Creature Features

8 films in this block • 93 minutes

Block Description

Don’t worry, these creature features are far from scary!


The Films

A Few Acres at a Time

  • Year 2017
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 7 min
  • Director Will Sardinsky

Lani Malmberg, a self-identified “gypsy goat lady”, brings life back to the land with her herd of 500 goats.

Insect Guardian – Butterfly Paradise

  • Year 2019
  • Country Netherlands
  • Runtime 6 min
  • Director Tim Visser & Sander van Iersel

Has Subtitles, Family Friendly

Back in 1980, Willem bought a remote potato farm and transformed it into a butterfly paradise. He has worked the land with shovel and scythe for almost 40 years in order to preserve the butterflies. Willem’s paradise has become one of the most important habitats in the region for these fluttering beauties, but there is a problem. Due to an overload of nitrogen in the air, a monoculture of grass slowly drives away this flower-rich butterfly paradise. Butterflies that used to be common just a few decades ago are rare these days, or have completely disappeared.

Bare Existence

  • Year 2019
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 19 min
  • Director Max Lowe

Adult Content

Bare Existence gives a behind the scenes look into the plight of the polar bear and the biologists on the front lines of protecting these species as they battle against the effects of climate change threatening their existence. This film presents a drastic cry for immediate attention and instills our viewer with hope, illuminating present-day efforts for a brighter future.

Clay Bolt

  • Year 2018
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 4 min
  • Director Chema Domenech

Family Friendly

Clay Bolt is a natural history and conservation photographer for World Wildlife Fund and has been featured in prominent magazines such as National Geographic. Affectionately referred to as the bug guy, Clay explains how and why he focuses on 99% of life on earth that is smaller than your finger.

Grizzly Country

  • Year 2018
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 12 min
  • Director Ben Moon

After serving in the Vietnam War, author and eco-warrior Doug Peacock spent years alone in the Wyoming and Montana wilderness observing grizzly bears. This time in the wild changed the course of his life. With the protection of Yellowstone grizzlies now under threat, Peacock reflects on the importance of habitat and why he continues to fight for wild causes.

Wildlife and the Wall

  • Year 2018
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 5 min
  • Director Ben Masters

This film takes us into the heart of Big Bend, the last true Texas wilderness, to consider what effects building a border wall might have on wildlife dispersal, migratory corridors, and access to the Rio Grande, the only water source in a harsh desert environment.

Detroit Hives

  • Year 2018
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 6 min
  • Director Palmer Morse & Rachel Weinberg

Detroit Hives follows Tim Paule and Nicole Lindsey, a young couple from East Detroit, who are working hard to bring diversity to the field of beekeeping and create opportunities for young Detroit natives to overcome adversity. It is estimated that Detroit has with well over 90,000 empty housing lots to date. In an effort to address this issue, Tim and Nicole have been purchasing vacant lots and converting them into bee farms. Detroit Hives explores the importance of bringing diversity to beekeeping and rebuilding inner-city communities one hive at a time.

The Love Bugs

  • Year 2019
  • Country USA
  • Runtime 34 min
  • Director Allison Otto & Maria Clinton

Family Friendly

Over the course of 60 years, Lois and Charlie O’Brien traveled to more than 67 countries and quietly amassed the world’s largest private collection of insects — their trove counts more than one million specimens. And now, after decades of teaching, writing, research and the development of an almost-parental bond with their collection, these two soulmates have decided to give all their insects away. This humorous and poignant documentary explores the nature of love and the love of nature, and what it means to devote oneself completely to both.