Strawberry Earth

Date 9th Jun 2009
Submitted by Jahlia on 9 June 2009 - 5:03pm

Hello there!

A week and a day ago I came in for an interview with Franny and Lizzie, since then I have had one day off, and now think this is normal. They quickly told me that I wasn't right for the job but - that they were creating a new role for me as Global NGO Coordinator. I had one day to prepare before jumping into organising NGO participation in over 44 countries. Within two days I was off on the 5am train to meet Franny in Brussels and Amsterdam for a weekend of meetings and Stupid screenings.

In the morning Franny and I met up with Friends of the Earth Europe in Brussels to discuss collaborating on our Global Launch (the week of September 21st). By lunch time we were back on the train to Amsterdam to meet Greenpeace and attend the Strawberry Earth film festival.

Meeting us at the station, Tom and Hannah of Strawberry Earth had bicycles for us! They are the “first Dutch environmental film festival'- organised by the lovely Ikenna and Mette.

a1

Check out the green carpet!

a6

The Age of Stupid was the official opening night film and was screened twice.

a8

Everyone at Strawberry was super friendly and organised, and they got great press coverage including a mention on the evening news. 

a3

Franny had an interview with the Dutch paper Trouw, for all you Dutch readers check it out here.

a5

The Dutch Minister of the Environment Jacqueline Cramer came out to see Stupid and loved it!

a7

 

There were a loads of other brilliant films and I was able to catch Home, a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the “Earth from above” guy. His photography translates powerfully into cinematography with Glenn Close on board narrating their story on the global impact of climate change on the human and environmental scale.  The second film, The Last Days of Shishmaref is quieter yet no less powerful and follows an Inupiaq Eskimo community in the far northwest of Alaska. The film documents the loss of their island, their home of 4000 years, to sea storms, and they are arguably the first climate change refugees.

I'm not sure I'll get that day off before September but I will aim to include NGOs -big and small in the 44+ countries we are launching in. If you are an NGO reading this now, do get in touch and we will get you involved! Coming from a background in gender and film, this week has been a full-on yet no less brilliant introduction to joining the team and really understanding the ethos of what we are working towards.

PS We just heard from Ikenna that Strawberry raised €10k to make the cinema eco friendlier. Congratulations guys on a job well done!

All photos courtesy of Tom van der Leij.