Split Estate

Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction

October 2019 •English

The remarkable true story of three animal species rescued from the brink of extinction: California’s enchanting Channel Island Fox, China’s fabled Golden Monkey, and the wondrous migrating crabs of Christmas Island. Discover successful, heartfelt, and ingenious human efforts to rescue endangered species around the world.

Arise

September 2013 •English

A film that captures the portraits and stories of extraordinary women around the world who are coming together to heal the injustices against the earth, weaves together poetry, music, art, and stunning scenery to create a hopeful and collective story that inspires us to work for the earth. The list of impassioned, indefatigable female environmental activists featured in this film includes Winona LaDuke, a Native American who has championed the use of solar and wind power on reservations; Theo Colborn, head of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, who fights against toxic chemicals in our water supplies; Beverly Grant, who’s created a vibrant farmer’s market in a black neighborhood of Denver, Colo.; Dana Miller, who spearheads an “urban agriculture movement” in the same city; and Vandana Shiva, who champions organic farming in India.

Tomorrow

November 2015 •French

Climate is changing. Instead of showing all the worst that can happen, this documentary focuses on the people suggesting solutions and their actions.

Koyaanisqatsi

April 1983 •English

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

The Bell of Chornobyl

February 1987 •Russian

The first full-length film about the Chornobyl tragedy, filmed in May-September 1986. The authors did not set themselves the task of showing an exhaustive picture of what happened in Chornobyl. They sought to capture the testimonies of people directly involved in the tragedy, the lessons of which have yet to be realized.

Sacro GRA

September 2013 •Italian

After the India of Varanasi’s boatmen, the American desert of the dropouts, and the Mexico of the killers of drugtrade, Gianfranco Rosi has decided to tell the tale of a part of his own country, roaming and filming for over two years in a minivan on Rome’s giant ring road—the Grande Raccordo Anulare, or GRA—to discover the invisible worlds and possible futures harbored in this area of constant turmoil. Elusive characters and fleeting apparitions emerge from the background of the winding zone: a nobleman from the Piemonte region and his college student daughter sharing a one-room efficiency in a modern apartment building along the GRA.

An Inconvenient Truth

May 2006 •English

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Mother Earth

January 1991 •English

This short documentary is a celebration of life on planet Earth. Made from haunting visual images selected from 50 years of NFB productions, the film looks at human beings, their place on earth, and their deep interconnection with all other beings. Evocations of forces that threaten the planet and all its inhabitants also offer avenues for reflection.

Prêts pour la décroissance?

February 2020 •French

Fuel

November 2008 •English

Record high oil prices, global warming, and an insatiable demand for energy: these issues define our generation. The film exposes shocking connections between the auto industry, the oil industry, and the government, while exploring alternative energies such as solar, wind, electricity, and non-food-based biofuels.

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

January 2004 •English

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge...

The Water Cycle

September 1972 •English

An award-winning short exploring man-made impacts on New Zealand’s water cycle.

Brave New River

May 2013 •French

Brave New River (directed by Nicolas Renaud) is a feature documentary exploring the paradoxes of our control over nature, the meeting between two worlds and the dilemmas of those taking part in the transformation of the land.

Wilderness: The Last Stand

May 1993 •English

A look at the mandate and performance of the U.S. Forest Service in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Through interviews with Forest Service employees, loggers, environmentalists, scientists and politicians, we discover the ever-widening impact of current policy on the human and wildlife communities that depend upon the National Forests for survival. In 1905 the National Forest system was created to protect the remainder of the great woodland ecosystems that once covered America. Yet each year, more and more of these public forests have been sacrificed in the name of commerce. Everyone talks about finding the balance between preserving jobs and protecting the environment, but solutions are long in coming. While we debate, American taxpayers subsidize forest destruction to the tune of 300 million dollars each year.

Radio Bikini

March 1988 •English

It starts with a live radio broadcast from the Bikini Atoll a few days before it is annihilated by a nuclear test. Shows great footage from these times and tells the story of the US Navy Sailors who were exposed to radioactive fallout. One interviewed sailor suffered grotesquely swollen limbs and he is shown being interviewed with enormous left arm and hand.

Crude

September 2009 •English

The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon.

The Gas Weapon

May 2014 •Swedish

Analysis of the impact of natural gas - more specifically, the Ukrainian and European dependence on Russian gas - on European politics in the wake of Euromaidan. Featuring interviews with high-level government officials, journalists and industry analysts from several countries, the film argues that a generation after its break from the USSR, Ukraine is independent in name only. To bring the country to its knees, all Russia has to do to is turn off the gas, as it did briefly in the winters of 2005 and 2009.

Acoustic Ocean

May 2018 •English

Acoustic Ocean is an artistic exploration of the sonic ecology of marine life in the North Atlantic. Located on the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, the video centers on the performance of a marine-biologist diver who is using a life-size model of a submersible equipped with all sorts of hydrophones and recording devices. In this science-fictional quest, her task is to sense the submarine space for acoustic and bioluminescent forms of expression.

GasHole

April 2010 •English

Documentary film about the history of Oil prices and the future of alternative fuels. The film takes a wide, yet detailed examination of our dependence on foreign supplies of Oil. What are the causes that led to America turning from a leading exporter of oil to the world's largest importer?

Before the Flood

October 2016 •English

A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.