Green Screen: PLASTIC PLANET

Simply put: GREEN SCREEN is a new film series established by the WASHINGTON FILM INSTITUTE to increase awareness of and build community around environmental issues.

Our GREEN SCREEN Partners include:

[adrotate banner=”28″]

On Thursday October 6, we will screen the feature film PLASTIC PLANET.

Director: Werner Boote
Country: Austria
Running Time: 95 mins
Languages: English, German, Italian

Like a more charming Teutonic Michael Moore, Werner Boote presents an up-close and personal view of the controversial and fascinating material that has found its way into every facet of our daily lives: plastic. Investigating an industry that he has grown up to revere as his grandfather’s profession, he takes us on a journey around the globe, following plastic through its 100 year history, from humble beginnings to what seems like world domination as the debris accumulates of a substance that cannot easily be destroyed and an industry that cannot easily be infiltrated. Plastics are cheap and practical, but it takes up to 500 years for plastics to disintegrate and in doing so they release toxins that may harm our hormonal system. Why do we not change our consumer behavior? Why does the industry not react to the dangers of plastic? Can we curb our love for this ubiquitous material, or do we still need it despite the problems it causes?

THURSDAY OCTOBER 6
EMBASSY OF AUSTRIA
MAP/DIRECTIONS
3524 International Court, NW
Washington, D.C., 20008
202-895-6714

6:00PM WINE RECEPTION
7:30PM FILM SCREENING

Admission to RECEPTION and FILM $15. ADVANCE TICKET REQUIRED:

HOW TO GET TO THE EMBASSY
BY CAR: International Court is located off Van Ness Street, between Connecticut and Wisconsin Avenues. Parking Limited parking is available along International Court or behind the Embassy on 36th Street with access to the Embassy through the park. There is also paid parking available at the University of The District of Columbia on Van Ness Street.

BY METRO Take the Red Line, exit at Van Ness/UDC Station. Walk uphill on Van Ness, passing the University of the District of Columbia on your right. Turn right on International Court and follow the road until you see it end in a roundabout to your right. You have arrived.

Q&A WITH DAVID FERRIS FOLLOWS THE FILM
David Ferris is a journalist who covers technology and business as they address the triple challenge of adapting to climate change, transforming the electrical grid and supplying the power needs of the 21st Century. He is managing editor of the Matter Network, a one-stop hub for cleantech and sustainability news.

David also writes Innovate, an award-winning column in Sierra magazine that explores cutting-edge ideas in renewable power.

In 2008 David served as lifestyle editor of Sierra, the nation’s largest environmental news magazine. He has also written for Men’s Journal, Macworld, Streaming Media and Wired News, among many other publications.

David first corresponded for Reuters News Service in East Africa. He subsequently worked as a staff writer at several San Francisco Bay Area news outlets, including the Alameda Newspaper Group and the Contra Costa Times, covering crime, courts and city hall.

David’s love of outdoor adventure flavors his reporting and has diversified his portfolio. In 2000, David quit his newspaper job to participate in the Eco-Challenge, a 12-day, 300-mile race through the jungles of Borneo that was the forerunner to the reality show Survivor. In 2007, David made a perilous ascent of Mt. Aconcagua, at 22,841 feet the highest mountain in the Americas, and told of the experience via a daily satellite blog. Often he brings a sense of humor to bear, such as in his recently-completed blog, A Year In New York.

David holds a B.A. in communication from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago.