In the world we have created for ourselves here in America, it is hard to imagine the life of the truly poverty stricken. There are many hardships we perceive during this time of cultural transition as our jobs are being depleted, our homes are being foreclosed upon, and our leaders are consumed with power struggles and self preservation. But there are those who would look upon our lifestyles with covetous abandon compared to their own daily struggles. In the film Marina of the Zabbaleen, we get a rare glimpse of just such a life.

We are introduced to Marina as a seven-year-old girl on swing, going back and forth on her pendulum of fortune. We immediately sense an individual with little control over the motion of the world around her, but with enough heart to enjoy the ride. Marina lives in the Muqattam Recycling Village in Egypt, home to over 30,000 Zabbaleen (garbage collectors). It is a conglomeration of various shacks and structures where the Zabbaleen sift through the refuse of Cairo to earn a living, finding further use for what has been discarded.

Image courtesy of empopempo (Flickr)

Shot in a kodachrome style, the film offers a unique portrayal of a world few of us can imagine, finding beauty where few could. Using Marina as a pivotal figure, the film serves as more of a tapestry of life in the recycling village, vignettes of misery where the Zabbaleen still find ways to participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world, offering beautiful shots of various residents in order to fully create a portrait of them all.

At the end of one of the first montages, we see a statue of Christ behind barbed wire cut to Marina’s big brown eyes revealing a similarity to her own captivity and a call for the viewer to see the Christ in her. As Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” As Marina is the only child in her family still in school, she stands as the hope for their future.

Considering the incredible difference in her lifestyle, Marina shares with us how similar she is to the rest of us. She plays with dolls, dreams with fervor, and her older brothers pick on her relentlessly. Although her mother describes their life as suffocating, Marina seems to bring a fresh breath into an otherwise dreary world.

Where they once lived in shacks created by collected barrels, the Zabbaleen have created a residential development. It’s amid filth, but the people still find reasons to smile. In Egypt, the recycling rate is over 80 percent, compared to 33 percent in the United States, which has created a consistent (although paltry) industry for those with no other options. In the film, their challenge is that the government is kicking them out of their homes in order to privatize the recycling industry, threatening to outsource their jobs and destroy their meager livelihood.

As the film begins with Marina on a swing, it ends with her on a carousel, caught up in a revolution she has no control over, but yet finds the ability to hang on for the ride. Although the film offers a meager plotline to follow, the images of life in the Muqattam village are extraordinary, and the lessons that Marina has to teach us are many. She is undoubtedly the hero of the story, and the viewers who watch her and are able to see themselves will see a reflection of the true human spirit, and may just get some insight as to how we can recreate our own society by gathering our barrels together and sifting through what we once considered refuse in order to find our true value again.

Marina of the Zabbaleen is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Image courtesy of sarniebill1 (Flickr)

One December sixteen years ago, I was watching 60 Minutes with my parents. The subject of the story was American farming. I had recently decided I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up, so I put down my book and paid attention. It was the first time I had seen slaughterhouse images; I was nine years old. Becoming a vegetarian was my New Year’s Resolution in 1995 – and I never ate meat again.

But like any story with an overly pat ending, it’s sometimes hard to remember the dramatic origins of a shift (and the large and small ways it shapes our lives. The reason I left my pre-veterinary program at the Rochester Institute of Technology, for example, was because they practiced live dissection in freshman biology in order to weed out students too tender-hearted for the practice of animal medicine). It was with the knowledge of enduringly cavalier attitudes to animal welfare that I watched new documentary Vegucated.

The story follows filmmaker Marisa Miller Wolfson as she sets out to convert three meat-lovers to veganism for six weeks to life. Her approach is not preachy, which made it much more relatable. She simply cites the science behind the health of a plant-based diet for both our bodies and the planet, acknowledges the great joy that can come with eating this way, and then engages with the participants’ struggle on a real level.

Filmmaker Marisa Miller Wolfson

Her merry band of converts are almost stereotypically New York: Tesla (a young college student living with her family in Queens), Brian (a bartender/actor), and Ellen (a divorced therapist who does standup comedy on the side). The film follows them in occasionally campy fashion through six weeks of transformation. They go grocery shopping, visit a doctor and meet with a vegan chef, have a girl’s night out, attend a vegetarian conference, go camping on the property of an animal sanctuary, sneak onto a farm, and even take Fourth of July vacations.

Initially, the DIY quality of the videos and editing is grating; we walk up a lot of stairs and through a great deal of poorly lit supermarkets and kitchens, all the while feeling like escapees from a film student’s final project in Documentary 102. But something funny happens on the way to the meat replacement aisle.

The pedestrian feeling of the film begins to work in a powerful way, emphasizing just how commonplace and almost banal these cruelties are. The cruelty of a clogged artery, of agricultural runoff poisoning rivers and streams; of a chick sorting floor. At no time was this more visceral for me than during the slaughterhouse scenes.

When asked, I say that I consider myself a non-proselytizing vegetarian. It never sat right with me to demonize a person at the dinner table, aggressively questioning if they were aware of the way the animal on that plate lived and died to feed them. I believe that everyone should choose the diet that feels right for them, and have been wearied over the years of getting tarred and feathered (no pun intended) with the brush of crazy-eyed zealotry for my own dietary choices.

Image courtesy of cosmicautumn (Flickr)

But in a world where many people are not consciously choosing anything about what moves from plate to fork to mouth, perhaps a live and let live approach to eating no longer serves us. Wolfson does an excellent job of simply letting the facts speak for themselves. As ever, tears sprang to my eyes when scenes of slaughter were shown (and to her credit, Wolfson bucks the trend and saves them for well into the film, when the rest of her arguments have been given enough time to gather their own weight). And as ever, my first impulse was to apologize to the animals, repeatedly and out loud. To be ashamed that we feel it’s okay to cause pain casually, routinely – and often for fast food meals that will never be remembered.

In some ways, I was on the side of the querulous meat eaters for much of the film – Tesla’s cousin from New Orleans, Brian’s stern German parents. Shouldn’t we all be able to eat whatever we choose? This is America!

But in the end, it wasn’t even the slaughterhouses that did it. It was the calm and peace in the faces of both the animals at the sanctuary and the people who are their protectors. It was seeing the 70s-era abandoned slaughterhouse nearby and feeling how unsustainable the whole endeavor has always been. It was seeing the passion in the eyes of the recent converts – not zealots: just people who care. Just like that, I was nine years old. And just like that, Wolfson had converted me to a plant-based diet all over again. Vegucated is nothing if not realistic, and real. And it is the truth of eating and living with your heart that sets this project free.

Have you experimented with a plant-based diet? What were some of the challenges? Some of the joys? Let us know in the comments. To find out more about Vegucated or organize a screening, check out their website here.

Continuing Vegucation is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Image courtesy of holliebark (sxc.hu)

What has happened to us? Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, we are sicker than ever by nearly every measure.

Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to “battle” these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive but so straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously?

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

The idea of food as medicine is put to the test. Throughout the film, cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach these patients how to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments – while the challenges and triumphs of their journeys are revealed.

Wendy

Wendy Chambers lives in beautiful British Columbia with her family. She is a photographer, freelance writer and interpretive guide at a grizzly bear refuge. Active in bear aware projects, she follows a vegan lifestyle and is also a senior consultant for OneGroup (providers of organic and natural skincare products and supplements). In her rare spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, skiing and spending time with her family – furry and feathered members included.

Fork Over Knives is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

What first greets us in The Pipe is the immediate introduction to both ends of it in preparation for the journey through. Starting with aerial shots of an idyllic life on the Irish coast, the other end of the pipe is contrasted with low shots of violence and shows of force.

From the tranquil kiss of the setting sun to the crouching headlights of a police car behind citizens being forced to the ground and thrown off of the road, we immediately hope for a light at the end of the tunnel for the fishermen who live in the village of Rossport.

After we are introduced to some of the residents and the knack they have for fishing both in water and in sand, the title character is introduced as a plan by the Shell oil company to use Rossport as a gateway for delivering their gas without the consent of Rossport residents. As the plight of the community expands and protests begin, it seems that the police are sympathetic with the other citizens, but are sworn to protect them as the corporate powers of the oil industry wreak their inevitable havoc beyond any protection the local constables can offer.

But eventually, whether for their feelings of ineptitude over not being able to serve and protect or their misunderstanding of who they are supposed to serve and protect, the police begin to resort to violence to make the citizens comply with full corporate freedom. To keep anyone from getting hurt, the residents put an end to their protest and face the difficult task of coming together as a community to find another way to protect their livelihood. Unfortunately, the footage of their meetings does very little to disprove the stereotype of the Irish temper, and progress is slow-going. Nevertheless, the protests resume and locals do what they can to stand together against the corporate interloper.

Because the battle is largely fought with money, there is essentially little the locals can do, as even their neighbors are bought off and turn their backs on the fight. The battle really comes down to one fisherman using his tiny boat to stop a mammoth tanker from laying the pipe in a classic David and Goliath scenario. The shepherd boy takes quite a thrashing in this story, but it appears as if he pulls it off in the end.

For those who find themselves in similar fights in the battle for human rights and dignity over corporate force, The Pipe offers an empathetic look at how long, arduous, and hopeless the fight sometimes feels. Yet it also reminds us that in the end, the fight is always worth it.

The Pipe is now available in the US through TheFilmBuffonDemand.com

Laying The Pipe is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Indigenous Designs has been living the green dream far before it was fashionable. It came natural to owner Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds back in the early 1990′s when Indigenous was created. Buzz words like Fair Trade and Organic were a natural evolution of business in the late 20th century. Today we must work together to find solutions to survive and sustain ourselves. “Voting With Your Dollars”, is something we all can do in our everyday life. We have control and we can create a more sane and just destiny for all.

Indigenous Designs fair trade and organic fashions as seen in Nordstrom, spas and resorts, now launching in London.

Modern Hippie Mag is proud to support Indigenous Designs.

Voting with Your Dollars – Indigenous Designs is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

The Movieville International Film Festival takes place in Lakewood Ranch, Florida beginning June 17 through June 19, 2011.

Co-sponsored by Sanborn Studios and the Sarasota Film Society, the film festival will showcase nearly 50 original films from all over the country.

Your VIP passes will include entrance to:

• Red Carpet & Premier Showing
• Premier “After Party”
• Discussion Panel – “Breaking in from the ground up”
• Special FX Make-Up Workshop
• Awards Dinner & Hollywood Lounge Party

The Movieville International Film Festival was created to celebrate and showcase the work of new and emerging filmmakers – providing support, encouragement and inspiration to those new and talented producers by promoting and exhibiting their new and exciting content.

TO WIN:

1. Simply tell us in a comment below what you love about going to the movies and you’re entered to win!
2. One winner will be chosen using Random.org.
3. Contest does not include airfare or lodging for the event.
4. Contest ends 12noon EST, June 16, 2011.

Our big brother, Modern Hippie Media is proud to be a sponsor of the first annual Movieville Film Festival.

WIN 2 VIP Passes to the Movieville International Film Festival! is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

GrowthBusters – Hooked on Growth

To honor the musicians who have devoted their artistry to finding the cure for growth addiction and those who have offered to help the GrowthBusters documentary film project, Dave has released a “soundtrack” album for Earth Day.

Proceeds from the sale of the album will help fund completion of the film.

Learn more about the artists and the film.

GrowthBusters Earth Day 2011 Soundtrack Release is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Queen of The Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? explores the causes and solutions behind Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon where honeybees vanish from their hives, never to return.

The documentary film follows the voices and visions of underrepresented beekeepers, philosophers, and scientists around the world, all struggling for the survival of the bees.

Queen of the Sun is for me, a deeply important, crucial and timely film. I first had the idea to make a film on the honeybee crisis, when I read a quote, attributed to Albert Einstein (now in dispute) who said that, “If bees disappear from the earth, then man will only have four years of life left.” This quote appeared on the back of every major publication about the bee crisis in early 2006, and it profoundly affected my view of the future, for both myself, but more importantly, for my daughter. ~Director, Taggart Siegel

Learn more about the film at QueenoftheSun.com, watch the trailer.

You can support the film by following them on twitter @honeybeefilm and join their facebook group.

Ten Things You Can Do to Help Bees:

(source: Queen of the Sun)

What are the bees trying to tell us? republished with permission.

Lynn

The founder of myEARTH360.com and I Count for myEARTH, Lynn Hasselberger is also a contributing editor to Just Cause Magazine and other online publications. You can find her on twitter & facebook. Guaranteed. Most days between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. She practices breathing when she thinks of it, runs, intends to do more yoga and loves to eat ice cream and 70% or higher dark chocolate. She lives in the Chicago surburbs with her husband, son and two feisty cats. She lives on the computer.

What are the bees telling us? is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Tapped

A documentary about the bottled water industry — how it affects the climate, pollution levels, people’s health and the world’s dependence on oil. Released in 2009 at the Los Angeles United Film Festival, this film will change the way you look at something that is a big part of Americans’ everyday lives.

An Inconvenient Truth

A much talked-about and slightly infamous documentary about proving the existence of climate change. Created by Former Vice President Al Gore, this documentary never fails to get people talking about environmental concerns. It also won two Oscars and earned a great deal of money at the box office. Definitely worth seeing.

Earthlings

A documentary that is not just about the effects of raising animals to eat, but also about how much humans rely on animals to create clothing, to use in science experiments and to entertain us and be our pets and companions. If that sounds light and fluffy, think again –it does cover the meat part graphically and notes that raising animals for meat is indeed an environmental issue.

Food, Inc.

A different kind of documentary. Rather than target the conditions in which animals are raised for food or how many environmental changes are brought about by mass animal breeding for food purposes, Food, Inc. deconstructs the illusion that advertisers carefully cultivate: the concept that our food production even remotely resembles farming anymore.

WALL-E

A 3D-animated movie about a little robot whose sole job is to clean up the mountains of trash that have covered the world in the future thanks to mankind’s persistent consumerism. Humans live in an automated lifestyle on a spaceship. They have literally forgotten how to walk or even how to even turn the ship around (as the plan was to leave the robots to clean up earth and to return later.) Luckily for them, little WALL-E finds a living plant on the earth’s surface — a sign that earth is able to sustain life again — and ends up guiding mankind back to their home to start farming and actually taking care of their environment this time.

Avatar

Another film that is more entertainment than documentary, Avatar manages to become both. Humans come to an alien planet hoping to mine a very rare ore, but the indigenous aliens have a problem with that because it destroys natural resources — something they have evolved to tie into in a sort of symbiotic relationship.

If you want to take an extra green step, you can download these films instead of buying the DVD. Watch them on your computer using programs like Media Player Classic or KMPlayer. If you want to be able to share them – green on the go – use Handbrake software to convert them to mobile files to view on your cell phone.

Tell us your favorite green film, feel free to leave a comment below!

Amy

Amy Silver is a Public Health student. She loves her dogs and finding a good deal. She just recently started blogging.  Connect and follow her on Twitter.

Top Green Films that Inspire Sustainability is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Photo by Doug Allan + Sue Flood (Tartan Dragon)

World Class Service Ltd and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra announce the stunning portrait of the polar kingdoms with a unique live orchestral soundtrack arranged by John Harle. Polar combines stunning HD footage from award-winning natural history filmmakers with live music performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to produce a mesmerizing cinematic experience, taking the audience on a journey to the Arctic and Antarctic regions of our planet.

Photo: Doug Allan + Sue Scott (Tartan Dragon)

Polar showcases an originally commissioned film of the Arctic and Antarctic regions captured by award-winning wildlife filmmakers and photographers, husband and wife team Doug Allan and Sue Flood and Canadian Polar explorer and climate change opinion leader, Mark Terry. Featuring footage of some of the world’s most beautiful and rare sights including the aurora borealis, penguin rookeries, and polar bear cubs frolicking in the snow on a massive 32ft wide screen, the film is the work of truly outstanding individuals in their field.

“Polar is a truly unique production which showcases the unparalleled beauty of the Polar regions, giving everyone the chance to see such rare and incredible sights to the tune of the internationally renowned Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to get involved with Polar and to see my footage become a part of such a exquisite film. We are certainly counting down the days until Polar’s World Premiere in Liverpool and I am looking forward to seeing where the show goes from here,” said Terry.

Polar is set to be a feast for the senses and a family favorite for wildlife lovers of all ages.

For more information, visit www.polarconcert.com.

Life at the ends of the Earth. Wow. republished in part with permission from the I Count for myEarth blog.

Lynn

The founder of myEARTH360.com and I Count for myEARTH, Lynn Hasselberger is also a contributing editor to Just Cause Magazine and other online publications. You can find her on twitter & facebook. Guaranteed. Most days between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. She practices breathing when she thinks of it, runs, intends to do more yoga and loves to eat ice cream and 70% or higher dark chocolate. She lives in the Chicago surburbs with her husband, son and two feisty cats. She lives on the computer.

Life at the ends of the Earth. Wow. is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag