News and Events

Phillips Exeter Academy Hosts Spring 2012 Sustainability Film Series

Friday, March 23, 2012 - Friday, May 4, 2012

Exeter, NH (March 20, 2012)—Phillips Exeter Academy will host its spring 2012 sustainability film series with three revealing independent films, featured monthly throughout May 2012. Film topics include the growing existence of light pollution as our 'glittering globe' brightens with artificial illumination; the relocation of the Carteret Islanders, some of the world's first environmental refugees, who are forced to find a new home after watching their paradise submerge into the sea; and the protracted battles between West Virginia's Appalachian residents and coal executives over the devastating ecological fallout from the coal-mining practice of mountaintop removal. The film viewings will be held in the Phelps Academy Center's Forum on Fridays at 7 p.m. The Forum is on the third floor of the Phelps Academy Center, located on Tan Lane. These events are free and open to the public.   


Movie Series:

March 23—The City Dark

The City Dark is a documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night sky. Filmmaker Ian Cheney examines photo pollution as defined by the International Dark-Sky Association as any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night and energy waste. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking turtles as they hatch along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights. The City Dark features vivid astrophotography and exposes the threat of increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above.
                                                                                                                                                    
April 20—Sun Come Up

Sun Come Up is an Oscar-nominated film that offers a human face on the controversial issue of climate change. The film follows the relocation of the Carteret Islanders, a community living on a remote island chain in the South Pacific Ocean, and now, some of the world's first environmental refugees.

When climate change threatens their survival, the islanders face the painful decision of leaving their ancestral land in search of a new place to call home. Sun Come Up follows a group of young islanders as they search for land in war-torn Bougainville, 50 miles across the open ocean.

Sun Come Up provokes discussion about climate change, displacement, and the rights of vulnerable communities around the globe. For more information, visit Sun Come Up.

 

May 4—The Last Mountain


               

A controversial documentary that traces the devastating ecological fallout from the coal-mining practice of mountaintop removal, The Last Mountain tells the story of dangerous and destructive techniques used throughout the valleys of Appalachia. After watching and living with the effects of their loved ones dying, and local natural resources being destroyed and contaminated, local West Virginia residents take up a long-standing battle to fight against the Big Coal companies. 
                                                                          
With the help of such national figures as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., local residents find themselves in the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with their own environmental concerns. Residents argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for numerous deaths and spreads pollution to neighboring states. But coal corporations continue these practices to yield large profits despite the harm to humanity and the environment.

The Last Mountain is a passionate and personal tale that honors the power of everyday Americans when they fight for what they believe. The film educates viewers on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied.

For further information about the film series, call PEA Science Instructor Elizabeth Stevens at 603-777-4055. A complete list of upcoming sustainable events can be found on the PEA Sustainability webpage and on the PEA Community Calendar. Events are also available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at 603-777-4309 and on our website at PEA. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call 603-777-4330.