Screening: SOS Presents Blue Vinyl
The 2006 Green Screen series of environmentally-inspired documentaries wraps up this evening at the Alamo South with Judith Helfand’s “toxic comedy,” Blue Vinyl.
While on a press tour for her Peabody award-winning, Healthy Baby Girls, Helfand was horrified by the staggering incidence of illness endured by the people working in plants producing polyvinyl chloride in neighboring Louisiana. As a cancer survivor, the gauntlet was cast. She went on to discover that PVC was everywhere – including covering the outside of her parents’ house.
Taking a huge artistic risk, she puts herself in the center of the story in the search for answers about the potential health risks of “America’s favorite plastic.” Much to the envy of other documentary filmmakers, Helfand is able to take the most serious, droll, and mundane of subjects and embody the narrative, making them informative crusades that are (dare we say it?) humorous and entertaining.
The focus of the Save Our Springs Alliance project was to offer positive messages of environmentalism through a community film series. Given the success of this year’s series, the organization hopes to repeat next spring with a new lineup of films of true stories regarding positive change through environmental activism.
SOS Presents Blue Vinyl
Tonight @ 7 p.m.
The Alamo on South Lamar
Free
*Image (c) Chris Pilaro*
