Garbage Warrior, a film about environmentally sustainable housing, and community-owned
projects, is one of a group of films about sustainable building, eco-communities and the
environment which will be featuring in this years New Zealand film festival.

The 2008 New Zealand International Film Festival, taking place in 16 cities across New Zealand, kicks off in Auckland on July 10 and Wellington on July 18.

"We have some fantastic films this year, with a particularly strong field of films about sustainable living, eco-communities and environmental issues," said Yamin Tun of the NZ Film Festival Trust.

Garbage Warrior
Garbage Warrior is a film about building out of materials like beer cans, car tires and plastic
water bottles as well as rammed earth.

Architect Michael Reynolds’ houses rely upon only the earth’s natural resources to heat, cool,

water and power them. The film also shows Reynolds and his team’s work in building new
housing and reconstruction projects in tsunami and earthquake struck parts of South Asia and
Mexico. 

Natural housing in the New Mexico desert
 For over 30 years, Reynolds’ “earthships” have sprouted out of the New Mexico desert, relying upon only the earth’s natural resources to heat, cool, water and power them. The communities he is involved in operate co-ownership and co-building practices for the benefit of all.

However, his unorthodox methods (read subtext: the jaw-dropping narrow-mindedness of the
authorities) get him disbarred from the American Architectural Association and sued to a
standstill.

Rather than give up, Reynolds is unflappable: he lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site in the state. Corporate and political filibustering thwart his plans; it takes a tragic natural disaster on the other side of the world to trigger an about-turn in state policy.

Oliver Hodge’s documentary encapsulates the essence of what it is to be an ordinary guy with an extraordinary vision, fighting for what he believes. It is infectious, inspiring and supremely uplifting. In English

Polar bears, elephants, humpbacks
Environmental film, Earth, is the spectacular giant screen spin-off from the BBC's Planet Earth
series. The film concentrates and expands on astoundingly close coverage of three creatures and their young offspring: polar bear, elephant and humpback whale.

The hardships posed to their migratory existence by a changing planet are distressingly clear,
but it’s the medium, not the sadly familiar message, that will amaze as this new apogee of nature cinematography floods the Civic screen.

As you might expect of the BBC’s Natural History Unit, the high-definition imagery is simply
matchless. Whether it’s a crisp aerial shot of a wolf taking down a caribou, night footage of lions tackling an elephant, or slow-mo film of a great white shark leaping out of the water, there isn’t a moment that doesn’t fill one with awe.

Environmental folk music
Remember Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome"? Pete Seeger; The Power Of Song is a rousing,
affectionate biographical portrait of singer/activist Pete Seeger, now in his late 80s, and also an overview of 20th-century American folk music as a form of protest for civil rights and
environmental movements across the US.

In the 60s Seeger turned "We Shall Overcome" into the anthem of the civil rights movement. He was kept off American television for 17 years on account of his left-leaning views, but never lost his audience. 

Shark eco-documentary
Sharkwater is a film that should increase your appreciation of sharks, not your fear of them.
Underwater videographer, eco-warrior and hunk, Rob Stewart is passionate about sharks.

Years in the making, his spectacular film puts us within snorkels’ length of the ocean’s unjustly
demonised predators, then plumbs the depths of the multi billion-dollar shark-fin trade to show how over-harvesting sharks destroys the food chain and puts the world’s ecosystems at risk. 

"This beautiful and urgent eco-doc takes a bite out of the shark mythology made indelible by
Jaws. Sharkwater argues that these ancient creatures are as friendly as dolphins, and relatively safe.”

Yangtze River and westernisation
Up the Yangtze is a documentary that observes life on the soon-to-be-flooded banks of the
Yangtze from aboard a cruise ship taking English-speaking tourists up the river.

We meet a handful of the people whose lives are being the most deeply affected, and we become especially well-acquainted with two of the ship’s young restaurant workers: a woman from a dirt-poor family whose shack close to the river will very soon be drowned, and the brash son of a middle-class family.

Their very different responses to westernisation are subtly shaded and speak volumes about the price of China’s headlong rush into the future.

Festival brochure online
Venue details, dates and sessions are still to be confirmed but will be available in the festival
brochure and online at www.nzff.co.nz from mid-June. I can also email you these details once
they are confirmed.

Festival dates around New Zealand

Auckland Jul 10 - 27

Christchurch Jul 31 - Aug 17

Dunedin Jul 25 - Aug 10

Gisborne Nov 6 - 19

Greymouth Oct 2 - 8

Hamilton Aug 14 - 31

Levin Oct 28 - Nov 12

Masterton Oct 15 - 29

Napier Aug 20 - Sep 7

Nelson Sep 11 - 24

New Plymouth Sep 4 - 17

Palmerston North Aug 7 - 24

Queenstown Oct 23 - Nov 5

Tauranga Aug 28 - Sep 10

Wellington Jul 18 - Aug 3

Whangarei Nov 13 - 26