Planet in Focus Newsflash – January 21, 2008

In This Newsflash:

1.            Mixed Greens – THIS FRIDAY, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario
2.            2008 Submissions Now Open
3.            Support Planet in Focus
4.            PIF remembers Dusty Cohl

1.            Mixed Greens, Friday, January 25, 2008, 6:45pm Pay What You Can

Join us at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 111 Queen’s Park on the last Friday of each month as we celebrate the best environmental films from our 2007 festival! Selected straight from our 2007 festival line-up, here is your chance to experience again or for the first time this rare and note worthy collection of films from around the country and around the world!

 

Screening Friday, January 25, 6:45pm

 

P is for Papaya

Aube Giroux

Canada, animated, 2007

8 mins. (Beta)

Told as a romance gone bad, this short documentary reveals some of the sour secrets beneath the skin of popular tropical fruit.

 

Bushman’s Secret

Rehad Desai

South Africa, documentary, 2006

65 mins. (MiniDV)

(Afrikaans, Nu!, Ju’Hoan, English with English Subtitles)

You don’t take everything away…you give something back. That is nature.

When the pharmaceutical industry got a hold of what is considered a profitable secret – the hoodia plant – it inspired filmmaker Rehad Desai to travel to the Kalahari to investigate global interest in ancient Bushmen knowledge. He meets Jan van der Westhuizen, a fascinating Khomani San traditional healer.

Jan’s struggle to live close to nature is hampered by centuries of colonial exploitation. Unable to survive as they once did hunting and gathering, the Khomani now live in a state of poverty that threatens to see the last of this community. Who will pass on the knowledge of the land to its people and who can protect the plants that hold secrets and are a means to their survival?

This is a story of dispossession of the land, its inhabitants, their cultural and agricultural wealth.

For complete program details, please visit our website at www.planetinfocus.org/mixedgreens

 

2.            2008 Submissions Now Open

 

2008 Planet in Focus Festival (October 22-26, 2008, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Planet in Focus is now accepting submissions for the 2008 Festival which runs October 22 – 26.

Early-Bird Deadline: May 23, 2008
Final Deadline: June 20, 2008

Green Sprouts! Showcase

Back for 2008, the Green Sprouts! Youth Filmmakers’ Showcase gives voice to filmmakers 18 years old and younger. The Showcase will run alongside the Youth, Camera, Action! program during the 2008 Festival.

Deadline: June 27, 2008

Please visit our website for more information and to download our 2008 submission forms:

www.planetinfocus.org/festival/submissions

 

 

3.            Support Planet in Focus

 

Planet in Focus produces Canada’s most acclaimed international environmental film and video festival, screening and promoting outstanding and compelling cinematic works covering a broad range of environmental themes by Canadian and International filmmakers.

 

Our festival includes a Green Market for filmmakers, Filmmaker Workshops, a Green Pitch (a competition for development funding for a filmmaker’s project), panel discussions and a School’s Program.  Now entering its 9th year, Planet in Focus also presents year round programs including  Mixed Greens monthly screenings in Toronto, a Cross Canada Tour, the Youth Camera Action Video Production Camp, and runs a vast environmental film Archive (now available online). These activities attest to our growing national reputation and increased demand for environmental cultural works.

Your one-time or monthly donation to the Planet in Focus Foundation will help us expand our programs and continue to offer additional opportunities to our audience and filmmakers locally, nationally and abroad.

 

Your donations help Planet in Focus:

– Provide financial assistance to campers at our Youth Camera Action Video Production Camp

– Assist in covering artistic fees so that we can expand opportunities for presenting film-works by Canadian and International artists year round and keep our admission rates down
– Travel assistance to our out of town filmmakers

– Outreach and financial support to schools for our school’s program
– Deliver vital workshops and training for emerging and established artists

– Green Market to provide additional exposure and support for emerging artists

– Develop and expand the archive and promote environmental education resources to students, teachers and the public

A donation to Planet in Focus is also a great gifting opportunity for friends and family:
Dedicate your donation “in memory of” or “on behalf of ” and a donation card will be sent by mail or email to recipient or their family.

To donate secure online, please visit: https://www.canadahelps.org/ and select the Planet in Focus Foundation charity
OR

Donate by cheque, please make the cheque payable to “Planet in Focus Foundation” and mail to:

 

Planet in Focus Foundation

55 Mill Street, Building 74

Casegoods Warehouse, Suite 402,

Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3C4

 

A charitable tax receipt will be issued for every donation

All of our donors receive:

–     listing in the Festival Program Book

–     Invitations to non-Festival, Planet in Focus events

 

Call (416) 531-1769 or email Kim Haladay at kim@planetinfocus.org  for assistance processing your donation.

4.            PIF Remembers Dusty Cohl

 

Planet in Focus wishes to pay tribute to an individual who transformed the movie going experience in Toronto by elevating the Toronto International Film Festival to be the pre-eminent festival of its kind in North America.  Dusty created a cinephile culture in this city and started a trend – a proliferation of film festivals whose momentum has not stopped. Dusty passed away on January 11th. He will be missed by his friends and remembered for the indelible impression he made as a person and on the Canadian cultural landscape.