Searching for Sustainability

2017 • USA • 10 min • Jenny Plevin

Meet Venice Williams, executive director of Alice’s Garden, a community garden in Milwaukee. Venice shares her connections with rivers and water, and shows how the garden is using innovative water solutions that are a model for other communities nationwide.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Brenda Piekarski

Filmmaker in Attendance

In 2017, Jay Gustafson launched Paddle for Progress, a two-year, 4,300-mile personal journey in response to Governor Dayton’s call for water action. Jay’s mission to reconnect humanity with one of our most precious resources took him to the most remote and least visited corners of Minnesota, as well as through nearly every major community in the state. Alone in the wilderness, Jay reminds us how we are all linked to water, one of the most powerful elements on earth that is in a constant state of danger. His passion for paddling and call to something greater than himself leads us down water trails into our own spirit’s journey and connection with the earth. Waterway Jay is the story of this one man’s journey to save water, and how we are connected to it all.

2021 • USA • 56 min • Charlie Tennessen

Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker, Filmmaker in Attendance

The true story of an ancient crop, a farmer, and a pizza, this self-made film follows one season of wheat production on Anarchy Acres, a tiny farm in Wisconsin. One passionate farmer is working to re-create the flavors of 19th century Wisconsin by growing out rare wheat cultivars from samples held in seed banks. Anarchy Acres uses a team of miniature donkeys for some field work, and pays close attention to sustainable farming practices. Food, the environment, and mutual respect are lived out in a millennia-old cycle.