Winter 2018 New Releases
Bullfrog Communities, a project of Bullfrog Films, is pleased to announce Winter 2018 new releases for community and campus-wide screenings. New titles focus on a diversity of topics, including gentrification, fracking and drinking-water contamination, digital-device addiction and solutions, the history of the organic-food movement, and an exploration of current global crises and how we create change. Information about the titles is below. Click through to watch trailers.
FRACKING
Correlating with AWAKE, A DREAM FROM STANDING ROCK, which focuses on indigenous-led resistance to the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline, carrying fracked fossil fuel through a primary drinking-water source, TRIPLE DIVIDE [REDACTED] explores the reality of drinking-water contamination in a major triple watershed, the headwaters for drinking water for millions in the Eastern US, and the fundamental lack of recourse for those immediately and most affected.
GENTRIFICATION
Filmed over 12 years, the multi-awarding winning ONE BIG HOME tells a fascinating story of conflicting visions of economic development through the lens of gentrification, providing a contemporary example of how the values of individual consumption are pitted against the values of preserving community well-being and, ultimately, social and environmental sustainability.
ORGANICS
From Mark Kitchell, award-winning director of the documentary of record about the history of the environmental movement, A FIERCE GREEN FIRE, comes EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC, which tells the history of the organic-agriculture movement in California.DIGITAL DEVICES
While recent release DEATH BY DESIGN looks at the environmental and health effects of the manufacture and disposal of our digital devices, which are designed to die, CELLING YOUR SOUL examines digital addiction and what we can do to disconnect and reconnect.
SOCIAL CHANGE
A QUEST FOR MEANING is a documentary that follows the travels of two young friends seeking solutions to the decline of global environmental and economic systems and exploring how to be effective change agents in a world gone awry. Among the people they talk to are Vandana Shiva, Trinh Xuan Thuan, Satish Kumar, Pierre Rabhi, Hervé Kempf, Bruce Lipton and Cassandra Vieten.EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC
The story of organic agriculture, told by those in California who built the movement.
Vancouver International Film Festival
San Francisco Green Film Festival
Wild and Scenic Film Festival
"Many of us buy and consume organic food every day, but few of us know its history...This documentary will make you nostalgic for a time a time when organic was still a revolutionary idea."
Krista Holobar, Civil Eats
"Helps us understand how the current organic food system came to be, and urges the next generation to think of that system not solely as a source of nourishment, but as a pathway toward soil regeneration, social justice and entrepreneurial opportunity."
Gary S. Kleppel, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, University at Albany-SUNY, Owner/Operator, Longfield FarmTRIPLE DIVIDE [REDACTED]
Investigates the impact of fracking and exposes the cover-up of related drinking-water contamination in the triple watershed of the Eastern US.
People's Choice Award, Real to Reel Film Festival
Award of Merit, Accolade Global Film Competition
"Tells the powerful personal stories of people dealing with the terrible impacts of fracking on their drinking water resources — all backed up by thousands of pages of documents uncovered by the filmmakers."
Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food and Water Watch, Author, Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the EnvironmentONE BIG HOME
Follows one carpenter's journey to understand the trend toward giant houses. When he feels complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, he takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera.
Audience Award, Hamptons Take 2 Doc Film Festival
Docs for Sale, IDFA, Amsterdam
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
"This is a perceptive and moving account of the tension between individual property rights and community values, the importance of a sense of place and the hard work necessary to achieve political change."
John Rennie Short, Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Author, The Unequal City: Urban Resurgence, Displacement and the Making of Inequality in Global CitiesCELLING YOUR SOUL
An examination of our love/hate relationships with our digital devices from the first digitally socialized generation, and what we can do about it.
Best Documentary, Boston International Kids Film Fest
Best Documentary, The Director's Chair Film Festival
Best Documentary, Docs Without Borders Film
Silver Award, Spotlight Documentary Film Awards
"An honest and overdue evaluation of how our devices are shaping us...A heartwarming and eye opening understanding that people are more important than devices." NYC Independent Film FestivalA QUEST FOR MEANING
Two childhood friends take an impromptu road trip attempting to uncover the causes of our current global crisis and discover a way to bring about change.
Best Documentary, Brasilia International Film Festival
Best Feature, Colorado Environmental Film Festival
Palme d'Or, Deauville Green Awards, France
Best Film, EcoCup Green Doc Film Festival, Russia
Best Documentary, Ischia Film Festival, Italy
Gold Kahuna Winner, Honolulu Film Festival
"The best documentary I have seen in years. Reviews the blinding elements of progress and technology, but more importantly we learn how nature, food, dreams, love, and joy feeds the internal shift to deep freedom — a shift necessary for us to help make the world better. Change is indeed coming and this upbeat film will help you with some tools to transform."
Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network, Director, Foundation EarthSee http://www.bullfrogcommunities.com for a complete list of our titles. If you have questions, contact me at [email protected].
Coming Soon: A DANGEROUS IDEA, about the pseudo-scientific paradigm of biological determinism, which has been resurrected as genetic determinism, providing an abhorrent rationale for undermining equality; and OPEN BETHLEHEM, about a campaign to keep Bethlehem open to the world; and more...
![TRIPLE DIVIDE [REDACTED]](http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/bullfrogfilms/mailings/1216/attachments/original/TRIPD_3djacket.jpg?1518810688 "TRIPLE DIVIDE [REDACTED]")
DIVIDE IN CONCORD
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
DIVIDE IN CONCORD tells the entertaining tale of banning bottled water in small town America.
Jean Hill, a fiery octogenarian, is deeply concerned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world's largest landfill. Since 2010, she has spearheaded a grassroots campaign to ban the sale of single-serve plastic bottled water in her hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. She spends her golden years attending city council meetings and cold calling residents. So far, her attempts to pass a municipal bylaw have failed.
As she prepares for one last town meeting, Jean faces the strongest opposition yet, from local merchants and the International Bottled Water Association. But her fiercest challenge comes from Adriana Cohen, mother, model and celebrity publicist-turned-pundit, who insists the bill is an attack on freedom.
When Adriana thrusts Jean's crusade into the national spotlight, it's silver-haired senior versus silver-tongued pro. In the same town that incited the American Revolution and inspired Thoreau's environmental movement, can one senior citizen make history? A tense nail-biter of a vote will decide.
Two versions on one DVD: 82 and 60 minutes
SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing
Directed by Kris Kaczor
Produced by David Regos and Jaedra Luke
Executive Producer: Michele Clarke
Editors: Steve Nemsick, Matthew Prinzing
Cinematography: Kris Kaczor
Original Score: Gigantic Hand
Screening options (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)
"A fascinating, entertaining look at how persistence and citizen action still means something in a corporate-controlled society."
Michael Moore
"DIVIDE IN CONCORD is a remarkable, beautifully filmed and presented story of the second great battle of Concord, Massachusetts: the battle to ban small single-serve plastic bottles of water. Watch true community democracy in action as a small group of determined citizens fire another shot heard 'round the world in the name of protecting the global environment and awakening the rest of us to the threat of unsustainable commercial products flooding our stores."
Peter Gleick, President and Co-founder, Pacific Institute, Author, Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind our Obsession with Bottled Water"DIVIDE IN CONCORD drops the viewer into the middle of a citizen-instigated environmental battle. This most local of efforts provokes a corporate response and nuanced reflections of partisans on sustainability, seemingly small consumer actions and global environmental repercussions, and different conceptions of freedom, choice, and responsibility. The movie offers a deft portrait of local citizen activism, environmentalism, and democracy in action."
William Buzbee, Professor of Law, Georgetown University
"It's entirely fitting that a noteworthy battle over banning the sale of bottled water sales took place in the town known for Thoreau and the start of the Revolutionary War. DIVIDE IN CONCORD presents a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at this conflict, fairly presenting both sides of the issue through interviews with the main participants. ...The conflict highlighted between environmental protection and individual liberty will surely stay with us for many years to come."
James Salzman, Professor of Law and Environmental Policy, Duke University, Author, Drinking Water: A History
"Concord, birthplace of the American Revolution and Henry David Thoreau, is the perfect place for a 21st century environmental battle, and this saga has all of the elements of a good fight. ...see how one community can spark a revolution..."
EcoWatch
PLASTIC PARADISE
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
In PLASTIC PARADISE, Angela Sun reveals the effects of our rabid plastic consumption as she investigates The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
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)
$300 Large Community Screening (100+ people) & purchase after your event for just $50 more!
Thousands of miles away from civilization, Midway Atoll is in one of the most remote places on earth. And yet its become ground zero for The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, syphoning plastics from three distant continents. In this independent documentary film, journalist/filmmaker Angela Sun travels on a personal journey of discovery to uncover this mysterious phenomenon. Along the way she meets scientists, researchers, influencers, and volunteers who shed light on the effects of our rabid plastic consumption and learns the problem is more insidious than we could have ever imagined.
57 minutes
SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-HearingDirected by Angela Sun
Produced by Angela Sun, Gil Elbaz, Elyssa Elbaz, Tanya Leal Soto
Editor: Wendy Shuey
Cinematography: Joseph Ochoa, Francisco Aliwalas, Mark Bella
Graphics: Jonathan Jelkin"The film everyone needs to see."
Planetsave
"Intriguing...chilling film...Journalist Angela Sun offers valuable new insights."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Sun offers a fresh, new voice...and has made a film that can appeal to the masses."
Honolulu Pulse"With fantastic archival footage, revealing modern images from the Pacific and thoughtful, fact-based explanation, PLASTIC PARADISE provides an educational, hip, and very entertaining look at some of the many ways plastic is affecting us all. I highly recommend checking this film out!"
Dr. Mike SanClements, Staff Scientist, The National Ecological Observatory Network
"Sun's documentary sends a clear and coherent message about one of the major environmental problems we face today. Her film articulates this message in a way that will resonate with anyone that cares about nature and the environment. This is a documentary that should be seen by educators, students, politicians, and environmentalists alike. Amazing work!"
Dr. Garen Baghdasarian, Professor of Biology, Chair of Life Sciences, Santa Monica College
LUNCH LOVE COMMUNITY
Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
In LUNCH LOVE COMMUNITY, passion, creative energy and persistence come together when Berkeley advocates and educators tackle food reform and justice in their schools and neighborhoods.
How are citizens transforming local food systems? How are innovators changing the way children eat in schools? How do we talk about culture, identity and responsibility through the lens of food and health?
LUNCH LOVE COMMUNITY is a beautiful and engaging story of how a diverse group of pioneering parents and food advocates came together to tackle food reform and food justice in the schools and neighborhoods of Berkeley, CA.
Through a mosaic of twelve interconnecting short documentaries, the film explores food and education, children and health, and citizens making democratic change. This is a rich and multi-dimensional story of passion, creative energy, and idealism -- a project linking the ways we teach our children to eat and understand food to the traditional passing of powerful values from one generation to the next.
LUNCH LOVE COMMUNITY is divided into three thematic programs - Heart, Body, Mind - each containing four short films. Discussion guides for each short are included on the DVD in PDF format. These guides explore a range of topics from nutrition and health, to equity and justice, citizen participation, public policy, and school reform.
78 minutes, an episodic documentary in 12 short films
Closed CaptionedDirected by Helen De Michiel
Produced by Helen De Michiel and Sophie Constantinou
Director of Photography: Sophie Constantinou
Writer: Helen De Michiel
Editor: Mike Shen
Executive Producer: Jean Donohue
Associate Producer: Emma T. Bailey
Associate Editor, Designer: Jackie Zabel
A co-production of Thirty Leaves Production and Citizen Film in association with Media Working Group
Transmedia project directed by Helen De Michiel and Sophie Constantinou
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)
"Inspiring…Lunch Love Community is a multi-media inspiration for change."
Amy Bentley, Associate Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, Public Health, New York University
"For all community advocates and educators concerned with food justice issues, Lunch Love Community is an insightful and creative documentary that will help you open up a rich dialogue around changing the food system for the better."
Y. Armando Nieto, Executive Director, Community Food and Justice Coalition
"A compelling portrait of the work of community change for a more just and democratic food system, with schools as ground zero for a better food future."
Amy Best, Professor and Chair of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Author, Fast Food Kids: Youth and Changing Food Landscape of School and Home (forthcoming)
"Lunch Love Community reveals the transformative power of progressive food politics...This film holds valuable lessons for parents, professionals, and policymakers interested in how to grow social change from the ground up."
Timothy D. Lytton, Professor of Law, Georgia State University, Author, Kosher: Private Regulation in the Age of Industrial Food
"Lunch Love Community brings it all together. It reminds us that food is about housing; food is about jobs; food is about justice. This film is a vivid and visually rich presentation of how we ensure the health of our society by nurturing children with good food in schools."
Ivy Ken, Associate Professor of Sociology, The George Washington University
"From the labor of food service to the significance of social difference to the history of dietary reform, Lunch Love Community is true to the complexities and contradictions of what it means to eat well. And, the best part is that it invites us to take part in the conversation!"
Jessica Hayes-Conroy, Professor of Women's Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
"An inspiring tale of school food reform...A rich, systems-based look at the actual process of transition – with a discussion of how other communities can engage in similar efforts...The modular nature of the film, coupled with excellent discussion guides for each module, makes Lunch Love Community a valuable, flexible tool for educating and engaging a wide range of students and stakeholders."
Jennifer Gaddis, Assistant Professor of Civil Society and Community Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This film poignantly conveys the fundamental role of food in our lives, far beyond just physical health effects, extending to matters of choice, respect, and belonging. It invokes the bold wisdom of Margaret Mead – that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world, or at least their corner of it. And it reminds us that we all have skin in this game – the skin of our children. It is moving and motivating, practical and philosophical, inspirational and aspirational. I recommend it highly."
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital, President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
