"Homeland" this Friday

Come join us for our February First Friday Film this Friday, February 1st at 6:30pm at American Memorial Park. This month's film is called Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action.

Nearly all Indian lands in the U.S. face grave environmental threats – toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. But a handful of activists are fighting back. Filmed against some of America’s most spectacular backdrops, from Alaska to Maine and Montana to New Mexico, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action profiles the against-all-odds struggles of Native American leaders who are taking on powerful energy companies and government agencies to protect the environment for all Americans. A moving tribute to the power of grassroots organizing, Homeland is also a call-to-action against the current dismantling of thirty years of environmental laws.

 

Before the film, we will hear about grassroots efforts taking place on Saipan from members of the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance. MINA has been an environmental presence on Saipan for years, engaging young local community members and building support for initiatives that protect and preserve our island’s resources.

First Friday Films is a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Division of Environmental Quality, the Coastal Resources Management Office and the Humanities Council, with support from other organizations. This particular film is sponsored by the Humanities Council. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. For planning purposes, this event will run about 90 minutes.

Plus, we'll be sharing some new information about what FFF has in store for the next several months. We hope to see you there!

"Plan B" tomorrow!

Happy New Year everyone!

We hope you can join us this Friday, January 4th at 6:30pm for "Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization" at the American Memorial Park theatre. The film is part of the public television series Journey to Planet Earth.

Hosted by Matt Damon and produced by Emmy-Award winning filmmakers Marilyn and Hal Weiner,"Plan B: Mobilizing To Save Civilization" is a PBS documentary based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown. Featuring some of the world's most original and influential thinkers, Lester Brown's message is clear and unflinching — either confront the realities of climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed states. Ultimately "Plan B" provides audiences with a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable sources plus realistic strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming. The film presents what will happen if we choose plan A -- "business as usual", and recommends plan B, confronting global environmental problems, as an alternative.

First Friday Films is a partnership between DEQ and American Memorial Park with support from other public and private organizations. This particular film is sponsored by the Humanities Council. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. For planning purposes, this film runs for approximately 80 minutes.

We'd like to encourage you to consider the environment in your New Year's Resolution this year! Commit to making a small environmental change in your life during 2013 -- recycling your aluminum, walking or biking instead of driving once a week, turning off your aircon, or participating in monthly beach clean-ups. It's not to late to make a commitment for 2013!

Native plants for your yard

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday for "Green" and a great presentation from Shelly Kremer about building native species habitat in your own yards on Saipan. There were many requests at the movie for more information to be sent about your home litmus test for bird habitat and plants that you can place in your yard, so we have compiled the following information:

Chichirika, Naabak, Rufous fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons)

The litmus test can help you figure out if your yard has sufficient habitat for birds. 

If you see a lot of TREE SPARROWS in your yard, your native bird habitat is BAD.

If you see a lot of STARLINGS, BRIDLED WHITE-EYES, and HONEYEATERS, your habitat is OKAY.

If you see a lot of RUFOUS FANTAILS and GOLDEN WHITE-EYES, your habitat is GOOD.

Don't worry! If you scored low on the litmus test, you can plant the following trees to improve your habitat and attract more birds to your yard:

Nanaso (Scaevola taccada) 

• Gao Gao, Tiger Claw
• Sumak
• Ahgoa, False Elder*
• Agetelang
• Lulujut
• Alum
• Aploghating*
• Nunu, Banyan
• Papaya
• Guava
• Nanaso
• Manzanita

Remember, some of these trees (like papaya) grow very quickly, or you can check our local nurseries or CNMI Forestry for some older saplings to plant. 

If you're looking for more information on native and non-native plants check out:

CNMI Forestry: call 256-3320, stop by the nursery in Kagman, or visit http://www.cnmiforestry.gov.mp/component/content/?view=featured

University of Guam's "Plants of Guam" website, and click on "Plants of Guam" at the top http://university.uog.edu/cals/people/

Even though this is a Guam-specific website, most of the same plants are in the CNMI.

Don't forget about our lending library if you have a community group that would like to host a film showing, and stay tuned for information about our November FFF night of local short films on November 2nd!

"GREEN" this Friday!

Happy October! As our rainy season slowly winds down, First Friday Films is taking you off of Saipan this week to learn about life in another tropical region. Please join us this Friday, October 5th at 6:30pm at American Memorial Park's theatre for the film "Green" and to learn about orangutans and habitat loss in Indonesia.

"Green" is about the rainforests of Indonesia, the life that it holds, and the industries that are trying to destroy it. The film silently follows the life of a female orangutan who is the victim of deforestation and resource exploitation. Although this film is an emotional journey of Green's final days, it also presents the treasures of rainforest biodiversity, which are swiftly being eliminated by logging and land clearing for palm oil plantations.  "Green" makes the point that in order to save the Indonesian rainforests, we must choose to change our consumer habits so as not to be a part of the destruction. Then we can make a significant impact on the industries behind the destruction and make them change.

Before the film Shelly Kremer, a terrestrial biologist who has worked on Saipan for many years, will give a short talk about habitat loss in general and how it is affecting species in the CNMI. Although Saipan's threats are very different in nature and scale from those of Indonesia, there are still a lot of commonalities.

First Friday Films is a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resources Management and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations. This particular films is sponsored by CRM. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. For planning purposes, this event will run about 70 minutes. Although the film is not vulgar or explicit in any way, the content is very emotional and the film is silent. Therefore, parents might want to carefully consider whether or not to bring young children (under 13).

"The End of the Line" this Friday, Sept 7

Please join us again this Friday, September 7th at 6:30pm for The End of the Line. Before the film, we will have a short introduction to how fisheries are managed on Saipan from the Division of Fish and Wildlife's fisheries supervisor, Todd Miller.

The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. In the film we see first-hand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. It examines the imminent extinction of Bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world.

If you fish, eat seafood, are interested in global environmental issues, or just want to watch a new film on a Friday night, you should definitely come and check this out! The film will be shown at the American Memorial Park indoor theater. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. First Friday Films is a partnership between the American Memorial Park, Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resources Management and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations. This particular film is sponsored by the Humanities Council.

PLAY AGAIN on August 3rd!

Please join us this Friday, August 3rd at 6:30pm at American Memorial Park visitor's center for PLAY AGAIN!

What they do not know, they will not protect, and what they do not protect, they will lose. At a time when children play more behind screens than outside, PLAY AGAIN explores the changing balance between the virtual and natural worlds. Is our connection to nature disappearing down the digital rabbit hole?
This documentary follows six teenagers who, like the “average American child,” spend five to fifteen hours a day behind screens. PLAY AGAIN unplugs these teens and takes them on their first wilderness adventure—no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no virtual reality. What are we missing when we are behind screens? How does this impact our children’s well being, our society and the very future of our planet?
PLAY AGAIN introduces new perspectives and encourages action for a sustainable future.

First Friday Films is a monthly film series brought to you through a partnership with the National Park Service and the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ), with generous support from community groups. This particular film is provided by the Humanities Council. For planning purposes, the movie runs about 80 minutes long. As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public.

Friday, July 6th "Houston We Have a Problem"

Houston We Have a Problem

First Friday Films will be featuring a film entitled Houston We Have a Problem on July 6^th, 2012 at 6:30pm at the American Memorial Park Visitor’s Center as part of their ongoing monthly environmental film series.

Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of cheap energy. Step inside the energy capital of the world to hear the truth about oil, straight from the hearts of the Texas oilmen themselves. See decades of American presidents who have warned against the dependence on foreign oil and how the U.S. Energy Policy has always been a strategy of Defense, not Offense. Today, in the midst of Global Warming and Peak Oil, the world’s energy demand is skyrocketing. Aggressive strategies for securing Crude now go to the highest bidder or the biggest bully. Hear the confessions of oilmen who work in the trenches every day, scrambling to feed America’s ferocious appetite even while knowing that this addiction to cheap oil will be the nation’s downfall. Houston We Have a Problem makes it crystal clear that we must embrace all forms of alternative energy to save the planet and ourselves.

First Friday Films is a monthly film series brought to you through a partnership with the National Park Service and the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ), with generous support from community groups. This particular film is provided by the Humanities Council. For planning purposes, the movie runs about 80 minutes long. As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public.