Blog posting by Karly Placek, Documentary Studies and Production '15, FLEFF Social Media Manager, Monroe, Wisconsin 

As a freshman, I was told by a professor to enjoy every minute of my college experience because it was going to be the fastest four years of my life. 

Nearly two years later, I've come to the conclusion that this is the truest piece of advice regarding my college years. Every semester seems to fly by faster than the last, and this spring was no exception. 

Only three and a half months ago I met the rest of the blogging staff for FLEFF and began to fully immerse myself in the festival. In this short amount of time, we've interviewed many talented artists, distributors, and intellectuals; conceived and performed flash mobs and street-team demonstrations; engaged personally with an international cohort of guests; and even produced international documentary shorts. It's also rumored that we were "the best blogging team FLEFF has ever seen," but I"ll leave that up for you to decide! 

I personally made many connections this year and was inspired by many professionals. I learned a lot about documentary and activism from conversations with Kelly Matheson , Sarah DuPont , and Liz Miller. I'm excited to see the future of social and environmental activist media and how incredible individuals (and maybe even myself!) will change the dialogue on the activist documentary.

Maintaining a leadership role on the blogging staff has been full of challenges this semester, but I had a team of hard-working individuals who were genuinely thrilled to be working with FLEFF. Our team overcame all obstacles and did so with zeal and passion. It's unfortunate to realize that I will never work with this exact blogging team again, but I'm thankful for all of the insight I've gained and the knowledge we've learned as a team. 

I can't believe I  can say I've already interned for two years with FLEFF - I still feel as if I'm just getting used to college! One thing's for sure: I value every moment spent working with FLEFF. I know that in two short years, I will not have the chance to be as involved and engaged with the incredible people, ideas, and media that have surrounded me for the past two years at the festival. A festival is nothing without people - and I've met some truly inspirational ones here at FLEFF. 

A million thank-you's to everyone involved in any way with FLEFF. "Mobilities" has been a great ride. 

Blog posting by Erica Moriarty, Documentary Studies and Production '16, FLEFF Blogger, Houston, Texas

Hello FLEFFers! 

Can't make it to Sarah Dupont's discussion of Amazon Gold? No problem! I'm here, live blogging away and bringing you the highlights!

We're over in Williams 202 with a full class! Sarah's trailer of Amazon Gold is great! This film will definitely be one you don't want to miss this Thursday night at Cinemapolis. This beautifully crafted film shows the destruction of the Amazon, particularly Peru, due to illegal gold mining. 

Sarah worked in the Amazon Rainforest where the Andes Mountains meets the Amazon Basin to study the unique biodiversity. Here, the gold from the Andes streams down into the Amazon River. Since the price of gold has gone up so much, the area, once rich in biodiversity, is being destroyed. 

In order to extract the gold, miners place the water in a barrel with mercury. Sarah described the mercury attaching to the gold as miners place their legs in the barrel to mix the solution. Then, the mercury is burned off the gold, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and leaving workers with mercury poisoning.

Sarah described the difficulty of filming the documentary in such a dangerous place. In making the documentary, she brought along war journalists to be safe. She said, "The war journalists is also a metaphor for war against ourselves and our planet." 

She briefly explained the making of the film and engaged the class. "When did you first begin seeing climate change?" she asked.

Students in the classroom described experiences with temperature increases and flooding increases. A small uproar in the class began when one student commented, "There's nothing we can do about climate change. It's still going to change. It's something we have no control over." 

Sarah responded, "I've seen a lot of changes over the past five years and it has a lot to do with our consumption. I think there are things we can do to mitigate it. I'm really inspired and hopeful because I think your generation is incredible. I think you have the ability to create change." 

After a brief discussion on responsible consumption, Sarah returned to why she created a film. She said, "What's the most important thing I can do to create change, so I thought 'Make a movie!'" 

She organized the film beginning by corresponding with a war journalist. She then contacted Sissy Spacek who knew more about production. After three years, the film was finally done. Currently, Sarah is slowly distributing the film through various festivals.

She described the process: "When you start something from a seed, it's never what you think it's going to be. You make all kinds of mistakes, but then one thing leads to the next." 

Sarah then showed a short film called 40 Beauty and Destruction that juxtaposes the beauty in the Amazon next to the destruction. The title comes from the idea that the Amazon can be protected for only 40 more years at the current rate of destruction. 

After the film, one student asked how we can help as U.S. citizens with policy in another country after our gold trade is what is driving this destruction. 

"Be aware as a consumer and your power as a consumer," Sarah answered. She went on to describe the importance of raising awareness of policy that does not allow trade of illegally mined gold. In addition, she described being responsible in what you purchase as well as contacting government representatives. 

The conversation turned to the role of the U.S. in the situation and whether or not it is our responsibility to save the Amazon if it is not in our country. 

"There needs to be a re-thinking in the interconnections between different parts of the world," Dr. Patricia Zimmermann commented. 

The class continued to discuss increased globalization and the ability of countries to regulate each other. The debate only switched at a student's question regarding the toxicology of the rainforest. Sarah responded with the fact that 70 tons of mercury go into the river daily, so there will be a big mess in cleaning the destruction. 

Sarah ended the discussion with another short film called 60 seconds. The point of the film was that every minute an acre of the Amazon Rainforest is lost. She also shared her organization called the Amazon Aid Foundation, where people can work to learn, connect and protect the world. 

Sarah also shared an important fact: "It takes 250 tons of earth to make a wedding band." This fact is important to keep in mind next time you're finding that special piece for your loved one.

Join us on Thursday at Cinemapolis for the full film! But how about we start the conversation now? How can we create change in the Amazon? 

Blog posting written by Andrew Ronald, Film, Photography & Visual Arts '15, Social Media Manager, Mahopac, NY

It's the second day out of a week-long worth of events for FLEFF and they're going strong! If you couldn't make it to this insightful workshop with Sarah DuPont, producer of Amazon Gold, there is no need to fret! I'll be liveblogging the event for you all to read right here:

4:02 PM - What better way to start than with a trailer for Amazon Gold?

4:08 PM - DuPont describes the detailed, yet poisonous process to acquire gold and the harmful dangers on the environment that occur in the meantime. This is why she made this documentary.

4:09 PM - Why is the Amazon and biodiversity so important? Thoughts from the audience touch upon the importance of the ecosystems that exist there. Even more frightening, "you are destroying things that you didn't even know were there in the first place."

4:14 PM - This was a true documentary. The crew members were exploring while the camera was rolling in some places that had never even been shot before. "If you get caught, you can get killed and no one cares. It was a dangerous endeavor, but it was worth every minute because the implication of losing the Amazon..."

4:16 PM - The Amazon is a big regulator of weather patterns and climate change, something that is very accessible to individuals everywhere today.

4:18 PM - A bit of inspirational advice from DuPont in which she mentions "this film was made for the game-changers out there."

4:22 PM - This is what discussions are all about. While getting some input from the crowd about their concerns regarding climate change, audience members are currently comparing the Earth during the prehistoric era to the modern age. And Sarah gets us back on track...

4:25 PM - Why did DuPont make this movie in the first place? The power of the visual is accesible. You can create awareness and give people a wake-up call if you show them devastated areas and damaged environments.

4:30 PM - How did DuPont make this movie in the first place? She describes the traditional filmmaking process from acquiring the appropriate crewmembers to the dangerous shooting process, and the tumultuous post-editing process. Simply put, "to make a movie is very, very hard." And three years later, the movie was complete!

4:38 PM - As United States citizens, we are supposed to promote positive change and reformation, even after we were the ones who caused this turmoil in the first place. DuPont lists off some alternatives to the process of making gold. So what do we do? Lobby off some ideas - we have voices, so why not use them?

4:52 PM - Dr. Zimmerman relates Dr. Phil McMichael's conversation from the previous night to today's conversation by emphasizing the collective nature of coming together to prove to be the solution. The global solution.

5:00 PM - How much regulation is too much regulation? Another controversial discussion leads to hands popping up throughout the audience. Opinions clash, thoughts are generated, and discussion occurs. It's what FLEFF is all about.