Where there's a Will, there's a way

A Road Not Taken made its U.S. premier at the DC Environmental film festival in March this year. We're lucky enough to have it for a free showing at the Springfield Environmental Film Festival April 20!

Here's the trailer and synopsis.

In 1979, Jimmy Carter, in a visionary move, installed solar panels on the roof of the White House. This symbolic installation was taken down in 1986 during the Reagan presidency. In 1991, Unity College, an environmentally-minded centre of learning in Maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria roof.

In "A Road not Taken", Swiss artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller travel back in time and, following the route the solar panels took, interview those involved in the decisions regarding these panels as well as those involved in the oil crisis of the time. They also look closely at the way this initial installation presaged our own era.

You can see it Tuesday, April 20 at City Nights Theater in Capital City Bar & Grill. Food and drinks are available for purchase while you watch the film on a full size movie screen.

Short films on energy issues begin at 6:30. Starting at 7:00 we'll have two speakers on current energy issues impacting the state: Illinois Sierra Club Director Jack Darin, and Sierra Club coal campaign organizer Becki Clayborn. A Road Not Taken starts at 7:30.

A silent auction will benefit the Sierra Club Sangamon Valley Group, which is organizing the film festival.