Planet In Focus

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

History

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, founded in 1999, by Mark Haslam.

PIF is currently run by a volunteer Board of Directors and a small staff including Executive Director, Katherine Bruce, Programs Director, Alessandra Cannito, Programmers Julian Carrington and Lesley Johnson, and Pre-Screeners, Ron Ma, Hui 'Jane' Wang, Gesila Azorbo, Michael John Long, and Gabriela Aguilar.

Planet in Focus operates year-round to produce the annual film festival in October, as well as year round programs such as the Cross Canada Campus Tour, Green School Tours and Eco-Film Lab filmmaking workshop for elementary students.

PIF grants yearly Eco-Hero Awards, and patrons include David Suzuki, Vandana Shiva, Rob Stewart, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Autumn Peltier, Ron Finley, Col. Chris Hadfield, Jennifer Baichwal, Margaret Atwood, Edward Burtynsky, and James Balog, among others.

Award Winners

::Best Canadian Short Film - ''The Pipe Dreams Project'' directed by Faros Des Roches and Ryan Vandecasteyen
::Best Canadian Short Film Honourable Mention - ''Spoke''directed by Lulu Wei
::Best Canadian Feature Film - ''Occupy Love'' directed by Velcrow Ripper and produced by Ian Mackenzie and Nova Ami
::Best Canadian Feature Film Honourable Mention - ''Lost Rivers'' directed by Caroline Bacle and produced by Katarina Soukoup
::Best International Short Film - ''HOT & BOTHERED (UK)'' directed by Giannina Lasalvia
::Best International Feature Film - ''Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth'' directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black
::The Mark Haslam Award - ''Rainforest: The Limit of Splendour''directed by Richard Boyce
::The Mark Haslam Award Honourable Mention - ''Just Do It!'' directed by Emily James
::The Green Pitch Award - ''Honey For Sale'' directed by Amanda Strong
::The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - ''Warehouse 13'', Honorable Mention, ''In Organic We Trust'' directed by Kiplin Pastor2011

Award Winners

::Best Canadian Short Film - ''Nanameskueu (Tremblement de terre)'' directed by Réal Junior Leblanc
::Best Canadian Feature Film - ''Waking the Green Tiger'' directed by Gary Marcuse
::Best International Short Film - ''Carbon for Water'' directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
::Best International Feature Film - ''There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho'' directed by Briar March
::The Mark Haslam Award - ''Keepers of the Water'' directed by Ayelen Liberona
::The Green Pitch Award - ''Carpe Diem'' directed by Charlotte Engel
::The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - '' Score: A Hockey Musical'' directed by Avi Federgreen, Honorable Mention, ''Powerful: Energy for Everyone'' directed by David Chernushenko
::Canadian Eco-Hero - Kevin McMahon
::International Eco-Hero - Ric O'Barry

Toronto Premieres

::''Urban Roots'' directed by Mark MacInnis
::''On Coal River'' directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood
::''La Reine Malade (The Ailing Queen)'' directed by Pascal Sanchez
::''Waseya Dizihin'' directed by Kevin Papatie
::''White Water, Black Gold'' directed by David Lavallee
::''The Clean Bin Project'' directed by Grant Baldwin
::''L'Homme de glace (Ice Philosophy)'' directed by Melanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins
::''There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho'' directed by Briar March
::''Darwin'' directed by Nick Brandestini
::''Solartaxi: Around the World With the Sun'' directed by Erik Schmitt
::''Waking the Green Tiger'' directed by Gary Marcuse
::''Spoil'' directed by Trip Jennings and Andy Maser

Canadian Premieres

::''Revenge of the Electric Car'' (Opening Night Gala Presentation) directed by Chris Paine
::'' The Whale'' (Closing Night Gala Presentation) directed by Suzanne Chisholm
::''Future of Hope'' directed by Henry Bateman
::''Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" directed by Werner Herzog''
::''Silent Snow: The Invisible Poisoning of the World'' directed by Jan van den Berg and Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann
::''Der Tag des Spatzen (Day of the Sparrow)'' directed by Philip Scheffner
::''Enjoy Your Meal!:How Food Changes the World'' directed by Walter Grotenhuis
::''L'Or des autres (The Gold of Others)'' directed by Simon Plouffe
::''Powerful: Energy for Everyone'' directed by David Chernushenko
::''Leonids Geschichte (Leonids Story)'' directed by Rainer Ludwigs
::''Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution'' directed by Guy Lieberman
::''The Polar Explorer'' directed by Mark Terry
::''Last Stand on the Island'' directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
::''To Reveal the Fourteen Windows'' directed by Christina Battle
::''Cowboys in India'' directed by Simon Chambers
::''Le White (White Houses)'' directed by Simona Risi

North American Premieres

::''Up in Smoke'' directed by Adam Wakeling

World Premieres

::''Portrait of Resistance: The Art & Activism of Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge'' directed by Roz Owen
::''The Past as Future'' directed by Ton van Zantvoort
::''From Chernobyl to Fukushima: A Campaigner's Journey'' directed by Aube Giroux
::''Brick by Brick: The Story of the Evergreen Brickworks'' directed by Catherine Annau
::''Niger River: A River Under Siege'' directed by Bernice Notenboom
::''Carbon for Water'' directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
::''On the Line'' directed by Frank Wolf

Toronto Premieres

::'' Blue Gold: World Water Wars'' directed by Sam Bozzo
::''Peace with Seals'' directed by Miroslav Novak
::''Boreal Forest Expedition'' directed by Nick and Lindsay Bradford-Ewart
::''Northland: Long Journey'' directed by Edie Steiner
::''Chasing Wild Horses'' directed by Matt Trecartin and John Wesley Chisholm
::''Howser in Peril'' directed by Tom Prior
::''Death in the Forest'' directed by Gordon McLennan
::''Being Innu'' directed by Catherine Mullins
::''Waste = Food'' directed by Rob Van Hattum
::''Addicted to Plastic'' directed by Ian Connacher
::'' Umbrella (film)'' directed by Du Haibin
::''Birth of the Smoked Meat'' directed by Jeanne Pope and Zoe Mapp
::''Tableland'' directed by Craig Noble
::''Papiroflexia'' directed by Jaoquin Baldwin
::''The Poet of Grappa'' directed by Stefano Scarafia
::''Flowers of Rwanda'' directed by David Muñoz
::''Intestines of the Earth'' directed by Barbier Olivier
::''Gimmie Green'' directed by Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg
::''Mama Coco: The Sacred Leaf directed by Felix Atencio''-Gonzales
::''Rallco, a Bad Business'' directed by Nicholas Garcia and Xavier Vasqué
::''Pick me Up'' directed by Andrea Bussman
::''Gates of the Arctic'' directed by Rory Banyard

Canadian Premieres

::''Our Wonderful Nature'' directed by Tomer Eshed
::''Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist'' directed by Norman Lofts
::''Heron Pond: A Boardwalk View'' directed by Cade Bursell
::''Eviction'' directed by Terra Schnoor
::''Terra Sacer'' directed by Alberto Guevara, Elysee Nouvet
::''A Massacre Foretold directed by Nick Higgins''
::''The Beggars in Addis'' Arabia directed by Jakob Gottschau
::''Paradise- Three Journeys in this World'' directed by Elina Hirvonen
::''The Sacred Food'' directed by Jack Pettibone Riccobono
::''My Inventions'' directed by Robert Holbrook
::''Global Food: Once Upon a French Fry'' directed by Pierre-Olivier François
::''Land of Writers'' directed by Silvio Ciuccetti
::''Slow Food'' directed by Vanja Ohna
::''Greina'' directed by Villi Hermann
::''On Relations'' directed by Jorge Acebo
::''Roaming Around'' directed by Brigette Bertele
::''Fighting Goliath- Texas Coal Wars'' directed by Mat Hames
::''Charcoal Traffic'' directed by Nathan Collett
::''Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Impact of War'' directed by Alice and Lincoln Day
::''Where Do They Go?'' directed by Julianne Becker
::''The Right to Survive- Turtle Conservation and Fisheries Livelihoods'' directed by Rita Banerji, Shilpi Sharma
::''The Squid Daddy’s Labour Room'' directed by Ke Chin Yuan
::''Today the Hawk Takes One Chick'' directed by Jane Gillooly
::''We Belong to this Country'' directed by Alison Leonard
::''One of the Last'' directed by Paul Zinder
::''Fate of the Lhapa'' directed by Sarah Sifers
::''Sounds of the Seas'' directed by Volker Barth
::''The Last Nomads'' directed by Andrew Gregg
::''Eternal Mash'' directed by Catherine van Campen
::''Journey of a Red Fridge'' directed by Lucian and Natasa Muntean
::''Strange Homeland'' directed by Jens Schanze
::''Boomrang'' directed by Daryoush Gharibzadeh
::'' One Water (documentary)'' directed by Ali Habashi and Sanjeev Chatterjee
::''Justice Now'' directed by Martin O’Brien, Robbie Proctor
::''Alethea'' directed by Petra Holzer, Ethem Ozguven
::''Crossed Wires'' directed by Elida Schogt
::''The Green Dragon'' directed by Caroline Harrison
::''Digital Cemeteries'' directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
::''Crabs on the Road'' directed by Gabriela Dominguez
::''Atlantis Approaching'' directed by Elizabeth Pollock
::''This Much I Know'' directed by Bridget Hanna
::''A Moment of Clarity'' directed by Sarah Cowhey, Louise Davidson
::''If Man Could Fly'' directed by Yael Kipper Zaretzky
::''Ma’rib'' directed by Rainer Komers
::''Farms Without Farmers'' directed by Jessica Weisberg, Benjamin Thorp Brown
::''The Hunger Season'' directed by Beadie Finzi
::''Are There Still Any Shepherds'' directed by Jorge Pelicano

North American Premieres

::''Begging for Change'' directed by Dave Jones
::''Alchemy'' directed by Eva Bakkeslett
::''Showdown at the Top of the World'' directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
::'' Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines'' directed by Tristan Loraine
::''49 Words for Snow'' directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

World Premieres

::''Driven By Vision'' directed by Michael McNamara
::''The Falldown'' directed by Ben Graeme
::''Tales of a Yellow Bike'' directed by Tina Hahn
::''Soldiers of Peace'' directed by Timothy Wise
::''Breadmakers'' directed by Yasmin Fedda
::''Return to Nepal'' directed by Robert Lang
::''Thirst'' directed by Gail Maurice

See also

*List of environmental film festivals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planet In Focus
Environmental film festivals
Film festivals in Toronto
1999 establishments in Ontario