The 22nd Annual Tokyo International Film Festival focused on ecology this year and welcomed their guests, including AVATAR’s Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington (pictured), on a green carpet made of recycled plastic bottles.

Although there were over 100 films screened at the festival, the most controversial was definitely The Cove, the documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in a secluded bay in Japan.  It seems that the film was originally not slated to play at the fest but according to the AP, “festival organizers added it at the last minute in part because of pressure from overseas.”

Cove director Louie Psihoyo, an American, plans to attend his film’s sold-out screening on Wednesday in spite of threats from Japanese police to arrest him for previous counts of trespassing while surreptitiously filming the massacres.

We’ll be keeping an eye out on Wednesday to see what goes down.

The first Blue Planet Film Fest will be held from Sept. 4-7 in Santa Monica, CA. The films slated will deal with environmental and animal welfare themes.

The event is attempting to use as many green practices as possible. They are partnering with green ticketing service, InTicketing, to create non-tree tickets, and InTicketing has agreed to plant a tree for every ticket sold. One dollar of each ticket sold will be donated to the cause that particular movie is promoting.

According to Variety, executive director Mira Tweti, said their “goal is to revolutionize the film festival dynamic and have the audience participate to effect change with their dollars and actions.”

Each day during the fest will be themed, with Friday as Animal Day, Saturday as Water Day, Sunday as Land Day and Monday as Future Day.

Starting small but this looks like it could be an interesting event that could grow in the next few years. If you’re in LA and on the Westside, check out the schedule.

All Sustainable L.A. events are free to the public and the day will include a variety of speakers and demonstrations ranging from ‘recycled’ fashion to farmer’s market cooking, self-sufficiency to ecotourism.

Starting at 10am on August 20th the green day is part of the festival week which has a really interesting schedule slated including a rare documentary of the Jackson 5 performing in Senegal, a classic Paul Newman double bill and several indie world premieres.

I wish I was already back in LA so I could check out this festival for myself. It’s always interesting to me to see how producers and planners make green choices for their events.

PETA knew, that’s who. As part of the festivities leading up to the official enshrinement of the players, the schedule of events includes a fashion show. Word leaked out that the organizers of this fashion show were planning on trotting a few real fur pieces down the runway. Thankfully, PETA has stepped in and sent a letter to Hall of Fame interim executive director Ron Dougherty to encourage him to pull the fur pieces, reminding him of a few very well known designers who do not use fur.

“Dozens of designers and retailers–including Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein, Marc Bouwer, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, Ann Taylor, and Jones New York–refuse to use or sell fur.”

Now, despite being somewhat challenged when it comes to all the nuances of football, I do understand a few simple basics. I get that a football is called a “pig skin”, and for obvious reasons despite alternatives being available, but I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around what the heck a fashion show has to do with people about to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even more comical, perhaps, is the description of the event on the 2008 Festival Guide :

Spectators are known to dress to the nines for the stylish event. Flashy outfits and fashionable hats are often seen in the crowd.

Having read that, were I attending, I would certainly be sure to bring my flashiest, most fashionable, and presumably biggest, hat to this event. Maybe it could even be a hat with an anti-fur banner fluttering from the top. Oh, the possibilities!

via: PETA Media Center

The film, for those who missed it the first go around, is about a man’s experience after meeting a dog that changes his life. After seeing the trailer, the short seems to show a man’s first hand encounter with animal testing. It looks exactly as Miss Biel has described it; evocative. It also seems a pretty powerful film, especially for only being thirty minutes in length.

And now she’s announced to MySpace that it will be coming to a few festivals this August!

Where?

Hollyshorts Film Festival – August 7th in LA
Rhode Island International Film Festival – August 8th
Palm Springs International Film Festival – August 23rd

Follow the above links to go to the festival’s website for more information and to order tickets.

Ah, summer is most definitely in full swing. Hiking, camping, swimming, and most importantly – music festivals. The coolest thing about this year is that more and more festival organizers are incorporating green practices into their tours. And this year, Spain’s International Festival of Benicàssim (FIB) is not one to be behind the curve.

Advertising and shopping at the fair is being done with recycled or recyclable goods, and the organizers intend to comp their carbon emissions for this and the next two years by planting more than 2,000 trees. Plans for sharing transportation and hiring bicycles have also been added into the mix, as well as a system for separating and recycling all waste.

They’re also handing out free earplugs to the festival goers. If only I’d thought of that when I was at Warped Tour a few years back. The constant greening of music festivals and artists’ solo tours is definitely a plus and will hopefully encourage other festivals and artists to follow suit. Looks like going to concerts and other festivals is becoming the green thing to do – and that’s quite alright with me!

For more information – including how to get tickets – you can visit FIB’s website. Who’s up for Spain this summer?

via: TreeHugger

Other names of note that were also in Nigeria yesterday include Usher, Jay-Z, Rihanna, as well as fellow model Tyson Beckford. The star-studded ceremony was part of the Annual This Day Fashion and Music Festival. This Day is pretty cool in that they’re trying to draw attention to African issues by celebrating the culture.

Most surprising to all in attendance was perhaps the fact that the supermodel-with-a-temper’s part in the occasion went off without so much as a minor hitch. Nothing was thrown, no one was assaulted. If this is a bid to make over her image, Campbell’s most certainly earned a few points here. Especially for showing up to a tree planting ceremony wearing all white and apparently not getting a speck of dirt on her. Kudos, Naomi Campbell! It’s nice to see you smiling and being friendly for a change.

via: ActressArchives.com

Lindsey is a desperate housewife with a penchant for writing and an active member of Granola Chicks. For more information, see her on MySpace.

Check out the rockin’ video below from Sprig.com!

Gifting lounges seem to be one of the biggest highlights of the sundance festival. Is gifting really so eco-friendly?! Aren’t we trying to get rid of having so much stuff?? Yesterday I had the chance to visit the Ultimate Oasis: The Green Lounge, created by J.R. Savet. This event/lounge benefits Brad Pitt’s, Make It Right foundation.

The cool part about this lounge was it was in a home behind main street. I walked in and was offered a hot cup of numitea. On the main floor in the house was Shaklee, giving away some laundry products to Kristi Hume and Donaovan Leitch. Other brands represented were Hint Water, Tolaspa (whose stylists are from the Paul Mitchell school), Royal
Underground, and catered by FUD, which featured tasty food creations by organic chef Heidi VanPelt. Her presentation was really creative.

Below are some additional photos I’ve snagged from in and around Sundance. Enjoy!

Photo credit: Melissa Rosenberg 

Last night, Lexus Hybrid Living offered a limited amount of tickets to visitors of Project Greenhouse for an intimate concert to see Grammy Award winning artist John Legend perform at the Star bar. Legend came onto the stage about 9:30 and welcomed the high energy crowd. His voice was out of this world and it was a night to remember. I think everyone who attended would say this was one of the best musical highlights of the festival. Some of the proceeds from the evening will go to Legend’s favorite charities.

Photos by: Melissa Rosenberg