When Jamie Redford, son of Robert Redford, arrives in Palm Springs next week, the visit will not have anything to do with his famous father. Instead, the prolific director of documentaries will be coming in to receive the 2017 Seeing The Bigger Picture Award from the American Documentary Film Festival. Previous winners include Oliver Stone, Peter Coyote, Harvey Weinstein, Peter Bogdanovich and Joe Berlinger.
“During AmDocs, Jamie will be present for three of his most recent films, including a Work In Progress and soon to air HBO special, ‘Happening.’” said Ted Grouya, Festival Director. “If you believe in sustainability, you need to see this film, if you are not sure, you still need to see this film.”
Jamie Redford writes, directs and produces for film and television. “I come from a long line of storytellers who see stories as a way to make sense of things,” he says. “It is essential to who I am and how I see the world.”
As co-founder and chair of the Redford Center, a non-profit organization committed to transforming environmental and social challenges into stories that inspire action and change, Jamie Redford has made it his business to tell stories that shine a light on issues that might have otherwise been remained in darkness. AmDocs will screen three of his films as part of its retrospective on this dynamic filmmaker. The first, Watershed (film screens Sun., April 2, 2:30pm), is an important look at the Colorado River which sweeps through seven U.S. and two Mexican states, and is a lifeline to expanding populations and booming urban centers that demand water for drinking, sanitation and energy generation. The second, Toxic Hot Seat (film screens Sun., April 2, 6:30pm) dives into a deadly nexus of money, politics and power – and introduces us to a few brave citizens willing to stand their ground and demand an answer to an essential question: Why have we let 84,000 chemicals go largely unregulated in this country?
Finally, in Happening (film screens Sat., April 1, 7pm), Redford embarks on a colorful personal journey into the dawn of the clean energy era as it creates jobs, turns profits, and makes communities stronger and healthier across the US. Unlikely entrepreneurs in communities from Lehi, UT to Georgetown, TX to Buffalo, NY reveal pioneering clean energy solutions while Jamie’s discovery of how clean energy works, and what it means at a personal level, becomes the audiences' discovery too. Reaching well beyond a great story of technology and innovation, “Happening" explores issues of human resilience, social justice, embracing the future, and finding hope for our survival.
“AmDocs is proud to be sharing our highest award for 2017, the Seeing The Bigger Picture Award, with filmmaker and environmentalist, Jamie Redford.” Grouya continued. “His work exemplifies the sort of documentary filmmaking we strive to celebrate with our festival.”
Tickets and Passes for the 2017 edition of The American Documentary Film Festival are available by clicking here or in person at the Camelot Theatres Box Office.