Stony Brook Southampton's First Annual Green Film Series Continues With "Black Diamonds"

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y., March 13, 2009 – Stony Brook Southampton's Avram Theater's First Annual Green Film Series continues on Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m., with a screening of “Black Diamonds.”

Still from, "Water First"

The series is free and open to the public, with films running each Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Upcoming films include: “Water First" and "Turtle World” (3/26), “Swim for the River” (4/2), and “Build Green” (4/16). All movies are produced by renowned environmental film company Bullfrog Films. Each event will also have a designated speaker to discuss the topic at hand. For further information, contact 632-5023.

“Black Diamonds” charts the escalating drama in Appalachia over the alarming increase in large mountaintop coal mines. These mammoth operations have covered 1200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste, demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest and flattened hundreds of Appalachian mountain peaks. Citizen testimony and visual documentation interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists and scientists create a riveting portrait of an American region fighting for its life – caught between the grinding wheels of the national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride and natural beauty. The film includes testimony from Julia Bonds, West Virginian citizen-turned-activist, who received the 2003 Goldman Award; Ken Hechler, former West Virginia Secretary of State; William Maxey, former Director of West Virginia's Division of Forestry; and the many citizens of West Virginia. The event will be moderated by former Stony Brook Southampton Professor Martin Schoonen.

“Water First” draws a clear correlation between clean water and all of the other Millennium Development Goals. The goals are a set of eight targets set by the UN in the year 2000 and endorsed by 187 nations. Sadly, at the halfway mark, we are less than halfway there. A highly acclaimed animated film, “Turtle World” follows a lone sea turtle traveling through space; her breath creates a whole new atmosphere. This becomes filled with forests, rivers, mountains and enterprising monkeys that are forced to learn about sustainability. The event will be moderated by new Stony Brook Southampton Dean/VP Mary Pearl and Professor Shopon Mollah.

In its second year, Stony Brook Southampton, a model of sustainability that was featured in The New York Times this past summer and on “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” and “The Today Show” this past spring, is continuing with its plans to build one of the nation's truly green campuses.

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