Wednesday, January 25, 2006

film festival in Blacksburg, Virginia

---...---...--- - ideapark.org loop news for Wednesday, January 25 - ...---...--- - Mountain Justice is organizing a film festival in Blacksburg, Virginia to help raise awareness about the social and environmental impact of surface mining. Films will be shown on the Virginia Tech campus. Please stay tuned to the ideapark.org loop for details. - ...---

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from the Mountain Justice website:

BLACKSBURG - The first Mountain Justice Film Festival will be held Wednesday evenings in February in 3100 Torgersen at 7 p.m. Guest speakers will be on hand to lead discussions about issues raised in the documentary films.

Mountain Justice at Virginia Tech, a student organization, is sponsoring the festival with the Appalachian Studies Program as a co-sponsor.

The festival begins February 1 with a showing of Part 2 of the PBS series "The Appalachians."
This documentary focuses on the region's natural resources and efforts to save them.

Next, excerpts from several films are planned for February 8. The first two films, "Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man" and "Buffalo Creek", examine the impact of the 1960s Buffalo Creek flood and its aftermath in West Virginia. The film "To Save the Land and People" documents a similar flood in Kentucky.

The film "Sludge", to be shown February 15, explores a recent coal waste flood disaster in eastern Kentucky and the whistleblower case of Jack Spadero. The filmmaker, Robert Salyer, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.

The festival concludes on February 22 with the filmmaker, Jeff Barrie, presenting his documentary "Kilowatt Ours". In this film, Barrie takes viewers on his journey from exploring the consequences of a coal-based economy to the practical solutions that
individuals can take to create a net zero nation.

Working Films, in partnership with Sierra Club Productions and Appalshop, provided the initial funding for this film festival.

Information about the Mountain Justice student organization is available online at www.mountainjustice.org.vt.edu