By Shannon Collins
Early September morning in Manchester, Vermont. The sun is rising over the burnt oranges and crimson reds of the forests surrounding the town as they transition from summer to autumn. It is the beginning of Equinox, a new and unique film festival for sharing stories about the environment and our role within it.
Manchester, Vermont
Levity Mountain Farm, Venue for Equinox Film Festival 2019
Of the many reasons why the shadow of the Equinox Mountains provides the perfect place to host an environmental film festival, the most striking is the community at its heart. The conceptualization and development of the festival have always held the importance of foregrounding local communities; listening to what they have to say, and maintaining an awareness of their horizons.
Accordingly, Equinox Mountain in Manchester is the prime place to host this ethos. Hosted at the beautiful Levity Mountain homestead, Equinox, alongside screenings, will run community and social events for participants and guests, such as hikes, workshops, and talks designed to generate conversations beyond the screen, and to allow visitors an opportunity for humble exploration, guided by the people who know Manchester best. In short, not just a film festival that shows films, rather an all round grassroots, get-involved, get-to-know, experience.
Community projects with Levity Mountain Farm
Sunset at Levity Mountain
The films chosen for screening will represent the culmination of an undertaking to champion filmmakers who may not otherwise have access to the conventional operations of the film industry. We all have stories to tell, and by giving emerging filmmakers a platform to share their perspectives, Equinox will allow a whole community to begin to bridge gaps in their understanding.
A film still from the selected USA film When Goats Fly
A film still from the selected Mexican film Eryngium Proteiflorum
Almost 50 films were submitted from 20 different countries. Filmmakers from this global collective can produce any take on the environmental theme; perhaps exploring the nurturing effect of an individual’s relationship to nature, or questioning how modern man has put the future of the planet in peril, and what we can do to counteract this. Ultimately, the festival aims to advance public understanding of environmental stewardship through innovative and investigative filmmaking.
A film still from the selected Indian film The UnInvited
A film still from the selected British film Hers to TakeJudges for this year’s competition will include award winning Scottish film partnership Ross and Garry Ferrier, and Spanish photographer and cinematographer Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar Romero. Also on the panel is Michael Ellenbogen, owner and coordinator of Village Picture Shows in Manchester, sadly closing this month – a sad indictment of what is happening to community affirming spaces across rural communities everywhere.
The festival itself will run over two days on the 21st and 22nd September 2019, with a welcome night held on the 20th.
For further information, and to enquire about tickets, click here or email info@ninthwaveglobal.com.
Read more:
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