Planet In Focus - Our Planet, Your Focus, Our Festival

Over the past year, Planet in Focus has been undergoing many changes reflecting the increased demand for our outstanding programming. There is no question that PIF’s national and international reputation is growing and that this is an opportune moment to promote and celebrate environmental filmmaking. We have been busy since our sixth annual festival. In December, we produced a mini-film festival at the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal. We have also been touring the country on our Cross Canada Tour with screenings in Sackville, Ottawa, Sault St. Marie, Guelph, Edmonton, Dawson City, and Saskatoon, with additional screenings planned all the way through to June.

New faces have joined our staff, enabling us to deliver our content and services more efficiently and professionally. Myan Marcen-Gaudaur, founder and Festival Director of Cinema Jazz, is our new Archive/Educational Outreach Officer. Currently, she is busy expanding our outreach and cultivating new audiences for PIF locally, nationally, and internationally. If you visit our office, you will also see how our archive has expanded to better able to service our public. Meanwhile, our Festival Manager, Anne Mark, has gone on maternity leave and Sandra Edmunds has joined us as our interim Operations Manager. Sandra will be looking after our administrative needs, the annual festival operations, and our volunteer development. Sandra hails from a film producing background and she will be familiar to many of you from her work at imagineNative and Hot Docs. Myan and Sandra have their own messages to you in this newsletter.

This year our festival will take place November 1-5, 2006, so please hold those dates on your calendar. Once again, we plan to screen approximately 75 films from Canada and around the world. The coming festival will also see the launch of our new Spotlight Program which will enable us to focus and solicit films on specific themes and issues. A retrospective of approximately 10 to 15 films will mark our 2006 spotlight on Toronto in the Moving Image: Since the Dawn of Cinema to the Present. Here, we will examine the urban environment, the city of Toronto, as an “evolving work in progress” as recorded through the cinematic lens. We expect this program to be a point of departure for broad public discussion and debate on the built environment and to be PIF’s contribution to Toronto’s “Year of Creativity”. As always, we will continue with our very engaging Schools Program, Family Program, Multi-faith Event, Youth Camera Action Camp, and Industry Workshops.

Stay tuned as well to a special PIF event that we are planning at the Todmorden Theatre in Toronto on Friday, June 16th as part of the City of Toronto’s Humanitas Festival. We are very fortunate to take part in this festival as it gives further testimony to the significance, impact and growth of this festival.

Finally, I want to remind you that we are currently in the midst of our fundraising campaign. As you are aware, much of PIF’s plans and initiatives cannot be realized without individual, organizational, and corporate involvement and financial support. At the moment, PIF is operating in a very competitive and uncertain environment for scarce public dollars, and we are increasingly relying on private donations and sponsors to support us. Please consider giving a donation this year to Planet in Focus so that we can continue to provide the valuable content programs and services that we offer. With your donation, you will receive a charitable tax receipt, acknowledgement in the Festival program book, and all the tangible benefits associated with the level of your gift.
There are many ways in which you can get involved with Planet in Focus. We look forward to your participation and contributions.

Call for Volunteers!

Greetings, I am very pleased to be a part of Planet in Focus. As Operations Manager, I am looking forward to a busy year as we head into the seventh annual festival. Like all film festivals we rely on the generosity and skills of volunteers.

There are a variety of positions available both before and during the festival. We currently need help in the office with the solicitation of submissions and data entry. There are also many opportunities within our committees. In return for your help you will receive:

• The opportunity to contribute your skills and gain valuable experience and knowledge through participation in the largest environmental film festival in Canada;
• The opportunity to contribute to Toronto's vibrant cultural
• community;
• Access to Planet in Focus 2006 screenings and events;
• Acknowledgement as a valuable team member.

So get involved! Contact:

Sandra Edmunds
Operations Manager
sandra@planetinfocus.org; Volunteer Line: 416-531-4689

Archive and Educational Outreach Update

The Planet in Focus Archive is the only film library of its kind in Canada. Our environmental films span 5 continents, 7 years and countless topics and themes. Though widely varied in viewpoints and approach, our films share in their ability to evoke strong emotion and inspire change, whether the topics are climate change, globalization, war, technology, wildlife, or ecological issues. At Planet in Focus, we believe that awareness is the first step in making a positive difference to the well-being of our planet.

It is our on-going goal to create the country’s largest centre for the research, study and exhibition of film and videos which focus on the environment from a range of perspectives and styles through documentary, drama, animation, children’s, and experimental filmmaking. Expansions to our present initiatives such as the PIF Cross Canada Tour (see upcoming dates below), local school programmes, and other significant outreach initiatives will be made possible by this unique collection.
Our archive is currently under construction, but we hope you’ll check back in the upcoming months as we edge towards the completion of the first phase of our archive development. For immediate inquiries, or if you wish to donate the use of your environmental film to us, please contact:

Myan Marcen-Gaudaur
Archive/Educational Outreach Officer
myan@planetinfocus.org

Upcoming Cross Canada Tour Dates:
March 21, 22, & 29, 2006: Yellowknife
Film Society
Yellowknife, NWT

March 30, 2006:
Global Visions
Edmonton, AB

April 22, 2006:
Collingwood Music Festival
Collingwood, ON

April 22 & 23, 2006:
Guelph Environmental Leadership
Guelph, ON

Messages from Members of the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs

Governance Committee

As PIF grows, our Festival Board is transitioning from an operational-oriented to a policy-oriented board. As a result, a Governance Committee has been struck to work with the board on an ongoing basis to ensure that it has a clear understanding of its roles and responsibilities.
Through workshops and discussions, board members are increasing their skills at financial oversight, making board meetings more focused, defining the roles of committees, evaluating their effectiveness, and clarifying relationships with others both inside and outside of the PIF organization. This work will continue throughout the year.

Wendy Francis
Chairperson, Governance Committee

Marketing & Communications Committee

For 2006, the Marketing & Communications Committee will establish solid strategies to further the profile of Planet in Focus and build the annual festival audience as the organization continues to mature into the foremost environmental film and video festival in North America.
To achieve this goal, the committee will further define its working relationship with the Festival Director and her staff to coordinate campaigns that speak to our core supporters and cultivate our ever-increasing audience.
The quarterly newsletter will take on an entertainment magazine approach, while newsflashes will speak to timely, important news for supporters and media. And our website and all marketing materials will reflect a fresh new image for PIF created by a new team of creative consultants.
If you would like to join our committee, particularly if you have marketing, writing, or web editing experience, please contact:

Dara Rowland
dara@dararowlandassociates.com

Programming Committee

The Programming Committee meets throughout the year to develop diverse programming that compliments the main themes of the films in the festival. Our mandate includes planning and implementing the following programs: industry workshops for filmmakers, panel discussions featuring high-profile experts, special screenings for families with young children, screenings for elementary and high school students, animation workshops, social events (e.g. Opening and Closing Night parties, Awards Ceremony), and a Multi-faith Ceremony which celebrates diverse perspectives on the spiritual nature of the environment.

We are always looking for creative ideas to help enrich the festival program. If you have any input or if you would like to join our committee, please contact:

Michelle Cader
mcader@sympatico.ca

Partnering Committee

The Partnering Committee aims to build mutually beneficial linkages with like-minded groups at the local, regional, national and international level. Through creative partnerships, the committee intends to connect with our core supporters and reach new audiences. By raising PIF's profile, we want to connect with people who might not ordinarily pay attention to environmental issues and those not necessarily hooked in to Toronto's film festival circuit.

There are many benefits to partnership, including access to an amazing array of inspiring and thought-provoking films from around the world. At the core of PIF's mission is the promotion of film and video as a catalyst for discussion and action. Through this powerful medium, our partners can connect with and inspire their own audiences. If you are interested in joining, or learning more, please contact: