Athens, Ga. – The EcoFocus Film Festival will present encore screenings of two popular and informative films and a new film as part of the Athens Green Life Expo in January and the Animal Voices Film Festival in February. EcoFocus, an initiative of the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, shows a diversity of environmental films that promote discussion and inspire audiences to awareness and action on behalf of the environment.
On Friday, Jan. 28, EcoFocus will partner with the Athens-Clarke County Recycling Division and Power Partners, Inc., to host two screenings of So Right So Smart at the 2011 Athens Green Life Expo at the Classic Center in downtown Athens. This feature-length documentary shows the success of businesses that have begun to take positive steps toward a sustainable future, and was featured at the 2009 EcoFocus Film Festival.
The first screening takes place at noon, with lunch provided, and will be followed by a conversation with Erin Meezan, vice president of sustainability for Interface Carpet. This event is free for the first twenty people who register, compliments of Power Partners, Inc.; tickets for all others are $20.To register, contact Suki Janssen at suki.janssen@athensclarkecounty.com.
The second screening takes place at 6 p.m. A reception with drinks and light appetizers precedes the film at 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
In February, EcoFocus will co-present two films at the Animal Voices Film Festival.
On Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m., EcoFocus and Animal Voices present Call of Life, which explores the causes and consequences of mass extinction around the globe. John Gittleman, dean of the Odum School, will lead a discussion following the film. Call of Life was featured at the 2010 EcoFocus Film Festival.
On Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m., EcoFocus and Animal Voices present One Lucky Elephant. This film chronicles the nine-year journey to find a suitable home for a retired circus elephant, and explores the consequences of raising a wild animal in captivity.
Both events will take place in room 171 of the UGA Miller Learning Center and are free and open to the public.
EcoFocus was initiated in 2008 to bring awareness of environmental issues and ecological science to an audience beyond the classroom, as part of the Odum School’s service and outreach mission. “The medium of film can convey information in a way that a lecture or paper-nomatter how well crafted-can’t,” said Gittleman.”EcoFocus is an important way to convey scientific knowledge to the public at large.”
