  Henry Singer'sgripping film tells the story of the extraordinary life and brutal death offilmmaker-turned-conservationist Joan Root, and of her campaign to save herbeloved Lake Naivasha in Kenya. The film is both a biopic and a classicwhodunit.

The End of the Line (UK) Connecticut Premiere. Director Rupert Murraycrisscrosses the globe, exploring the devastating effect that overfishing ishaving on fish stocks and the health of our oceans, what is causing the dilemmaand what can be done to solve it.

Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home (USA) New England Premiere.  Explores theawakening conscience of several people who grew up in traditional farmingculture and who have now come to question the basic premises of their inheritedway of life. Directed by Jenny Stein.

Bananas!* (Sweden) New England Premiere.  Director Fredrik Gerttenchronicles the historic case of twelve banana workers who claim to be sufferingfrom sterility and who are seeking a ruling against their employer, Dole Fruit,whom they say continued to use Nemagon until 1982, even though the chemical hadbeen banned in the U.S. in 1977.

Oceans (USA/France) Special Advance Screening.  Disneynature, the studiothat presented the record-breaking film Earth, brings Oceans to the big screenon Earth Day, 2010. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep intothe very waters that sustain all of mankind-exploring the harsh reality and theamazing creatures that live within.

The Cove (USA) Underwater sound and camera experts, deep sea free divers,special effects artists and a host of other marine/film experts contribute tothis provocative, eye-opening film, directed by Louie Psihoyos, that capturesthe wrongdoings of the secretive dolphin industry in Japan.  Winner of the2010 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Gasland (USA) New England Premiere. When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers thatNatural Gas drilling is coming to his area-the Catskills/Poconos region ofUpstate New York and Pennsylvania, he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncoverthe deep consequences of the United States' natural gas drilling boom. What heuncovers is truly shocking. Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Documentary at2010 Sundance Film Festival.

SHORT FILMS:

Hansaari A (Finland) New England Premiere. An experimental documentary aboutthe changing cityscape of Helsinki and the final moments of a coal-fired powerplant. The old industrial milieu is being destroyed to make space for modernhousing units.

The Hunter and the Bear (Germany) U.S. Premiere. A hunter stalks a lonelymeadow, searching for an elusive white bear that has frightened the townsfolk.A gorgeous animation with hints of Bruegel, set to the music of Sigur Ros.

Incident at Tower 37 (USA) A ten-minute HD animated film following two unlikelyheroes as they rise up against their oppressors.

Dive! (USA) New England Premiere. Filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and his circle offriends "dumpster dive" in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles ofL.A.'s supermarkets. In the process they uncover thousands of dollars of foodand an ugly truth about waste in America.

Foodshed (USA) World Premiere. Yale student Justin Freiberg gives voices to agroup of New Haven teens during their first experiences as urban farmers, anddiscusses the potential of local urban farms as entrepreneurial opportunities.

Soy Story (UK) U.S. Premiere. An animated short film that tells the story of acow who treks to South America to find the answer his daughter's questionsabout where their food comes from.

Logorama (France) Spectacular car chases, an intense hostage crisis, and wildanimals rampaging through the city change a world constructed by heavycorporate sponsorship.  Winner of the 2010 Academy Award for Best AnimatedShort.

Born Sweet (USA) New England Premiere. Arsenic-laced water has poisoned a15-year-old boy from a small, rural village in Cambodia, who fashions dreamsfor karaoke stardom in spite of his illness.

Pumzi (Kenya/South Africa) East Coast Premiere. Thirty-five years after WorldWar III, the "Water War," a woman from East Africa flees an enclosed communityin hopes of once again restoring life outside its walls.

One of the Last (Italy) Mauro is a 78-year-old Italian peasant who loves hislife. Mauro is part of the landscape, and he wants it to survive.

Skylight (Canada) A mock documentary about the ecological plight of penguins inthe Antarctic, possibly foretelling cataclysmic results for the rest of theworld.

Plastic and Glass (France) New England Premiere. In a recycling factory, themachines dance, the workers join in song, and the truck drivers circle as ifpart of a factory ballet.