Event Description:
Houston Institute for Culture
and the Havens Center Present
Topical Films and Discussions
Free and Open to the Public
All films 7:00pm (unless otherwise noted)
Havens Center - 1827 W. Alabama St, Houston, Texas 77098
Havens Center is located about 1/4 mile east of Shepherd on W. Alabama Street, on the south side of the street at 1827. Parking is available at St Stephens Episcopal Church (on the south side of the street near Woodhead and Alabama) or in the parking lot directly across the street from Havens Center (on the north side of Alabama).
Havens Center is accessible. Please call 713-521-3686 for accessibilty information.
Saturday, April 21
The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, 2004
Directed by Faith Morgan; Written and Produced by Faith Morgan, Eugene "Pat" Murphy and Megan Quinn
The independent documentary was inspired when Faith Morgan and Pat Murphy took a trip to Cuba through Global Exchange in August, 2003. That year Pat had begun studying and speaking about worldwide peak oil production. In May, Pat and Faith attended the second meeting of The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, a European group of oil geologists and scientists, which predicted that mankind was perilously close to having used up half of the world's oil resources. When they learned that Cuba underwent the loss of over half of its oil imports and survived, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the couple wanted to see for themselves how Cuba had done this.
During their first trip to Cuba, in the summer of 2003, they found what Cubans call "The Special Period" astounding and Cuban's responses very moving. Faith found herself wanting to document on film Cuba's successes so that what they had done wouldn't be lost. Both of them wanted to learn more about Cuba's transition from large farms and plantations, and reliance on fossil-fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers, to small organic farms and urban gardens. Cuba was undergoing a transition from a highly industrial society to a sustainable one. Cuba became, for them, a living example of how a country can successfully traverse what we all will have to deal with sooner or later, the reduction and loss of finite fossil fuel resources.
Radically Simple, 2005, 35mins
Directed by Jan Cannon
Imagine that you are first in line at a potluck supper. The spread includes not just food and water, but all the materials needed for shelter, clothing, healthcare, and education. How do you know how much to take? How much must you leave for your neighbors behind you - not just the 6 billion human beings, but our fellow creatures and the yet-to-be-born? In the face of looming ecological disaster, many people feel the need to change their own lifestyle as a necessary step in transforming our unsustainable way of life. But it's the first step that is often the most intimidating.
In Radically Simple, we join engineer and author Jim Merkel as he presents his views on sustainable living in public presentations and workshops at his home. These meetings, which revolve around discussions on global economics and resource consumption, show Merkel leading by example. He demonstrates that a radically simple lifestyle - while at times intimidating - is not only possible but extremely satisfying.
Radically Simple is a practical, personal answer to the challenge laid down by Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth that will appeal as much to "cultural creatives" and students as to policymakers and sustainability professionals.
Event Sponsor:
Houston Institute for Culture
Event Website:
www.houstonculture.org
