Previous Movies On The Grass

2024

Sept. 8 - CODA: "When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her musical passion and her fear of abandoning her deaf parents." (From IMDB)

Sept. 15 - Concerning Barriers: Three Films on Disability and Society: "Concerning Barriers consists of three films that are about disability from the perspective of people with disabilities. The films implicitly and explicitly explores issues and concepts such as accessibility, the medical model versus social model, marginalization, societal response to disability and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These films together create a more three-dimensional portrayal of disability than what is commonly shown in the media." (From New Day Films website)

Sept. 26 - Sound and Fury: The Communication Wars of the Deaf: "If you could make your deaf child hear, would you? Academy Award-nominated "Sound and Fury" follows the intimate, heart-rending tale of the Artinians, an extended family of deaf and hearing members, across three generations. Together they confront a technological device that can help the deaf to hear but may also threaten deaf culture--and their bonds with one another." (From IMDB)

2023

Sept. 10 - To Be Takei: "George Takei doesn’t shy away from digging into his remarkable career and personal life in Jennifer Kroot’s delightful and incisive film To Be Takei. As a child forced into Japanese-American internment camps, the actor-turned-activist reveals the ways that racism affected him well into his early acting career, where he played stereotypical Asian stock characters in film and television shows. Even after landing the iconic role of Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, Takei’s sharp eye, coupled with his wicked sense of humor, continued to challenge the status quo well into the twenty-first century." (From The Film Collaborative website)

Sept. 17 - Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp: "Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp tells the story of a group of Americans and their mass incarceration by the U.S. government in the high desert of southern Idaho, purely on the basis of race. In the compelling voices of survivors of the camp, Betrayed explores the unconstitutional suspension of the civil rights of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest and the intergenerational impact of the incarceration on their community. The film explores the relevance of this story today, as we see camp survivors stepping up as modern-day activists to fight the present-day incarceration of children and families. We were honored to interview and speak with over 40 camp survivors and descendants in order to help tell their story." (From the Betrayed Film website)

Sept. 24 - Kiss the Ground: "Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle." (From Kiss the Ground movie website)

Oct. 1 - A Whale of a Tale: "In 2010, the sleepy fishing town of Taiji in Japan suddenly found itself in the worldwide media spotlight. The Cove, a documentary denouncing the town’s longstanding whale and dolphin hunting traditions, won an Academy Award and almost overnight, Taiji became the go-to destination and battleground for activists from around the world. What might at first seem like a black-and-white issue however has proven to be more complex. Directed by Megumi Sasaki (the filmmaker of the beloved documentaries Herb and Dorothy and Herb and Dorothy 50x50), A Whale of a Tale revisits this story, but discovers a different perspective - and a different question. Can a proud 400-year-old whaling tradition survive a tsunami of modern animal-rights activism and colliding forces of globalism vs. localism?" (From Grasshopper Film)

2022

Sept. 18 - Plants, Pollinators, and Prayers: "Transforming a church's backyard into a sanctuary for pollinating animals, an educational garden for the community, and a sacred space for spiritual contemplation, inspired by the decline of monarch butterflies." (From: Plants, Pollinators, and Prayers)

Sept. 25 - Surviving Disasters with Les Stroud: "Survival expert Les Stroud takes us through the stages of preparing, surviving and recovering from any natural disaster. Free from hyperbole and sensationalism, this heavily researched program covers the basic rules for safely facing hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, floods, blackouts, blizzards – and yes, pandemics." (From: PBS Surviving Disasters)

Oct. 2 - 2040: Join the Regeneration: "2040 is a hybrid feature documentary that looks to the future, but is vitally important NOW! A story of hope that looks at the very real possibility that humanity could reverse global warming and improve the lives of every living thing in the process." (From: 2040)

2021

Sept. 12 - Rutherford Falls: "Peacock Original RUTHERFORD FALLS is a comedy about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads – quite literally – when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call." (From Peacock TV Rutherford Hall website)

Sept. 19 - Ice On Fire: "Award winning HBO documentary produced by Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio, George DiCaprio and Mathew Schmid and directed by Leila Conners, Ice on Fire is an eye-opening documentary that focuses on many never-before-seen solutions designed to slow down our escalating environmental crisis. The film goes beyond the current climate change narrative and offers hope that we can actually stave off the worst effects of global warming." (From the HBO Ice On Fire website)

Sept. 26 - The Human Element (Sunset Zoo film): "Award winning documentary, during his four-decade career as a photographer and explorer, James Balog has focused his lens on the complex relationship between humans and nature. Human activity has now surpassed all other forces shaping our world. (From IMDW The Human Element website)

2020

Sept. 17 - The Story of Plastic and panel discussion: "THE STORY OF PLASTIC takes a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution and the worldwide effect it has on the health of our planet and the people who inhabit it. Spanning three continents, the film illustrates the ongoing catastrophe: fields full of garbage, veritable mountains of trash, rivers and seas clogged with waste, and skies choked with the poisonous emissions from plastic production and processing." (From the Story of Plastic website)

Sept. 25 - Just Mercy: "We believe in the power of story.
Our film Just Mercy, based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our society." (From the Just Mercy website)

2019

Sept. 8 - Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

Sept. 15 - Salam Neighbor

Sept. 22 - River Blue

Sept. 29 - Three Identical Strangers

2018

Sept. 9 - Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: This film will be personally introduced by Justin Knopf; Salina area sustainable farmer and K-State Agronomy graduate featured in this documentary."The new documentary Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman tells the inspiring story of heartland conservation heroes who are feeding the world while stewarding the land and water."

"The film is a tribute to people like Justin Knopf, a fifth-generation Kansas farmer revolutionizing industrial scale agriculture to rebuild the fertility, biodiversity and resilience of his soil, and Dusty Crary, a fourth-generation Montana rancher who forged alliances between cattlemen, federal agencies, hunters and environmental groups to protect the Rocky Mountain Front. Narrated by award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw, the film is based on Miriam Horn's recently released book." (From The Discovery Channel website)

Sept. 16 - Straws at Sunset Zoo: "With colorful straw history animation narrated by Oscar winner Tim Robbins, STRAWS (30 minutes)leaves audiences with a clear understanding of the problems caused by plastic pollution and empowers individuals to be part of the solution."

2017

Sept. 10 - Before The Flood: "From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens and Academy Award-winning actor, environmental activist and U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio, Before the Flood presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society can take to prevent the disruption of life on our planet. 'This documentary shows how interconnected the fate of all humanity is — but also the power we all possess as individuals to build a better future for our planet.' says DiCaprio.”
(From Before The Flood website)

Sept. 17 - Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie): "Since the age of 4, Angy Rivera has lived in the United States with a secret that threatens to upend her life: She is undocumented. Now 24 and facing an uncertain future, Rivera becomes an activist for undocumented youth with a popular advice blog and a YouTube channel. She steps out of the shadows a second time to share her story of sexual abuse, an experience all too common among undocumented women. Don't Tell Anyone follows Rivera's remarkable journey from poverty in rural Colombia to the front page of The New York Times."
(From PBS/POV website)

Sept. 24 at Sunset Zoo - "Souls of the Vermilion Sea: Is a feature length documentary project about the struggle to save the world’s most endangered marine mammal, the Vaquita porpoise." Less than 100 of these threatened porpoises exist due to illegal poaching. Located of the west coast of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. Groups like Oceana, Sea Shepard and the Mexican government are trying to save this quickly disappearing species.
(From Vaquita Film website)

2016

Sept. 1 - Landfill Harmonic (Sunset Zoo): Children from Paraguay make musical instruments from items in a giant landfill and share their love of music to the world.

Sept. 8 - Electoral Dysfunction: Perfect for the upcoming election, our election comes down to votes cast to the little-known Electoral College.

Sept. 15 - Bag It: Do we need plastic bags? This film shows the negative impact of plastic on this planet.

Sept. 22 - The Visitor: A personal look at immigration and how it affects lives in the big city.

2015

Sept. 3 - Project Wild Thing (at Sunset Zoo): "Filmmaker David Bond is a worried man. His kids' waking hours are dominated by a cacophony of marketing, and a screen dependence threatening to turn them into glassy-eyed zombies. Like city kids everywhere, they spend way too much time indoors - not like it was back in his day. He decides it's time to get back to nature – literally." (From Project Wild Thing website)

Sept. 10 - In Football We Trust: "In Football We Trust captures a snapshot in time amid the rise of the Pacific Islander presence in the NFL. Presenting a new take on the American immigrant story, this feature length documentary transports viewers deep inside the tightly knit Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, Utah. With unprecedented access and shot over a four-year time period, the film intimately portrays four young Polynesian men striving to overcome gang violence and near poverty through American football." (From IFWT website)

Sept. 17 - Ivory Tower: "As tuition rates spiral beyond reach and student loan debt passes $1 trillion (more than credit card debt), IVORY TOWER asks: Is college worth the cost? From the halls of Harvard, to public colleges in financial crisis, to Silicon Valley, filmmaker Andrew Rossi (PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES) assembles an urgent portrait of a great American institution at the breaking point." (From Ivory Tower website)

Sept. 24 - Winter's Bone: "Seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin's code of silence and risking her life, Ree hacks through the lies, evasions and threats offered up by her relatives and begins to piece together the truth." Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell. (From Winter's Bone website)

2014

Sept. 7 - "Plagues and Progress: A Showcase Inspired by 'The Ghost Map'" is a collection of video shorts discussing issues raised by in the 2014-2015 KSBN common read, "The Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson.

Sept. 14 - Electoral Dysfunction : While other films have examined narrow aspects of our electoral system, Electoral Dysfunction is the first documentary project to take an irreverent—but nonpartisan—look at voting in America. The film helps spark national dialogue on the steps ordinary citizens can take to ensure that every vote counts.

Sept. 21 - Girl Rising : Girl Rising journeys around the globe to witness the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change the world. Viewers get to know nine unforgettable girls living in the developing world: ordinary girls who confront tremendous challenges and overcome nearly impossible odds to pursue their dreams.

Sept. 28 (at Sunset Zoo) - Wings of Life : Narrated by Meryl Streep, this intimate and unprecedented look at butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, bats and flowers is a celebration of life, as a third of the world’s food supply depends on these incredible – and increasingly threatened – creatures.

Oct. 5 (at Town Hall in Leadership Studies) - A Fierce Green Fire: A Fierce Green Fire The Battle for a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement – grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. It brings together all the major parts of environmentalism and connects them.

2013

The ninth year of Movies on the Grass and continued to grow and draw fresh audiences. As in past years, Sunset Zoo was kind enough to host the final film showing. The 2013 films focused on topics regarding a series of TED lectures and animated shorts exploring gaming (Serious Play), marketing behind organic foods, three “Lost Boys” from the Sudan, and an adorable young chimp named Oscar! See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 9/08 Serious Play
  
• 9/15 In Organic We Trust
  
• 9/22 God Grew Tired of Us
  
• 9/29 Chimpanzee

2012

It was Movies on the Grass' eighth year and continued to grow and draw fresh audiences. As in past years, Sunset Zoo was kind enough to host the final film showing. The 2012 films touched on topics concerning health, weight loss, environmental activism, endangered species, and much more! See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 8/26 Hungry for Change
  
• 9/09 South of the Border
  
• 9/16 Bidder 70
  
• 9/23 The Truth about Tigers
  

2011

Movies on the Grass in it's seventh year is continuing to grown and spread throughout Kansas State University! This year Sunset Zoo was kind enough once more to host the final showing of the year with The Elephant in the Living Room and its fitting topic of exotic animals as pets. The 2011 set of movies took us inside the topics of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Oil industry, and much more. See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 8/28 Trouble the Water
• 9/11 Houston We Have A Problem
• 9/18 A Small Act
• 9/25 The Elephant in the Living Room

2010

It was the sixth year of Movies on the Grass and it has grown even more than the last! Once again this year Sunset Zoo was generous enough to host our first MOG of the year. The 2010 set of movies tackled subjects from environmental safety to taking on global problems. See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 8/22 What Males Will Do
• 8/29 Bag It
• 9/12 A Powerful Noise
• 9/19 Papers

2009

The fifth year for MOG offered a "town and gown" approach, new to the series. Sunset Zoo and the Manhattan Music Coalition offered venues for showing films featuring exotic animal policy issues and street musicians to complement Aggiefest 2009. Douglass Community Center was the site for one film, introduced by K-State's own African Drumming and Dance Troupe! See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 8/30 The Visitor
• 9/06 Pray the Devil Back to Hell
• 9/13 Garbage Warrior
• 9/18 Playing for Change
• 9/19 Playing for Change
• 9/21 The Tiger Next Door

2008

The forth year for MOG! With the big national elections of 2008, we featured the film Hacking Democracy. It was by Michael Franti's I Know I'm Not Alone focusing on peace in the middle-East. King Corn was a hit with 2 college kids planting an acre of Iowa corn. The series culminated with Darwin's Nightmare about the introduction of a commercial fish caused a wide-spread environmental disaster in Africa. See more information on these movies by visiting the featured movie web sites.

• 8/24 Hacking Democracy
• 9/07 I Know I'm Not Alone
• 9/14 King Corn
• 9/21 Darwin's Nightmare

2007

Movies on the Grass in its third year. This year Movies on the Grass were especially exciting when we hosted an Electric Car Show and a concert by the Brazilian group AfroReggae on the first two evenings respectively. For more information on these events click on the corresponding links. For more information on the movies, click on the links below to go to each of the films website.

Visit the series announcement in the DowMRC's What's the Haps? blog.

• 8/19 Who Killed The Electric Car?
• 8/26 Favela Rising
• 9/09 Maxed Out
• 9/16 Yesterday

Movies on the Grass makes national news!!! Read the article.

Watch AfroReggae in concert at K-State

2006

Amnesty International Group 254 was a proud co-sponsor of the second year production, free outdoor film and discussion series. The following films were shown free of charge Sunday evenings at 8:00pm from August 20th – September 17.

• 8/20 North Country
• 8/27 Born Into Brothels
• 9/10 End of Suburbia
• 9/17 Invisible Children

2005

Amnesty International Group 254 was a proud co-sponsor for Movies on the Grass. The movies drew a large audience on every showing for this first innagural year. Movie dates were from September 11 – October 16.

• 9/18 Oil on Ice
• 9/25 Occupation Dreamland - a HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH traveling film festival selection
• 10/09 Store Wars; When Walmart Comes to Town and Mardi Gras Made in China - a HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH traveling film festival selection
• 10/16 Stop the Traffick and The Education of Shelby Knox - a HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH traveling film festival selection

The following organizations co-sponsored this film series: Amnesty International Group 254; Campaign for Non-violence; Crossroads Ecumenical Christian Ministries; Dow Chemical Multicultural Resource Center; Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy; KSU Libraries; Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice; Northern Flint Hills Audubon Society; Office of Diversity and Dual Career Development; Progressive Coalition; Queer Straight Alliance; Students for Environmental Action; and Young Democrats. Join us, and enjoy the evening!