| Festival Welcomes Directors with Ties to Texas Ben Masters, Raj Patel, John Claiborne Brown, Brandon Holmes, Alejandra Vasquez, and Kathryn Francis Festival Showcases Powerful Texas Stories of Nature and Conservation, Climate Change, Oil Drilling vs. Property Rights, Boom and Bust Oil, Fast Fashion and more Dallas, TX (April 21, 2022) – EarthX Film Festival 2022 presented by Curiosity turns a spotlight on Texas this year, celebrating the filmmakers and stories from the Lone Star State. From the beauty and diverse ecology found throughout Texas, to the impact of boom and bust oil on small towns, to the hidden cost of fast fashion, the EarthX Film Festival offers an intimate look at issues impacting the State and its citizens. TheEarthX Film Festival 2022, held for the first time in the Dallas Arts District from May 12-15, will showcase over 75 feature length and short documentary films that celebrate nature, environment, conservation and outdoor adventure while honoring the heroes working to protect our planet. FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARIES DEEP IN THE HEART Directed by award winning filmmaker Ben Masters, Deep in the Heart is a visually stunning celebration of Texas’ diverse landscapes and remarkable wildlife found nowhere else. Told through the eyes of wildlife species ranging from the mysterious blind catfish to the elusive mountain lion, the film follows our ever-changing relationship with the natural world and how we affect it. Narrated by beloved Texan, Matthew McConaughey, the film aims to safeguard our remaining wild places and to recognize the importance of Texas’ conservation on a continental scale. Directed by Ben Masters. RT: 103 mins Ben Masters is an award winning filmmaker and writer with a focus on wildlife and adventure stories. His films have been distributed on Netflix, National Geographic, STARZ and PBS. Masters has worked with The Wildlife Society, Borderlands Research Institute, YETI, Texas Parks and The Wildlife Foundation. A proud Texan, Masters loves riding a good horse through new country, filming wildlife stories that haven’t been documented before and using movies to help conserve wildlife and wild places. BATTLE FOR THE HEART OF TEXAS Landowners and county officials were in the dark when, in September of 2018, Kinder Morgan announced construction of The Permian Highway Pipeline, a 420 mile natural gas pipeline traversing Texas. When the news was announced one thing would become clear: if a private company can exercise the power of eminent domain, private property rights no longer exist in the very state these rights are sacred. Battle for the Heart of Texas explores the tension that arises between individuals, corporations and government — and ultimately how this affects the land itself. Directed by John Claiborne Brown RT: 80 mins John Claiborne Brown grew up on the Texas-Louisiana border. In 1987, Brown moved to Chicago, working his way through various facets of the film industry before moving back to Central Texas in 2001. Having traveled the world in support of many documentary, commercial and feature film projects for the last 35 years, Brown now lives in Wimberley, TX where he continues his lifelong connection to the Texas Hill Country. EarthX Film Festival 2022 marks his feature documentary directorial debut. THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER Anita Chitaya has many a gift; she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, educate men in gender equality and end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to the White House, she meets climate skeptics and despairing farmers. Anita’s journey highlights the power of conversation and compassion in the mission to protect Mother Earth in The Ants and the Grasshopper. Directed by: Raj Patel, Zak Piper RT: 74 mins Raj Patel (co-director/producer) is a James Beard Award winning activist and New York Times bestselling writer. Patel has testified about food and hunger to the US, UK and EU governments, and his book on the food system, Stuffed and Starved, has been translated into a dozen languages. Patel is currently a research professor at the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.Zak Piper (co-director/producer) is an Emmy-winning and Producers Guild Award-winning documentary filmmaker most known for producing the critically acclaimed film Life Itself, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (2014) and later won a Critics Choice Award. Piper is currently producing or directing a number of documentary projects in development or production. DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS WHEN IT’S GOOD, IT’S GOOD A filmmaker returns to her hometown in West Texas to document the effects of the boom-and-bust nature of the oil industry. Unexpectedly, she documents the political transformation that takes place in her family over five years and two election cycles. An intimate portrait of place, family, memory, politics and economy, When It’s Good, It’s Good centers around life in an oil town called Denver City, Texas. Director Alejandra Vasquez RT: 16 mins Alejandra Vasquez is a Mexican-American filmmaker. Raised in West Texas, Vasquez’s film When It’s Good, It’s Good documents her hometown’s relationship to the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil industry. Vasquez co-directed the short films Varsity Oro (2020 Pop-Up Magazine) and Folk Frontera (Independent Lens/PBS, 2022 SXSW), winner of the Grand Jury Award in the Texas Shorts category at SXSW. THE MONSTER IN OUR CLOSET We are wearing fossil fuels. The fashion industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined. The Monster in Our Closet documents how a determined lawyer, a surfing materials developer and a witty climate reporter work to tackle the problem of plastic in fashion by championing solutions through policy, design and individual action. Directors: Kathryn Francis, Nicole Gormley RT: 27 minutes Baylor University alum Kathryn Francis is a documentary director and producer with a background in political science and international education. Francis’ two main goals in life and work are to protect our wild places and to empower marginalized groups and individuals to stand in their power to share their stories. Nicole Gormley is a documentary filmmaker with the aim to tell stories that inspire people to rethink their relationship to nature while inspiring them to protect the environment. Using her natural ability to connect with people, Gormley approaches projects from the lens of a shared human experience. 80º NORTH 80º North follows a group of international artists as they explore the Arctic island chain of Svalbard. Set against dramatic natural backdrops, the artists share their hopes, fears and insights on encountering an environment undergoing radical change. Director Brandon Holmes RT: 15 mins Brandon Holmes is a Texas-raised, New York-based filmmaker and photographer. Holmes’ interest in how we relate to the natural world has led him to interview scientists in the American Southwest, Pacific Northwest and artists in the Arctic Circle. Films are available for preview ahead of the festival. For more information or to request a link contact: Karen.Oberman@KO-PR.com ABOUT EARTHX FILM FESTIVAL 2022 The 2022 EarthX Film Festival is four days of film, music and interactive environmental programs and events set in the heart of Dallas Arts District, May 12-15. Our mission is to bring awareness of the environmental crisis in order to create sincere action on both an individual and communal scale; to inspire local and global change on how we as humans affect our home planet and our fellow beings. We aim to include Texas, and the Southwest, in the conversation on climate change through compassionate, positive, truthful storytelling.For more information, visit https://earthxfilmfestival.org ABOUT EARTHX EarthX convenes the world’s largest environmental expo, conference, film festival, and television network and is a member of IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. Founded in 2011 as Earth Day Dallas by environmentalist and businessman Trammell S. Crow, the Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization promotes environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration, and community-driven sustainable solutions. In 2019, the April event drew over 177,000 attendees, 2,000 environmental leaders, and 750+ exhibitors. In 2020, the April virtual event drew over 570,000 live-stream views and reached 171 countries. EarthxTV is now available as an OTT platform on streaming TV services, mobile devices, and tablets for balanced, inclusive environmental conversations, programs, emerging media & films. Visit www.EarthX.org or follow us @earthxorg on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. # # # Contact: Karen Oberman / K.O. PR Karen.Oberman@KO-PR.com |
