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‘Mother’ rerun concludes Green Film Series season

Photo by Health Policy Plus Shoppers look for items at the bustling Ajbar Market in Ethiopia in 2010. The final movie of 2019’s Green Film Series, “Mother, Caring for 7 Billion,” deals with Beth, an American child-rights activist, who travels to Ethiopia and meets Zinet, the oldest daughter of a family of 14, who becomes her family’s main provider.

HOUGHTON — Residents will have a second chance to watch a Green Film screening that they might have missed.

The Green Film Series is replacing its scheduled screening of “Wasted! The Story of Food Waste” with a repeat of Feb. 20’s “Mother Caring for 7 Billion.” The film will be shown from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday at G002 Hesterberg Hall (forestry building) at Michigan Technological University.

The original showing of ‘Mother Caring for 7 Billion’ coincided with a snowstorm, which kept many people from making, said Joan Chadde, an organizer of the Green Film series.

The 2011 film features Beth, an American mother and a child rights activist from a family of 12, as she realizes the impact the rate of population growth could have on the ecosystem. She travels to Ethiopia, where she meets Zinet, a young woman who comes from a family of 14. Zinet rebels against tradition by going to school rather than being married at a young age.

The film explores population growth’s relationship to religion, economic inequality, family planning, gender equity and the environment.

“If we improve women’s education in the world, they are then able to get better employment, better care for their families, and they will have fewer children, which will overall benefit our natural resources,” Chadde said.

Now in its eighth year, the Green Film series spans a number of topics related to the environment, such as water, climate change, agriculture, gardening and energy, Chadde said.

Along with the movie, there is also a discussion, facilitated by someone with expertise in the issue.

Because the topics always change, the series attracts new people, Chadde said.

“It’s an opportunity to bring a variety of diverse people in the community together to talk about issues that concern all of us,” she said. “I often introduce them and ask ‘How many of you are here for the first time?’ There’s always people there for the first time.”

Members of the co-sponsoring organizations meet in November and December to pick out the films for the next year’s series. They get suggestions from people

The screening is free. However, a $5 donation is suggested to defray the costs of licensing the film for public screenings.

Refreshments are provided by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative.

Co-sponsors are LSSI, Michigan Tech Great Lakes Research Center, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Keweenaw Land Trust, MTU Department of Social Sciences and MTU Sustainable Futures Institute.

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