Wednesday 14th May .:. 6pm - Arts A,Room A005 - What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire

Tim Bennett, middle-class white guy, started waking up to the global environmental nightmare in the mid-1980s. But life was so busy with raising kids and pursuing the American dream that he never got around to acting on his concerns. Until now… Bennett journeys from complacency to consciousness in his feature-length documentary, What a Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire. He reviews his Midwestern roots, ruthlessly examines the stories he was raised with, and then details the grim realities humans now face: escalating climate change, resource shortages, degraded ecosystems, an exploding global population and teetering global economies. Bennett identifies and calls into question the fundamental assumption that has led to this unprecedented crisis in human history: that humans were destined to dominate the rest of the community of life with the Culture of Empire. He pushes the dialogue where Al Gore did not go. Powerful interviews with well-known authors including Daniel Quinn, Derrick Jensen and Richard Heinberg, and noted scientists William Schlesinger and Stuart Pimm, fill in some important pieces. Scathing and humorous use of archival footage is balanced with very human snapshot comments from family and friends. On Walkabout, Bennett ends with an invitation to join him with courage and consciousness on the unexplored shores of a future not yet written. One path leads to despair and hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen

Check out the official website : www.whatawaytogomovie.com

Monday 19th .:. 6pm - Arts A,Room A005 - The Power of Community - How Cuba survived peak oil

We're reshowing this classic documentary to give some more people a chance to witness how Cubaa managed to respond to the US's trade embargo.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.

Monday 26th May .:. 6pm - Arts A,Room A005 - David Holmgren - Permaculture Design Principles

David Holmgren (born 1955) is an ecologist, ecological design engineer and writer. He is perhaps most well known as co-originator of the permaculture concept with Bill Mollison. David Holmgren is a controversial figure. Through the spread of permaculture around the world, his environmental principles have exerted a global influence.

For more info please visit his website : www.holmgren.com.au

In this 97 minute presentation David Holmgren outlines the permaculture ethics and design principles using the format from his foundation text Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability.

The footage was recorded as part of the Radiance program of talks and workshops over the six days of 03/04 Woodford Folk Festival organised by Sunshine Coast organic entrepreneur Graeme Sait of Nutri-tech Solutions

Monday 2nd May .:. 6pm - Arts A,Room A005 - Manufactured Landsacpes - Edward Burtynsky

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris. The film follows him through China, as he shoots the evidence and effects of that country’s massive industrial revolution. With breathtaking sequences, such as the opening tracking shot through an almost endless factory, the filmmakers also extend the narratives of Burtynsky’s photographs, allowing us to meditate on our impact on the planet and witness both the epicenters of industrial endeavor and the dumping grounds of its waste.

In the spirit of such environmentally enlightening sleeper-hits as AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and RIVERS AND TIDES, MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES powerfully shifts our consciousness about the world and the way we live in it, without simplistic judgments or reductive resolutions.

Edward Burtynsky talks during his TED award

Monday 9th June .:. 6pm - Arts A A005 - From the heart of the world - Elder Brother's Warning - Alan Elereia

The Kogi are an indigenous people living in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains of northern Colombia, in South America.

They are the only civilisation to have survived the Spanish conquests and to have kept their individuality. They are perhaps the only indigenous people in the world who, because of the particular nature of their surroundings, have been able to keep themselves apart and sustain their culture inviolate. And not only that.

In 1990 the Kogi decided they must speak out to the rest of the world. They had survived by keeping themselves isolated but they decided that it was time to send a message to the Younger Brother. They could see that something was wrong with their mountain, with the heart of the world. The snows had stopped falling and the rivers were not so full. If their mountain was ill then the whole world was in trouble.

Made in 1991, this documentary explores the culture and spiritual beliefs of the Kogi tribe -- a pre-Colombian American tribe once believed destroyed. The Kogi, who call themselves the Elder Brothers of the human race and us the Younger Brothers, are convinced we are destroying the balance of life on earth. Believing that our only hope is to change our ways, the Kogi have set out to teach us what they know of the balance of mankind, nature and the spiritual world.

Monday 16th June .:. 6pm Arts A A005 - Gardens of Destiny - Dan Jason

In this 75 minute production, filmmaker, Jocelyn Demers meets Dan Jason on Salt Spring Island, Canada’s west coast. Dan is an organic gardener with a fantastic selection of seeds, vegetables, grains, medicinal plants and flowers. He is also the head of the grassroots organization called the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of Canadian gardeners who are preserving as much plant diversity as is possible. Mr. Jason has been a long time critic of the non-organic food system in North America. Jocelyn Demers explores Dan’s garden and seed world and investigates what other experts from the agriculture milieu think about Dan’s observations.

Salt Seed Springs

Gardens of Destiny investigates many important issues related to pollution and health. These include genetic engineering, Terminator seeds and the pitfalls of industrial agriculture. Additionally, it examines how organic food has proven to be protective against cancer.

Workshops - Time and Dates to be confirmed

Wild Food Foraging

Introduction into Permaculture

Hove Farmers’ Market

Every 4th Saturday of the month from 10:00am – 3:00pm.
Address: George Street, Hove

Brighton and Hove Farmers

Market1st Sunday of every month from 10:00am – 3:00pm.
Address: Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove (near Hove Station)

Lewes Farmers’ Market

Ist Saturday of the month from 9:00am – 1:00pm.
Address: Cliffe High Street, Lewes

Fair Trade Fair and Farmers’ Market

Every 3rd Saturday of the month from 11:00am – 4:00pm.
Address: Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton

Care Co-ops Community Farm>

Open Afternoons 1st and 3rd Friday of the month 1-4pm.

A chance to find out more about the Community Farm project. Stall selling seasonal produce, plants and flowers.

Address: Stanmer Park, Brighton.
Email: jenny.bell@careco-ops.org.uk
Tel: 01273 696153