The Big Ohio Primary News -- The Green Chain is Elected to Play Cleveland

The Green Chain's American premiere is set to rock the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 32nd Cleveland International Film Festival is featuring The Green Chain in their newly launched "It's Not Easy Being Green" section and also in their special slate of Canadian films, "Oh Canada."
The American premiere is Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm, with a second showing Thursday, March 13 at 9:30 am. Currently only Festival members can purchase tickets, but general admission tickets will be on sale soon.
Founded in 1977, the Cleveland Film Society has presented the Cleveland International Film Festival every spring for over three decades. Ohio’s premier film event features over 240 films originating from close to 60 countries.
To buy tickets click here.
Here's the official synopsis from their program.
Who doesn’t love trees? Surely the logger loves trees, even the firefighter, and especially the environmentalist protester. But so does the movie star, the logging executive, the tree-sitter living 100 feet high, and the waitress in a small British Columbian town. This film is compromised of a series of monologues by all of the above and more. What these interlocking stories tell us is that there are multiple sides to the environmentalist issue. Each of these individuals has different reasons to love trees. To some, trees are their livelihood; to others, trees are a reason to fight. What’s more is that all of these reasons to love trees inadvertently affect other people’s lives. In exposing the different viewpoints of the logging industry, which is currently dividing and destroying communities in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, Mark Leiren-Young creates a film-- a sort of staged documentary-- based on true tales. While not as laugh-out-loud funny as Christopher Guest, but much more biting and hard hitting, this film will make everyone question where their tree devotion falls along THE GREEN CHAIN.

Kingston Checks out The Green Chain March 1 & 2nd

The Green Chain's Ontario premiere at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival is set. The movie debuts Saturday, March 1st @ 9:30 PM. The second showing is Sunday, March 2nd @ 3:40 PM.

Kingston is the world's largest all-Canadian Film Festival, so start humming "O Canada" and tell all your friends in Ontario to check out the show.

For ticket information click here.

And here's the official program synopsis by Elan Mastai...

The battle between loggers and environmentalists is defining and dividing communities across Canada, and this thought-provoking, unexpectedly funny, and wonderfully acted film explores both sides of an issue that’s never clear cut. Writer-director Mark Leiren-Young tackles a challenging subject with an innovative approach — seven characters deliver seven monologues arguing their perspectives and quietly revealing their intriguing personal connections. The film’s strong environmental core is elevated by incredible performances; many delivered in a single stunning take, from a knock-out ensemble cast including Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer and Tahmoh Penikett, and multiple Genie and Gemini winners Babz Chula, Brendan Fletcher, and August Schellenberg.

Stay tuned for news about The Green Chain's American premiere!

The Green Chain Crowned by Kingston

Some groovy green news...

The Green Chain is one of the six initial selections for the world's largest all-Canadian film festival -- The Kingston Canadian Film Festival.

The other five early selections are some of this year's most acclaimed Canadian features -- Up the Yangtze, Breakfast with Scot, The Tracey Fragments (featuring Oscar nominee, Ellen Page), Shake Hands with the Devil and Green Chain star, Tricia Helfer's "other movie" the S&M comedy, Walk All Over Me.

The Kingston Canadian Film Festival is held February 27 to March 2, 2008.

We'll share our dates as soon as we know them...

The Green Chain Podcast: Tzeporah Berman Part 2

Powersuit Power, Eco-Politics

Berman: ForestEthics crusader.

Tzeporah Berman: Part two of a 'Trees & Us' podcast.

"Green is the new black," says ForestEthics founder, Tzeporah Berman, with a laugh as she tells The Tyee about the rest of the world finally starting to catch up to British Columbians on environmental issues.

In 2007, the former Greenpeace organizer talked politics in Hollywood with Paris Hilton and played politics in Bali with Canada's environment minister, John Baird.

Last week's interview covered Berman's role in Leonardo DiCaprio's cinematic plea to save the planet, The 11th Hour, the upcoming battle of Athabasca and her life under the media microscope.

This week, in the conclusion of our special two-part podcast, Berman deals with the founding of ForestEthics and catalogues some of their major victories . . . including their war against environmentally dirty underwear.

The uncompromising activist also talks about with the challenges of making compromises, the power of powersuits, staying hopeful and discussing lingerie with Gloria Steinem.

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Mark Leiren-Young talks to Tzeporah Berman (part two). (mp3 file)

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The Green Chain Podcast: Tzeporah Berman

From starring in The 11th Hour for Leonardo DiCaprio to fighting to survive the 11th hour in Bali, last year Tzeporah Berman was everywhere.

At a party in Vancouver a few months ago celebrating ForestEthics' astonishing victory in convincing the BC government to preserve 2.2 million hectares of habitat for the world’s only mountain caribou the key players in the group were introduced to the audience and applauded. Everyone else in the organization was identified by their official title. Berman was introduced as, “our rock star.”
A former star with Greenpeace and one of the founders of ForestEthics, the woman BC Premier Glen Clark once called an enemy of the state has been on the frontlines of the Canadian environmental movement for over a decade. But in 2007 she became… a rock star… achieving Suzukisque status when she was chosen as one of the featured players (along with Dr. David) in Hollywood’s cinematic plea to save the planet, The 11th Hour and scored an official audience with the media icon of our age, Paris Hilton.
She ended her amazing year facing off against Canada’s Minister of the Environment, John Baird at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali-- a story she chronicled for The Tyee.
I met Berman at the Forest Ethics office in downtown Vancouver not long before she left to Bali. Here's part one of a special two part podcast about spinning celebrity, Berman's biggest battles, sticky fights in the tar sands and how we’ll always have Paris.
- MLY

The Williams Lake Podcast

One of the most rewarding moments in making The Green Chain came just after we'd wrapped post-production and I interviewed Wade Fisher for The Tyee podcast series.

Every scene in the movie kicks off with a response to the question, "how do you feel about trees." And every character starts their story with the same three words: "I love trees."

Wade Fisher spent more than two decades representing BC forest workers. When I was visiting friends in Williams Lake I met Wade to do my first interview for the podcast series and at the end of our conversation I decided I'd try out the question from the film and ask him, "how do you feel about trees?"

There was a pause and then he gave an answer that took my breath away. "I think I love trees."

As he continued to answer the question he echoed so many of the sentiments from our logger, Ben Holm, that I think... Wade is entirely based on our logger... So if I sound a little stunned at the end of this interview it's only because I was a little stunned.

One reason this interview is so free flowing is that I was meeting Wade to talk about his role with the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coaltion, but as soon as we started talking he told me he'd just left the group. So I wasn't sure where the interview was going to go -- or if I was going to use it for the series -- until we'd already been talking for a few minutes.

I think Wade offers a glimpse into a world that most people seldom see. It's the world we visit in The Green Chain. And I hope you'll visit it now. And when the movie opens at a theatre near you...

Here's the podcast.

News on when we'll be where next coming soon.

Happy Chanukah,

Mark

Tricia Helfer Whips Up Excitement and The Green Chain Storms the Weather Network

Tricia Helfer's (other) new movie Walk All Over Me hits (and whips) Vancouver theatres next week and it's the cover story of this week's Georgia Straight.
The Green Chain is also creating a storm on Canada's Weather Network in a new story about the west coast enviro scene featuring Mark Leiren-Young and The 11th Hour's Canadian eco-idol, Tzeporah Berman.
Also... be sure to pick up the latest issue of The Vancouver Review for a fascinating, in-depth review of The Green Chain (which we'll be posting here soon).
And now here's a bit about Tricia and The Green Chain from this week's Straight story by Mike Usinger...
With major roles in two feature films this year, Helfer has given every indication that she isn't going to be another Cindy Crawford when it comes to leaving the catwalk for the screen. Georgia Straight contributor and Vancouver native Mark Leiren-Young directed Helfer in his 2007 movie, The Green Chain, which looks at the issue of logging old-growth forests from various sides. Helfer, who plays a celebrity jumping on the green bandwagon, blew his mind when she showed up for filming and proceeded to rattle off a 13-minute monologue in one perfect take.
"I kept asking her, 'So, no theatre experience at all?' 'No,'" Leiren-Young tells the Straight by phone. "I had trouble believing she wasn't a theatre-trained actor. She was just astonishing."