It’s day six of the 8th annual Salem Film Fest! As the Fest moves closer to closing night, the films being offered are amazing; the fest has saved some of the best films for the slow wind-down.
Here’s today’s lineup – film descriptions are from the Salem Film Fest official site at http://salemfilmfest.com/2015! Remember, online ticketing is no longer available for Fest films – the limited tickets still available can be purchased at the CinemaSalem box office.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
5:30 pm SEEDS OF TIME
PEM Morse Auditorium
A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Gene banks of the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation-inspired rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are already affecting farmers globally. But Fowler’s journey, and our own, is just beginning. From Rome to Russia, and finally to a remote island under the Arctic Circle, Fowler’s passionate and personal journey may hold the key to saving the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds.
6:30 pm IN THE SHADOW OF THE COPACABANA
CinemaSalem One
After blogger Ricardo Gama criticizes the political corruption in Brazil, he is shot twice in the head. Against all odds, Gama survives, but is traumatized by the event. A year later, Ricardo is running for the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. He sees these elections not only as a way into politics, but also a path to freedom. While Ricardo runs his campaign on the Internet, rival politicians are fighting for every vote on the streets with music and dancers. Through this single destiny a dark side of Brazil is depicted, the world public has not known yet.
7:30 pm CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC
PEM Morse Auditorium
CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC is a year-in-the-life portrait of Native Alaskan teenagers coming of age in Barrow, Alaska – the northern-most community of the United States. For these teenagers, growing up has become a little more complicated than it was for their ancestors who originally named this place Ukpiagvik (“where we hunt snowy owls”). They are the 21st century descendants of a culture that has endured for millennia on this isolated but rapidly changing tundra. The harvest of the agvik (bowhead whale) remains the heart of their culture – in the fall, motor boats and modern methods are used, whereas in the spring, whaling crews use the umiaq (a seal-skin boat made by hand) and ancient traditional methods.
8:00 pm KILLSWITCH
CinemaSalem One
KILLSWITCH is about the battle for control over the Internet. Lawrence Lessig, Tim Wu, and Peter Ludlow frame the story of two young “hacktivists”, Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden, who symbolize the disruptive and dynamic nature of the Internet. Their lives parallel one another as they free information to millions on the Internet, putting them directly in the cross-hairs of the most powerful interests in the world. Will this be a cautionary tale of what happens when you dare to take on elite power structures? Or will it be the spark that ignites a revolution that will redefine democracy in the digital age?
8:15 pm THE OPTIMISTS
CinemaSalem Screening Room
The Optimists are a volleyball team of women in Hamar, Norway, aged 66 to 98. They practice weekly, but have not played a match for 30 years. Now there is finally a match, but who is the other team? According to rumor, it’s a group of handsome Swedish gentlemen across the border.