The Unforeseen offers highlight among environmental films
The EcoFocus Film Festival in Athens might be the ideal venue for the beautiful, horrifying film The Unforeseen. Laura Dunn's documentary presents a thoughtful, at times lyrical, exploration of urban sprawl and environmental protection by examining threats to Austin, Texas', historic Barton Springs. Athens shares some of Austin's mellow atmosphere and progressive values, while nearby Atlanta is all too familiar with sprawl as a social issue and a public plague.
An initiative of the Eugene P. Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, the EcoFocus Film Festival presents 12 feature-length films and 25 shorts from Oct. 23-26, all centered on environmental themes. Opening night showcases Antarctica through a panel discussion and screening of Encounters at the End of the World (Three stars. Thurs., 7 p.m.; Sat., 11 p.m.), a nonfiction portrayal of South Pole scientists from Grizzly Man director Werner Herzog. The festival finds another highlight with director Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze (Five stars. Fri., 5 p.m.; Sat., 1:30 p.m.), a brilliant portrayal of China's new economy through the narrative prism of the flooding of the Yangtze river and the displacement of riverside communities.
Screenings of The Unforeseen (Four stars. Fri., 9 p.m.; Sun., 8:30 p.m.) feature cinematographer Lee Daniel as a guest, who should shed light on the film's memorable artistry. The Unforeseen features stunningly beautiful photography worthy of executive producer Terrence Malick, whose own films, including The Thin Red Line, contrast the strife of human affairs with superb cinematography of the natural world. The Unforeseen presents a veritable tapestry of unspoiled green spaces, eyesore skyscrapers and animations that show the evolution of huge developments from roads to plumbing to buildings.
Environmental documentaries typically set up a dichotomy between nature and development comparable to, say, Dr. Seuss' tree-hugging children's book The Lorax. The Unforeseen ultimately endorses a Lorax-like viewpoint but gives individuals on the other side of the divide a hearing. Texas developer Gary Bradley serves as a recurring protagonist victimized by ambition and forces beyond his control, although an environmental lawyer calls Bradley "a con artist of the highest level." Bradley describes growing up at the mercy of the elements on a small-town Texas farm. He eventually moves to Austin and launches a huge, ambitious subdivision, only to be nearly wiped out by the late 1980s savings and loan crisis. (What? A credit and housing collapse instigated by the deregulation of the financial sector? Hope we learn from that mistake!)
Bradley finds corporate rescuers in a company with a poor environmental record, which mobilizes Austin's activists and concerned citizens intent on protecting nearby landmark Barton Springs. The development fails following an all-night city council meeting dominated by passionate speakers, but the springs' safety isn't guaranteed.
A lobbyist named Dick Brown describes how he engineered legislation to circumvent the protections, and we witness how the springs suffered. Shots from 1996 show crystalline waters full of snorkelers and turtles, but the water turns cloudy, like thin soup, by 2004. Incidentally, we never see the lobbyist's face, but hear his voice decry liberals while he ominously builds an intricate model of a fighter plane. Among the other interviewees, Robert Redford waxes nostalgic about learning to swim in the springs, the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards explains the necessity of environmental legislation, and journalist William Greider argues for "improvement"-oriented growth as opposed to wasteful "size-based" growth.
The Unforeseen's latter third loses some of its urgency when it shifts attention from the Barton Springs case. The film gives voice to homeowners pursuing the American dream of "more house for less money" but also shows the devastating possibilities of unchecked development. The Unforeseen makes sense out of complex issues and uses practical speech to convey the long-term consequences of some of our short-term decisions. The Unforeseen alone justifies a day trip to the EcoFocus Film Festival – but be sure to carpool, people.