Boston Flora

Tag: movie

  • Sowing Roots: Ras Prince – Sankofa, On Demand

    Ras Prince is a horticulturist of Jamaican heritage and a participant of The Garden Museum’s recent Sowing Roots project and exhibition, which explored the gardening cultures and traditions that Caribbean people have brought with them to the UK since the Windrush generation. In this free film, we visited Ras in his garden at home and the community garden he tends to at Lewisham Sports Consortium. Discover how he uses gardening to connect to his roots – from Rock River, Jamaica to south east London.

    Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve” (literally “go back and get”; san – to return; ko – to go; fa – to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. Sankofa is often associated with the proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi,” which translates as: “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.”

    Sowing Roots was made possible thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Film (21 minutes) by Elijah Grant. Access Vimeo at https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/film-library/sowing-roots-ras-prince-sankofa/

  • Thursday, May 16, 1:00 pm – What Plants Talk About

    The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History presents a free with Museum admission Nature Screen Even on May 16 at 1 pm entitled What Plants Talk About. Hard core science is effortlessly integrated with a light-hearted look at how plants behave, revealing a world where plants are as busy, responsive and complex as we are. From the stunning heights of the Great Basin Desert to the lush coastal rainforests of west coast Canada, plant ecologist J.C. Cahill and a variety of other experts in plant communication take us on a journey into the “secret world of plants,” revealing an astonishing landscape where plants eavesdrop on each other, talk to their allies, call in insect mercenaries and nurture their young. It is a world of pulsing activity, where plants communicate, co-operate, and sometimes wage all-out-war. Come along for the ride and discover that plants are a lot less passive and a lot more intelligent than you think. For more information call 508-896-3867, ext 133.

  • On the Chesapeake: A Precarious Future of Rising Seas and High Tides

    Maryland’s Dorchester County is ground zero for climate change on Chesapeake Bay, as rising seas claim more and more land. High Tide in Dorchester, a film by Tom Horton, Dave Harp, and Sandy Cannon-Brown, explores the beauty of this liquid landscape and how the bay’s communities are at risk from high tides and erosion.

    Tom Horton has covered the environment for newspapers and magazines since 1972 and has authored several books on Chesapeake Bay. He currently writes for the monthly Bay Journal and teaches at Salisbury University in Maryland. Sandy Cannon-Brown, founder and president of VideoTakes, Inc., is an award-winning environmental filmmaker and teacher. She was an associate director for American University’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking. She lives in St. Michaels, Maryland and focuses her independent films on issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay. A lifelong Marylander, Dave Harp operates a corporate and editorial photography business in Cambridge, Maryland. He served as the staff photographer for the Hagerstown Morning Herald and was the photographer for The Baltimore Sun Magazine for nearly a decade.

    The short film may be viewed in its entirety at http://e360.yale.edu/features/on-the-chesapeake-a-precarious-future-of-rising-seas-and-high-tides

  • Tuesday, April 4, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Seed: The Untold Story

    Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds, treasured since the dawn of humankind. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared.

    SEED: The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds. SEED features Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona Laduke and Raj Patel.

    The April 4 screening at the Arnold Arboretum will begin at 7, and will be followed by a discussion led by Barry Logan, Visiting Scientist, Arnold Arboretum, and Professor of Biology, Bowdoin College. Free. For more information visit www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Wednesday, October 22 – Deadline for Orchard House’s Kickstarter Campaign

    Last fall, The Garden Club of the Back Bay traveled to Concord for a tour of Orchard House’s museum and gardens as part of our Author Year programs.  We received the following notice from them, and share it with you:

    Guess what? Orchard House is making a movie – the first documentary about the 350 year history of the house – and we want YOU to be involved in creating the film.

    We’ve launched a fundraising campaign on the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.com to raise the $150,000 needed for production of Orchard House – Home of Little Women!

    For those who may not be familiar, Kickstarter is dedicated to fundraising for creative projects just like this. Funding is all-or-nothing, which means we need to raise every penny of our goal by October 22, 2014 through pledges to our online campaign.

    Click here and take just 10 minutes out of your day to visit our page, watch the beautiful 4 minute video, make a donation (called a pledge), and share the campaign with friends and family.

    Everyone has a special place – a mountaintop, a cathedral, a beloved home – that makes them feel safe, connected, and inspired. For millions of people from all over the world, Orchard House is that place: a gathering place, where people from many backgrounds have come together for over 350 years to count themselves part of a community – a community steeped in hope, courage, and perseverance.

    Many who wish to experience Orchard House may never be able to visit in person, and there are millions more that do not realize the house exists. Together with your pledges and our dedication, this film will change that.

    Pledges of all amounts are welcome and encouraged, and there are even some great rewards for our backers. #PledgeYourLove to Orchard House and become part of our legacy!

  • Wednesday, August 24 6:00 pm – Superbat: A Documentary Screening

    Harvard’s Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge,  will screen Superbat on Wednesday, August 24 beginning at 6 pm. This 48-minute documentary explores the world of bats and the scientists who study them – including the late Donald Griffin, a Harvard zoologist who was the first to describe their echolocation ability in the 1940s. Using 3-D graphics to recreate the bats’ acoustic vision and shooting with infra-red and high-speed cameras, this film offers an exhilarating “bats-eye” journey into the night.

    Screening to be followed by a discussion by Professor Thomas Kunz of Boston University, one of the world’s leading bat experts. Kunz will answer audience questions and discuss some of his current research on bat biology, aeroecology and behavior, including the latest on the White-Nose Fungal Disease that has devastated bat populations in the Northeast.  Part of Summer Nights at the Museum. Free with museum admission.  For more information log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617-495-3045.  Thank you Julie Newmar for the image below, which has nothing whatsoever to do with White-Nose Fungal Disease, but I’ll bet you read the post.