Campbell River youth and local environmental initiatives will be the big winners when the 2015 Earth Week Film Festival takes place April 23 at the Tidemark Theatre.
Campbell River’s Youth Action Committee is helping to coordinate this year’s festival, which features the multiple award-winning feature film Just Eat It, as well as local films Harvest Campbell River and Transit Tales.
Admission is by donation at the door, and proceeds from the event will support a post-secondary environmental bursary for a graduating School District 72 student.
Just Eat It follows the journey of two filmmakers/food lovers as they dive into the issue of food waste from farm, though retail, all the way to back of their own fridge. With the billions of dollars of good food that is trashed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food. The film provides a humorous look at a serious waste challenge, and filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jenny Rustemeyer will attend the Campbell River event for a discussion after the film is shown.
“Food waste is a common problem that everyone can relate to because we all have to eat. This film shows normal people trying to find a solution,” says Emma Minato of the Youth Action Committee.
The Youth Action Committee has helped organize the Earth Week Film Festival for the past three years, and has raised funds from the event for local environmental programs and student bursaries. The Youth Action Committee is a City committee composed of innovative and motivated youth in grades 9 to 12 that provide a youth perspective on community issues to City Council and staff. The committee identifies actions and solutions to address community issues such as youth programs, transit scheduling, local food initiatives and much more.
“The Earth Week Film Festival is a great way to surround yourself with people who have similar concerns about food waste and to have interesting conversations,” says Claire Billings, a Grade 12 student on the Youth Action Committee. “It is the Youth Action Committee’s major annual event and provides a taste of some of the great local environmental initiatives you might not be aware of in our city.”
The festival is jointly coordinated by the City of Campbell River and School District 72 organize each year.