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LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Writer/Director team Bayou Bennett and Daniel Lir who recently collaborated with Oscar Winner, Jane Fonda and Grammy Winner, John Legend to bring to light the dangers of urban fracking and its poisonous impact on South LA's low income populations, just won “Best Message” for their latest empowering film, "Connection" starring Berite Labelle at the Sarajevo Fashion Film Festival.
The film, depicting harsh environmental challenges in Africa, India, Pakistan and Hong Kong as well as the United States, inspired and moved audiences with the film's powerful visuals and message of how one's individual daily actions and choices have a global environmental impact.
Festival Director, Zeljko Ivankovic, said: “Your film's thought-provoking message resonates deeply, and we are proud to honor your vision and creativity with this esteemed award. Your work has demonstrated the power of fashion film to communicate meaningful themes and inspire dialogue.”
The young couple were also encouraged with a "well done" by lead environmentalist and cinema icon, Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, Full Metal Jacket) at the film’s premiere screening in Italy at Ora! Fest.
Movie sets in Hollywood have been notorious for environmental waste but filmmakers Bayou Bennett and Daniel Lir worked to change this paradigm by many actions including using recycled props as set elements whenever possible. According to the LA Times, "big movies can generate 225 tons of scrap metal, nearly 50 tons of construction and set debris, and 72 tons of food waste." And according to the Producers Guild of America Green Report, Film studios spend on average $11,175 on plastic water bottles alone during a 60-day shoot."
"Connection" on the other hand was produced following green protocols. No use of single use plastics, no heavy packaging in catering, no generators with polluting fuels but instead utilizing ride-sharing, compostable materials, on set recycling as well as ensuring group responsibility resulting in no negative environmental impact on filming locations such as the pristine coves of Laguna Beach, CA.
As Matthew Modine shared at the festival, ocean health is critical to the very oxygen we breathe as human beings. Polluting our oceans is literally choking ourselves as over 70 percent of our Earth’s oxygen is provided by our oceans.
"Connection" shows the relatable journey of an ambitious and self- interested female CEO played by Berite Labelle, who comes to shockingly realize the intimate interplay between herself and the ocean, plant and animal ecosystems as well as global cultures.
As Director Daniel Lir relates: "We were pleasantly surprised to discover environmental improvements in the course of making "Connection". In creating the Indian sweatshop scenes, which were shot in actual factories, we were happy to discover that no child labor is present today in Southern India as well as no dangerously harmful chemical dyes. We do have a great deal of progress to make with poverty however. Also in Ghana, Africa where we shot, several locations in the capital city of Accra had been documented by Greenpeace for their massive plastic and trash pollution. But during the filming of "Connection" these spots were observed to have been greatly cleaned up."
So despite huge challenges, the world is positively changing. As Director Bayou Bennett says "It's a matter of simply changing habits and getting people to come to a new sense of awareness of their own personal impact. Me choosing to use an aluminum water container I carry with me as opposed to a single use plastic bottle multiplied by millions and billions on Earth doing the same, will dramatically help the future of our dear Planet and home-Earth".
As we learn from "Connection", there is no doubt that we change Hollywood's model of mass environmental waste and in its place create entertainment and inspiration following green protocols. Everyone can do something about climate change on a daily basis from supporting local food producers, avoiding fast fashion with its notorious waste, ride sharing, not using plastic water bottles, planting trees, going solar, driving electric and so much more.
ABOUT ACTRESS BERITE LABELLE
International Model and Actress, Berite Labelle has covered multiple international editions of Vogue, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire. Learn more at www.beritelabelle.com
ABOUT DREAM TEAM DIRECTORS
Bayou Bennett and Daniel Lir, known as Dream Team Directors have collaborated on uplifting projects with the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Bella Hadid, Juliette Lewis, Coldplay, Michelle Pfeiffer, Norman Reedus and more. Learn more at www.dreamteamdirectors.com
Sharry Flaherty
Samera Entertainment
[email protected]
Sharry Flaherty
Samera Entertainment
+1 702-756-3527
[email protected]
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