Top Ten Movies to Celebrate Earth Day
To help you get prepared for Earth Day on April 22, Picture House Director of Programming Clayton Bushong put together this Top Ten List of Movies to Celebrate Earth Day. These films are available on a variety of streaming services. There’s something for everyone, so forward this to friends and family and let us know what you’re watching at home by sharing on Facebook and Instagram, and tagging #TPHatHome!
Inspiration for the Whole Family: The Biggest Little Farm
The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature’s conflicts, the Chesters unlock and uncover a biodiverse design for living that exists far beyond their farm, its seasons, and our wildest imagination.
For the Shark Week Fan: Journey to Shark Eden
Along the southern Line Islands lay a series of coral reefs teeming with sharks and exotic ocean life. Join leading marine ecologists and National Geographic Emerging Explorer and Fellow, Enric Sala, as they explore this utopia for sharks and discover valuable clues about how to preserve this delicate ecosystem. In an expedition of a lifetime, National Geographic investigates the amazing web of life that exists on one of the planet’s last, pristine coral reefs.
For the Wanderlust Family that is Looking to the Future: Monkey Kingdom
From Disneynature, the studio that brought you Chimpanzee and Bears, comes Monkey Kingdom, a spectacular tale set among ancient ruins in the storied jungles of South Asia. Maya, a clever and resourceful monkey, finds her world forever changed when she welcomes her son Kip into her colorful extended family. As Maya strives to keep Kip safe through unexpected and sometimes perilous adventures, amazing footage captures all the magic and surprises of their magnificent world. Maya and her family will make you laugh and warm your heart as she realizes her dreams for her son’s future.
For the Vegans or Those Looking for a Good Reason to Become One: Cowspiracy
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.
Dive in Deep: The Blue Planet Series
Chronicling the mysteries of the deep, coastline populations, sea mammals, tidal and climatic influences, and the complete biological system that revolves around the world’s oceans, Blue Planet is the definitive exploration of the marine world.
For the Budding Eco Warrior (6 years and up): March of the Penguins
Emperor penguins overcome daunting obstacles in order to return to their breeding grounds for mating season. This tells the story of one year in the life of a flock — focusing on one couple in particular — as they trek across the Antarctic on an annual journey that invokes just about every major life experience: from birth to death, from dating to mating, from comedy to tragedy, and from love to fighting for survival.
For the Fashion Conscious: The True Cost
Filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and featuring interviews with the world’s leading influencers including Stella McCartney, Livia Firth, and Vandana Shiva, The True Cost is an unprecedented project that invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.
Because Who Doesn’t Love Jane Goodall: Jane
In the 1960s, National Geographic sent a cameraman to film Jane Goodall’s pioneering work with chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. More than 50 years later, filmmaker Brett Morgen (Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, On the Ropes) gained access to over 140 hours of this remarkable 16mm color footage. Morgen combines this archival material with a new interview with Goodall to craft a romantic epic of her formative years, set to an original score by Philip Glass. The film transcends the boundaries of both nature film and biography.
For the Foodie: Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
Wasted! aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the the eyes of chef-heroes like Bourdain, Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura, and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world’s most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. Wasted! exposes the criminality of food waste and how it’s directly contributing to climate change and shows us how each of us can make small changes – all of them delicious – to solve one of the greatest problems of the 21st Century.
For Michael Moore Fans: Planet of the Humans
Planet of the Humans takes a harsh look at how the environmental movement has lost the battle through well-meaning but disastrous choices, including the belief that solar panels and windmills would save us, and by giving in to the corporate interests of Wall Street.
