John Lowry Dobson was an American amateur astronomer and is best known for the Dobsonian telescope, a portable, low-cost Newtonian reflector telescope. He was also known for his efforts to promote awareness of astronomy through public lectures including his performances of "sidewalk astronomy". Dobson was also the co-founder of the amateur astronomical group, the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers.
Sidewalk astronomy or street corner astronomy refers to the activity of setting up a telescope in an urban place on a for-profit or non-profit basis as entertainment and/or for public education.
Jeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker. He has been Academy Award shortlisted, has won a Peabody, a DuPont, and 3 Emmy Awards, with 13 Emmy nominations. He is the owner of film and television production company All Rise Films.
Sir! No Sir! is a 2005 documentary by Displaced Films about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The film was produced, directed, and written by David Zeiger. The film had a theatrical run in 80 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada in 2006, and was broadcast worldwide on: Sundance Channel, Discovery Channel, BBC, ARTE France, ABC Australia, SBC Spain, ZDF Germany, YLE Finland, RT, and several others.
Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, The Fabulous Allan Carr, Tab Hunter Confidential, I Am Divine, Vito, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story.
The Vietnam Friendship Village is a residency founded in 1992 by George Mizo, an American veteran of the Vietnam War. The institution serves individuals afflicted by conditions related to Agent Orange while also opening channels of cross-cultural dialogue. Originally conceived of as a residence for children and elderly people presumed to be victims of Agent Orange, the focus of the village has broadened, and it now provides a variety of services such as alternative health treatments, food grown in an onsite garden, and vocational training.
All in This Tea is a 2007 documentary film co-directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht, about Chinese tea. It follows the American tea connoisseur David Lee Hoffman as he travels to remote tea-growing areas of China. Hoffman attempts to interest Chinese tea growers and distributors in fair trade issues, and explores the importance of terroir and organic growing methods in both the quality and future sustainability of the Chinese tea market.
Escape from Affluenza is a 1998 PBS 56-minute documentary film produced as a sequel to the 1997 documentary Affluenza. While the original concentrates on affluenza—consumerism and materialism in modern society—the sequel focuses on how to avoid this. It looks at stories of how to reduce debt, stress, time-pressure, and possession-overload.
Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).
The Sacred Balance is a book by environmentalist David Suzuki, which is in its second edition as of 2007. The book explores human society's impact on the natural world, both for the planet and the people living on it. Suzuki reveals how dependent humankind is upon the planet's water, soil, sunlight, and the breath of its vegetation. Threats to the planet's balance, ranging from toxic pollution to global warming are also discussed.
Josh Fox is an American film director, playwright and environmental activist, best known for his Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning 2010 documentary, Gasland. He is one of the most prominent public opponents of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. He is the founder and artistic director of a film and theater company in New York City, International WOW, and has contributed as a journalist to Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, NowThis, AJ+ and Huffington Post.
Mike Cahill is an American filmmaker.
Thomas Selim Wallner is a German/Canadian filmmaker.
Facing Fear is a 2013 documentary film by Jason Cohen.
Public Herald is a non-profit investigative news organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Launched in 2011 by Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, Public Herald is known for their investigative reporting on fracking activity and its effect on water in Pennsylvania. Their slogan is, "media by and for the public interests."
George Mizo was an American activist, veteran, and founder of the Vietnam Friendship Village in Hanoi, Vietnam. The institution serves individuals afflicted by conditions related to Agent Orange while also opening channels of cross-cultural dialogue.
Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth is a feature-length documentary film on the indigenous Maya in Mexico and Guatemala and their opposition to gold mining in their nation.
Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town is a documentary based on true story, directed by filmmaker Micha Peled. The movie was released on October 2, 2001. It is Peled's second documentary after Will My Mother Go Back to Berlin?(1993). It is the part one of Peled's Globalization Trilogy where the other two films of the trilogy are China Blue(2005) and Bitter Seeds (2011). The film's music was directed by Pete Sears and the cinematography was taken care by Allen Moore. It was premiered in South by Southwest Film Festival in 2001. The documentary won CINE Golden Eagle Awards and Golden Gate award in San Francisco International Film Festival.
Micha X. Peled or Micha Peled is a San Francisco based Israeli film maker. He is known for his Globalization Trilogy, a series of three films including Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town,China Blue and Bitter Seeds.
Jennifer Anne Schradie is an American-French digital sociologist who is an assistant professor of sociology at Observatoire sociologique du changement (OSC) at Sciences Po in Paris, France where her research and teaching focuses on digital activism, digital labor, online participation, and the digital divide. Her work has become influential in academic circles while she has also become a high-profile public commentator on digital issues. Her notable work includes the book published in 2019,The Revolution That Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives. Prior to her academic career, Schradie was a documentary filmmaker and community organizer.
