The Art Theatre will bring to 4th Street’s Retro Row an Earth Day Weekend Film Festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, it was announced. Four different environmentally conscious and inquisitive films will each be followed by a Q&A session where audience members can learn more about sustainable practices.
On Saturday, the International Ocean Film Tour, which features the best ocean adventures, water sports and environmental documentaries of the year, will show at 11:00AM followed by a Q&A session with Sandy Trautwein, Ph.D., interim vice president of Husbandry and Curator of Fish and Invertebrates at Aquarium of the Pacific and Henry C. Lystad, producer of the film.
On Sunday, Dine LBC will co-present “Straws” at 10:30AM in a continuing effort to promote a local initiative encouraging Long Beach restaurants to educate diners on the detrimental effects using plastic straws has on the planet, followed by a Q&A with Primal Alchemy Caterer Chef Paul Buchanan, restaurateur John Sangmeister of Gladstones, and Long Beach resident Steve Rice, who collects thousands of discarded plastic straws every month.
At 11:30AM on Sunday, the adventure documentary showing a team of international scientists revealing the causes and effects of plastic pollution, “A Plastic Ocean”, will be screened followed by a Q&A with Long Beach Youth Panel facilitated by Algalita Marine Research Foundation.
At 2:00PM, watch “Love and Bananas: An Elephant Love Story”, followed by a Q&A session with Ashley Bell, writer/director/producer of the film.
“Being a beach city, Long Beach should be a leader in environmental awareness,” Jan Van Dijs, owner of The Art Theatre, said in a statement. “The topics of the films we chose to screen during our weekend Earth Day Film Festival are timely and thought provoking, particularly the short film Straws, considering the #NoStrawLongBeach movement sweeping the city with the help from Dine LBC right now.”
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Tickets, which range between $8.50 and $11.50, can be purchased at The Art Theatre box office or online here.
The Art Theatre is located at 2025 East 4th Street.