"Navigators" for October

First Friday Films Celebrates National Arts and Humanities Month in October featuring The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific playing at 6:30 p.m. on October 7, 2011 at American Memorial Park.

Over 1,000 years ago, the islands of Polynesia were explored and settled by navigators who used only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds for guidance. In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed across a vast ocean area, larger than Europe and North America combined.

To explore this ancient navigational heritage, anthropologist/filmmaker Sanford Low visited the tiny coral atoll of Satawal in Micronesia's remote Caroline Islands. The Navigators reveals the subtleties of this sea science, transmitted in part through a ceremony known as "unfolding the mat," in which 32 lumps of coral are arranged in a circle to represent the points of the "star compass." To master the lore of navigation was to attain great status in traditional Micronesian society.

This special event is brought to you by the NMI Council for the Humanities, the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, the Division of Environmental Quality and the National Park Service.

As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public. For planning purposes, the film runs 59 minutes.

"Recyclergy" to be shown tomorrow

Due to some unforeseen difficulties, we will be unable to show the film "All Jacked Up".  However, we do a have a great film to show, "Recyclergy", which looks at the fading subculture of recyclers in the San Francisco area.  This film won the community vote for Environmental Awareness Month this past May, and we though we would give everyone a second chance to see this entertaining film.

 After the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, community, non-profit recycling centers began to pop up in schools, garages, and neighborhood centers all sharing the goal of bringing recycling to their cities. Now only two non-profit recycling organizations remain in San Francisco. Despite the lack of surviving community recycling centers, the Bay Area is still home to a unique community of recyclers who push the envelope of possibilities. Featuring interviews with recycling pioneers and music by Rube Waddell, "The Recyclergy" is an entertaining examination of a fading subculture.

As always, the film is free and open to the public.  The film will start at 6:30pm, tomorrow September 2nd.  Please come early to ensure admittance, as seating is limited.

See you tomorrow!

Home Tomorrow!

We will be showing the film "Home" tomorrow, Friday 8/5, at the American Memorial Park Visitor's Center at 6:30pm.

With stunning shots from over fifty countries, Home presents what Time magazine hails as “an intoxicating perspective on our world” showcasing the majestic beauty of the planet as well as the undeniable tragedy that we have caused it, focusing specifically on global climate change.

Steve Mckagan from the NOAA field office here on Saipan will be on hand to talk about what we are doing locally to prepare for climate change and how the local community can get involved with some of those programs.

As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public.

See you tomorrow!

Come "Home" Next Friday

It is time for us to save our planet from ourselves. On August 5, First Friday Films offers Home, a film that exposes the impacts of mankind’s actions on our planet Earth. With breathtaking visuals taken from an aerial perspective, we can take a look down on what has become of Earth and what we can do to save it from the threats of global warming. The journey starts at 6:30 PM at the American Memorial Park Visitors Center. 

There is no place like home—and that is especially true when “home” refers to our planet. With stunning shots from over fifty countries, Home presents what Time magazine hails as “an intoxicating perspective on our world” showcasing the majestic beauty of the planet as well as the undeniable tragedy that we have caused it. Director Yann Arthus-Bertrand hopes that with this stark presentation of Earth, the film will resonate in all of us and convince us to save our home.

As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public. 

A Sea Change Tomorrow!

Join us tomorrow night at the American Memorial Park visitors center at 6:30 for our presentation of the film " A Sea Change", which follows one man's journey to discovery the less talked about side of climate change: ocean acidification.

Members of the CNMI Marine Monitoring Team will be on hand to discuss how you can help protect our corals from the expected effects of global climate change.

The Pacific Historic Parks (formerly the Arizona Memorial Museum Association) Bookstore, located inside the visitor’s center, will be open until 8:30 PM. All proceeds go to community education programs.

As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public. For planning purposes, the movie runs 1 hour and 23 minutes long.

See you tomorrow!

Sea Change for July

If you think global warming is tough, you don’t know the half of it. Come to the next First Friday Films on July 1 and uncover the rest of the story. We will be presenting A Sea Change, a film that tackles the twin of global warming, ocean acidification, and its effects to our ocean, our corals and our marine animals. The event will start at 6:30 PM at the American Memorial Park Visitors Center.

If you live in an island, like ours, that heavily depends on coral reefs for tourism and sea creatures for sustenance, wouldn’t you want to know what is happening to them now and what might happen to them in the future? Sven Huseby, an ordinary grandfather, wants to know. Recipient of the 2010 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Hero Award, A Sea Change follows the journey of Sven as he travels from Alaska to Norway to uncover that the global ocean is slowly becoming too acidic for the creatures that live in it.

First Friday Films is a monthly environmental film series organized by the National Park Service and the Division of Environmental Quality.

The Pacific Historic Parks (formerly the Arizona Memorial Museum Association) Bookstore, located inside the visitor’s center, will be open until 8:30 PM. All proceeds go to community education programs.

As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public. For planning purposes, the movie runs 1 hour and 23 minutes long.

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Nourish Yourself Tomorrow!

We have a great film event tomorrow night (June 3rd) at American Memorial Park.  Starting at 6:30pm at the visitor's center we will be screening Nourish, Food + Community, a film celebrating fresh and wholesome food that’s both good for you and the community.  It delves into how the choices we make affect our sustainable food supply.

Also joining us, will be members of the Sabalu Farmers Market Association, including Asap Ogumoro who will be discussing where our food in Saipan comes from and how you can make food choices that benefit your community, health, and environment.

NMC CREES will have a selection of tasty dishes made from locally grown produce for all to try as well as their recipes for you to use at home.

The Pacific Historic Parks (formerly the Arizona Memorial Museum Association) Bookstore, located inside the visitor’s center, will be open until 8:30pm. All proceeds go to community education programs.

For planning purposes, the movie runs about 30 minutes long. As always, First Friday Films is free and open to the public.  Please arrive early to ensure admittance, as seating is limited.

We home to see you tomorrow!