Liz Witham and Ken Wentworth of Film-Truth Productions will present their environmental documentary work on three upcoming occasions. Recently returned from the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate Change (COP 21), the filmmaking duo presented clips from the conference last Tuesday at the Vineyard Haven library. They will show their work again in a multimedia presentation at Pathways Projects on Thursday, Jan. 21. In a second event at Pathways on Friday, Jan. 22, they will screen “Where Did the Bats Go?” as part of an Arts and Scripts program. It is one of the most recent shorts in the filmmakers’ “Sustainable Vineyard” series, and biologist Luanne Johnson will answer questions about the endangered northern long-eared bat.
Third, the West Tisbury library will host the filmmakers on Thursday, Jan. 28, in an event that includes their work from the Paris conference, as well as the most recent shorts in the “Sustainable Vineyard” series. In addition to “Where Did the Bats Go?” they will screen two others. “Growing Habitat Stewards” investigates biologist Kendra Buresch’s Habitat Patch in Island schools. The goal is to encourage students to use the natural world as a classroom instead of spending time in front of electronic screens. “Forward to Nature” describes Kevin Brennan’s Island Orchard Project, which uses local soil types, key-line drainage, multi-canopy forestry, and livestock grazing to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, fertilizers, and watering. The goal is to utilize existing elements of the biosphere and promote a sense of community through nature.
Film-Truth Productions hopes to find funding for more “Sustainable Vineyard” shorts, including one on Island endangered species like the right whale and the piping plover. Ms. Witham points out that Islanders need to know what local species are endangered. Another project could examine the work of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group’s Rick Carney on the invasive phragmites plant. Grants from the Vineyard Vision Fellowship and the Massachusetts Cultural Council helped support the filmmakers’ recent work.
‘Greening Eden’
The “Sustainable Vineyard” series grew out of Film-Truth’s “Greening Eden” project, which took them to the Paris conference last month. “We thought it would be cool to combine the two series,” Ms. Witham said in a telephone interview last weekend. The filmmakers have been covering alternative environmental movements from around the world since 2010.
“The more we go to other places, the more we realize how lucky we are to live on the Vineyard, where people are actively addressing the same kinds of issues,” Ms. Witham says. Among the organizations Film-Truth has followed for “Greening Eden” is Regeneration International, an online grassroots effort to support agricultural solutions to the world’s environmental crises.
The filmmakers have also tracked indigenous rights groups, including those at the 2014 Rights of Nature Tribunal in Peru. The goal of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature is to give legal rights to nature. In Peru, testimony concerned the effect of mining, and in Brazil, it addressed the impact of the Belo Monte dam affecting 24 indigenous groups. Rights of Nature tenets have been added to the Bolivian constitution, and in some cases have been adopted by U.S. regional and local governments. A tribunal was also held at the Paris conference. “It’s interesting to watch these movements grow,” says Ms. Witham.
Film-Truth Events: Thursday, Jan. 21, 7 to 9 pm, Pathways, Chilmark. Friday, Jan. 22, 6:30 pm, Pathways, Chilmark. Thursday, Jan. 28, 6 to 7:30 pm, West Tisbury library, West Tisbury.
