The Director Series provides movie lovers the opportunity to view impactful documentary films highlighting heroic adventures, sustainable agriculture, marine ecology, social justice, the environmental crisis, and human-interest stories.
Friday Harbor Film Festival presents films on-demand 24/7 for 10-14 days each month through September, leading up to our annual festival in October. Each on-demand documentary film will include a scheduled livestream, interactive Q&A with the filmmaker and expert panelists discussing the issues raised by the film. Q&A sessions will be recorded and available on-demand free of charge through September 30, 2021.
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April 1-30: Celebrating Earth Day 2021
Beginning April 1, honoring Earth Day, the Friday Harbor Film Festival Director Series presents 4 films available 24/7 --- AWAKE, A Dream from Standing Rock; My Country No More; No Fear No Favor; and From Seed to Seed. Screen all for only $9.95 with a Celebrating Earth Day 2021 Festival Pass!
AWAKE: A DREAM FROM STANDING ROCK
Myron Dewey | Josh Fox | James Spione, Directors
2017 | 89 minutes
$2.95 (or included in the All Access FHFF "Celebrating Earthday 2021 Pass")
Record of the massive peaceful resistance led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to the Dakota Access Pipeline through their land and underneath the Missouri River.
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"Very compelling. Awake makes essential connections between one local struggle, the health of the planet, and the real and symbolic violence of the Western industrial society. Emotionally touching as well as visually striking, this is an ideal introduction to the water protectors and their cause."
Dr. Anna J. Willow, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Ohio State University
MY COUNTRY NO MORE
Rita Baghdadi, Jeremiah Hammerling, Directors
2018 | 70 minutes
$2.95 (or included in the All Access FHFF "Celebrating Earthday 2021 Pass")
The oil boom in N Dakota sets off a crisis in a rural community, forced to confront the meaning of progress as they fight for a disappearing way of life.
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"The human cost of our reliance on fossil fuels is measured not only in the looming horrors of climate change and threats to physical health from pollution, but also from the destruction of community and sense of place that comes as land is devoured by every new refinery and pipeline. My Country No More tells a deeply moving story...This compassionate film shows that along with the sadness of loss there is also hope as courageous people fight to protect their homes, families, and way of life."
Richard York, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of Oregon, Co-author, The Ecological Rift: Capitalism's War on the Earth
NO FEAR NO FAVOR
Mirra Bank, Director
2019 | 66 minutes
$2.95 (or included in the All Access FHFF "Celebrating Earthday 2021 Pass")
African communities on the front lines of the poaching crisis fight to protect their wildlife for future generations.
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"Using personal stories from both sides of the poaching crisis, No Fear No Favor offers an excellent basis for discussions of the fundamental causes of species loss. The documentary shows the ties between poverty and poaching and how local people are exploited by large wildlife trafficking syndicates. It demonstrates the underlying economic and political basis of the crisis and the critical lesson that conservation of local resources must be managed by, and for the benefit of, local communities."
Robert R. Alexander, Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, Kenyon College
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FROM SEED TO SEED
Katharina Stieffenhofer Director
2018 | 87 minutes
$2.95 (or included in the All Access FHFF "Celebrating Earthday 2021 Pass")
Through a group of Canadian organic farmers—both large-scale and small-scale—we experience a full growing season with all of its rewards as well as the challenges of a changing climate.
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"The resounding message delivered by Seed to Seed is optimism - that building a sustainable society is possible - but what makes this film stand out is that this hope is securely tethered to humility...This is not only a film about organic farming, it is also a glimpse into community resilience, and what is required to build our place-based knowledge of land, food production and the natural world."
Dr. Lorelei Hanson, Associate Professor and Academic Coordinator, Environmental Studies, Athabasca University
FILMMAKER Q&A AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Join us each month as we present FREE livestream Q&A's with filmmaker and expert panelists. Browse our previously recorded livestream filmmaker Q&A's below.
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FOR FILMMAKERS: 2021 SUBMISSIONS
Filmmakers are encouraged to submit their entries beginning December 15th on Film Freeway for consideration for both The Director Series and the October 2021 Friday Harbor Film Festival.
Fill the chair.
Friday Harbor Film Festival proudly accepts entries on FilmFreeway,
the world's #1 way to enter film festivals and creative contests.
