Film festival focuses on natural resources
With a mix of short, thought-provoking, environmental films, lighthearted animations and poignant documentaries, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods examines the costs and benefits of sharing space with nature at its 2015 Film Festival in the Woods.
The event, which will be held from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Aug. 22, will feature short films such as: "Chasing Water" and "Delta Dawn" by award-winning photographer, Pete McBride; "CHICAGOLAND" by Ben Kauffman; and "Bluebird Man" by Neil Paprocki and Matthew Podolsky.
Each film examines the environmental impact of coexistence with our natural world.
McBride's films address the timely subject of water. With extreme conditions in California and the national attention on the lack of resources, water has become headline news. "Chasing Water" and "Delta Dawn" shares a photographic and explorative journey on the Colorado River.
McBride takes an intimate look at the watershed as he and his crew attempt to follow the irrigation water that sustains the family's Colorado ranch, down river to the sea. His encounters along the way help us feel the extreme value of water and the heavy demand on this important commodity in North America.
Paprocki and Podolsky's "Bluebird Man" is a short documentary about bluebird conservation and citizen science. This Wild Lens production focuses on the efforts of 91-year-old Alfred Larson, who has been monitoring and maintaining more than 300 nest boxes for bluebirds in Idaho for 35 years.
Kauffman's film was made in Chicago with Manual Cinema. Although Chicago boasts almost 5,000 acres of urban natural areas, some wildlife subsists within the built environment.
In the film "CHICAGOLAND," the filmmaker tells a timely story about the unseen wildness of our cities and the animals that also call it home. We follow a lone urban coyote in search of sustenance for herself and her pups while navigating the perils of the Chicago landscape, both man-made and natural.
Traveling from the perimeter of the city into its center, we see through her eyes a Chicago where the boundaries of "nature" and "city" are permeable; a Chicago where the wild and the urban intermingle.
The film festival is presented outside on the Brushwood Center lawn with room for picnics, blankets and chairs. Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing art, nature and discovery by offering multiple points of entry for the public to connect with the natural world.
This festival is in partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature, Lake County Forest Preserve and the generosity of sponsor Frances Simons/Baird & Warner.
The program is free, but with a suggested donation of $10. In the event of rain, the festival will be held indoors.
For information, visit BrushwoodCenter. Org.