Storytellers, environmental change makers, teachers, students, & other humans come together for Earth Day in July - Session Three: Healthy Water, Healthy World, a 60-minute slate of short films, followed by a 60-minute panel discussion with experts and filmmakers.

For the full, updated schedule, and more info on the panelists: please visit the Earth Day in July Page on the MOFF Site
Where: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D's Osher Hall, 522 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101
Parking: Street Parking

When: Thursday July 24, 2025. Films begin at 2pm, panel begins at 3pm, session ends at 4pm.
Tickets: $10

This Event is Included in:
All-Access Pass
Earth Day in July Pass
Friends of MOFF Pass

Matinee Pass

Earth Day in July is brought to you by: No Umbrella Media, a video agency specializing in community storytelling.
More info:
Complimentary coffee, tea and water at breaks.
Lunch is NOT included.

FILM PROGRAM

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE: TENNESSEE WETLANDS & THE MCEWEN FAMILY
Wetlands: Changing the Narrative reveals the many ways that healthy wetlands benefit hunters, anglers, ranchers, family farmers, and those who love the outdoors. From small mountaintop vernal pools to sprawling bottomland hardwood forests, we’ll discover people making meaningful impacts on their local wetlands through a mix of landowner stewardship, science, engineering, and sheer determination.

FOLLOW THE WATER
This short documentary follows a crew that embarks on a source to sea kayaking adventure. The goal was to find the source of the drinking water for Portland Maine, then follow the water on its journey to the ocean. Along the way, they encountered many amazing people and organizations.

DREAM TO CURE WATER
Peru is home to 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers, but 40% of their surface area has disappeared in the last fifty years alone. The glaciers are a crucial water source in Peru. People are forced to adapt as they disappear. According to Peru's Natural Institute of Natural Resources, all of the country's 200 glaciers are under threat. It is feared that all of them will be gone soon. In the Andes, due to glacier melt, rocks are exposed to the air for the first time in thousands of years. The glacial meltwater now carries acid-heavy metal minerals into the rivers. And from the rivers, to the crops and drinking water for livestock and for people. This is the story of two remote mountain communities that depend on the water and are trying to fight back against the effects of climate change through innovative adaptation, combining ancestral tradition with state-of-the-art science.

BIIR GARDI (GUARDIAN OF THE WELL)
Amid a historic drought in the southern reaches of Chad's Sahara Desert, a well-goer recalls his lost cattle and contemplates his plans for a change in livelihood.

SALMON RESTORATION ON PENOBSCOT RIVER
The Penobscot Nation & Maine Department of Marine Resources collaborated to help restore Atlantic Salmon to Penobscot Nation's waters.

Panelists:

Paul Hunt - Portland Water District

Paul Thomas Hunt has been the Environmental Manager for the Portland Water District, Maine’s largest water and wastewater utility, since 1999. For the first few years he thought he had a water job - protecting Sebago Lake, the water source for 200,000. Eventually he realized it Is also a land job. Since then he has been working to protect both the lake and the quarter-million acres of forest that carpet the watershed of the lake since this forest is the critical first step in the water treatment process. A treatment plant you can hike on.

Bentley Brown - Filmmaker

Bentley Brown is an artist-scholar whose films have revolved around the subjects of global mobility, disidentification, and belonging, such as 'Oustaz' (2016) and 'Revolution From Afar' (2020). In recent times, however, he has transitioned to projects with scientific explorations, such as 'Behind the Sun' (2023) and its exploration of astrophysical metaphors to make sense of a broken relationship with person and place. He is the filmmaker of BIIR GARDI: GUARDIAN OF THE WELL.

Chuck Loring - Director, Natural Resources for the Nation

Charles (Chuck) Loring is both a member of the Penobscot Nation and the Director of Natural Resources for the Nation. As a voice featured in the film, he can speak powerfully about the Penobscot River’s cultural, ecological, and economic significance — and what it means to protect places that have sustained Native communities for generations.

Betsy Cook - Trust for Public Land

Betsy Cook leads Trust for Public Land’s work in Maine, including the historic Wáhsehtəkʷ project featured in the film(s). Betsy is deeply committed to ensuring all Mainers have equitable access to the outdoors, including Maine’s beloved lands and waters. She has worked with communities across the state to create over 25,000 acres of new public lands, parks, and community forests. With her deep experience, she will bring perspectives on how local partnerships shape the future of outdoor access across the state.