Canadian film festival
Planet in Focus![]() Planet in Focus Festival Logo |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario,  Canada |
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| Founded | 1999 by Mark Haslam |
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| Awards received | 2007 Green Toronto Awards: Leadership, 2008 Green Toronto Awards: Environmental Awareness |
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| Awards | Eco Hero Awards,
Mark Haslam Award,
Best Green Pitch,
Best Canadian Short,
Best International Short,
Best Canadian Long,
Best International Long. |
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| Hosted by | Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival |
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| No. of films | 100+ |
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| Language | International |
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| Website | http://www.planetinfocus.org/ |
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Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
History
Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, founded in 1999, by Mark Haslam.[1][2]
PIF is currently run by a volunteer Board of Directors and a small staff including Executive Director, Katherine Bruce, Programs Director, Alessandra Cannito, Programmers Julian Carrington and Lesley Johnson, and Pre-Screeners, Ron Ma, Hui 'Jane' Wang, Gesila Azorbo, Michael John Long, and Gabriela Aguilar.
Planet in Focus operates year-round to produce the annual film festival in October, as well as year round programs such as the Cross Canada Campus Tour, Green School Tours and Eco-Film Lab filmmaking workshop for elementary students.
PIF grants yearly Eco-Hero Awards, and patrons include David Suzuki, Vandana Shiva, Rob Stewart, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Autumn Peltier, Ron Finley, Col. Chris Hadfield, Jennifer Baichwal, Margaret Atwood, Edward Burtynsky, and James Balog, among others.
Award Winners
- Best Canadian Short Film - The Pipe Dreams Project directed by Faros Des Roches and Ryan Vandecasteyen
- Best Canadian Short Film Honourable Mention - Spokedirected by Lulu Wei
- Best Canadian Feature Film - Occupy Love directed by Velcrow Ripper and produced by Ian Mackenzie and Nova Ami
- Best Canadian Feature Film Honourable Mention - Lost Rivers directed by Caroline Bacle and produced by Katarina Soukoup
- Best International Short Film - HOT & BOTHERED (UK) directed by Giannina Lasalvia
- Best International Feature Film - Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black
- The Mark Haslam Award - Rainforest: The Limit of Splendourdirected by Richard Boyce
- The Mark Haslam Award Honourable Mention - Just Do It! directed by Emily James
- The Green Pitch Award - Honey For Sale directed by Amanda Strong
- The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - Warehouse 13, Honorable Mention, In Organic We Trust directed by Kiplin Pastor2011
Award Winners
- Best Canadian Short Film - Nanameskueu (Tremblement de terre) directed by Réal Junior Leblanc
- Best Canadian Feature Film - Waking the Green Tiger directed by Gary Marcuse
- Best International Short Film - Carbon for Water directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
- Best International Feature Film - There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho directed by Briar March
- The Mark Haslam Award - Keepers of the Water directed by Ayelen Liberona
- The Green Pitch Award - Carpe Diem directed by Charlotte Engel
- The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - Score: A Hockey Musical directed by Avi Federgreen, Honorable Mention, Powerful: Energy for Everyone directed by David Chernushenko
- Canadian Eco-Hero - Kevin McMahon
- International Eco-Hero - Ric O'Barry
Toronto Premieres
- Urban Roots directed by Mark MacInnis
- On Coal River directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood
- La Reine Malade (The Ailing Queen) directed by Pascal Sanchez
- Waseya Dizihin directed by Kevin Papatie
- White Water, Black Gold directed by David Lavallee
- The Clean Bin Project directed by Grant Baldwin
- L'Homme de glace (Ice Philosophy) directed by Melanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins
- There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho directed by Briar March
- Darwin directed by Nick Brandestini
- Solartaxi: Around the World With the Sun directed by Erik Schmitt
- Waking the Green Tiger directed by Gary Marcuse[3]
- Spoil directed by Trip Jennings and Andy Maser
Canadian Premieres
- Revenge of the Electric Car (Opening Night Gala Presentation) directed by Chris Paine[4]
- The Whale (Closing Night Gala Presentation) directed by Suzanne Chisholm[4]
- Future of Hope directed by Henry Bateman
- Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" directed by Werner Herzog[3]
- Silent Snow: The Invisible Poisoning of the World directed by Jan van den Berg and Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann
- Der Tag des Spatzen (Day of the Sparrow) directed by Philip Scheffner
- Enjoy Your Meal!:How Food Changes the World directed by Walter Grotenhuis
- L'Or des autres (The Gold of Others) directed by Simon Plouffe
- Powerful: Energy for Everyone directed by David Chernushenko
- Leonids Geschichte (Leonids Story) directed by Rainer Ludwigs
- Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution directed by Guy Lieberman
- The Polar Explorer directed by Mark Terry
- Last Stand on the Island directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
- To Reveal the Fourteen Windows directed by Christina Battle
- Cowboys in India directed by Simon Chambers
- Le White (White Houses) directed by Simona Risi
North American Premieres
- Up in Smoke directed by Adam Wakeling
World Premieres
- Portrait of Resistance: The Art & Activism of Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge directed by Roz Owen[4]
- The Past as Future directed by Ton van Zantvoort
- From Chernobyl to Fukushima: A Campaigner's Journey directed by Aube Giroux
- Brick by Brick: The Story of the Evergreen Brickworks directed by Catherine Annau[4]
- Niger River: A River Under Siege directed by Bernice Notenboom
- Carbon for Water directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
- On the Line directed by Frank Wolf
Toronto Premieres
- Blue Gold: World Water Wars directed by Sam Bozzo
- Peace with Seals directed by Miroslav Novak
- Boreal Forest Expedition directed by Nick and Lindsay Bradford-Ewart
- Northland: Long Journey directed by Edie Steiner
- Chasing Wild Horses directed by Matt Trecartin and John Wesley Chisholm
- Howser in Peril directed by Tom Prior
- Death in the Forest directed by Gordon McLennan
- Being Innu directed by Catherine Mullins
- Waste = Food directed by Rob Van Hattum
- Addicted to Plastic directed by Ian Connacher
- Umbrella (film) directed by Du Haibin
- Birth of the Smoked Meat directed by Jeanne Pope and Zoe Mapp
- Tableland directed by Craig Noble
- Papiroflexia directed by Jaoquin Baldwin
- The Poet of Grappa directed by Stefano Scarafia
- Flowers of Rwanda directed by David Muñoz
- Intestines of the Earth directed by Barbier Olivier
- Gimmie Green directed by Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg
- Mama Coco: The Sacred Leaf directed by Felix Atencio-Gonzales
- Rallco, a Bad Business directed by Nicholas Garcia and Xavier Vasqué
- Pick me Up directed by Andrea Bussman
- Gates of the Arctic directed by Rory Banyard
Canadian Premieres
- Our Wonderful Nature directed by Tomer Eshed
- Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist directed by Norman Lofts
- Heron Pond: A Boardwalk View directed by Cade Bursell
- Eviction directed by Terra Schnoor
- Terra Sacer directed by Alberto Guevara, Elysee Nouvet
- A Massacre Foretold directed by Nick Higgins
- The Beggars in Addis Arabia directed by Jakob Gottschau
- Paradise- Three Journeys in this World directed by Elina Hirvonen
- The Sacred Food directed by Jack Pettibone Riccobono
- My Inventions directed by Robert Holbrook
- Global Food: Once Upon a French Fry directed by Pierre-Olivier François
- Land of Writers directed by Silvio Ciuccetti
- Slow Food directed by Vanja Ohna
- Greina directed by Villi Hermann
- On Relations directed by Jorge Acebo
- Roaming Around directed by Brigette Bertele
- Fighting Goliath- Texas Coal Wars directed by Mat Hames
- Charcoal Traffic directed by Nathan Collett
- Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Impact of War directed by Alice and Lincoln Day
- Where Do They Go? directed by Julianne Becker
- The Right to Survive- Turtle Conservation and Fisheries Livelihoods directed by Rita Banerji, Shilpi Sharma
- The Squid Daddy’s Labour Room directed by Ke Chin Yuan
- Today the Hawk Takes One Chick directed by Jane Gillooly
- We Belong to this Country directed by Alison Leonard
- One of the Last directed by Paul Zinder
- Fate of the Lhapa directed by Sarah Sifers
- Sounds of the Seas directed by Volker Barth
- The Last Nomads directed by Andrew Gregg
- Eternal Mash directed by Catherine van Campen
- Journey of a Red Fridge directed by Lucian and Natasa Muntean
- Strange Homeland directed by Jens Schanze
- Boomrang directed by Daryoush Gharibzadeh
- One Water (documentary) directed by Ali Habashi and Sanjeev Chatterjee
- Justice Now directed by Martin O’Brien, Robbie Proctor
- Alethea directed by Petra Holzer, Ethem Ozguven
- Crossed Wires directed by Elida Schogt
- The Green Dragon directed by Caroline Harrison
- Digital Cemeteries directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
- Crabs on the Road directed by Gabriela Dominguez
- Atlantis Approaching directed by Elizabeth Pollock
- This Much I Know directed by Bridget Hanna
- A Moment of Clarity directed by Sarah Cowhey, Louise Davidson
- If Man Could Fly directed by Yael Kipper Zaretzky
- Ma’rib directed by Rainer Komers
- Farms Without Farmers directed by Jessica Weisberg, Benjamin Thorp Brown
- The Hunger Season directed by Beadie Finzi
- Are There Still Any Shepherds directed by Jorge Pelicano
North American Premieres
- Begging for Change directed by Dave Jones
- Alchemy directed by Eva Bakkeslett
- Showdown at the Top of the World directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
- Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines directed by Tristan Loraine
- 49 Words for Snow directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
World Premieres
- Driven By Vision directed by Michael McNamara
- The Falldown directed by Ben Graeme
- Tales of a Yellow Bike directed by Tina Hahn
- Soldiers of Peace directed by Timothy Wise
- Breadmakers directed by Yasmin Fedda
- Return to Nepal directed by Robert Lang
- Thirst directed by Gail Maurice
See also
References
