EarthX Film & Music Festival, the only environmental film festival in Texas, takes place Oct. 20-22 with three evening programs in three beloved venues in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Each program features film, music and conversation with an environmental bent, but Saturday night’s showcase will make for one extraordinary evening.
The second night of the festival, titled “The Heart Beats Outside: An Evening of Immersive Environmentalism,” will take place at the beautifully restored Arts Mission Oak Cliff in the heart of historic Winnetka Heights. At the event, which begins at 6 p.m., guests will have the unique opportunity of experiencing the feelings of being in nature while still being in Dallas.
The evening revolves around the powerful idea that people tune in to the self while out in nature and is meant to stimulate all five senses, starting with taste, touch and smell. Curated small plates from the environmentally conscious Dive Coastal Cuisine will be presented as guests stroll the garden adjacent to the former church. The restaurant uses organic, non-GMO and locally grown produce and grass-fed, hormone-free beef, and free-range, natural chicken.
As for sight, beautiful projection mapping from Dallas-based Lightware Labs will transport North Texans to far-off land and waterscapes before the evening’s four short films are presented. From the ocean to the rainforest, to the mountains and clouds, the festival will bring the environment to guests inside the theater. Sounds will come in with the live beats of Brazilian drumming by the Nick Rothouse Trio impactfully syncing up with the drums heard in the final film.
Films in the showcase are:
- Walking on Clouds: This stunning short film shows Brazilian athlete Rafael Bridi’s 2021 highline crossing between two air balloons over the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil, in which he achieved the highest highline record in the world by the Guinness Book.
- Soundscape: Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada in this film directed by adaptive climbing pioneer Timmy O’Neill. Using expert camera work and emotive, novel animation, the film brings a new understanding to visualizing how the blind climber interacts with his environment.
- Light Beams for Helena: Helena Bourdillon’s path to discovering her potential in the freediving world started 20 years ago, when she was on the verge of suicide. Light Beams For Helena explores her journey with depression, her ongoing mental health efforts, and what diving into the darkness of deep water has taught her about life and light.
- Tempo II: Movement in Jungle: A conceptual exploration of the shared feelings between music and mountains, Tempo II. Movements in Jungle is set in the world's largest urban jungle, exploring styles of Brazilian drumming and trail running and taking viewers to a place they may never see otherwise.
Following the screenings, Timmy O'Neill, who appears in and directed Soundscape, will join EarthX Film & Music Festival’s Laura Shaunette for a Q&A session. O’Neill, a 20-year climbing ambassador sponsored by Patagonia, Osprey Packs and Clif Bar, is dedicated to “adventure impact” – the combination of outdoor adventure and social impact. He is also the co-founder of Paradox Sports, a nationwide, adaptive-climbing nonprofit.
To end the evening, world-renowned cellist and multi-instrumentalist Ben Sollee will perform. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, and mandolin along with percussion and unusual cello techniques. His songs exhibit a mix of folk, bluegrass, jazz, and R&B elements. Sollee is also an environmental activist; he is known for his “Ditch the Van” bike tour, in which he and his bandmates hauled instruments, merchandise, and baggage on their bikes or on trailers pulled behind while on tour.
“This evening is all about the outdoors. The way we listen and connect to nature and the way it connects to us is really powerful,” said EarthX Film & Music Festival Director Hayley Nenadal. “Even the food we’ll eat Saturday night represents circularity in nature. The compost from Dive Coastal Cuisine feeds the soil at The 4DWN Project, the soil feeds the food, and the food feeds the people.”
EVENT INFORMATION
What: EarthX Film & Music Festival
When: Oct. 20-22, 2023
Where: Various locations throughout Oak Cliff
Tickets: Oct. 20, 2023
Doors open 6 p.m., showtime 7 p.m.
Texas Theatre, 231 Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX 75208
$37 - Film screening, live Q&A and concert by Donna Missal
$50 - Same as above plus admission to the after-party
Oct. 21, 2023
Doors open 6 p.m., showtime 6 p.m.
Arts Mission Oak Cliff, 410 S. Windomere Ave., Dallas, TX 75208
$60 – Seating, Dive Coastal Cuisine small plates, Lightware Labs show, film screenings, live Q&A and concert by Ben Sollee
Oct. 22, 2023
Doors 6 p.m., showtime 6:30 p.m.
The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., Dallas, TX 75208
$30 - Floor level seating: Film screenings, live Q&A and concert by Danielle Ponder
$40 - Same as above plus admission to the after-party
$50 - Balcony level seating plus admission to the after-party
$340 – Private suite including eight tickets plus admission to the after-party
Early bird pricing, which includes a 15% discount for all events, is available through Oct. 9, 2023.
Tickets are available for purchase at earthxfilmfestival.org.
About EarthX Film:
EarthX Film & Music Festival's mission is to build an annual flagship environmental film festival in Dallas, Texas, and a year-round community that supports film, music, culture, and the outdoors. We seek to promote film and the art of storytelling in a way that entertains, informs and inspires audiences to get outside, push boundaries, and protect the environment. We are reaching beyond the choir with the environmental conversation. https://earthxfilmfestival.org/