Global Green Indigenous Film Festival

I am a big film festival junkie, especially those based around environmental issues or outdoor recreation. My all-time favorite is the Banff Mountain Film Festival, I go every spring and even found it here in Germany. I love getting lost in the sights, sounds, adventures and gaining a new perspective.

A new film festival, just announced, looks like an inspiring, world changing project. TreeHugger carried an announcement today for the 2008 Global Green Indigenous Film Festival, a project from the Albuquerque-based non-profit National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC). The festival will be held next spring from April 18-20 at El Museo Cultural in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

What is great about this particular film festival is the perspective. NTEC welcomes all submissions but in particular films and videos that address indigenous environmental concerns and issues providing a unique vantage point that is rooted in cultural values.

NTEC was formed in 1991 with just seven tribes and input from several intertribal organizations, including the Council of Energy Resource Tribes and the Native American Rights Fund, as a membership organization dedicated to working with and assisting tribes in the protection and preservation of tribal environments. NTEC’s membership is open to any federally-recognized tribe throughout the United States, and currently has 184 member tribes. Although NTEC is a membership organization, its services are provided to all federally-recognized tribes.

Tribes have been witness to continuous and accelerated degradation of the land and resources surrounding their homelands. Our challenge is to integrate timeless traditional teachings and values into modern day practices. While strength exists in the great diversity of tribal cultures and governments, a united approach that respects tribal differences and works towards cleaner tribal environments is also critical. Thus, NTEC’s mission is to enhance each tribe’s ability to protect, preserve and promote the wise management of air, land and water for the benefit of current and future generations. (NTEC website)

I would love to see this film festival, hopefully it will tour outside of New Mexico. Although I would not turn down a trip to New Mexico and only need half a reason to go there. The other exciting thing about this announcement is that if you are a film maker, there’s still time to submit! The deadline is January 18, 2008. You can get more information at the NTEC website.

Via TreeHugger