“If we don’t take care of the earth, then the earth will take care of us – and get rid of us,” said permaculturist Roberto Perez in the film, “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.” “The Power of Community” was one of the two films featured at the inaugural session of the Energy Film Festival, which is sponsored by the Sierra Club and Guilford’s environmental club, Forevergreen. The festival showcases films pertaining to energy consumption and the environment in a three-part series.

“The campus is thinking about energy more than ever before, as indicated by the solar panels recently installed in Shore Hall and other sustainability movements on campus,” said Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Kim Yarbray. “The film festival is an easy option for raising the consciousness level on campus. The more we know about energy, the better.”

Yarbray, who organized the event, has wanted to sponsor showings of environmental movies since coming to Guilford in August 2006. As a member of the Sierra Club, she was able to research and find the films for the event through the organization.

“There are more downer movies about the environmental movement than I can count, so I was definitely looking for more upbeat films,” Yarbray said. “I also selected films that integrated some level of culture. I didn’t want the issues addressed to be very American-centric.”

“The Power of Community” tells the story of Cuba’s economic collapse in the early 1990s. Their rate of imported oil dropped drastically, thereby cutting down their energy expenditures practically overnight. Instead of their infrastructure deteriorating, the citizens lessened their dependence on oil and developed more sustainable systems.

“The film was pretty inspiring for me,” said junior Mary Juravich. “It was cool to see Cuba as a model for the coming peak oil crisis that the whole world is going to be faced with.”

The second film shown was “Sundance Summit: a Mayors Gathering on Climate Protection,” which was a short documentary based on the Sundance Summit that took place in Sundance, Utah, on Nov. 12-14, 2006.

The event, organized by Robert Redford, was designed to provide information, resources, and tools to help our nation’s leaders reduce the threat of global warming. Forty-five mayors representing over 10 million Americans attended the event, and all of them committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Both films were moving, well made and educational. They expressed the direness of the threats to our current environment. Both movies also demonstrated how we could start making a beneficial impact.

“Both movies showed the power of forming a community,” Juravich said. “It was great to see the differences people were capable of making.”

Despite the enriching quality of the documentaries, the attendance to the event was lacking. Only a handful of students and two faculty members showed up.

During the question-and-answer session after the films, the few who attended the festival discussed the reasons why an event for such an important issue would produce such a low turnout at Guilford.

The students there brought up the problem of many campus events conflicting with one another. They also pointed to poor means of advertisement and promotion on campus.

“I’m hoping to promote better for the two upcoming sessions of the festival,” Yarbray said. “Students and faculty can really help in getting the word out about campus events.”

On April 3, the two films presented were “Oil on Ice,” which documented the issue of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and “French Fries to Go,” which looked at a biodiesel project in Telluride, Colo.

On April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Bryan Jr. Auditorium, the final showing will include “Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of Pacific Islanders,” which explores the effects of global warming on Pacific Islanders and “The True Cost of Food,” a short animated feature that exposes the hidden costs of mass-produced food.

Despite the busy schedules of students and faculty, those with environmental consciousness should make the time to see these documentaries.