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Editor's note: The following reviews are the first in a four-part series of reviews leading up to the ninth Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, Jan. 14-16. This first set highlights some of the richness and variety in the dozens of shorter films in the festival.
My favorite of more than 100 films in the ninth Wild & Scenic Film Festival is “On the Trail with Miss Snail Pail.” Certainly, there are more important films, more impactful films. However, this 12-minute experience thinks outside the box in a way that deserves special respect.
Colleen Flanigan (Miss Snail Pail) deflects some of the intense light focused on matters of huge scope and portent. She “shines a little light” on snails.
Escargot – its fancy French name – is a delicacy. One person's ooky is another person's delicious and nutritious. Snails are low in saturated fat, high in protein and potassium. Miss Snail Pail eats snails straight up, but relishes in such recipes as broccoli snail soup and gingerbread snailmen cookies.
Rather than “waste life,” Flanigan exemplifies acting on insights and opportunities that surround us. Flanigan, an artist, was short on money. Now, people call her to handle the snail problems in their gardens, and Miss Snail Pail also reaps a bountiful source of food. Not incidentally, her services provide an alternative to pesticide.
Director Greg Young seasons his film with creatively lit shots of snails, lots of slinking snails, all waggling their creepy antennae. Fun crawls throughout the film, with a mild flavor of meaningful context. Giggly, techno-kid voices add to the soundtrack, and of course, there's Miss Snail Pail. Clad in high boots, striped tights, short skirt, yarn wig, and a head lamp under her big hat, she plucks snails in the night. She cooks her alternative revelation.
If you can sublimate the ooky factor, this may be a favorite film for you, too.
Colleen Flanigan (Miss Snail Pail) deflects some of the intense light focused on matters of huge scope and portent. She “shines a little light” on snails.
Escargot – its fancy French name – is a delicacy. One person's ooky is another person's delicious and nutritious. Snails are low in saturated fat, high in protein and potassium. Miss Snail Pail eats snails straight up, but relishes in such recipes as broccoli snail soup and gingerbread snailmen cookies.
Rather than “waste life,” Flanigan exemplifies acting on insights and opportunities that surround us. Flanigan, an artist, was short on money. Now, people call her to handle the snail problems in their gardens, and Miss Snail Pail also reaps a bountiful source of food. Not incidentally, her services provide an alternative to pesticide.
Director Greg Young seasons his film with creatively lit shots of snails, lots of slinking snails, all waggling their creepy antennae. Fun crawls throughout the film, with a mild flavor of meaningful context. Giggly, techno-kid voices add to the soundtrack, and of course, there's Miss Snail Pail. Clad in high boots, striped tights, short skirt, yarn wig, and a head lamp under her big hat, she plucks snails in the night. She cooks her alternative revelation.
If you can sublimate the ooky factor, this may be a favorite film for you, too.
How Fishy Will the Future Be?
“Gestalt” (guh-schtahlt) is a great word. The unified whole – the gestalt – of “Incident at Tower 37” is a trippy little lesson. This animated short film might rate being called brilliant if it clearly made sense. Nowadays, computer animated technique routinely pops off the screen. “Incident” does justice to this baseline and infuses its apocalyptic tale with the cuteness of a pudgy security guard and a couple of fishy insurgents.
Desert prevails over the landscape. Pipelines connect water from an enormous supply tower to uses beyond the horizon. Maybe the meaning of “Incident at Tower 37” is “There'd be danger afoot, if fish had feet.” Maybe not, but the gestalt of this blip of creativity makes for thoughtful fun.
Its Tagline: Keep Earth in Business
This film review is a commercial. The film “1% of the Story” is a commercial. Don't run away. This commercial may be a crucial percentage of your path to the future. It's a short review, and the movie's only 15 minutes long. This review, as does the film, names several businesses. All of them are certified members of www.OnePercentForThePlanet.org. All members give one percent of their sales to environmental causes. That's one percent of their sales, not one percent of their profit.
Yves Chouinard, who founded the One Percent network, also founded Patagonia. They're a $300 million a year company selling outdoor clothing and gear. Patagonia, well known as a major sponsor of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, where this film is playing, donates one percent of that yearly revenue toward making a healthier planet.
New Belgian Brewing Company sells beer, lots of beer. One percent of sales helps environmental causes. Clif Bar does it, too. So does Sweat Pea, a company that makes custom bicycles for women.
Jack Johnson does it. This rock star sold more than five million copies of his album “In Between Dreams.” Chickamaw Farm does it selling organic blueberries.
Individuals should do what they can do. Yes. Do. But here's the thing. If businesses don't do what they can do, the sustainable arithmetic will never add up big enough.
Some commercials set a standard for business advertising. The film “1% of the Story” showcases a fun sort of business sense. If you come across any of more than 1,400 members (and growing) of “One Percent for the Planet,” and you like what they're selling … End of commercial.
