BELFAST — Belfast Maine’s Colonial Theatre is excited to host a film that has its roots right here in Belfast with local author and filmmaker Jim Merkel on May 14 at 6:15 p.m. Come learn how and why the documentary “Saving Walden’s World” was created, taking Merkel around the world for research, filming, and screenings of this uniquely personal film on women’s empowerment, culture, and steps that are being taken globally to develop sustainable living and food solutions.
The documentary “Saving Walden’s World” is a project with a long life, both in development and screenings, as it is now a featured selection at several global film festivals, including the Puerto Aventuras International Film Festival, Love & Hope International Film Festival, in Barcelona, Spain, Crown Wood International Film Festival in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the Five Continents International Film Festival in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. This is a rare opportunity to meet the filmmaker and see why the film is garnering international attention.
“Saving Walden’s World” looks at what is working today and how these solutions can shape a better tomorrow. Director and writer Merkel weaves a story that spans his early personal experience as a military subcontractor and his later studies of three countries where non-capitalist cultures thrive.
“Having monitored the progress of the documentary for over three years: locals and the Colonial staff alike are looking forward to finally screening ‘Saving Walen’s World’ in Waldo County, said theatre Director Kyle Walton. “Amplifying the voice of Maine-based filmmakers lies at the heart of a core mission for this Downtown Belfast not-for-profit.”
A Future Wish from a Parent to a Child
“Saving Walden’s World” is a visual poem and a promise from a father to the world’s children, a promise that provides a glimmering future within our reach, if we shift our thinking … Merkel started this research while watching Walden grow and this most certainly fueled his passion to take action, study and share his findings. Jim found a lot of working solutions in place right now. They are solutions you won’t hear about on the news, or much even in social media.
Merkel asks us to Imagine… the world’s wealthy consume less, the poor exit poverty, fewer — yet healthier children are born, easing extinctions, hunger and climate change… A self-reinforcing cycle where all win. And if we can imagine, can we change? Perhaps the beginning of imagination is seeing ways solutions are working, so Jim takes us to places which have been identified as sustainable in terms of food, carbon footprint and localized economies. “Saving Walden’s World” may be the ultimate societal self-help film for an ailing planet.
Common threads between the communities Jim visits on this brief cinematic tour include:
Empowerment of women overall and specifically — Birth Control & Body Rights: Understanding that sense of purpose that comes from established roles and freeing women to go beyond the role of mother and homemaker has transformed countries like Slovenia, Cuba and Kerala, India. This role-shift is a secondary effect of adopting birth control as perhaps the most basic empowerment for women—control of their reproductive rights and bodies.
Collaboration Instead of Competition: Jim examines the towns and villages where women are actively shaping society as contributors, collaborators and inventors. Whether it is through trade, cooperative enterprise or even developing new financial micro-lending tools better suited to localized economies, women are at the forefront of transforming life in villages and small cities where capitalism lacks a historical basis of success. This lack of capitalism coupled with free higher education seems to invite invention and creative solutions.
Focus on Happiness rather than Possessions: While many countries might be deemed poor by capitalist standards, these same countries might wonder at the unhappy realm of comparative materialism and chronic debt associated with capitalist countries. Saving Walden’s World gives us a chance to see a world view that is largely absent from media or education and is in fact, quite the opposite of many government programs. (Jim’s early career found himself trying to stop these very countries from independence—an ironic thread woven through this documentary.)
Entertaining & Enlightening
Whatever your perspective, “Saving Walden’s World” is a worthy cinematic journey. Jim Merkel and his talented team deliver an entertaining and enlightening story that includes a future with hope.
“This film will stir your heart.”—Vicki Robin, author, social innovator
“Jim Merkel offers a special mix of practicality and idealism; a workable mix.”
—Bill McKibben, climate activist, author
“As a former engineer working on weapons who went through a dramatic change in consciousness, his words have a special power.”— Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States”
Date: May 14
Time: 6:15 p.m.
Place: 163 High Street, Belfast
Get Tickets: https://colonialtheatre.com/
Details: savingwaldensworld.org
SWW trailer: https://tinyurl.com/29fhuh2a
About The Filmmaker
Jim Merkel is a filmmaker, engineer and activist. “Saving Walden’s World” grew out of his book “Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth” and the Jan Cannon film “Radically Simple”.
“Saving Walden’s World” was inspired by his experience as a young arms dealer witnessing the impact on ‘enemy’ countries. This ethical crisis led him to women-empowered solutions — that just might help save the planet for the world’s children.
Merkel lives in Belfast with his son Walden and partner Susan Cutting. They are dedicated to a sustainable lifestyle.
