Environmental Documentary Screens to a Full House at FUNGLODE’s auditorium

Santo Domingo, 9/16/2011

As part of its follow up to the very successful I DR Environmental Film Festival, GFDD and FUNGLODE hosted a special screening of environmental documentary Dirt! The Movie at FUNGLODE auditorium last Friday, September 16 at 7pm. The movie, which played to a full house, was the first in a series of monthly screenings by both institutions that will be dedicated to covering themes related to the Environment.

The Film, directed by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, told the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. The opening scenes of the film dove into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, "dirt is very much alive." Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. "Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."

DIRT! the Movie--narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis--brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil. DIRT! The Movie is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: "When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked."

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD)  and its sister institution in the DR,  Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE),  announced the new monthly screenings to provide general audiences the opportunity to watch dozens of the world’s best and most beautiful, informative and educational environmental films of the year, and learn about pressing issues the world’s ecology is facing.