Planet in Focus

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

History
Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, founded in 1999, by Mark Haslam.

PIF is currently run by a volunteer Board of Directors and a small staff including Executive Director, Katherine Bruce, Programs Director, Alessandra Cannito, Programmers Julian Carrington and Lesley Johnson, and Pre-Screeners, Ron Ma, Hui 'Jane' Wang, Gesila Azorbo, Michael John Long, and Gabriela Aguilar.

Planet in Focus operates year-round to produce the annual film festival in October, as well as year round programs such as the Cross Canada Campus Tour, Green School Tours and Eco-Film Lab filmmaking workshop for elementary students.

PIF grants yearly Eco-Hero Awards, and patrons include David Suzuki, Vandana Shiva, Rob Stewart, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Autumn Peltier, Ron Finley, Col. Chris Hadfield, Jennifer Baichwal, Margaret Atwood, Edward Burtynsky, and James Balog, among others.

Award Winners

 * Best Canadian Short Film - The Pipe Dreams Project directed by Faros Des Roches and Ryan Vandecasteyen
 * Best Canadian Short Film Honourable Mention - Spokedirected by Lulu Wei
 * Best Canadian Feature Film - Occupy Love directed by Velcrow Ripper and produced by Ian Mackenzie and Nova Ami
 * Best Canadian Feature Film Honourable Mention - Lost Rivers directed by Caroline Bacle and produced by Katarina Soukoup
 * Best International Short Film - HOT & BOTHERED (UK) directed by Giannina Lasalvia
 * Best International Feature Film - Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black
 * The Mark Haslam Award - Rainforest: The Limit of Splendourdirected by Richard Boyce
 * The Mark Haslam Award Honourable Mention - Just Do It! directed by Emily James
 * The Green Pitch Award - Honey For Sale directed by Amanda Strong
 * The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - Warehouse 13, Honorable Mention, In Organic We Trust directed by Kiplin Pastor2011

Award Winners

 * Best Canadian Short Film - Nanameskueu (Tremblement de terre) directed by Réal Junior Leblanc
 * Best Canadian Feature Film - Waking the Green Tiger directed by Gary Marcuse
 * Best International Short Film - Carbon for Water directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
 * Best International Feature Film - There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho directed by Briar March
 * The Mark Haslam Award - Keepers of the Water directed by Ayelen Liberona
 * The Green Pitch Award - Carpe Diem directed by Charlotte Engel
 * The Green Screen Award sponsored by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund - Score: A Hockey Musical directed by Avi Federgreen, Honorable Mention, Powerful: Energy for Everyone directed by David Chernushenko
 * Canadian Eco-Hero - Kevin McMahon
 * International Eco-Hero - Ric O'Barry

Toronto Premieres

 * Urban Roots directed by Mark MacInnis
 * On Coal River directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood
 * La Reine Malade (The Ailing Queen) directed by Pascal Sanchez
 * Waseya Dizihin directed by Kevin Papatie
 * White Water, Black Gold directed by David Lavallee
 * The Clean Bin Project directed by Grant Baldwin
 * L'Homme de glace (Ice Philosophy) directed by Melanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins
 * There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho directed by Briar March
 * Darwin directed by Nick Brandestini
 * Solartaxi: Around the World With the Sun directed by Erik Schmitt
 * Waking the Green Tiger directed by Gary Marcuse
 * Spoil directed by Trip Jennings and Andy Maser

Canadian Premieres

 * Revenge of the Electric Car (Opening Night Gala Presentation) directed by Chris Paine
 * The Whale (Closing Night Gala Presentation) directed by Suzanne Chisholm
 * Future of Hope directed by Henry Bateman
 * Happy People: A Year in the Taiga" directed by Werner Herzog 
 * Silent Snow: The Invisible Poisoning of the World directed by Jan van den Berg and Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann
 * Der Tag des Spatzen (Day of the Sparrow) directed by Philip Scheffner
 * Enjoy Your Meal!:How Food Changes the World directed by Walter Grotenhuis
 * L'Or des autres (The Gold of Others) directed by Simon Plouffe
 * Powerful: Energy for Everyone directed by David Chernushenko
 * Leonids Geschichte (Leonids Story) directed by Rainer Ludwigs
 * Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution directed by Guy Lieberman
 * The Polar Explorer directed by Mark Terry
 * Last Stand on the Island directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
 * To Reveal the Fourteen Windows directed by Christina Battle
 * Cowboys in India directed by Simon Chambers
 * Le White (White Houses) directed by Simona Risi

North American Premieres

 * Up in Smoke directed by Adam Wakeling

World Premieres

 * Portrait of Resistance: The Art & Activism of Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge directed by Roz Owen
 * The Past as Future directed by Ton van Zantvoort
 * From Chernobyl to Fukushima: A Campaigner's Journey directed by Aube Giroux
 * Brick by Brick: The Story of the Evergreen Brickworks directed by Catherine Annau
 * Niger River: A River Under Siege directed by Bernice Notenboom
 * Carbon for Water directed by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson
 * On the Line directed by Frank Wolf

Toronto Premieres

 * Blue Gold: World Water Wars directed by Sam Bozzo
 * Peace with Seals directed by Miroslav Novak
 * Boreal Forest Expedition directed by Nick and Lindsay Bradford-Ewart
 * Northland: Long Journey directed by Edie Steiner
 * Chasing Wild Horses directed by Matt Trecartin and John Wesley Chisholm
 * Howser in Peril directed by Tom Prior
 * Death in the Forest directed by Gordon McLennan
 * Being Innu directed by Catherine Mullins
 * Waste = Food directed by Rob Van Hattum
 * Addicted to Plastic directed by Ian Connacher
 * Umbrella (film) directed by Du Haibin
 * Birth of the Smoked Meat directed by Jeanne Pope and Zoe Mapp
 * Tableland directed by Craig Noble
 * Papiroflexia directed by Jaoquin Baldwin
 * The Poet of Grappa directed by Stefano Scarafia
 * Flowers of Rwanda directed by David Muñoz
 * Intestines of the Earth directed by Barbier Olivier
 * Gimmie Green directed by Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg
 * Mama Coco: The Sacred Leaf directed by Felix Atencio-Gonzales
 * Rallco, a Bad Business directed by Nicholas Garcia and Xavier Vasqué
 * Pick me Up directed by Andrea Bussman
 * Gates of the Arctic directed by Rory Banyard

Canadian Premieres

 * Our Wonderful Nature directed by Tomer Eshed
 * Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist directed by Norman Lofts
 * Heron Pond: A Boardwalk View directed by Cade Bursell
 * Eviction directed by Terra Schnoor
 * Terra Sacer directed by Alberto Guevara, Elysee Nouvet
 * A Massacre Foretold directed by Nick Higgins
 * The Beggars in Addis Arabia directed by Jakob Gottschau
 * Paradise- Three Journeys in this World directed by Elina Hirvonen
 * The Sacred Food directed by Jack Pettibone Riccobono
 * My Inventions directed by Robert Holbrook
 * Global Food: Once Upon a French Fry directed by Pierre-Olivier François
 * Land of Writers directed by Silvio Ciuccetti
 * Slow Food directed by Vanja Ohna
 * Greina directed by Villi Hermann
 * On Relations directed by Jorge Acebo
 * Roaming Around directed by Brigette Bertele
 * Fighting Goliath- Texas Coal Wars directed by Mat Hames
 * Charcoal Traffic directed by Nathan Collett
 * Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Impact of War directed by Alice and Lincoln Day
 * Where Do They Go? directed by Julianne Becker
 * The Right to Survive- Turtle Conservation and Fisheries Livelihoods directed by Rita Banerji, Shilpi Sharma
 * The Squid Daddy’s Labour Room directed by Ke Chin Yuan
 * Today the Hawk Takes One Chick directed by Jane Gillooly
 * We Belong to this Country directed by Alison Leonard
 * One of the Last directed by Paul Zinder
 * Fate of the Lhapa directed by Sarah Sifers
 * Sounds of the Seas directed by Volker Barth
 * The Last Nomads directed by Andrew Gregg
 * Eternal Mash directed by Catherine van Campen
 * Journey of a Red Fridge directed by Lucian and Natasa Muntean
 * Strange Homeland directed by Jens Schanze
 * Boomrang directed by Daryoush Gharibzadeh
 * One Water (documentary) directed by Ali Habashi and Sanjeev Chatterjee
 * Justice Now directed by Martin O’Brien, Robbie Proctor
 * Alethea directed by Petra Holzer, Ethem Ozguven
 * Crossed Wires directed by Elida Schogt
 * The Green Dragon directed by Caroline Harrison
 * Digital Cemeteries directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
 * Crabs on the Road directed by Gabriela Dominguez
 * Atlantis Approaching directed by Elizabeth Pollock
 * This Much I Know directed by Bridget Hanna
 * A Moment of Clarity directed by Sarah Cowhey, Louise Davidson
 * If Man Could Fly directed by Yael Kipper Zaretzky
 * Ma’rib directed by Rainer Komers
 * Farms Without Farmers directed by Jessica Weisberg, Benjamin Thorp Brown
 * The Hunger Season directed by Beadie Finzi
 * Are There Still Any Shepherds directed by Jorge Pelicano

North American Premieres

 * Begging for Change directed by Dave Jones
 * Alchemy directed by Eva Bakkeslett
 * Showdown at the Top of the World directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
 * Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines directed by Tristan Loraine
 * 49 Words for Snow directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

World Premieres

 * Driven By Vision directed by Michael McNamara
 * The Falldown directed by Ben Graeme
 * Tales of a Yellow Bike directed by Tina Hahn
 * Soldiers of Peace directed by Timothy Wise
 * Breadmakers directed by Yasmin Fedda
 * Return to Nepal directed by Robert Lang
 * Thirst directed by Gail Maurice