Environmental documentary filmmakers to share knowledge

Skidmore’s Media and Film Studies Minor and the John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative are sponsoring two events this week, open to the campus community, featuring acclaimed environmental and documentary filmmakers Larry Hott and Diane Garey.

First up is a film on Frederick Law Olmsted, to be shown Tuesday, Oct. 21. Decades before the environmental movement became a force in America, Olmsted worked to preserve nature. His creations include New York’s Central Park, the Niagara Falls Reservation, Boston’s “Emerald Necklace,” and Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. With gorgeous cinematography, creative animation, and compelling commentary, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America presents the biography of a man whose parks and preservation are essential parts of American life.

The movie will be screened at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Emerson Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. A discussion will follow.

On Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 3:30 p.m. in Ladd 307, “What’s up, Doc? A Conversation with Larry Hott and Diane Garey" is scheduled.

Hott and Garey began working together in 1978 as members of the Florentine Films consortium. They formed Florentine Films/Hott Productions in 1981. Since then they have produced two dozen films for national PBS broadcast as well as several productions for web and educational distribution.

Their awards include an Emmy, two Academy Award nominations, a DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award, the Erik Barnouw History Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, five American Film Festival Blue Ribbons, and 14 CINE Golden Eagles.  Their films have been broadcast internationally and Hott and Garey have presented their documentaries at special programs in Canada, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Algeria and Great Britain.