Environmental Film Festival

ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
... And at AFI Silver!

The 17th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital will be held March 11-22. Screenings at AFI Silver March 13-22. For a complete schedule, visit www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org or call 202.342.2564.

WERNER HERZOG RETROSPECTIVE

In both his iconoclastic narrative features and his provocative, ruminative documentary work, one of German filmmaker Werner Herzog's abiding themes is man against nature. Over the course of nearly four decades, Herzog has made films on every continent, and while the natural world has at times been portrayed as something to be conquered and at others as something unconquerable, Herzog's handling of the subject is always marked by an uncommon thoughtfulness, hard-earned insight and imagination. The films that will screen at AFI Silver represent the best of Herzog's environmentally conscious work.

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THE WHITE DIAMOND

English aeronautical engineer Graham Dorrington makes an expedition over the lush Amazon of Guyana. Dorrington's white, helium-propelled balloon allows him to observe the canopy of the forest as he searches for undiscovered species. Dorrington, like several of Herzog's protagonists, is a dreamer haunted by an earlier expedition in which one of his colleagues fell from his balloon. As he travels with Herzog and a handful of inquisitive eccentrics, they bicker, philosophize and examine the mysteries of nature and man.

DIR/SCR/PROD Werner Herzog, based on a story by Rudolph Herzog; PROD Annette Scheurich, Lucki Stipetic. Germany, 2004, color, 90 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Friday, March 13, 7:00

 

GRIZZLY MAN

Timothy Treadwell's dedication to documenting and protecting the lives of grizzly bears went beyond obsession; ultimately, it led to his death. Herzog constructed GRIZZLY MAN using Treadwell's own footage of his 13 summers spent in Alaska's Katmai National Park, and retraced Treadwell's life through the words of those who loved him. For months on end, Treadwell lived in the wilderness, rejecting the strictures of civilization, yet carefully chronicling his life and work as a record for the outside world. Tempting fate, Treadwell began to believe he could relate to the fierce, wild giants on a human level. His love for the bears and nature is palpable, yet tragically his love is unrequited. GRIZZLY MAN is not simply a nature documentary, it is a love story gone spectacularly wrong. (Note courtesy of SILVERDOCS)

DIR/SCR Werner Herzog; PROD Erik Nelson. US, 2005, color, 103 min. RATED R

Friday, March 13, 9:00; Wednesday, March 18, 7:00

LA SOUFRIÈRE

In 1976,Guadeloupe's La Soufrière volcano threatened a cataclysmic eruption, prompting a mass evacuation of the tiny island nation's inhabitants. But Herzog and a film crew helicoptered in, hoping to find and interview the one man who reputedly stayed behind. There's more than one man left behind, it turns out, and the men's reasons for doing so are as surprising as the eerie sights to be found in the abandoned, otherworldly environment.

DIR Werner Herzog. West Germany, 1977, color, 30 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Screening with:

LESSONS OF DARKNESS
[Lektionen in Finsternis]

An apocalyptic vision featuring the oil well fires in Kuwait after the Gulf War, as a whole world burst into flames. The footage uses sheer scale to put the conflict into perspective while demonstrating both the awesome power of nature, especially fire, and our primal attraction to its beauty. Glorious helicopter shots of oil-coated expanses reveal a seemingly hopeless world of decay, where men scramble about trying to fix a catastrophe.

DIR/SCR/PROD Werner Herzog; PROD Paul Berriff. France/UK/Germany, 1992, color, 50 min. In German, English and Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, March 14, 2:00

FITZCARRALDO

Klaus Kinski is Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an eccentric schemer and dreamer in Peru at the turn of the 20th century who, having made and lost a fortune on past pursuits, becomes enamored with building an opera house. To bankroll his vision, he conjures an elaborate scheme involving harvesting rubber from a remote plantation located in dangerous jungle, and shipping it back by steamer on the Amazon--which will involve an army of natives hauling the steamer over land from one river to the next. Amazingly, Herzog actually staged and performed this engineering marvel in order to film it.

DIR/SCR/PROD Werner Herzog; PROD Willi Sealer, Lucki Stipetic. Peru/West Germany, 1982, color, 158 min. RATED PG

Saturday, March 14, 4:00; Tuesday, March 17, 7:30

LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY

An extraordinary documentary about an extraordinary man, Dieter Dengler, who watched Allied planes destroy his village as a young boy in Germany, and from that experience decided he wanted to become a pilot. At 18,he moved to America, enlisted in the Navy and was promptly shipped to Vietnam. During one of his first missions, Dengler was shot down over Laos and taken prisoner. He and six others escaped, but only he is known to have survived and returned home. By bringing Dieter Dengler back to different locations in his past, Herzog is able to record his reactions in very powerful and moving ways. Dengler's story was later dramatized by Herzog as RESCUE DAWN, starring Christian Bale.

DIR/SCR Werner Herzog; PROD Lucki Stipetic. France/UK/Germany, 1997, color, 80 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, March 14, 7:10

AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD

Werner Herzog's 1972 cult classic is a visionary, nightmarish tale of a mutinous Spanish conquistador (Klaus Kinski) wielding a brutal, preening, psychotic charisma, and his doomed quest to find a city of gold in the Peruvian jungle. Beginning with one of the screen's most awesome opening shots--a telescopic view of the entire expedition, soldiers, slaves, livery and livestock, with women carried in sedan chairs, making their way down a steep mountain path--the story descends into a Heart of Darkness parable of man's mad pursuit of power and nature's unforgiving rebuke. Herzog's career-defining film provided star Kinski with his greatest role ever ("a half-mad actor playing a full-fledged lunatic."--J. Hoberman, The Village Voice).

DIR/SCR/PROD Werner Herzog; PROD Hans Prescher. West Germany/Peru/Mexico, 1972, color, 93 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, March 14, 9:00; Wednesday, March 18, 9:15

FATA MORGANA

A science-fiction elegy of demented colonialism in North Africa, this three-part documentary features footage of filmed mirages, or fata morgana, in the Sahara Desert. The first part shows an unpeopled, beautiful wasteland, the second introduces signs of human wreckage and the third shows wretched vestiges of life. The moody soundtrack includes selections from Mozart and Handel, as well as rock music by Blind Faith, Leonard Cohen and Herzog favorite Popul Vuh.

DIR/SCR Werner Herzog. West Germany, 1971, color, 79 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Screening with:

WODAABE: HERDSMEN OF THE SUN
[Wodaabe: Die Hirten der Sonne. Nomaden am Südrand der Sahara]

A fascinating portrait of the nomadic Wodaabe tribe of the Sahara/Sahel region, who consider themselves the world's most beautiful people, and their social rituals and cultural celebrations. Particular attention is given to the tribe's spectacular courtship rituals and "beauty pageants," such as the Gerewol celebration, where eligible young men strive to outshine each other and attract mates by means of lavish makeup, posturing and facial movements.

DIR/SCR Werner Herzog; PROD Patrick Sandrin. France/West Germany, 1989, color, 52 min. In French, German and Peul with English subtitles. NOT RATED
 

Sunday, March 15, 4:00

SCREAM OF STONE
[Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein]

Mountaineer Vittorio Mezzogiorno battles the world's top free climber Stefan Glowacz to be the first to scale Patagonia's Cerro Torre, one of the world's most challenging peaks. The idea for the film came from the famous mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, inspired by a real-life romantic triangle and the death of a friend. Donald Sutherland plays a TV journalist intent on covering the climb, who takes bets on who will be the first to reach the summit.

DIR Werner Herzog; SCR Hans-Ulrich Klenner, Walter Saxer, Robert Geoffrion, based on an original idea by Reinhold Messner; PROD Henry Lange, Richard Sadler, Walter Saxer. Germany, 1991, color, 105 min. NOT RATED

Sunday, March 15, 6:45

THE WILD BLUE YONDER

This is the story of astronauts lost in space, the secret Roswell object re-examined, and Brad Dourif (cast as an alien) telling stories about his home planet--the Wild Blue Yonder--where the atmosphere is composed of liquid helium and the sky is frozen. Making use of beautiful, previously unseen footage from the Galileo mission and a haunting score, Herzog has created a spectacular vision of imagery, sound, music and human emotion--all part of his science-fantasy.

DIR/SCR Werner Herzog; PROD Andre Singer. UK/US/France/Germany, 2005, color/b&w, 80 min. NOT RATED

Sunday, March 15, 9:00; Monday, March 16, 7:00

THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY

This documentary chronicles the legal proceedings that followed the execution-style murder of Sister Dorothy Stang. At 73, the Catholic nun and activist had lived in Brazil for 30 years, collaborating with the government to establish sustainable development in a remote corner of the Amazon. But along the way, she made enemies among the ranchers who stood to benefit from the exploitation of the rainforest and its natural resources. In 2005, she was shot six times at point-blank range. Two men were arrested for the killing, but it quickly became clear that her death was part of a much greater conspiracy. Narrated by Martin Sheen. (Note courtesy of Starz Denver Film Festival)

DIR Daniel Junge; PROD Henry Ansbacher, Nigel Noble. US, 2008, color, 94 min. In English and Portuguese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, March 21, 1:00

BEFORE TOMORROW
[Le jour avant le lendemain]

Introduced by Melissa Bisagni, Film and Video Program Manager, National Museum of the American Indian

Set in 1840, BEFORE TOMORROW begins as two isolated Inuit families reunite in celebration after many years of separation. The tribes have never encountered anyone outside of their families, although rumors circulate about the white explorers. When Ninioq, an old woman, her best friend Kuutujuuk and her grandson Maniq leave camp to dry fish on a remote island, a strange illness attacks the camp. After the death of Kuutujuuk, Ninioq and her grandson are left alone in the world and try to find the means and the will to survive alone in the remote Arctic tundra. (Note courtesy of American Indian Film Festival)

DIR/SCR Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu; SCR Susan Avingaq, based on the novel by Jorn Riel; PROD Stephane Rituit. Canada, 2008, color, 93 min. In Inuktitut with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Sun, Mar 22, 3:00