June 2, 2009
NDSS to Showcase Eco-Films
Niagara District Secondary School (NDSS) will help kick-off a cross-border eco-initiative on Friday, June 5, when it hosts the opening day of the Onghiara International Film Festival of the Environment.
The festival is a three day event taking place on June 5 at NDSS, June 6 in downtown Niagara Falls and June 13 in Niagara Falls, NY.
The purpose of the festival is to “use the power of film to inform and engage people about financially viable, economically sustainable solutions to the issues facing our planet,” says teacher Laura Kozloski.
“We’re very pleased to host the Onghiara Film Festival at Niagara District,” says Principal Mike Cockburn. “The agricultural sector is a major employer within the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Region as a whole. As such, our students are well aware of the issues concerning the environment. In fact, NDSS was recently certified as an Ontario EcoSchool, demonstrating our students’ commitment to living a sustainable lifestyle.”
The school will screen two films; the morning presentation of “Nourish”, narrated by Cameron Diaz, will be for a student audience. The movie details mankind’s relationship to food from a global perspective to personal action steps. The film contends that today, more than ever, people need to understand where food comes from and how it reaches us.
The second showing, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., will be open to the public. The evening’s film will be “The Garden”, the story of and fight for the largest community garden in the United States. The 14-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in America. It stands out as an amazing success story in one of the country’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. However, bulldozers are now poised to level the community oasis.