Deconstructing Dinner Film Fest launches with powerful documentary
By Contributor
Launching the Deconstructing Dinner Film Fest on Wednesday (October 26) is Racing Extinction.
Spanning the globe to infiltrate the world’s most dangerous black markets and using high tech tactics to document the link between carbon emissions and species extinction, Racing Extinction reveals stunning, never-before seen images that truly change the way we see the world.
The film has received one Academy Award nomination and one Emmy nomination. Festival Coordinator Jon Steinman calls the film “one of the most important of our time.”
Unlike many films on such important issues that leave audiences feeling distressed and disempowered, Racing Extinction focuses its lens on people who are changing the tide.
“This film really does stoke the fire of the human spirit and reveals how our capacities as individuals and communities are only as large as our imaginations,” says Steinman.
The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), the group behind the Academy Award-winning film The Cove, is the team behind Racing Extinction.
Joined by new innovators, OPS brings a voice to the thousands of species teetering on the very edge of life. This highly charged, impassioned collective of activists is out to expose the two major threats to endangered wild species across the globe.
The first comes from the international wildlife trade, and the bogus medicinal cures and tonics that are marketed to the public at the expense of creatures who have survived on this planet for millions of years. The second threat is all around us, hiding in plain sight.
It is a hidden world of carbon emissions and acidified oceans that are incompatible with existing animal life. It is a world, revealed with state-of-the-art photographic technology, that oil and gas companies don’t want us to see.
Director Louie Psihoyos has crafted an ambitious mission to clearly and artfully pull into focus our impact on the planet, while inspiring us all to embrace the solutions that will ensure a thriving, biodiverse world for future generations.
“Film can still be the most powerful weapon in the world — a weapon of mass construction,” says Psihoyos. “I’m interested in radically changing how people perceive a documentary by making it entertaining and using narrative filmmaking conventions.
“In Racing Extinction, we used the highest quality production values and a collective of environmental activists to raise awareness of the issue. With this project, I want to tackle the most important problem the world has ever faced, the epic loss of biodiversity. By combining a compelling film and a groundbreaking activation campaign, we want to create a movement for change.”
Adding to the film’s high production values is the music – scored by well-known NYC composer J. Ralph (Man On Wire (2009), The Cove (2010), Chasing Ice (2013)).
Two short films from Anna Lappe’s Real Food Media Awards will round out the evening.
