The Center

ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center for Environmental Filmmaking was founded on the conviction that films and new media are essential educational and policy tools in the struggle to protect the environment. The center’s mission is to train students to produce films and new media that focus attention on the need to conserve the environment in a way that is effective as well as ethically sound, educationally powerful, and entertaining.

The world faces unprecedented environmental challenges, from climate change to species extinction. But powerful images and films, such as An Inconvenient Truth, can capture our attention and alert millions to the value of protecting the natural world. With the right combination of creative thinking, enthusiasm, practical knowledge, altruism, and a commitment to the natural world, today’s students will become tomorrow’s environmental stewards.

The Center for Environmental Filmmaking has four signature initiatives:

• Creating partnerships with well-established organizations—such as Maryland Public Television, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the American Film Institute—that give students the opportunity to produce professional films

• Bringing world-class filmmakers to the American University campus to teach and mentor

• Developing innovative, enriching classes and programs, such as Classroom in the Wild

• Advocating the ethical treatment of wildlife and the environment worldwide
  

What unites the center’s many programs—besides a commitment to the environment and its conservation—is the desire to transform students’ lives. We show students that through hard work, perseverance, critical thinking, and creativity, they can bring focus, passion, and meaning to their films and their lives. We value the exuberance that is born of the creative process, the courage to stand up for one’s beliefs, and the compassion to care for those who can’t speak for themselves—all fundamentally important values that will benefit students throughout their lives. 
 
As an integral part of AU’s School of Communication, the Center for Environmental Filmmaking draws on and contributes to the content-rich programs in SOC’s three divisions—Journalism, Public Communication, and Film and Media Arts. The center builds on the tremendous expertise of the dozen accomplished documentary filmmakers on SOC’s faculty, including the center’s four associate directors: Sandy Cannon-Brown, Larry Engel, Sarah Menke-Fish, and Maggie Burnette Stogner. 
 
Located in our nation’s capital, the center collaborates with the world’s major funding and advocacy institutions for environmental and wildlife conservation, including National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet, and the Jane Goodall Institute. And it participates actively in the RealScreen conference, SILVERDOCS, and the Environmental Film Festival, which are all held annually in the Washington, D.C., area. 
 
The center’s activities and programs are made possible by the Wallace Genetic Foundation, Sally Brown, Gil Ordway, the Turner Foundation, Lucy Waletzky, Chris Palmer, Roger and Vicki Sant, the Sony Corporation, REI, and other generous donors.

FILM PRODUCTIONS AND FUNDING
The center is firmly committed to supporting students in their efforts to advocate the ethical treatment of wildlife and the environment through film. Some of the ways the center shows this support include:

• Producing numerous films every year for partners such as PBS, NPS, and NOAA in which students and faculty play important roles.

• Giving grants, awards, and sponsorships to students whose wildlife films address important issues and meet humane standards.

• Participating in and hosting educational events that focus on ethics in wildlife filmmaking.

• The center's Film Fund enables students to present films and papers at conferences and festivals.

• Offering a cash prize to the winner of the environmental film category at SOC's Visions Festival and to winners of other annual events sponsored by the center.

• The Center runs the annual Eco-Comedy Video Competition in cooperation with Friends of the Earth and the Environmental Protection Agency. Friends of the Earth and the center offer a $1000 cash prize annually to encourage the use of humor in environmental video advocacy.

• The center hosts the Student Short Film Festival every March as part of the Environmental Film Festival to showcase the talents of emerging "green communicators" at promoting environmental causes.

Many of the films produced or supported by the center have received awards, including a 2009 Student Academy Award for best documentary to Lauren DeAngelis and Joe Bohannon for their film A Place to Land, about the plight of captive parrots around the nation.

EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
In addition to supporting the work of students, the center is committed to bringing world-class filmmakers and innovative classes and programs to American University.

• The center hosts a regular showcase of important new films and celebrated filmmakers together with Filmmakers for Conservation. Every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. in AU’s Wechsler Theatre such topics as the role of humor in environmental activism, the status of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the crisis facing our oceans are addressed. Speakers include top executives and filmmakers from organizations such as National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet, Friends of the Earth, and the Earth Conservation Corps.
• Director Chris Palmer and the center’s associate directors regularly speak at film festivals and conferences around the world, and the center creates events and programs for such festivals as the Environmental Film Festival, Wildscreen, the International Wildlife Film Festival, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, and the Giant Screen Cinema Association (IMAX) conferences.
• The distinctive Classroom in the Wild, an intensive outdoor workshop, offers students hands-on experience in environmental filmmaking. Students learn how to meet the challenges of field production while camping out in settings including Florida, Alaska, and Costa Rica.
• Each summer, the center partners with NOAA on a major initiative called Ocean for Life, designed to encourage cultural understanding between students from the Middle East and Western nations through an exploration of how the oceans connect all life on earth. Five of the center’s graduate students participate as paid film mentors, assisting high school students with the creation of youth media projects during the program.
• The center created the annual Student Short Film Festival, held every March as part of the Environmental Film Festival. This event showcases the talents of emerging “green communicators” to promote environmental causes and empower individuals to make a difference.

For more information about the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, please email Chris Palmer.