Love Thy Nature: Earth Day Encore

Showings

Mary D. Fisher Theatre Thu, Dec 10, 2015 4:00 PM
Mary D. Fisher Theatre Thu, Dec 10, 2015 7:00 PM
Mary D. Fisher Theatre Fri, Apr 22, 2016 3:00 PM
Film Info
Event Type:Film
Release Year:2014
Run Time:76 minutes
Production Country:USA
Trailer:youtu.be/e7yljPRMZJA
Cast/Crew Info
Director:Sylvie Rokab

Description

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the encore return of “Love Thy Nature” — an award-winning documentary returning by popular demand for a special Earth Day event. The film will show for one encore screening on Friday, April 22 at 3 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. The event is co-presented by The Inspiration of Sedona community-building group.

This Earth Day encore is part of a nation-wide screening movement — created by filmmaker Sylvie Rokab — intended to re-connect people with nature. “This movement is about making our connection with nature a priority in our lives: even if it's 20 mins a day in a park, one weekend a month at a beach or mountain, or two weeks a year at a magnificent place that will take our breath away,” said Rokab. “Nature makes us healthier, happier, more connected, more alive! Not to mention that a loving rapport with nature is our best shot at ensuring a future for our children!”

The Sedona event will include a “see and do” opportunity and post-film discussion, facilitated by Dr. Sailesh Krishna Rao, a global climate and sustainability expert. He will lead a Q&A after the film and an optional brief hike for anyone interested in connecting to nature after seeing the film.

Narrated by Liam Neeson, “Love Thy Nature” is a cinematic immersion into the beauty and intimacy of our relationship with the natural world. With mesmerizing artistry and fascinating details, the film explores how nature nourishes us.

Neeson is the voice of Homo Sapiens – our collective humankind – who, in the past few thousand years, has come to believe that we are separate from nature. This mind-set has caused us to disrupt billions of years of evolution, causing a mass extinction of species and threatening the survival of the human race.

“Love Thy Nature” shows that a new era of connectedness with the natural world is key to ensuring our species’ future. This era might just be dawning: A new science called biomimicry taps into nature’s four billion years of R&D for some of the most brilliant cutting edge inventions, pointing to a new highly advanced technological age: The Biological Revolution.

In the medical field, doctors are unveiling new findings on the role of nature to sustain and heal the human body. And experts have discovered that just spending time in nature promotes healing, emotional stability, connectedness, and even neurological health in children.

Through Sapiens’ journey, the film reveals how a relationship with nature ignites a sense of meaning and wonder so profound that it touches us at the very core of what it means to be human. Traversing the globe, “Love Thy Nature” shares the dazzling spectacles of our planet while revealing how a deeper connection with nature transforms us as people and communities. And that transformation inspires us not only to restore our ecosystems, but also our human family, and ourselves.

Dr. Sailesh Krishna Rao

Dr. Sailesh Krishna Rao is an Electrical Engineer with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, who was moved to switch careers and work exclusively on climate related issues ten years ago. He is a systems expert who developed the Gigabit Ethernet on Copper standard in 1999 that remains ubiquitous in the internet infrastructure. He and his wife, Jaishri Rao, co-produced two critically acclaimed documentaries, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, and The Human Experiment, both of which highlighted the pressing need for our global transition to a compassionate lifestyle.

Dr. Rao is the Executive director of the NGO, Climate Healers, (climatehealers.org), whose core guiding principle is that "compassion for all creation is infinitely sustainable.” Through this organization, he proposes a simple, Gandhi-like social movement, in which our food choices can provide a direct solution to climate change, the greatest issue and challenge of our time.

Dr. Rao received a letter of support from the City of Sedona as far as its potential interest in becoming a pilgrimage site as part of the Sacred Lifeline Project. The Lifeline Project envisions a network of radically inclusive, sustainable, off- grid, zero-waste local communities modeling and promoting a compassionate lifestyle. In October, 2015, members of the Inspiration of Sedona supported Dr. Rao’s proposal presented to the Sedona City Council.

The film festival and Inspiration of Sedona are honored to have Dr. Rao join us for the Q&A for the “Love Thy Nature” encore screening, with a nearby nature-connected walk offered after.