Environmental Film Festival multiple showings, venues

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The RVA Environmental Festival will feature 21 feature films during its upcoming twoweek run, with all films free and open to the public.

The festival, a project of the Sierra Club’s Falls of the James Group with support from area businesses, will open 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, with a screening of “Wildcat,” a love story set at an Amazon wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. The film will be shown in The Dome theater at the Science Museum of Virginia.

The final film, “Meat the Future,” a documentary on the plant-based revolution that could eliminate the need to breed, raise and slaughter animals, will be shown 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at the North Courthouse Road Library, 325 Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County.

In between, the diverse array of films will include “Coal Blooded,” this year’s winner of the Virginia Environmental Film Contest.

Brandon Davis of Christopher Newport University produced and directed the documentary that focuses on the impacts of the 200-acre coal pile at the Newport News terminal on an adjacent Black neighborhood.

His documentary is set to be shown after the awards presentation 5:15 p.m. Sunday, March 12, at The Byrd Theatre in Carytown.

Most of the films will be shown at The Byrd Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12, before the awards ceremony.

On Saturday, the films will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 6 p.m. In order, the films will include “The Lorax,” “My Garden of a Thousand Bees,”

“Life On Our Planet,” “Haibun For An Island That Is No Longer An Island,” “Reflection: A Walk With Water,” “Built To Burn,” “Forest For The Trees,” and

“Slay,” a hard-hitting expose on the fashion industry.

On Sunday, before the awards ceremony, three films will be shown, with the first starting at 2 p.m. at The Byrd. In order, they will be “Vanishing Insects Spell Trouble for Humans,” the climate change film “Newtok” and “Friends of Nelson: Lessons Learned” on the battle to halt the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The festival will continue Monday, March 13, with the bird sanctuary film “Falconer” to be shown at 6:30 p.m. at Libbie Mill Library, 2100 E. Libbie Lake St. in Henrico County, and Tuesday, March 14, with the showing of “Utama,” a film about the impact of drought on Bolivia, at 7 p.m. at the University of Richmond’s Ukrop Auditorium.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, the film “Nature’s Cleanup Crew,” the story of urban scavengers, will be shown at the Richmond Main Library, 101 E. Franklin St.

Two films will be presented Thursday, March 16. One is a film on the world’s freshwater crisis, “The Last Drop and Writing the Land,” that will be shown at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 6000 Grove Ave. in Henrico County. The other is “Unstoppable Youth,” the story of the new movement to tackle climate change. The film will air at 6 p.m. at Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St.

On Friday, March 17, the festival will feature a man’s friendship with a wild octopus, “My Octopus Teacher,” to be shown at 6:30 p.m. at the Robins Center at Maymont Park.

On Saturday, March 18, a film focusing on an activist’s battle to save a Black community in Louisiana, “Mossville, When Great Trees Fall,” will be shown at 3 p.m. at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. in the city.

The church also will host “The Great Electric Airplane Race” on replacing jet-fueled engines with electric ones 1 p.m. Sunday, March 19. Details at the festival’s website: RVAEFF.org.

The ballet’s premier Richmond performance will include cameos from RVA singer, dancer and actress Desiree Roots and the Virginia Union

Ready, set, read

Glen Lea Elementary School Principal James Gordon III reads “Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia” during the African-American Family Read-In at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Feb. 25. Right, Maya Walters of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, shows youngsters a counting exercise during the reading event at the museum.

University Choir.

The 7:30 p.m. event will benefit The Links, one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations. Money raised will go toward continuing the James River Valley chapter’s STEM initiatives through Richmond Public Schools, its arts education program “Classics through the Ages” and a Virginia Union University scholarship endowment.

In addition, students from Richmond Public Schools will attend a 10 a.m. matinee performance of the ballet.

“It will be a great introduction into legitimate theater,” Ms. Robinson said. “It will allow students to see a live performance — not a movie, but a live performance on the stage.”

It also will reflect on parts of the chapter’s mission to serve the Richmond community by making a difference in K-12 education and promoting the arts.

“We appreciate presenting the arts to our young children and to the community,” Ms. Robinson said. “We want to put the emphasis on our school children because that’s where the real impact is. That’s the reason for the fundraiser itself.”

Learn more about The Links by visiting www.jamesrivervalleylinks.org

Tickets are available at www.dominionenergycenter.com