American University to Host Films and Discussions For DC Environmental Film Festival

Contact: Maralee Csellar, AU Media Relations, 202-885-5952




WASHINGTON, DC (March 22, 2004) – American University’s Center for Social Media will present four feature films and several shorts that explore man's relationship to the environment in partnership with the 2004 DC Environmental Film Festival from March 18 – 28. Events at American University include:




United Nations Association Film Festival Traveling Festival

5:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 24; Wechsler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
The films EMPTY OCEANS, EMPTY NETS and THE SHAMAN’S APPRENTICE will be shown. Following the screenings, Jasmina Bojic, founder and festival director of the United Nations Association Film Festival, and Dr. Mark Plotkin, president of the Amazon Conservation Team, will participate in an audience Q & A session.




Social Media Action Showcase

8 p.m., Thursday, March 25; Ward Circle Building Room 1
Shorts from the Media That Matters Film Festival including, HOW TO MAKE A BIRD and WE WERE HUMANS; Academy-award winning film LEFT BEHIND by Christof Putzel; and INHERITANCE, A FISHERMAN’S STORY by award-winning filmmaker Peter Hegedus will be shown.




Lens at Work: Successful Environmental Filmmaking Panel Discussion

12 p.m., Saturday, March 27; Ward Circle Building Room 1
Blue Planet cinematographer Rick Rosenthal; Filmmaker Todd Clark; Jeff Bieber, vice president of news and public affairs programming, WETA; Andrea Meditch with Discovery Spotlight & Discovery Docs; and Christopher Palmer, president and CEO, National Wildlife Federation, will participate in a panel discussion moderated by AU Center for Social Media Co-director Patricia Aufderheide.




Film Screenings

2 p.m., Saturday, March 27; Ward Circle Building, Room 1
Films to be shown include: COOKING WITH THE SUN by AU's Peter Stolz; Media That Matters Film Festival selections DIANE WILSON: A WARRIOR’S TALE and ESMERALDAS: PETROLEUM AND POVERTY; and AN INJURY TO ONE by Travis Wilkerson.




The DC Environmental Film Festival includes 90 documentary, feature, animated, archival and children's films shown at museums, libraries, universities, and theaters all around DC. The film festival is presented in collaboration with nearly 60 local, national and international partners.




American University’s Center for Social Media, a project of the School of Communication, showcases and analyzes moving image media as creative tools for public knowledge and action. It acts as a seedbed for researchers to share ideas and information about all forms of socially-engaged media.




All screenings and discussions for the DC Environmental Film Festival at American University are free and open to the public. For more information about the screenings at AU please call 202-885-3017 or go to: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/envirofilmfest.html.