MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

In the midst of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a volunteer team embarks on a mission to evacuate a zoo’s 5,000 creatures from the bombardment zone.

Feldman EcoPark, located in the woods outside Kharkiv, was home to 5,000 creatures cared for by 100 employees. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the inhabitants found themselves behind the front lines and buffeted by bombardment. Oleksander Feldman, the wealthy businessman who created the zoo, realized that a mass evacuation was the only way to save the animals from further physical injury and psychological anguish. The sight of several species settling at his sprawling estate is touchingly surreal, but lions, tigers, and bears prove a bigger challenge. Checkpoint Zoo records the yeoman efforts of volunteers like neophyte veterinarian Tymofii, who returned from abroad when the war began, and recovering addict Andrii, who found a job, a home, and a calling at EcoPark. Their extraordinary endeavor, marked by stunning triumph and shocking tragedy, embodies the noblest characteristics of our species: compassion, cooperation, courage, and a dedication to the preservation of civilization.

Expected In Person Guest

The brutal impact of climate change drives Bay Area filmmaker Natalie Zimmerman's intense documentary. Focused on the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, the film weaves breathtaking natural footage with the struggles of people navigating an environment that is slipping away.

The brutal impact of climate change drives this beautiful, intense documentary from Bay Area filmmaker Natalie Zimmerman. As sea levels rise, the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati faces predictions that it will be uninhabitable by 2030. Oceania weaves breathtaking natural footage with the struggles of people navigating an environment that is slipping away. Koyaanisqatsi director Godfrey Reggio executive produced this urgent film that takes the devastating measure of change on the island over eight years. We follow along as the population wrestles with indisputable scientific data and struggles with the emotional dimensions of this fast-moving emergency. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the fragmented histories and disparate experiences of the people affected by the calamity. Highlighting the overwhelming truths all around, the film asks serious questions and ponders realistic calls to action as a community struggles to stay afloat.

Crumbling Druid Heights, a once-thriving bohemian enclave near Mill Valley, could face the wrecking ball. Longtime resident Ed Stiles recalls a vibrant community and details its outsized influence on countless disparate 20th-century cultural movements.

Tucked inside Muir Woods near Mill Valley lies crumbling Druid Heights, a once-thriving bohemian enclave. Founded by famed lesbian poet Elsa Gidlow and Roger Somers, a gifted carpenter who made “wibbly, wobbly architecture” inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and others, Druid Heights today is in danger of falling under a National Park Service wrecking ball. Ed Stiles, a longtime resident and skilled furniture maker, gives an oral history of the property, recounting its rich influence on Beats such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac; philosopher Alan Watts, whose book The Way of Zen was instrumental in spreading the popularity of Buddhism in the United States; and rock artists including Neil Young and Graham Nash. With archival footage of the burgeoning hub and contemporary video of its slow decline into disrepair, Stiles takes the viewer on a tour through some of the biggest cultural movements of the 20th century, and Druid Heights’ place in them.