Local Short Film at Festival on Earth Day!

April 22^nd is Earth Day and the CNMI is using this entire month to pay tribute to “Our Natural Treasures”! The community is invited to a film festival of local short films celebrating the CNMI’s natural treasures on Wednesday, April 22^nd at American Memorial Park, starting at 6:30pm. Children are welcome and will love seeing new sites from their own islands!

Community members, families, tourists and locals alike will all enjoy these locally-made movies showing beautiful insight into Northern Mariana Islands and the Micronesian Region. 

First, engage with volunteers in Talakhaya: the Luta Livelihoods Project where local agencies and community members work together every year to prevent fires from destroying soils and vegetation and ultimately damaging our nearshore marine resources in Rota.

Next, we will continue to explore Rota to learn with Fanihi: A Cultural Digest to better understand the ever-changing interactions between people and the beloved fruit bat populations there. Then, watch Laolao Bay: from Ridge to Reef to learn about the ways that our land is connected to the oceans. Local researchers, managers and marine biologists explain the diversity of Laolao Bay’s heritage and natural rseouces in this film.

We will finish the evening with one final short film Micronesia’s Changing Climate about regional efforts to protect our environments. Environmental experts will be on hand to answer your questions about caring for our natural treasures!

This festival is being presented by First Friday Films, a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations and individuals. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. This event will run approximately 90 minutes, but the audience is welcome to come and go between films, which last 15-30 minutes each.