San Francisco Film Society Presents Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, an Award-Winning Documentary on November 12 At Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

Profile of Goldman Environmental Prize-winner to Screen for Bay Area Students and General Public with Support from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund

October 17, 2008

San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Film Society presents the second film program of its partnership with the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, which was initiated earlier this year to support environmental film programming as part of the Film Society’s year-round public screenings and events, and to expand the environmental awareness of the Society’s Youth Education Program. Alan Dater and Lisa Merton’s award-winning documentary, Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai (USA/Kenya 2008), will have its San Francisco premiere on Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema.

Dr. Wangari Maathai, a Goldman Environmental Prize winner in 1991, is the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, an organization that fosters environmental awareness by encouraging women across the country to plant trees. Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Maathai narrates her story with grace and humor in this documentary by Alan Dater and Lisa Merton. Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai traces the inception of widespread environmental destruction in Kenya to the days of British colonialism, and weaves the activist’s story into the turbulent history of her country. Matthai connects the destruction of forests in Kenya to issues of human rights, public health and women’s rights. A moving testimony to the power of grassroots political change, this inspiring film has garnered awards from film festivals around the world including the Audience Award at the Hot Docs Festival and the Amnesty International Human Rights Award at the Durban International Film Festival. Photographed by Alan Dater. 81 min. Distributed by Marlboro Productions.

Tickets for 7:30 pm screening: $10 for year-round SFFS members; $12.50 general; $11 seniors, students and persons with disabilities. Available online at www.sffs.org.

At 10:00 am on November 12 Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai will screen at the Embarcadero for Bay Area middle and high school students. And the following day Lisa Merton will show the film to classes at the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland.

Codirector Lisa Merton is expected to introduce her film and participate in a Q&A following all the screenings.

The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world’s largest prize for grassroots environmentalists. Founded in 1990 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Prize currently awards $150,000 annually to each of six activists from six continental regions. Nominated confidentially by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals, recipients are chosen by an international jury of experts on the basis of their sustained and important environmental achievements. The Prize offers these environmental heroes the recognition, visibility, and credibility their efforts deserve. Learn more at www.goldmanprize.org.

Since 1991, the Film Society has supported successful Schools at the Festival arts-in-education programs that bring children ages 8–18 to special San Francisco International Film Festival screenings and visiting filmmakers to Bay Area schools, with a particular focus on elementary, middle and high school–age students. In October 2005, SFFS expanded its Schools at the Festival program into a comprehensive year-round Youth Education Program that today dovetails with school curricula to present a cogent slate of interlocked programs. These include more than 40 annual screenings for youth in schools and at local theaters as well as filmmaker visits to classrooms; teacher training seminars; curriculum support, including lesson plans, study guides and online materials; and on-site school visits for educators in Bay Area elementary, middle and high schools. Since October 2005, SFFS’s year-round Youth Education Program has served over 15,000 students and teachers from 200 educational institutions.

For more information, www.sffs.org.
For screeners, interviews and press materials contact Hilary Hart at 415.561.5022 or publicity@sffs.org
For photos and press materials visit: http://download.sffs.org/press/, username: sffs\press, password: pre$$

The Taking Root programs are supported by hotel sponsor Hilton San Francisco Financial District.

The San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23–May 7, 2009), is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.

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