College Presents Second Annual Sustainability Conference Eco Film Festival Part of Mayor’s “Sustainability Week” Activities for Schools

The Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center at Chestnut Hill College will present an Eco Film Festival during its second annual Sustainability Conference on Thursday, March 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the East Parlor, St. Joseph Hall.  

Sponsored by Lutron Electronics Company, Inc., the one-day film festival and discussion series is hosted by the Chestnut Hill College Green Sustainability Task Force and SEPCHE (Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education).

The Film Festival is a part of Sustainability Week, a week of green events designed to enhance knowledge sponsored by the Sustainability Coalition for Colleges and Universities established through the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability for the City of Philadelphia.

The Film Fest includes showings of five eco-related films, each followed by a brief discussion with a presenter who is connected to the issue in the film.

• “Taking Root” at 8:30 a.m., directed by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, tells the story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide crusade to preserve the environment, protect human rights and defend democracy.
   
• “I AM” at 10 a.m., directed by Tom Shadyac, whose life-threatening head injury sent him on a personal journey to answer two questions: “What’s wrong with our world?” and “What can we do about it?”
   
• “Kilowatt Ours” at 12:30 p.m. follows director Jeff Barrie as he travels through America’s cities, towns and countryside, searching for solutions for today’s energy problems while teaching viewers how to dramatically decrease their energy bills and improve the environment.
   
• “Journey of the Universe” at 2 p.m., written by Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, depicts the epic story of cosmic, earth and human transformation. The film was created in collaboration with a team of expert scientists, scholars and filmmakers.
   
• “They Killed Sister Dorothy” at 3:45 p.m., directed by Daniel Junge, tells the shocking story of Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year old Catholic nun from Dayton, Ohio, who was killed in the Amazon Rainforest. The 2005 murder exposed a brutal battle in the Brazilian rainforest, and the answers to the complex factors that contributed to her death and what can be done about it may hold the key to the future of the rainforest.

The film festival is free and open to the public. For more information about the event, please contact Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, SSJ at 215.248.7289 or email mclark@chc.edu.