
Category - Alternative Energy
Winner:
The Ordinary Heroes of Afghanistan 20:00 (Afghanistan)
Operating with the conviction that 'experts' don't have all the answers and technology can be demystified, the Barefoot College applies entrepreneurial creativity to the most complex development problems, yielding extraordinary results. The Barefoot College has already trained “Barefoot” professionals to solar electrify over 200 remote communities across India and is now training Barefoot Solar Engineers in 9 developing countries around the world.
As documented in the film, the Barefoot College organized five villages in Afghanistan to select 10 representatives to become Barefoot Solar Engineers, brought them to India for six months of training, and purchased and transported solar panels to solar electrify the villages for five years, all for less than the cost of hiring one UN or World Bank Consultant for one year.
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Suncookers 18:00 (Kenya)
This new film shot in Kenya in 2006, follows Magaret Owino, of Solar Cookers International in Nairobi, as she teaches refugees how to use solar cooking. Deforestation in Kenya has made the firewood and charcoal, that the refugees use to cook, incredibly scarce. The use of solar cooking helps prevent further deforestation and is cheaper than the limited and costly firewood. As SuNews in Kenya reports, “For millions of people living in dry, fuel scarce regions, solar cookers can literally save lives.”
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Katherine Knight Awards:
Kilowatt Hours 55:00 (U.S.A.)
'Kilowatt Ours' follows electricity from our light switches to its sources, exposing the ongoing environmental catastrophes facing America today. The seemingly harmless act of powering up contributes to disappearing mountain tops in West Virginia, disappearing views in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, global climate change, and a worsening epidemic of childhood asthma.
But the message isn't all gloom and doom. 'Kilowatt Ours' offers a message of hope -- an uplifting recipe for saving the planet. The second half of the film follows filmmaker Jeff Barrie on his search for a guilt-free way of life in America's energy intensive society. He visits success stories offering proof that our lives, economy, environment, and pocketbooks will benefit tremendously by transforming America into a clean energy nation.
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Category - Pollution and Global Warming
Winner:
e-Dump 20:00 (China)
Every day, the world dumps thousands of tons of e-waste on China, where it ends up polluting communities and harming the public health. At least half of e-waste collected for "recycling" in North America gets exported, according to environmental groups, and about 80% of that goes to China. The United States, where up to 350 million electronics or almost 2.2 million tons became obsolete in 2005, leads the transboundary, hazardous traffic.
The U.S. government disagrees with environmentalists that most of these exports are poisoning the poor and their environment. Coupled with the electronics industry's tardiness to act green, reducing the harm overseas is and will remain a daunting, long-term battle.
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Who’s Got The Power? 58:00 (U.S.A.)
Who's Got the Power? a forceful, new HD documentary, addresses head on the reality of global warming, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas, its attendant dangers in the form of carbon dioxide emissions---and presents genuine and workable solutions emphasizing that the use of renewable energy – solar, wind, biomass and geothermal, are viable alternatives to our dependence on fossil fuels From the vantage points of world-renowned scientists, environmental activists, physicians, financial advisers, designers, builders, coal miners and others, the global warming debate unfolds. In addition, inner city and suburban consumers in America, Germany and Japan, share their positive experiences with solar-powered housing. Focusing on the critical role of the built environment since it uses two-thirds to one-half the nation's electricity
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Katherine Knight Awards:
Black Waters 56:46 (India)
Revered as sacred, the Ganges River is said to wash away sins and cure illnesses, but, the water is heavily polluted by leather factories. This age-old industry is crucial to the national economy, producing a significant quantity of exported goods. Yet in trying to compete globally, the factory owners are challenged by environmental laws as factories face closure. A government's remedial program lies in ruins. A community responds to health problems caused by pollution in the Ganga River by raising public awareness, trying to reduce pollution at the source and generate accountability for both the community and an industry in transition. The law, health and ecology clash with poverty, jobs and a lineage of a thousand year.
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Arid Lands 98:00 (U.S.A. Washington)
Sixty years ago, the Hanford nuclear site produced plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, and today the area is the focus of the largest environmental cleanup in history. It is a landscape of incredible contradictions: coyotes roam among decommissioned nuclear reactors, salmon spawn in the middle of golf courses, wine grapes grow in the sagebrush, and federal cleanup dollars spur rapid urban expansion.
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Woven Ways 49:08 (U.S.A.)
Woven Ways shares the stories of the Navajo people, the land and livestock that sustain their culture and economy, and the environmental issues that threaten their health and well being. Our nation’s thirst for energy is creating deadly consequences for the Navajo. Much of the uranium for nuclear power plants and valuable deposits of coal, oil and gas lay beneath the Reservation. Told through Navajo eyes and in their own words, Woven Ways is a lyrical testimony to Navajo beauty and hope in the face of grave environmental injustice. Shot amid dramatic desert landscapes, the film chronicles each family’s steady resolve to hold on to what is sacred - the land, air and water; not for themselves, but for generations that will come.
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Global Warming Solutions 45:57 (U.S.A.)
Fundamentally, this documentary teaches by example. Overall, we believe people do care and do want to make a difference. We strongly believe that as a shift in thinking takes place, we will make positive and dramatic changes in the way we do business and live our lives.
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Public Exposure: DNA, Democracy and the “Wireless Revolution” 08:30 excerpt (U.S.A.)
Excerpt from the first documentary on the telecommunication industry cover-up of the dangers to public health and democratic choice posed by the spread of cell phones and cell towers. What happens to your health from using cell phones? What happens to children? Isn't it about time we find out?
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