We have an amazing array of new or rarely seen films to screen, with real power and importance for our lives and communities – about our environment, our food, our politics, our wildlife – and our future. Central to many of the films is climate change, the myriad ways in which it impacts the life of our planet and creative inspiring projects aimed at mitigating those impacts.
Highlights include…
The importance of the Oceans:
The UK PREMIERE of Sharkwater: Extinction by Rob Stewart, the remarkable Canadian film-maker and conservationist who tragically died in a diving accident while making this film last year, aged 37. We wish to honour and celebrate the life of this extraordinarily brave and deeply committed young man by showing both Revolution and Sharkwater: Extinction on Saturday evening.
Revolution (2012) dramatically explores the environmental threats posed to the oceans & world – and shows how young people can and are helping to solve the problems.
Sharkwater: Extinction (2018) follows the sharks – and the money – into the pirate fishing industry, uncovering corruption and a multi-billion dollar scandal. Without the oceans’ main predator, marine ecosystems are being destroyed beyond repair. Stewart’s mission is to save the sharks and oceans before it’s too late.
Food and Agriculture:
In The Worm is Turning we see the devastating effects of chemical agriculture in the Indian Punjab – dead soil, no trees, no birds, no insects, and polluted water and air.
In our Hands explores the idea of food sovereignty and shows a global movement to take back control of the food system.
Social Justice:
The remarkable Disturbing the Peace follows the transformational journeys of Israeli and Palestinian fighters, from soldiers committed to armed battle to peace activists.
Power Trip highlights the role of the media and lobby groups in shaping the public perception of fracking, and what can happen when local people fight back.
Films by and about Women:
As 2018 marks the centenary of some women getting the vote in the UK, we celebrate the achievements and the continuing struggles of women today. We also seek to redress the imbalance in the film industry. Almost half the films we are showing have the F-Rating, a classification for any film directed or written by a woman.
The outstanding What Tomorrow Brings follows one year in the life of the first all-girls school in a conservative Afghan village.
The Barefoot Artist chronicles the extraordinary life of Lily Yeh, a community-based artist in some of the world’s most troubled areas.
TTTFF18 is taking place in three venues: Dartington Barn Cinema, Totnes Cinema and Totnes Civic Hall.
This is our second collaboration with the Barn Cinema, and we are delighted by their continued involvement.
They will be showing Tawai in which Bruce Parry (of the BBC’s Tribe, Amazon & Arctic) explores how humans relate to nature and how this influences our societies, as well as Albatross, which reveals the effect of plastic on the fate of tens of thousands of albatross chicks.
Totnes Cinema joins us for the first time and is a terrific addition to the Festival, with two showings on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings: Faces Places, Agnes Varda’s latest film and Ai Weiwei’s Human Flow.
They will also host a poetry and music event on Thursday evening. Poet Matt Harvey, in collaboration with artist Claudia Pilsl, will be followed by the jazz group Shadow Factory performing live accompaniment to The Seashell and the Clergyman – the first surrealist film directed by Germaine Dulac in 1928.
Plus a FREE showing on Saturday afternoon of Next Generation, short films by young people.
Most film screenings offer time for discussion with either the film-makers or local experts, including Rob Hopkins, Jacqi Hodgson and Guy Watson.
There will also be four free workshops: two on animation, one each for children and adults, a guided walk discovering birds with Tony Whitehead and a corker on Craftivism – radical activism through crafts.
We are very excited about the range and depth of the programme – make a date for mid-November and join us!
