Once again, Golden Real Estate is pleased to co-sponsor the Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF), held at the American Mountaineering Center in downtown Golden.
Held next Thursday through Saturday, this year’s festival features a record 56 films from 10 countries as well as from local filmmakers You can see the schedule and buy tickets online at www.CEFF.net.
Opening night (Thursday, Feb. 22nd) is a free “community night,” including a reception with drinks and light appetizers, opportunities to interact with local businesses (including Golden Real Estate), a silent auction benefiting CEFF programs, and the screening of Chasing Coral. This documentary, which was recently short-listed for an Academy Award, looks at coral reefs around the world, which are vanishing at an alarming rate. Zach Rago, one of the stars of the film, will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A session following the screening. CEFF will also announce its five selected 2018 award winning films at the close of the evening. Reserve your free ticket for Thursday on the festival’s website.
Themes for this year’s films range from rivers, transportation, and climate change to endangered species, food/farming, and more. Countries submitting films include the United States, Australia, India, China, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Indonesia and Brazil.
Two other features of the festival are a photographic exhibit and an eco-expo. The Environmental Photography Exhibition and Reception have become a much-anticipated part of this annual film festival. The free reception for the photography exhibition happens on Friday night with a keynote address entitled “Pretty Pictures Are Just Not Enough” by Kerry Koepping, Director of Arctic Arts Project. Complimentary drinks and appetizers are served. The exhibition remains on display at the American Mountaineering Center through April 27, 2018
The Eco-Expo Call2Action is open to the public without a ticket and answers the question, “What can I personally do to affect this issue?” The Eco-Expo features solutions-based organizations fo-cused on environmental issues. Filmgoers will be exiting the two theaters galvanized to take action on a multitude of environmental concerns presented in the films. The expo hours are noon to 7:30 on Friday and 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday.
Descriptions of all films and their length is at www.CEFF.net/films-2018/. That web page is great, providing filters allowing you to quickly find which films match your environmental area of interest. You can specify short films vs. feature films, Colorado vs. foreign, documentary vs. drama (or comedy, adventure, animation, etc.) as well as 21 different issues (e.g., climate change, GMOs, rivers, etc.).
Half of the 56 films this year are “shorts,” ranging from 4 minutes to 28 minutes. There are 16 feature length films ranging from 40 to 93 minutes in length. There are 12 films in the “Youth” category. One of them is a 17-minute film called “Melting Away” by Colorado high school student Liam Watson, whose passion for skiing drove him to explore how climate change may impact his favorite sport.
