Monthly Archive: May 2011

2012/2013 Films

January 15, 2013: THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND

There Once Was an Island Directed by Briar March,  80 minutes, Documentary, 2010 January 15, 2013/ 7:30 pm / St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay Among the world’s first climate change refugees, a unique Pacific island community considers leaving their homeland forever to escape life-threatening sea level rise.   There Once Was an Island presents the human face of climate change, challenging audiences everywhere to consider their relationship to the earth and to their neighbors. What if your community had to decide whether to leave its homeland forever and there was no apparent help available?  This is the reality for the culturally unique Polynesian community of Takuu, a tiny, low-lying Pacific Ocean atoll within Papau New Guinea.  As a tidal flood submerges this fishing and agricultural community they experience the devastating effects of climate change, firsthand. In this documentary, the three intrepid characters of Teloo, Endar, and Satty allow us into their lives and culture, showing us the human face behind environmental crisis.  Two scientists, oceanographer John Hunter and geomorphologist Scott Smithers, investigate the impact of climate change on communities with limited access to resources and support, while the citizens of Takuu consider whether to move to an uncertain future in Bougainville or to stay on Takuu and fight for a different, but equally uncertain, outcome. Find out more about the movie THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND here. Thanks to our official film premiere sponsor,  ST. JOHN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION.  Thanks to Elaine Ione Sprauve Public Library, home to the St. John Film Society film collection.  

2011/2012 Films

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

BAG IT! Directed by Susan Beraza    78 minutes, documentary 7:30 pm / St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he tries to make sense of our dependence on plastic bags. When Jeb discovers that he and his partner are expecting a child, his plastic odyssey becomes a truly personal one. How can they protect their baby from the health dangers associated with plastics? Jeb looks beyond single-use disposable plastics and discovers that virtually everything in modern society – from baby bottles, to sports equipment, to dental sealants, to personal care products – is either made with plastic or contains potentially harmful chemical additives used in the plastic-making process. The average American uses about 500 plastic bags each year, for about twelve minutes each. This single-use mentality has led to the formation of a floating island of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Texas.  The film explores these issues and identifies how our daily reliance on plastic threatens not only waterways and marine life, but human health, too. Featuring interviews with scientists and experts from around the world, Bag It is a first-person documentary in the style of Michael Moore, asking how we can incorporate healthy, more environmentally friendly practices into our lives, our cultures, and our communities. Find out more about BAG IT!, the movie here. THIS SCREENING IS BEING CO-SPONSORED BY BOTH THE ROTARY CLUB OF ST JOHN AND THE ECO-CLUB OF GIFFT HILL SCHOOL.  THE ROTARY CLUB will be announcing the beginning of its “Bring Your Bag” campaign to help end the use of disposable plastic bags on St. John. Rotary is seeking sponsors to donate and distribute heavy duty, reusable organic cotton, made in the USA shopping bags around the island.  Each bag will have sponsors logos printed on one side of the bag.  Bags are printed in quantities of 500.  Each of the 14 sponsors who donate $300 to Rotary will receive 36 bags to distribute as they like.  Rotary is also posting “Bring Your Bag” signs in store parking lots and entrance doors to remind people to bring their reusable shopping bags with them. For additional information or to sign up as a sponsor contact Doug White 340 690 0217. THE ECO-CLUB OF GIFFT HILL SCHOOL not only showed the film for the entire student body but created a skit to raise awareness to the problem in the VI and were invited to the senate to support legislation to ban single use plastic bags throughout the territory. If you would like to sign the petition to be delivered to the senate and governor in support of banning plastic bags you can do so at the below link.   https://www.thepetitionsite.com/338/229/699/ban-plastic-bags-in-the-us-virgin-islands/   PLEASE HELP US BAN SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS FROM THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS and preserve our spectacular natural resources and unique wildlife for generations to come!