Boreal Access

I am happy to announce that Ironweed Films will once again be shown on a monthly basis!

The First Congregational Church of Grand Marais has generously offered to host our monthly meetings.  We will meet on the lower level of the church, which is located on the corner of 2nd Street and 3rd Avenue West, across from the Grand Marais Art Colony.  These films are free and open to the public.  A freewill donation will be collected to help cover expenses.  As a general rule, films will be shown every fourth Thursday of the month.

This months films:
Thursday, May 22
7:00 pm
Theme: Toward Sustainability
Human consumption is outpacing the earth’s ability to sustain us. With exploding populations and rapid development throughout the world, the earth’s ecosystems are under enormous stress. Can we learn to create sustainable systems and bequeath a healthy planet to future generations? These powerful and positive films point the way:

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Faith Morgan •  •  53 minutes
Shimmering with life like a cornucopia of colorful vegetables, this vibrant, hopeful film brings to light one of the most important stories of the last two decades – how a small island nation responded to a sudden and dangerous drop in oil supplies. When Cuba’s hefty subsidies of oil, food and other goods ceased after the Soviet Union collapsed and the U.S. tightened its embargo, Cubans suffered terrible hardships. In a ‘peak oil’ crisis similar to one the entire world will soon face, electric power became intermittent, transportation nearly stopped, parts were unavailable, and without fertilizers and tractors, food production declined to precarious levels. But Cuba bounced back. This inspiring film offers us a living model of sustainability, as Cubans tell the remarkable story of their nation’s recovery and its transition to organic agriculture, renewable energy, effective mass transit, lowered consumption, better health, and stronger communities.

ESCAPE FROM AFFLUENZA
Vivia Boe & John de Graaf •  •  56 minutes
Declare your independence from stuff! This humorous and highly informative
film follows courageous life-style pioneers from Seattle to the Netherlands
as they simplify their lives, connect to their communities, and help the
environment. In the process they discover a true joy in living and recover
from our culture’s epidemic of over-consumption, debt, stress, time famine,
and the other painful symptoms of ‘affluenza’.

This hopeful film is a sequel to the popular AFFLUENZA, a campy critique of
our consumer dis-ease, and like its predecessor it uses expert commentary,
thought-provoking vignettes and humor to show how people can reduce their
consumption and simplify their lives. We learn that the “Joneses” with whom
we have all been trying to keep up, have waved the white flag of surrender
and no longer wish to serve as role models for consumption. This film
encourages us to escape with them! “Just as society had to be trained to
conspicuously consume, so we can train to recall our deeper purposes and
sense of inner balance."

Andrea English, from her review “Escaping with the Joneses”

RADICALLY SIMPLE
Jan Cannon •  •  35 minutes
Author, teacher and engineer Jim Merkel is totally committed to reducing his
impact on the earth. This delightful, tender film follows Merkel as he
demonstrates his radically simple lifestyle, and without judgment,
encourages us to take our own steps toward a satisfying and sustainable way
of living. This is a film for the mind and heart.

For more information on Ironweed Films, check their website:
www.ironweedfilms.com