Please visit the films website to schedule a screening in your community: www.momentumdocumentary.com

“Know when to pick your battles”- But, what happens when the fights pick us?

In the small mountain town of South Lake Tahoe, California, two Mixed Martial Artists find community and purpose through competitive fighting, while also fighting their way through some of life's most challenging circumstances.

Life will always be looking for challenges to throw at you, and for our main characters, Chris and Ryan, this is especially so. Faced with some of life’s most unforgiving hurdles, these two are born fighters. MMA fighting gave Chris an escape in his childhood. But when tragedy strikes again, Chris finds himself at the beginning of a whole new fight -- the fight for his life. We watch as he leans on his mentor and longtime wrestling coach, Ryan for guidance. Ryan has been through a lot of adversity in his life, most notably losing his leg to cancer when he was 19 and then coming back to be a Paralympian and one of the best wrestling coaches in the world. We watch Ryan speak with the wisdom of experience to help Chris overcome adversity to achieve his goal of making a comeback to MMA and how to thrive both on and off the mat. This is a story of resilience, vulnerability and sacrifice in the face of life’s most insurmountable hurdles.

Educational and Community Licenses can be purchased through New Day Films and Kanopy.

SUBJECT AREAS: Environment and Sustainability, History, Aging and Gerontology, Economics Children, Youth and Families

LENGTH: 18 mins

SYNOPSIS: As Ernie eagerly prepares for the annual gold panning championships, he reflects on the past 50 years of a life genuinely intertwined between the natural world and a by-gone era, all while offering glimmering nuggets of wisdom in an effort to bridge the gap between a new generation to a dying craft.

Educational and Community Licenses can be purchased through New Day Films and Kanopy.

Complementary companion study guide can be dowloaded HERE.

SUBJECT AREAS: Environment & Sustainability, Latino/Latina Studies, Human Rights, Immigration & Border Studies, Urban Studies.

LENGTH: 27 min

SYNOPSIS: An introverted latino farmer finds himself representing a public movement to save a lush garden centered within his cherished community. Over time he finds out first hand what happens when ethnic livelihoods and migrated farming traditions intersect with the “Urban Growth Machine” and gentrification.

Just two blocks from the Santa Cruz, California boardwalk that attracts flocks of beach-goers from Silicon Valley and the Central Coast every weekend is the Beach Flats Community Garden, or Jardin de la Communidad de la Playa. A green oasis in a concrete jungle, a very different group of people have been tending to a thriving community garden and providing healthy food access to their predominantly Latinx community for over two decades. The Beach Flats Community Garden is home to the oldest apricot tree in the county, rows of white corn, beans, nopales, tomatoes, limes, herbs, chayote and squash, and to a community of dedicated ethnically Mexican and Latinx gardeners that rely on this food.

On a sunny spring day, the Beach Flats gardeners unexpectedly receive a poorly translated eviction notice from the legal landowner, Santa Cruz Seaside Company. The same company owns the famous beach boardwalk and large swaths of high value real estate surrounding the garden. The newly planned use for the space is speculative. Rumors range from a parking lot for boardwalk tourists, apartment complexes, or the corporation’s “own agricultural purposes.” No Place to Grow takes us on a 9-month journey as this vibrant, historically Latinx community fights to save their community garden. This film addresses the issues of cultural marginalization, healthy food access, redevelopment and gentrification, immigration, food sovereignty, land security, and the struggle to live a good life. Over time we find out first hand what happens when ethnic livelihoods and migrated farming traditions intersect with the “Urban Growth Machine” and gentrification.

AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

Official Selection: D.C. Environmental Film Festival 2020

Official Selection: Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2020

Official Selection: Watsonville Film Festival 2020

CREDITS:

Director/Producer: Michelle Aguilar

Editor: Michelle Aguilar and Gabriela Arp

Line Producer: Brenda Avila

Associate Producer: Monika Egerer, Michelle Glow and Lisa Y. Allen

Watch the film on the New Day Films website or on Kanopy.

Download the study guide HERE

RUNNING TIME: 19 minutes

SUBJECTS: Anthropology, Economics, Globalization, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies, Sociology, Agriculture, Cultural geography

REVIEW: "El Cacao is a gem of a documentary film. I’ve used it in my class on consumption for a couple of years, and will continue to do so. The film takes you right there, following the farmer and his family’s journey every step of the way through forest clearings, harvesting and processing the beans, dealing with disease, to the culmination: selling the beans to the co-operative market, showing how cacao becomes sheer commodity. Yet it does all this with great efficiency, an ethnographic snapshot that doesn’t outstay its welcome – other documentaries would be twice or three times as long. Along with the excellent accompanying Study Guide for the film, this means class discussions can be more focused and productive. Highly recommended.” -Dr. Mark Paterson Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies Department of Sociology University of Pittsburgh

SYNOPSIS: In the lush rainforest of Bocas del Toro, Panama, an indigenous cacao farmer, his wife and grandchildren confront environmental and economic complexities as they grow, harvest and sell cacao beans for a global chocolate market. Does Fair Trade Certification really work? Documenting the exceptional wisdom, unconditional devotion and proven ancient farming techniques of one hard-working Ngäbe farmer, Samuel Murillo, El Cacao complicates the question by examining the fairness of his trade.

El Cacao exposes the dark side of chocolate production in Latin America by examining the economics of Fair Trade from the point of view of the indigenous farmers as they attempt to sustain their community through the growth, harvest, and trade of cacao beans in the global market. This 20-minute documentary film highlights the life of an indigenous Ngäbe farmer in Panama and his unconditional devotion to this so-called “superfood.”  The film threads together the themes of neoliberal ideology, human rights, and the economics of the chocolate industry.  While the demand for chocolate in developed nations continues to raise, the farmers in developing countries, like Panama, are rarely awarded the economic incentive promised to them. 

The film utilizes cinema vérité techniques with candid interviews.  Most of the film hinges on intimate shots in personal working and living space within a small Ngäbe community in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama. 

Languages: Spanish with English Subtitles

CREDITS: Producer/Director: Michelle Aguilar Editor: Michelle Aguilar Cinematographer: Michelle Aguilar Line Producer: Adam Armstrong Composer: Simón Wilson

Produced in Association with: The UC Santa Cruz, Social Documentation Program

AWARDS:

Finalist for the Eric Moe Sustainability Film Award (DC Environmental Film Festival 2016)
Nominated for IDA David L. Wolper Award (2015) Winner “Best Short”- Social Justice Film Festival (2015)
Winner Alumni Association Award in the Arts Division , UCSC (2015)

OFFICIAL SELECTION:
Big Sky Film Festival (2016)
D.C Environmental Film Festival (2016)
Margret Mead Film Festival (2015)
Social Justice Film Festival (2015)San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (2016)
Docutime (2016)
Awareness Film Festival (2015)
Napa Valley Film Festival (2016)
Carmel International Film Festival (2015)

Watch Full Film Here —>

Stepping out of the darkness into the light, seeing again after years of blindness. Watch hundreds of patients smile after Operation Restore Vision Team restored their eye sight. Learn about Ben, a child who after becoming blind and dependent on his mother smiles and walk without help.

Credit: Editor

Natalie Panek has spent her life focused on her biggest dream – to be the first to set foot on another planet. Natalie is an aerospace engineer, a pilot, an influencer, an avid explorer, and has made it to the top 100 of astronaut candidates. On an outdoor adventure to the Mars-like terrain of Moab, Utah she searches with her friend to reconcile life’s stumbles, redirections, and challenges in the pursuit of space travel.

Their jobs are to design the next Mars rover, but cutting a path in a Razer 4×4 might be the closest they get to a crewed mission to Mars. In the face of sky-high arches and pinnacles, breathtaking views, and a canopy of stars, it’s easy to believe the sky has no limits.

Director/Producer: Katherine DuBois