The 2015 Taos Fall Arts Festival includes the art of film. This year the Taos Environmental Film Festival will screen a series of environmental films at the Taos Center for the Arts on Friday October 1 and October 2. Jean Stevens, Taos Environmental Film Festival Director, exclaimed, “Where would art be without the inspiring landscapes of Earth? We are thrilled to bring these environmental films as part of the Taos Fall Arts and make it an event that recognizes local conservation leaders who successfully worked to protect our magnificent landscapes near Taos.”
Thursday evening, October 1, features When the Mountain Calls: Nepal, Tibet & Bhutan directed by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Tom Vendetti. It explores the director’s reflections from 30 years of traveling the Himalayas and the changes over the decades to the people, land, climate and the culture. The Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund Hillary, Greenpeace of China and the Prime Minister of Bhutan are featured.
Also that evening, The Quietest Place on Earth takes viewers to the crater of Haleakala and a deeper awareness of humans’ place in nature, the wellspring of Hawaiian culture. While sharing this unique cultural understanding with a planet in need of lessons, the film acknowledges threads running through all cultures, showing that the quietest place on Earth actually exists inside each of us. Taos Falls Arts presents these films as a tribute to Robert Stone and Tom Vendetti for their work to promote “gross national happiness.”
This evening is to benefit Taos’ One World – One Heart Foundation for their efforts to help the Himalayan region. While the evening is free, attendees are encouraged to donate to Taos One World – One Heart at the door.
On Friday morning, October 2, Taos Environmental Film Festival presents a matinee of Wild and Scenic Film Festival shorts for local public school students at the Taos Center for the Arts. “The grand finale of our film festival culminates on the evening of Friday, October 2 with the screening of 13 inspiring Wild and Scenic Film Festival shorts” said Stevens. “These films celebrate the beauty of the oceans, mountains, rivers and wildlife around the world, while shining a spotlight on the fragility of our planet.
A special tribute will made to Senator Heinrich and to Senator Tom Udall for their successful land conservation work in Taos County. Tom Udall and his father, former Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall are featured in the film The Wilderness Act: 50th Anniversary. Later, New Environmentalist: Home Rules, an important film, features Robert Redford highlighting one community’s success against fracking.
Jean Stevens concludes, “The Taos Fall Arts thanks local conservation leaders of the Rio Grande del Norte and Columbine Hondo Wilderness Campaigns. Together these coalitions worked to permanently protect nearly 300,000 acres of beautiful inspiring public landscapes near Taos. We suggest Friday free film-goers make a donation to benefit Rivers & Birds, a nonprofit that played a strong leadership role in both campaigns to conserve the beauty of northern New Mexico.