In the celebration of Earth Day, the Association of Young Environmental Journalists (AYEJ) conducted an online live film screening. The film screening was called "Planet in Frames", a virtual film screening of international award-winning animated short films that feature issues on the environment, nature, and the climate crisis.
Summary and Highlighted Themes of the Films
1."Creamen" by Esther Casas Roura
The first film shown was "Creamen" by Esther Casas Roura. The title "Creamen" was said to derive from the Latin word 'crimen', which means crime or illegal act that directly harms the environment. The film foretells the story of four-flavored talking ice creams which are vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and banana. The story circulates how the ice creams cope up with the scorching heat of the sun. Vanilla even said that for centuries of being ice cream, he never experience such heat since 1931. To make the story short, the ice creams melted away and died in the end. The ice cream vendor lost consciousness due to heat exhaustion while the old man who's sitting on the bench reading newspaper died of heatstroke.
The film for me is of high relevance to global warming. The decreasing numbers of trees and smoke from factories have made a huge hole in our ozone layer which I believe were the culprit of this global warming crisis.
2."Ember" by Craig Margolius and Peter Uitenweerde
The next film was called "Ember" by Craig Margolius and Peter Uitenweerde. The name "Ember" simply means a small piece of burning or glowing coal in a dying fire. The film is about a tiny fairy who worked hard on retrieving the dying plants and flowers in the forest. However, an ember started to burn the plants and flowers which angered the tiny fairy who made extra effort to retrieve the lives in the forest. The tiny fairy provoked the ember which led to a huge explosion, burning all plants and flowers left in crisps. The tiny fairy was extremely disheartened by what just happened, but the ember just assuringly smiled at the fairy and pointed at the newly blossoming flowers that started to appear from the soil of ashes. The ember then vanished along with the wind while the happy fairy continuously grew a lot more plants and flowers in the forest.
I think that the film depicts forest fire or wildfire that from time to time naturally or intentionally occurs in some parts of the world. Such causes can be lightning strikes, dry climate, and even man-made fire that was made all for self-interest. However, I believe that we can also learn from the film if we look closely from a different perspective. It was shown in the film how flowers bloom after the explosion, which I guess because the ashes make the soil more fertile and provide better nutrients for the regrowth of the plants. We can also incorporate the film's message into our daily life. The film showed that though we experience disappointments and turmoils from time to time, we should know that after all the disasters, there's hope and sunshine waiting for us in the end. It's just that, failures and endings are made for us to appreciate much beautiful new beginnings.
3. "Sumer" by Alvaro Garcia Martinez
The last film was "Sumer" by Alvaro Garcia Martinez. It's a story about a boy who lived in a fenced environment for the reason that the Earth wasn't the same anymore as the last living things such as trees and animals have already extinct. Their oxygen supply was artificially made and was stored inside a tank. However, one day, the boy saw a bluebird flew past his room. He became curious and motivated to find the bird. He decided to escape and ride in a motorbike-like vehicle. He managed to break out from the fence though he was chased by the guards. Eventually, he found the bird and was led to a crater wherein lies the plants and trees inhabited by the bluebird.
The film to me depicts a message of hope and that everything is possible if only you choose to believe and have faith. It also shares a powerful message for us, in which we should take action on saving our planet while we still got time. We should help hand in hand in bettering the state of our planet in consideration of the generations to come because whether we like it or not, regrets are always at the end.
What Was Relevant or Revealing?
I think that the most relevant and revealing about the films are mainly the environmental issues. It obviously tackled our responsibilities as residents of this planet to take care of it and to stop neglecting our job while we still have the time to do so. There are also life lessons shared in the films such as hope and perseverance to keep living in faith despite all the unfavorable circumstances we come to face.
What Was Lacking?
As for me, I appreciate the makers' efforts to make such informative and heartwarming films. I also like how they emphasize environmental issues in order to share awareness with people. It is important that we acknowledge these issues as we are all culprits to the destruction of our home hence we are all to be blamed. If I'm asked what was lacking about the films, I could say I don't see anything lacking at all. Though I'm not a film critic, I believe that the films are all great cinematography and animation-wise. The concept and messages were all clear and relevant so I don't see anything negative about it.
Can our country relate to the film based on our local issues? Why or why not?
Absolutely yes! I believe that our country experiences the same catastrophes be it natural or intentional. Since our country, the Philippines, is located in the tropical zone, we are prone to calamities like floods and landslides which I think are often caused by global warming and climate change. Our country is a hot spot for its abundance of natural wealth, hence we should take better care of it and be more appreciative of what we have rather than dreaming of going to other countries for more comfort. Our country is already a comfortable place to live in, we just need to have the right government to manage the resources and take better care of the people.
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