filmexplorationsinmaine

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Ever thought of how you can be of help to the environment, even through death???

                                   A few weeks ago I watched one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It made me think, it made me laugh, and it made me cry. The name of this film was "A Will for the Woods". It was directed by Brian Wilson, Tony Hale, Jeremy Kaplan, and Amy Browne. The four had set out to create a film about green burials, but what they found themselves with was more than ever expected.

         The first thing that really got me intrigued in this film was the idea of a green burial. This is because for years, I have had the idea in my head that I wanted to be buried in nature and not just some cemetery. So when they began to talk about green burials in the film I was amazed that this was actually a real thing. A green burial is defined as "a simple and natural alternative to resource-intensive contemporary burial or cremation. The deceased is laid to rest in the earth​​ using​ only biodegradable materials​ ​and ​without a vault​ or toxic embalming, in a woodland or other natural setting, often with a fieldstone or indigenous plant marking the grave." I think this is a much better thing to do than having forests torn down to make a cemetery and then placing caskets into the ground that won't decompose, filled with bodies that won't decompose. Trees should not be torn down, metal and other materials shouldn't be put into the ground, and bodies should not be pumped with so many chemicals that they can't decompose properly. This is what one great man also thought, and he was set out to make sure his body would not be a part of this.

           This man was Clark Wang (seen in the picture above with his loving wife Jane Ezzard). Clark was a psychiatrist who loved playing music, folk dancing, and just being active. However, he was diagnosed with  non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which caused him to no longed be able to do some of the things he loved. Although on the positive side, it caused him to become more interested in the food we eat and the environment we live in. So through his sickness he began to eat more naturally and wonder how he could help save our environment. This ultimately led to him becoming interested in a green burial, something that is natural to the body and the environment. However there were not many places with green burials near him so he decided to contact the manager at a cemetery in North Carolina to see if she would be interested in starting this at her location. Her name was Dyanne Matzkevich and she was very interested in helping Clark with his last wish, to be buried in a green burial. So with the help of his wife they set out to make this dream come true. I don't want to give away everything that happens, but I'll just say in the end you don't know whether you want to smile or cry. It is a very touching documentary, that I strongly suggest everyone should watch.

Here is the link to the documentary's website if you are interested in finding out more about it: http://www.awillforthewoods.com/

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

What will next year hold?

Another film I watched as part of my Camden Film Festival class was called “This Time Next Year”. I think it was a pretty good film. It really made me think about the lives of the people who live on small islands. These people have been living on this island for years, even though every year the water level rises more and more. They were told that within a decade the island would be under water. However most of the residents do not care, they have lived there their whole lives and don’t plan on leaving.

A part of this film I really liked was that it followed several different lives of the residents of this island. One was a man who’s grandpa, dad, and him have all lived there their whole life. He loves the island and refuses to leave until he absolutely has to. It also follows the life of a high school student girl, it shows that life can be normal on the island even when it seems to be falling apart. Then there was a whole family that lived on the island that had two small children. Everyone living on the island seems to be living life as best they can. However, the whole point of the film is will they be able to continue life on this island as the years go on?

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Now I want to go on an expedition to the end of the world!

       Recently I watched a film called "Expedition to the End of the World". It is an excellent documentary that was just released in August of 2014. It was directed Daniel Dencik and produced by Michael Haslund-Christensen. The film follows a group of scientists and artists who sail to northeast Greenland. They are exploring/ studying the rapidly melting massifs of Greenland. However on this journey they also find themselves looking into themselves and onto the world a little differently. Each member of the crew took something different out of the experience. Whether it was intriguing thoughts or scientific data that was obtained, the expedition was definitely one of success.

       Overall I think this was a great film. I really enjoyed the way the film was set up to be. Like how the director took a very diverse group of people and put them on this large sailing ship that was going to a beautiful country like Greenland. In addition I loved the fact that the people involved were all different sorts of scientists and artists, my two favorite groups of people. They bantered back and forth sometimes and didn't always agree with each others ideas but I think they still respected each others professions, no matter how much crap they talked on each other. The disagreements that occurred also gave the film some comedy, which made it slightly more interesting to me. In addition to this I think the entire way this film was done created used a specialized styling technique. From the people who were in the film to the angles and shots taken by the camera people, I think it was all different from what is normally seen in documentaries. Lastly I really enjoyed how the people in the film took the idea into a different direction at times. For example, they began to talk about whether or not we as a society could go back to more sustainable way of eating. But they came to the conclusion as many other scientists have, and that is that there are now too many people on this planet to do things like hunt our own food. This film was fairly complex, and held the ability for many ideas to be drawn from it. I would recommend everyone to go watch it now.

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Just watched an entire movie about Chinese food, primarily General Tso's Chicken... It was actually very interesting 👍

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Camden International Film Festival Promo

Maine in September? It’s a no brainer. Mark your calendars for next year’s event — September 26 - 29, 2013.

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Watch two other great films yesterday, Iron Ministry and Waiting for August. Iron Ministry is about the Chinese Railroad and all the different types of people who have to ride it everyday. I know it doesn't sound too amazing but it was actually a very good film. Waiting for August followed the life of a Romanian family. The oldest daughter, Georgiana, who is only 15 is left to take care of her 6 siblings while her mother works in Italy to make enough money to support the family. All the movies being screened here at Camden International Film Festival are amazing and i would encourage everyone to come see them, the festival happens every year so if you can't make it this year there is always next!

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Saw an amaazing film last night, everyone should go see it when it is released in major cities in a couple months!

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Time for the first film at the Opera House 😁👍📹

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

Great view of the harbor

[filmexplorationsinmaine]

First meal in Camden, got the vip pass, all ready to go watch some films