Sovereign Soil

When Edward Abbey died in 1989 at the age of sixty-two, the American West lost one of its most eloquent and passionate advocates. Through his novels, essays, letters and speeches, Edward Abbey consistently voiced the belief that the West was in danger of being developed to death, and that the only solution lay in the preservation of wilderness. Abbey authored twenty-one books in his lifetime, including Desert Solitaire, The Monkey Wrench Gang, The Brave Cowboy, and The Fool's Progress. His comic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang helped inspire a whole generation of environmental activism. A writer in the mold of Twain and Thoreau, Abbey was a larger-than-life figure as big as the West itself.

Fall 2018: The Hambach Forest becomes a chaotic scene of the climate conflict. In the midst of this chaos, film student Steffen Meyn has a fatal accident. Based on footage he collected over two years, we follow Steffen’s path up the trees and into an activism full of contradictions.

An examination of our dietary choices and the food we put in our bodies.

When the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise set sail in 2013 to protest the first ever oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, none of the people on board could have known what was coming. Seized at gunpoint by Russian special forces, the 'Arctic 30' were thrust into headlines all over the world, facing up to 15 years in prison and finding themselves at the centre of a bitter international dispute.

Sepp Holzer explains some of the innovative, labour-saving agricultural techniques he applies at his farm in the Eastern Alps of Salzburg, Austria.

Activist/author Edward Abbey's legacy lives on in his best-selling books and now in director ML Lincoln's lively documentary. Lincoln pays tribute to Abbey and the environmental movement he inspired, reenacting his "monkeywrenching," and interviewing notable eco-warriors and present-day activists.

Lydia Jennings is a member of the Huichol (Wixaritari) and Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme) Nations and holds a doctorate in soil microbiology. Her work is dedicated to environmental science and the essential role of Indigenous communities in these spaces. Her hope is to create more inclusive academic and environmental landscapes. In place of her graduation, which was canceled as a result of the pandemic, Lydia instead celebrated by running 50 miles in honor of the Indigenous scientists and knowledge keepers who came before her. It’s a run to honor the past and present while looking towards the future.

From Inside of Here is a feature-length non-fiction film based in research in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Area in western New Mexico. The audience is invited to understand the filmmaker as a subject co-produced by their location, as well as consider the ways the land is co-produced by those on it. The place itself is a character in the film, as are the filmmaker's methods. The film is composed of multiple media: 16mm film, HD video, infrared stills, inter-titles, and sound recordings. The result is a feminist ethnographic landscape film that communicates both the majesty of 1800s landscape photography and the violence of a settler colonial gaze that is its context.

This film explores food sustainability, how farmers' markets build community, and why local food matters. Filmmaker Dr. Benjamin Garner is an Associate Professor at the University of North Georgia. He produces films on food, marketing, and tourism. Dr. Garner consults with companies on soft skills training and produces video ads for web and social media.

A compilation of conferences/debates between renowned designers, environmental activists, and students on the concept of design. Held in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

Planting Earth Week follows a radical climate activist who tells the story of a splitting decentralized movement that made headlines in 2019.

A documentary on Paul Watson, who takes the law into his own hands on the open seas, confronting, by any nonviolent means necessary, the hunters who indiscriminately slaughter whales, seals and sharks, along with complicit governments and environmental organizations. Written by Anonymous "Pirate for the Sea" is a biographical film of Captain Paul Watson, the youngest founding member of Greenpeace Canada. He organized early campaigns protesting the killing of seals, whales, and dolphins. Greenpeace ejected him for being too much of an activist. Starting his own organization, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he went on to sink illegal whaling ships, stopped Canadian seal hunts for ten years, permanently halted sealing in British Isles, killing of dolphins on Iki Island, Japan, etc. This documentary witnesses his latest campaigns and explores the personal and environmental history of this controversial marine conservationist. Written by R.C.

One man, One cow, One planet exposes globalization and the mantra of infinite growth in a finite world for what it really is: an environmental and human disaster. But across India marginal farmers are fighting back. By reviving biodynamics an arcane form of agriculture, they are saving their poisoned lands and exposing the bio-colonialism of multinational corporations. One man, One cow, One planet tells their story through the teachings of an elderly New Zealander many are calling the new Gandhi.

Documentary where rich social history frames a spirited debate on the development of water infrastructure throughout the USA.

Sales of organic products have increased tenfold in 20 years. In 2020, the market will have exceeded 13 billion euros in sales. The heavyweights of the food industry are surfing on this consumer craze for healthy food by offering more and more "green" products. But organic does not necessarily mean nutritionally balanced.

Peter Proctor is New Zealand's father of biodynamic agriculture. Peter has been gardening and making compost for over 65 years. "Biodymanics makes organics work." Compost is the fundamental element in all gardening & farming. This master class takes you through the biodynamic compost making process from gathering and assembling your materials to creating the perfect compost heap. Rudolf Steiner believed biodynamic compoast was the foundation of humanity and the vital link between the cosmos and the earth. In Perfect Compost, Peter Proctor walks you through every step to building perfect compost.

Standing Rock, 2016: the largest Native American occupation since Wounded Knee, thousands of activists, environmentalists, and militarized police descend on the Dakota Access Pipeline, in a standoff between Big Oil and a new generation of native warriors. Embedded in the movement, native activist and filmmaker Cody Lucich chronicles the sweeping struggle in stunning clarity, as the forces battle through summer to bitter winter, capturing the spirit and havoc of an uprising. From the initial gathering days on the Standing Rock reservation, the movement grew to thousands of water protectors, living in a protest camp and resisting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Akicita focuses on the voices of young Native warriors who stepped up to lead the charge, expressing the beats of the movement from every front—confrontations with the police, the vibrant daily customs of the camp, and more. Through the eyes of the young Native protesters, the struggle feels deeply personal.

This documentary presents the scientific facts behind the issue of peat haze as well as points of view and opinions from local and regional stakeholders. The burning of the peat forests throughout tropical Southeast Asia creates pollution, and this posed significant challenges to human health and the economies of the region during the second decade of the 21st century. The problem of peat haze pollution has been somewhat mitigated in recent years but in spite of this positive progress a few of the critical issues are yet to be solved. A complete solution to this complex issue will not be a simple one.

At the Edge of the World chronicles the controversial Sea Shepherd Antarctic Campaign against a Japanese whaling fleet. The international volunteer crew, under-trained and under-equipped, develop a combination of bizarre and brilliant tactics with which to stop the whalers. But first they must find the Japanese ships, a far more difficult challenge than ever imagined - long-time activist Paul Watson and first-time captain Alex Cornelissen employ an array of strategies in the hopes of finding an elusive adversary in the vast expanse of the Ross Sea. With one ship (the Farley Mowat) too slow to chase down the whaling fleet, with their second ship (the Robert Hunter) unsuited for Antarctic ice conditions and with no country supporting their efforts to enforce international law, the situation becomes increasingly desperate. Against all odds, however, a real-life pirate tale unfolds - a modern-day "David vs. Goliath" adventure.

This piece gives the viewer a glimpse into the life and philosophy of Dale Egan who has been practicing the art of 'Gl'nage' for decades where he reclaims the artefacts of our disposable society.