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Movies On The Radio: How Films About Nature Educate And Enchant

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,
Laura Pellicer
Published July 3, 2019 at 12:50 PM EDT
Sir David Attenborough poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of a new series of Our Planet, at the Natural History Museum in central London, Thursday, April 4, 2019.
Sir David Attenborough poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of a new series of Our Planet, at the Natural History Museum in central London, Thursday, April 4, 2019.

Man versus wild is an enduring theme in film that continues to draw movie-goers to the box office. From the 1998 IMAX epic “Everest” to the solo-survival story in “Cast Away,” movies about nature probe how experiences in nature shape human’s understanding of their own capabilities.

Host Frank Stasio talks with film experts Marsha Gordon and Laura Boyes about listener picks for movies about nature and the environment.

But as our relationship with the planet changes, so too does the way it is cast on screen. Documentaries like “Before the Flood” narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and the “Our Planet” Netflix series with David Attenborough explore how human activity is also decimating the earth’s natural beauty.

Before the Flood (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UGsRcxaSAI On this edition of Movies on the Radio, film experts Marsha Gordon and Laura Boyes discuss listener’s favorite movies about nature and the environment. Gordon is a film professor at North Carolina State University. Boyes is the film curator at the North Carolina Museum of Art and the curator of the MovieDiva series.

Deliverance (1972) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at-gOm93fZgSoylent Green (1973) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_jGOKYHxaQHarold and Maude (1971) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mz3TkxJhPcGordon will lead a Q&A session after the screening of the film “KIFARU” on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at North Carolina State University. The film follows the lives of two young Kenyan rhino caretakers and is directed by NC State alumnus David Hambridge.

Boyes will screen Howard Hawks’ “Ball of Fire” at The Carolina Theatre in Durham on Wednesday, July 10 at 7 p.m. and “A League of Their Own” at The Carolina Theatre on Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m.

 

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer