We Are Not Alone

Umwelt. Envrionnement. Ambiente. 環境. Environment. 환경.

These are six different languages to indicate ‘environment’. But they are the same: they all contain the meaning of ‘ring’, surrounding and making continuity with something else.

Likewise, environment is what connects everything in the world. Within that ring of connection, we receive comfort, astonishment, and learn true values of life. Paradoxically, we face environmental problems that make us uneasy. It does not hurt to say our whole life style is heavily dependent on the environment that surrounds us. While some are somewhat aware, many urban citizens, especially, minimize the environment’s scale to godforsaken rainforests. They keep on forgetting that our daily conducts on environment go once around the world and eventually come back to us, as it is a continuous ring.

 

Let us take a break from such a consequential matter.

            The opening ceremony of the 8th Green Film festival in Seoul in Yonsei University.
            Picture provided by Korea Green Foundation.


Who could not like a good movie? Its messages are sent via effective soundtracks, actors’ publicity, storylines, etc.

Red carpet, flashlights, spotlights, beautiful floor length dresses, celebrated celebrities are what take over the general image of any film festival. However, as this environment film festival became familiar to the public, the event turned out to be about pure love and respect for our surroundings.

From 2004, Green Film festival in Seoul (GFFIS) has been held by Korea Green Foundation. Since its inception, it has been screening environment-related movies and awarded them. It is one brilliant course of direction to approach such an ambiguous matter to the general public. Now, it has become the most well known green-film festival in Korea.

About 130 different films were shown in Sangam CGV in a week, which were from 30 different countries.  According to Greenfund, they open 'partial competition', and take in films theming environment, water, food, energy related films. Among them, Green fund selects outstanding films to award them. The entire festival's meaning can be found in its intention of trying to raise awareness about the issue. Also, it is focusing on monitoring ways to solve and mitigate the problem through an art called 'movie'.

On May 18^th, the opening ceremony for the 8^th GFFIS was held in Yonsei University. The opening movie was <I’m sorry, Thank you> directed by Yim Soon-Rye, Song Il-Gon, Park Heung-Sik and Oh Joum-Kyun.

 

            Directors, actors and actresses of the opening movie <I’m sorry, Thank you> in the opening ceremony.
            Picture provided by Korea Green Foundation.

 

‘Many of us make lame excuses that we do not go across environment very much in our crazy lives. But, when we look around, our pets bring the environment close, the closest we can get. This movie is to reemphasize the reality of pets living in concrete forest with human beings. The importance of living things as a whole and the meaning of co-existence can be recaptured in the movie.’ said in its program announcement sheet.  

 

Picture provided by Korea Green Foundation.

 

 Korea Green Foundation : A private foundation purely established for the environment and common interest. Its main project is ‘350’, that they hope to see a world below 350ppm of CO2 concentration, which is an internationally agreed rate of stable environment.

Korea Green Foundation - http://www.greenfund.org/

Korea Green Foundation - Climate Change Center : http://www.climatechangecenter.kr/

GFFIS - http://www.gffis.org/