David’s Planet Texas Relfections
After attending a small variety of Planet Texas Symposium Presentations, one stuck out to me above all else. A screening for a film by Kelly Ashton Todd. She spoke briefly, then shared some of her climate activist work titled “Under Review: Katahdin.” It was a film piece consisting of dancers choreographed in a beautiful forest landscape in Maine. This forest has recently been subject to industrial deforestation after some federal protections were revoked. As someone who has been fascinated by film and how we can use it to evoke emotions and action, it was amazing to see her work. It brings me back to a statement my mom shared with me a long time ago: “If you want people to protect something, make them fall in love with it.” The way the film depicted nature to begin with was just that. Something to admire and love. Then it progressed to the suffering of the forest, and without spoiling anything I will just say that was very well done as well. Striking imagery was used that was not “going too far” but still burned a picture in your mind.
The big take-away for me was mostly that this kind of work is possible. Looking around, I am often dissapointed by the films that get attention, and the media people decide to consume. It is rare to see something so moving. Witnessing the screening and discussions afterward helped re-ignite my ideas that art can be effective in its missions for activism. I plan to think of the deep motivators when exploring our Haiku Horizons project, and see if we can find ways to create necessary discomfort to generate action, after establishing the beauty of nature as this film so beautifully did.
