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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Jackie Mangione, #585.967.7749
Email: Jackie@greentopiafest.com
GREENTOPIA | FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS March 17th – 21st, 2015
Fourth annual fest includes thought-provoking sustainability-themed films, discussions, special
events, and the Fork in the Road Award
ROCHESTER, NY, March 2015 — Greentopia | FILM, the collection of films that inspires,
transforms, and seeks to empower the audience to create sustainable changes in their own
lives and communities is back for its fourth year in partnership with Monroe Community College.
Greentopia | FILM is the only local film festival representing the work of a diverse group of
independent filmmakers that will initiate conversation on the most important local, global, online
and community timely topics of today. The 2015 edition of the festival will feature five days
(March 17th -21st) of primarily non-fiction films – each featuring local buskers and other artistic
performances prior to films, followed by engaging, challenging, and stimulating panel
discussions with notable and first-time film makers from across the nation. Greentopia | FILM is
part of Greentopia®, a non-profit organization designed to educate and advocate for a more
sustainable future while transforming the historic High Falls District of Rochester, NY.
The 2015 festival will feature an array of inspiring and entertaining programming, including films
on such varied topics as a monk with a camera; agriculture; the sea and water; hospice and
prison. Free festival events will include GREEN DRINKS, March 19th at the Center for High Falls
Atrium, 6-9 pm; and KIDTOPIA | FILM, a mini-festival of short films for children. A highlight
continues to be Short Courses | Greentopia FILM on March 17th, an often sold –out event
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 – PRESS RELEASE
including four short films paired with four short courses. Cuisine by famed Good Luck
Restaurant Chef Dan Martello. Tickets are $75 and includes film viewing, a four course dinner
and wine pairings. The proceeds from each ticket sold will benefit programs and projects of
Greentopia®.
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED FILMS (CSFs)
Greentopia | FILM believes in our community and in showcasing the positive changes,
projects and people that are not often covered in more mainstream news and media
channels. All Community Supported Films (CSFs) tell the story of something happening
in the Greater Rochester area that embraces the concept of sustainability or community
building in some way. Through the incredible generosity of local filmmakers, Greentopia
| FILM has been able to produce 3 short documentaries a year for the past 2 years.
Enjoy all our previous CSFs at our YouTube Channel or click on the links below: Good
Luck Garden, winner Silver Telly Award, 2013 Green Visions, winner Bronze Telly
Award, 2014 Single Track Nature, winner Gold Aurora Award, 2013 The Highland 7 El
Camino Trail Peckham Hall
2015 Community Supported Film Awardees
In 2014, Greentopia | FILM received funding from NYSCA (New York State Council on
the Arts) to commission 3 films, offering a $1,000 stipend and film festival passes to
each of the 3 selected filmmakers. Greentopia | FILM is proud to be able to help nurture
homegrown documentary film, filmmakers, and local organizations who are d oing great
work!
Don’t miss this year’s CSF’s including:
No One Goes Hungry
Directed by: Kate Kressmann-Kehoe Produced by: Mike Champlin & Brian Steblen
of Debergerac Productions. Synopsis: St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality’s “Bread For
All” program provides bread to homeless shelters and job training through an organic
bakery supported by community subscriptions.
SweetBeez
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 - PRESS RELEASE
Co-Directed by: Ben Gonyo & Mike Martinez of Fish & Crown Productions Synopsis:
SweetBeez tells the story of an all-volunteer organization rallying support for urban
beekeeping in Rochester, NY. Bee population decline has been a major problem over
the past decade and SweetBeez is out to tackle a global problem on a local le vel.
Food For Thought: Seedfolk Stories
Co-Directed by: Lisa Barker & Alex Freeman of The Seedfolk Store Produced by: Studio
73 ProductionsSynopsis: Food for Thought: Seedfolk Stories takes a comprehensive
look at the projects and impact of the Seedfolk Youth Program based in Rochester, NY.
This program creates opportunities for youth involvement and leadership through
community-based urban agriculture and food sovereignty.
CALENDAR OF FILM EVENTS
Monk With a Camera
Directed by: Guido Santi, Tina Mascara. Running Time: 90 min
March 18 @ 5:45 pm - 7:30 pm
The Little Theatre L1
Nicholas Vreeland walked away from a worldly life of privilege to become a Tibetan
Buddhist monk in 1972. Grandson of legendary Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland, and
trained by Irving Penn to become a photographer, Nicholas’ life changed drastically
upon meeting a Tibetan master, one of the teachers of the Dalai Lama. Soon
thereafter, he gave up his glamorous life to live in a monastery in India, where he
studied Buddhism for fourteen years. In an ironic twi st of fate, Nicholas went back to
photography to help his fellow monks rebuild their monastery. Recently, the Dalai
Lama appointed Nicholas as Abbot of the monastery, making him the first Westerner
in Tibetan Buddhist history to attain such a highly regard ed position. Monk With a
Camera chronicles Nicky’s journey from playboy to monk to artist.
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 – PRESS RELEASE
Shortopia
March 18 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Little Theatre
Our shorts program is a showcase for 3 fresh, new voices of diverse topics and
styles. All films are New York State Premieres (one is a World Premiere) and several
are directorial debuts. Growing Local – Changing Hands by Bridget Besaw NY State
Premiere | 16 mins. (US) in English. Can the family survive and thrive through the
next generation? A dairy farm’s transition from father to son requires creative
transformation. Premiered: Camden International Film Festival. Preserves by B.Rich,
NY State Premiere | 9 mins. (US, Equador) Spanish subtitles posses the question
“Can we put a price on nature”. Bricolage by Mike Schwartz & Keri Smith. NY State
Premiere. (US, Canada) | 5 mins. Artist and best selling author Keri Smith (Wreck
This Journal) and film maker Mike Schwartz ask “How can we care about something if
we don’t notice it?”.
Find out more »
Seeds of Time
Directed by: Sandy McLeod | Running Time: 77 mins.
March 20 @ 5:15 pm - 6:45 pm
The Little Theatre L1
The foundation of agriculture is crumbling. How can we save it? SEEDS OF TIME
follows agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler’s global journey to save the eroding
foundation of our food supply in a new era of climate change.
Find out more »
Cotton Road
Directed by: Laura Kissel | Running Time: 72 mins.
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 - PRESS RELEASE
March 20 @ 7:20 pm - 8:45 pm
Little Theatre
Made in China: It’s a phrase familiar to most of us, via a quick survey of the tags on
the clothes hanging in our closets. But the secret origin of that shirt on your back is
much more complex than any label can reveal. With her debut feature Cotton Road,
filmmaker Laura Kissel pulls at the thread of this story to unravel a global supply
chain that begins in South Carolina.
Find out more »
Florence, AZ
Directed by: Andrea B. Kissel | Running Time | 78 mins.
March 20 @ 9:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Little Theatre
Florence, Arizona is a cowboy town with a prison problem. Founded in 1866, this
bastion of the Wild West is home to 8,500 civilians and 17,000 inmates spread over
nine prisons. Through an unconventional lens, the docume ntary film “Florence,
Arizona” weaves together the stories of four key residents of Florence, whose lives
have all been shadowed in some way by the surrounding prison industrial complex.
The result is an intricately crafted cinematic tapestry, threaded thr ough with deep
strands of Americana, humor, intimacy, and pathos, revealing as much about
ourselves as it does about our modern carceral state.
Find out more »
Kidtopia
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 – PRESS RELEASE
March 21 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
The Little Theatre L1
Come join us for Kidtopia, a mini-festival screening the best of children’s shorts from
around the world on gentle themes of kindness, generosity and the spirit of being
green! Because it’s never too early to become a citizen of the world. Appropriate for
little ones on up. ELISHA AND THE CACAO TREES by Rohan Fernando NY State
Premiere | (Canada, Belize) in English, Spanish & Q’eqchi’ (with subtitles) | Live
Action What links children in the US to a remote village.
Find out more »
Walking Under Water
Directed by: Eliza Kubarska | Running Time: 76 mins.
March 21 @ 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
The Little Theatre L1
Sea nomads off the Malasian coast, the Badjao live as they have for centuries: on the
sea and from the sea. Their cultural survival is threatened by the encroaching tourism
and fishing industries. On his first fishing trip with his uncl e, a young boy, Sari, is
initiated into the changing world around him.
Find out more »
Beginning With The End
Directed by: David Marshall | Running Time: 64 mins.
March 21 @ 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 - PRESS RELEASE
Little Theatre
Harley School seniors taking an elective class simply called “Hospice” have no idea what to
expect, yet they have agreed to spend what turns out to be a transformative year volunteering
as caregivers to dying strangers.
Find out more »
Misconception
Directed by: Jessica Yu | Running Time: 94 mins.
March 21 @ 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
Little Theatre
After masterfully chronicling our planet’s relationship with water, as Jessica Yu did with her 2012
Greentopia | FILM selection Last Call at the Oasis, what could she take on next? Nothing less
than the seven-billion-and-counting humans who call our world home – and whose very
numbers threaten to overwhelm the planet’s resources. To explore the consequences of our
unprecedented ongoing population explosion, Yu peers through a uniquely intimate lens: The
personal stories of a 29-year-old Beijing man about to wed.
Find out more »
The Immortalists
March 21 @ 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Venue: 140 East Ave., Rochester, 14470
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 – PRESS RELEASE
THE IMMORTALISTS- Trailer from David Anthony Alvarado on Vimeo.
PASSES / TICKETS
A variety of film pass options are available this year including:
All-Access Passes | $150. Includes Good Luck Short Courses opening event, Hart’s
Grocers closing party, 10 ticketed screenings, 2 tickets to Little for use anytime after the Film
Festival in 2015, T-shirt, name in program. Lanyard pass pickup at Greentopia Headquarters,
81 Browns Race OR at Good Luck Short Courses event.
Value $225
Full Price VIP Passes | $75. Includes Hart’s Party, 10 ticketed screening. Value $120
Senior/Student/Educator Passes | $40. Includes 10 ticketed screenings. Value $50-70
Good Luck Short Courses Event | $75. Now in its third year, come enjoy four short films
paired with four short delicious courses – this is sure to be a sell-out event!. Wine included.
HURRY! This event sells out quickly.
Closing Party at Hart’s Grocers on evening of 3/21/15 | $20. Wine, light hors
d’oeuvres, music.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For a complete film and event schedule, or to buy tickets, visit www.greentopia.org/film; or
connect with Greentopia | FILM at facebook.com/GreentopiaFILM and twitter.com/GrnFILM.
GREENTOPIA | FILM 2015 - PRESS RELEASE
GREENTOPIA | FILM is proud to partner with Monroe Community College and other
supporting sponsors including:
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ABOUT GREENTOPIA
Greentopia® is now Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes’ year-long program of all things
sustainable! Our programs educate and inform the public through a variety of curated events allyear long. Greentopia® strives to empower people to create positive change in their lives,
communities and work. Its mission is to educate, celebrate and promote sustainability in all its
forms for a better health, better community and better planet. Greentopia® is a non-profit group
devoted to sensitive, sustainable development of High Falls and the Genesee River Gorge in
Rochester, N.Y. For more information, visit www.greentopia.org.