Spring 2023 New Releases from Bullfrog Communities
Bullfrog Communities, a project of Bullfrog Films, is thrilled to announce the availability of major award-winning new releases for virtual or in-person community and campus-wide screenings this spring.
Also, stay tuned for our Earth Day Festival in a Box special announcement in March, with discounted rates on 3 or 5 environmental film screenings, including both paid-admission or free-admission options for virtual and in-person events!CLIMATE EMERGENCY
In PLEISTOCENE PARK, it is up to Russia's most defiant and eccentric geophysicist to revive the mammoth steppe ecosystem of the last ice age and save the world from a calamitous global warming feedback loop. This Sisyphean task tests his indomitable spirit; thousands of miles and millions of bison stand between him and the solution to one of our most pressing problems – the melting of the arctic permafrost. The film’s intense stakes are often eclipsed by its personable tone, charm, and wit, making for a gripping story that leaves an audience with a sense of hope, putting an optimistic and productive word in a conversation all too dominated by doom and gloom.
RACIAL INJUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS
In 1966, Gary Duncan, a Black Louisianan teenager, breaks up a fight between a group of white and Black students outside a newly integrated school. Having dared to lay his hand on a white boy’s arm, he is arrested that night for assault on a minor. A CRIME ON THE BAYOU follows the saga of Duncan’s brave fight against a racist legal system powered by a white supremacist boss, challenging his unfair arrest all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court with the help of young Jewish attorney Richard Sobol, and their lifelong friendship is forged.
CHRONIC DISEASES AND HEALTH
IN OUR OWN HANDS: HOW PATIENTS ARE REINVENTING MEDICINE seeks to overturn a rock far too neglected in the world of healthcare: chronic disease. Through a patient-centric, tech-driven approach to a realm of medicine often painted over with broad strokes, this film follows three individuals’ path to relief from complex, unresolved medical issues. Intertwined are these patients' intimate stories with the exploration of a groundbreaking medicinal technology that puts more data about our own biological ecosystems into our hands (and our phones) than ever before possible. IN OUR OWN HANDS chronicles a defiant and disruptive approach to health care, reshaping the viewer’s conception of illness and health.
ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY, & ACTION
REFLECTION: A WALK WITH WATER constantly challenges the viewer’s worldview by juxtaposing the consequences of the climate crisis in L.A. with the fight to revise our bygone relationship with the principal substance of life: water. The film inspires hope through a meditative story as much about the water cycle as it is about humanity's warped relationship with nature. REFLECTION captures the stories of those who dare to embolden us to take action while we still can. Through a 200-mile journey informed by cultural leaders, ecological iconoclasts, and indigenous wisdom keepers, it explores our lifestyle’s broken model and equips the audience to make pragmatic changes, which could help keep Earth habitable.
These films are available both virtually and for in-person events. For more information on booking a virtual screening right now, please go to Bullfrog Communities Streaming.
Click the links above or below to see trailers and for more information.
PLEISTOCENE PARK
An eccentric Russian scientist's quixotic quest to recreate a vanished ice age ecosystem and save the world from a catastrophic global warming feedback loop.
Audience Award, Anchorage International Film Festival
HotDocs
"Luke's film is incredible because its subject is incredible, and the film is utterly true to the subject—the saga of a family solving an infinity of small impossible problems in order to help solve one enormous impossible problem—the catastrophic melting of the arctic permafrost. The Zimovs embody science and engineering at its shaggy, gritty, indomitable, Russian best." Barry Burden, Director of the Elections Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Part road movie, part character study, all invigorating fun, PLEISTOCENE PARK optimistically illustrates the ways in which individuals have the power to inspire radical change…The grassroots spirit of the film should speak to audiences hungry for an alternative to the status quo. And climate change deniers…will inevitably be won over by the Zimovs’ spunk and dedication.” Pat Mullen, POV MagazineA CRIME ON THE BAYOU
A Black teenager is arrested for touching a white boy's arm! The unjustly arrested Black man and his young Jewish attorney take the case to the Supreme Court to fight for the right of all Americans to a fair trial.
DOC NYC World Premiere
"A CRIME ON THE BAYOU never explodes with fury. But that doesn't mean you won't feel enraged while taking in the maddening series of systematic wrongs committed against Sobol and Duncan." Robert Daniels, The Los Angeles Times
"Every American should watch this riveting portrayal of the breadth and depth of racial injustice in the Deep South of the 1960s." Jane Dailey, University of Chicago, Author, White Fright: The Sexual Panic at the Heart of America's Racist HistoryIN OUR OWN HANDS: HOW PATIENTS ARE REINVENTING MEDICINE
Follows the extraordinary steps ordinary people are taking to help millions with chronic diseases find their way back to health. United Nations Association Film Festival
"Health care needs disruption. It will not come from within. ...Shows how patients may be the catalyst to drive the changes that will benefit all of us." Ray Dorsey, MD, Author, Ending Parkinson's Disease: A Prescription for Action
"This is an engaging and illuminating film that is anchored by the powerful stories of several patients and their families. It makes a compelling case for medical data collection and its promise. It also demonstrates what progress is possible when patients and caregivers become citizen scientists and health care advocates." Sharona Hoffman, Co-Director, Law-Medicine Center, Case Western Reserve University School of LawREFLECTION: A WALK WITH WATER
A filmmaker walks the length of the Los Angeles aqueduct in search of a vision for humanity worth living for — what he discovers has everything to do with water.
Audience Favorite, Mill Valley Film Festival
Tribeca Festival
"Must see...Should be screened through every internet portal, at every bus stop, on every subway line, and in every government office, school, university and bar. It explains all you need to know about water." Drake Stutesman, Framework, The Journal of Cinema and Media
"A wonderfully filmed and crafted piece showing water's importance to all life. Watch it and find many water-filled and biological treasures. Listen for the water calling you to create new intentions. Learn that tomorrow is another day for us to get it right. Another day of opportunities." Randy Hayes, Rainforest Action Network founderSee https://www.bullfrogcommunities.com for a complete list of our titles. If you have questions, contact me at [email protected].
Coming Soon: TOWN DESTROYER, a high profile battle erupts over images of African American slaves and Native Americans in New Deal-era murals at a San Francisco high school; TRUTH TELLERS chronicles the lives of Americans fighting for peace, racial equity, environmental justice and indigenous rights through the eyes of Robert Shetterly, a long time activist and artist; WELCOME TO COMMIE HIGH, an in-depth exploration of Community High School in Ann Arbor, MI, one of the sole survivors from America's early 70s "free schools" movement, now a thriving public school; and more... STAY TUNED for EARTH DAY FESTIVAL IN A BOX!Regards,
Alex, Bullfrog Communities
[email protected]
"Tells a powerful, important story, the reverberations of which still linger."
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media
In anticipation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month, Bullfrog Communities is proud to present major award-winning new release A CRIME ON THE BAYOU for virtual and in-person community and campus-wide screenings. A CRIME ON THE BAYOU speaks directly to many of the issues in front of us — White Supremacy, individual bravery, the rule of law, and democracy.
"The documentary...serves as a wake-up call: the time of Jim Crow really isn't that far in the past."
Kent Turner, Film-ForwardIn 1966, young Black fisherman Gary Duncan tries to break up a fight between white and Black teenagers outside a newly integrated school in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. During the confrontation, he touches one of the white teens on the arm. That night, police arrest 19-year-old Duncan for assault on a minor.
In Washington, DC, a young Jewish attorney named Richard Sobol leaves a prestigious law firm to offer his legal services in New Orleans as a volunteer for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee. With Sobol's help, Duncan confronts a racist Louisiana legal system—manipulated by segregationist and de facto Parish boss Leander Perez—to challenge his unfair arrest. A CRIME ON THE BAYOU chronicles their legal fight as it goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the process enshrines the Constitutional right to a jury trial at the state level.
A CRIME ON THE BAYOU is the latest film from director Nancy Buirski (Academy Award Shortlisted The Loving Story).
See https://www.bullfrogcommunities.com for a complete list of our titles. If you have questions, contact me at [email protected].
Related titles:
In prosperous and progressive Boston, what keeps the gap between rich and poor, white and Black, so glaringly wide? Find out in A RECKONING IN BOSTON.
'63 BOYCOTT connects the massive 1963 Chicago Public Schools boycott to contemporary issues around race, education, school closings, and youth activism.
MELTDOWN IN DIXIE follows a battle in In Orangeburg, SC that erupts between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and an ice cream shop owner forced to fly the Confederate flag in his parking lot.
The first major documentary biography of civil rights hero John Lewis, JOHN LEWIS: Get In The Way documents the congressional leader and champion for human rights, whose unwavering fight for justice spanned over fifty years.
G IS FOR GUN
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
G IS FOR GUN explores the highly controversial trend of arming teachers and staff in America's K-12 schools.
G IS FOR GUN explores the highly controversial trend of armed faculty and staff in K-12 schools. Only five years ago this practice was practically unheard of, but since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, it has spread to as many as a dozen states. Often without public knowledge, there are teachers, administrators, custodians, nurses, and bus drivers carrying guns in America's schools.
G IS FOR GUN documents a growing program in Ohio that is training school staff to respond to active shooter situations with guns, and follows the story of one Ohio community divided over arming its teachers.
27 minutes
SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing
Directed and Produced by Kate Way and Julie Akeret
Co-Writers: Kate Way, Julie Akeret, Ken Chowder
Editor: Tricia Reidy
Music: Blue Dot Sessions
Narrator: Sam Rush
Screening options:
$29.95 Home Use DVD purchase (private use only)
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS (single events with license to charge admission)
$100 Small Community Screening (1-50 people)
$200 Medium Community Screening (51-100 people)
$350 Large Community Screening (100+ people)
"G is for Gun is an amazing film for the conversations it opens up. In a short time it opens up critical questions about violence, guns, the assault on public education, and the history and politics of gun culture and violence in the US."
Barbara Madeloni, former President, Massachusetts Teachers Association"Viewing this film offers a rich opportunity to engage in dialogue about this emotionally laden and potentially divisive issue. It is a valuable resource for community leaders, school board members, parents, and educators who are wrestling with how to best protect our children from school violence."
Dr. John D'Auria, Professor of Practice, Division of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership, University of PennsylvaniaTeacher and expert interviews, on both sides of the issue, make this an exceptionally fair presentation and would absolutely precipitate debate for community groups, teacher in-service days, and those seeking to understand the underlying issues associated with guns in the classroom.
Debra Ciamacca, Social Studies teacher, Conestoga High School
PLANE TRUTHS
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
Plane Truths explores increased activity at the navy base on Whidbey Island, Washington, which is making life unbearable for locals and wildlife — collateral damage in the ever increasing militarization of society.
The recent expansion of Navy training activities in the Northwest has many local residents concerned. Community members on Whidbey Island, the San Juans, and the Olympic Peninsula are disturbed by an increase in noise caused by new EA-18G "Growler" jets based at Naval Air Station Whidbey (NAS) — and a significant proposed expansion of daily Growler test flights. On Whidbey, communities have been additionally impacted by water system pollution caused by chemicals used for firefighting on NAS landing strips.
Plane Truths explores a variety of perspectives on these issues from farmers, current and retired military personnel, environmentalists and other citizens of the affected areas. Viewers will learn how the noise of the Growler jets has affected daily life and business operations in many communities, the regional environmental impacts of expanded Growler flights and newly approved Navy training in Olympic National Forest, potential economic ramifications of increased Navy activity and associated population growth, and the status of — and Navy response to — water system pollution on Whidbey Island.
33 minutes
SDH captions for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Directed by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin
Produced by Melissa Young
Photography, Editing: Mark Dworkin
A Moving Images Production
Screening options:
$24.95 Home Use DVD purchase (private use only)
$100 Community Screening (single event with license to charge admission)
”Bores deeply into the 'war zone' created by a Navy training site amidst rural farms, marine reserves and Olympia National Park in the state of Washington. The film, which explores all sides of this human and ecological tragedy — justified in the name of national defense — is ideal for...debate and strategic community planning."
Patricia Hynes, Professor Emerita of Environmental Health, Boston University, Director, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
"An important film revealing the human and environmental damage caused by daily training by the U.S. Navy in the otherwise gorgeous setting of Washington state's Puget Sound and San Juan Islands. Jet noise loud enough to cause hearing loss, drinking water contamination, and underwater noise pollution dangerous to whales and other sea life are among the harms suffered by locals. So far, the Navy seems to have callously ignored protests demanding it protect local safety and security — although this film is a helpful demand for change."
David Vine, Associate Professor of Anthropology, American University, Author, Base Nation: How U. S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World"America's dirty secret is being exposed only through stories like Whidbey Island. Our addiction to the Pentagon is destroying communities. Plane Truths helps to uncover American-style-militarism and its devastating impact on ordinary citizens."
Will Griffin, Veterans For Peace, The Peace Report
FOOD FOR CHANGE
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
FOOD FOR CHANGE tells the deep history of food cooperatives in America — the country's longest-surviving alternative economic system.
FOOD FOR CHANGE looks at the current resurgence of food cooperatives in America and their unique historic place in the economic and political landscape. Born in the heartland, cooperatives are seen as the middle path between Wall Street and Socialism.
FOOD FOR CHANGE examines the important historical role played by food co-ops, their pioneering quest for organic foods, and their current efforts to create regional food systems, strengthen local economies and build food security.
Profiling several food co-ops that have revived neighborhoods and communities — right in the shadows of corporate agribusinesses and supermarket chains — it's an inspiring example of community-centered economies thriving in an age of globalization.82 minutes
DVD features: bonus short film, Twin Cities Story, about co-ops in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area
English SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing, optional Spanish subtitlesDirected by Steve Alves
Produced by Home Planet Pictures
Writer/Editor: Steve Alves
Co-Producers: Robert Allen, Andrew M. Curran
Camera: Alan Dater, Rawn Fulton, David Skillicorn, Daniel Keller
Animation & Graphics: Thom Dudley
Music: Joe Podlesny
Screening options:
$29.95 Home Use House Party DVD purchase (private use only)
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS (single events with license to charge admission)
$100 Small Community Screening (1-50 people)
$200 Medium Community Screening (51-100 people)
$350 Large Community Screening (100+ people)
"FOOD FOR CHANGE is about food coops as meaningful — and highly successful — alternatives to our country's current industrialized food system. It situates the cooperative movement in 20th century history and focuses on its role in social change by establishing deep roots in local communities. This film should inspire anyone interested in creating socially just, community supported, and economically viable enterprises."
Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University, Author, Food Politics
"This film is absolutely a well-researched, superbly compiled and masterfully delivered work...It is an inspiring and emotionally passionate fruit of labor and compassion. It begs for sharing, opens the door to involvement and solution."
George Nelson, Farmer, Sweetbay Produce and Nursery, Huger, SC
"I felt energized by the movie. I loved all of the historical background and couldn't help feel that what we're doing will be historic someday too. The movie made me believe that we can do anything!"
Linda Balek, Steering Committee Member, Food Shed Co-op, Woodstock, IL (start-up co-op)
