Here’s something to chew on: This Thanksgiving, 45 million
turkeys will end up on Americans’ dinner plates. Many of those
turkeys were genetically modified to have unnaturally large
breasts—so unnatural that they are unable to reproduce on their
own—and were raised in incubators.
This might have you questioning the origins of your food. So after
you’ve given thanks this holiday weekend, take time to check out
Fresh: New Thinking About What We Are Eating, a documentary film
that takes a look at where America’s food really comes from.
It’s the first in the four-part Planetwize Film Fest, a series of
films highlighting today’s most pressing global issues, screening
at the West Street Market for the next four
Saturdays.
Wize guys
According to founder Dan Porras, Planetwize is “a music and
media company focusing on global culture and sustainability. …
It’s like iTunes meets activism.” Primarily, the San
Francisco-based organization sells cause-related music by dozens of
artists, some more widely known than others, with proceeds from sales
benefiting the artists’ causes of choice, helping them to align
their music with the issues they’re passionate about.
Additionally, they create original music projects that tackle global
issues, such as the upcoming Power Up the Planet, a global fusion
compilation CD dedicated to supporting Solar Aid, a cause designed to
bring solar power to poor communities. The media component of
Planetwize involves publishing a variety of “good news”
articles, furthering information about what’s being done to
reverse climate change and improve the world.
“I’ve always been interested in the environmental field,
and have always been a musician,” says Porras of the organization
he founded in 2008. After pursuing environmental studies at Sierra
Nevada College and University of Colorado at Boulder, he formed his
band, Chupacabra, and a record label, but still wanted to find a way to
incorporate his passion for environmental issues into his work. He went
on to earn a master’s degree in Environment and Development at
the London School of Economics.
“Planetwize is really a lifelong venture, a quest that
I’ve had to combine music and sustainability,” explains
Porras. “In my own band, we were always looking for ways to give
back. Traditionally, you might put on a benefit concert, but
that’s a one-off, and doesn’t provide ongoing support. I
knew a lot of musicians are looking for ways to give back, and we
wanted to build a platform that would make it easy for a band or
musician to align their music with a good
cause.”
A fest full of movies
Although his work has taken him to London and all over the West, he
now divides his time between Reno and the Bay Area. Porras’ stint
as a Reno-area musician earned him a gig promoting music at The Green
Room, the now defunct bar/live music venue formerly in the West Street
Market location. His interest in and connection to that spot introduced
him to the Market and its manager, Shelli Fine.
“Shelli said the market really wanted to focus on
sustainability and community, and we were talking about how Planetwize
could get involved in that space again,” he says. The two
brainstormed some of the primary issues they’d want to address,
as well as some ideas for how to do this, including a potential music
series in the warm weather months and a film festival that would show
documentaries devoted to these issues.
“We have been looking to do films down at the Market ever
since we opened, but it’s just a little more logistically and
legally complicated than most people would think, with rights fees,
etcetera,” says Fine via email. “This was the perfect
scenario for us, and a win-win. He has a venue in which to promote
sustainable, green issues and the mission of Planetwize, and I get the
film festival.”
A $5 suggested donation gets you in—although no one will be
turned away—and seats are first come, first served. Prior to each
film, which takes place in the back of the market by Se7en Tea House, a
small reception will feature refreshments from West Street Market
vendors that connect to each film’s theme. Although all four
Saturdays’ offerings haven’t been fully planned yet, this
first one will feature fresh salads, organic snacks and biodynamic wine
to coincide with Fresh.
“Since people will have eaten a lot over Thanksgiving, we
thought nice fresh veggies would be appropriate for this first
one,” says Porras, adding that Planetwize will also have a small
kiosk within the market this fall, which will sell cause-related music
and promote the festival.
“We really just want to have people come down there, raise
some awareness and spark good conversation.”
Planetwize Film Fest schedule
Fresh: New Thinking About What We Are Eating Saturday, Nov. 28,
at 7:30 p.m.
This documentary by Ana Joanes celebrates the farmers, thinkers and
business people across America who are reinventing the way we eat.
You’ll meet former professional basketball player Will Allen, now
one of the most influential leaders of food security and urban farming;
Joel Salatin, a world-famous sustainable farmer and entrepreneur who
appeared in Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s
Dilemma; and David Ball, owner of an independent supermarket who
has reinvented his business to take on our increasingly
Wal-Mart-dominated economy.
Sierra Leone’s Refugee Allstars
Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.
“I first saw this film in New York, after grad school,”
says Porras. “It’s really powerful, and devastating and
beautiful.” Backed by Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Ice Cube
and executive producers Steve Bing and Shelley Lazar, this documentary
has won 13 major awards and tells the story of six Sierra Leonean
musicians who formed a band while living in a refugee camp in Guinea
after many of their loved ones were murdered in the Sierra Leone Civil
War. The film chronicles three years, from the refugee camps back to
war-torn Sierra Leone, where they record their first studio album.
“It’s an emotional story about the power of music to bring
people together and help improve their lives,” says Porras.
FLOW: For Love of Water
Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
This award-winning documentary by Irena Salina first premiered at
Sundance in 2008. It investigates what some experts call the most
important political and environmental issue of this century: the world
water crisis. Today, 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access
to safe, clean drinking water. The film explores the dangers of the
growing privatization of the world’s water supply, a $400 billion
global industry. This film was invited to be screened at the United
Nations during the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human
Rights.
Crude: The Real Price of Oil
Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
Filmmaker Joe Berlinger examines the landmark case in which 30,000
indigenous and colonial dwellers of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador
took on oil giant Chevron, which they claimed systematically
contaminated and destroyed the land, water and air in one of the most
biodiverse and ecologically important regions of the world, over the
course of several decades. Taking an objective view, the film takes
place on three continents, introducing us to attorneys from both sides
of the case to look at the human cost of our addiction to oil and the
difficulty of holding corporations accountable for it.