Green Fire Screening

October 19, 2011
7:00 PM
Litrenta Lecture Hall
The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, Green Fire, is coming to Washington College in October. The film traces how the author of A Sand County Almanac shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement, inspiring projects all over the country that connect people and land.
In his seminal 1949 book, Leopold wrote: “We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”
The impact of his own gunshot from a rimrock in Arizona changed Aldo Leopold’s thinking, leading to the key insight that was the culmination of his life’s work: responsibility for the land.
Green Fire was produced in partnership between the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the Center for Humans and Nature, and the US Forest Service. The film provocatively examines Leopold’s thinking, renewing his idea of a land ethic for a population facing 21st century ecological challenges. Leopold's biographer, conservation biologist Dr. Curt Meine, serves as the film's on-screen guide.
Drawing on photographs, correspondence, manuscripts and other archival documents from the voluminous Aldo Leopold Archives as well as historical film and contemporary full-color footage on location, including landscapes that influenced Leopold, the film challenges viewers to contemplate their own relationship with the land community.
The film also features commentary and insight from some of today’s most recognized and credible scholars and conservation leaders, including: three of Aldo Leopold’s children—Nina, Carl, and Estella, Leopold scholars, noted environmental writers, scientists, humanities experts, public policy leaders, business leaders,; and leaders of non-profit groups inspired by Leopold.
Join the Center for Environment & Society, the Friends of Eastern Neck, and Chester River Field Research Center at Chino Farms for a special screening of Green Fire on Wednesday, October 19th, at 7:00 PM in Litrenta Lecture Hall at Washington College. Contact jfairchild2@washcoll.edu or 410-778-7295 for more information. .