Join us at 8am CST on Thurs. Sept 2nd!

Steve Galster will be speaking at this roundtable hosted by EndPandemics.earth and United for Regeneration, which was founded in partnership with the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promoting Integral Human Development and its COVID-19 Commission.

Following HIV, SARS, Ebola, Bird Flu, and MERS, COVID-19 is the latest pandemic that results directly from humans tampering with wildlife, invading its habitat, and unleashing a devastating disease. Fortunately, such outbreaks are preventable. Previous international health campaigns prove that humanity is capable of preventing widespread infectious diseases and avoiding the enormous costs of a global outbreak. If the global community takes decisive action NOW, the next looming pandemic can be averted.

EndPandemics.Earth is a global solutions-oriented campaign that strives to reduce the risks of zoonotic outbreaks by addressing their root causes – commercial wildlife trade, wild habitat disruption and wildlife dependence of poverty-affected livelihoods.

Register here: https://endpandemics.earth/appeal.html?ltclid=3ffe5b37-8f30-47e7-a05e-79a525cc5c7b

This year, the decision was made to offer our 4th annual Freeland Film Festival at no cost to our attendees.There will be no need to purchase passes or tickets for any of our panels and films that will be presented at Green Lake Town Square in September. We do accept and appreciate your kind donations and/or partnerships that would benefit both Freeland and our work with Endpandemics.earth. It’s YOUR support that will ensure that Freeland’s mission of “a world free of wildlife and human trafficking” CAN and WILL be achieved. Your contributions could also be a part of the solution to help end future pandemics. On behalf of Freeland, we thank you for believing in our vision, and listening to our amazing stories that inspire. Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

We are excited to share with you our program guide in order for you to start planning your weekend. Beginning Friday night, September 10th, Freeland Founder Steve Galster will welcome our audience to the 4th annual Freeland Film Festival, at the Green Lake Town Square Ballroom. Our opening night film will be “Human The World Within – Defend”, from the Netflix series. Look at a nature survivalist, rancher twins, a doctor who survived Ebola and the recipient of cutting-edge cancer therapy to uncover the wildly advanced biology that keeps us alive against all odds. We hope you enjoy the film AND the Q&A with the film producer himself, Dan Bromfield! Dan is a Senior Producer, Documentary/TV at VOX Media in Brooklyn, NY.

This year, we also made the decision to offer our Film Festival at no cost to our attendees. Yes, that means there will be no need to purchase passes or tickets for any of our panels and films that will be presented. We will however, gratefully accept any donations and/or partnerships that would benefit both Freeland and our work with Endpandemics.earth. It really is YOUR support that will ensure that Freeland’s mission of “a world free of wildlife and human trafficking” CAN and WILL be achieved. Your contributions could also be a part of the solution to help end future pandemics. Please check out our program guide. We hope to see you there. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding our programing.

We will be looking for volunteers, so if you are interested, please let us know by emailing evelyn@freeland.org or calling 920 229 2156.

Please consider joining us for our Beyond Pandemics; A Better World event, and let’s make it a better world TOGETHER!

Program Guide: http://www.freelandfilmfest.org/3d-flip-book/2515/

Time is flying by and we are getting close to our September event! Thank you for your patience as we fine tune our programming. We wanted to provide you with a sneak preview for Freeland’s September’s event! We are excited to be able to present some really incredible panels to you this September, and wanted to start with a little teaser of a panel we know is going to be amazing! One of our panels to look forward to is titled Regenerative Agriculture – Feeding People and Mitigating Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, and Depleted Soils. Who is on this panel? We’re glad you asked! Check out the following bios!

Roger Leakey Prof. Roger Leakey DSc, PhD, BSc, NDA was Director of Research at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (1993-1997) and Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Development of James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia (2001-2006). He is Vice President of the International Tree Foundation. He was a Coordinating Lead Author in the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). His widely published research has been summarized in his books – “Living with the Trees of Life – Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture” and“Multifunctional Agriculture: Achieving Sustainable Development in Africa”

Marc Eberle Marc has been making documentaries for international broadcasters in Southeast Asia since 2000. In 2018 he founded SmartAgro Sustainable Innovations Co. Ltd. to create a driver for change. SmartAgro’s mission is to re-design agricultural practices and change the paradigm of how we add long term value to people, smallholder communities and the ecosystem in the farming sector.

Mat Boerson Mathew Boerson is a regenerative farmer engaged with 100 acres of land near Green Lake, Wisconsin. Inspired by time spent working in the thriving cooperative grocery store movement of Minneapolis, Mathew first learned of regenerative farming practices while working on small farms throughout Central America. He and his wife have built a diversified farm business focused on grass fed beef and certified organic vegetables. Mathew also serves on the board of the Green Lake Association and is actively involved with the Foxhead Regenerative Agriculture Project.

Ken Bates Ken Bates grew up visiting his grandparents’ dairy farms and came to appreciate their reliance on the land. After moving to Green Lake in 2006, Ken was a founding member of the Green Team, a coalition of groups interested in engaging the community in projects to improve the ecology of the watershed. He is a Commissioner on the Green Lake Sanitary District and a Board Member of the Foxhead Regenerative Agriculture Program. His personal project is using regenerative agriculture to restore 27 degraded acres. The project goal is to utilize grazing with cattle in combination with warm season grasses to build the soil.

Tom Eddy Thomas L. Eddy is a biologist and botanist who serves as an adjunct professor for Marian University and University of Wisconsin. He is a founding member of the Green Lake Conservancy land trust, an appointed member of Wisconsin’s Natural Areas Preservation Council, and a board member of Freeland USA.

The documentary film Living Soil will accompany this panel. This documentary was directed by Chelsea Myers of Tiny Attic Productions and produced by the Soil Health Institute through the generous support of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd467Li6HUw

What do you get when you put Freeland, Green Lake Greenways, Green Lake Town Square, and J’s BBQ all together? Dinner and a movie, of course!

When Freeland and Greenways heard that SAGBRAW (The Spectacular Annual Great Bike Ride Around Wisconsin) was coming to Green Lake as part of their “bike ride around Wisconsin”, we wondered what we could do to make their stop in Green Lake a welcoming and momentous visit. Since the bikers’ accommodations will be at the GLHS gymnasium August 9-10th, scheduling an August 10th event seemed to make the most sense! We wanted to make sure they could enjoy the movie and the incredible J’s BBQ, while relaxing at the Mill Pond Terrace.

The Mill Pond Terrace Tap will open at 4:00pm, and J’s BBQ will start serving at 6:00pm. The film will start at dusk.

The outdoor film for the August 10th event will be What About Bob? a 1991 American comedy film directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus. Murray plays Bob Wiley, an irritating patient who follows his egotistical psychotherapist Dr. Leo Marvin (Dreyfuss) on vacation. When the unstable Bob befriends the other members of Leo’s family, it pushes the doctor over the edge.

This event is open to the public, and all are welcomed to come join. Bike up, walk up, or drive up to Mill Pond Terrace! The movie is free, and donations will be accepted that will benefit both Freeland and Green Lake Greenways.

The film is being sponsored with a donation by Thrivent Financial.

RSVP on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/ZrmYMTHz

This Saturday July 17th is our outdoor movie night at the GL baseball field where we will be showing The Great Outdoors. When an unannounced, uninvited and unwelcome family of fun-loving misfits converge upon a Wisconsin lakeside resort to join their relatives for a summer of relaxation, the result is anything but restful in this raucous comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. Look for our posters around town and help spread the word! Bring a picnic, a blanket, chairs, whatever…and enjoy “The Great Outdoors!” (yes, pun intended)

This is a fundraiser, so donations are really appreciated and accepted!

Event is sponsored by Fortifi Bank.

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FREELAND FILM FEST BLOG
Our 2021 Plans
JULY 11, 2021
A Better World : Beyond Pandemics.

Our only life-long vaccine: Nature Protection.

Focus: Root Causes of Pandemics, including Destruction of Wild Habitat; Industrial Farming; Wildlife Trade.

A Better World: Beyond Pandemics is this year’s banner for Freeland Film Festival 2021, as we look beyond vaccines for stories that illuminate the root causes of zoonotic outbreaks, including wildlife trafficking, destruction of nature, often for industrial agriculture and factory farming. We invite stories that explain the drivers of pandemics and how we can prevent the next one. As always, we prioritize films that point to solutions and inspire hope for our planet and people.

Freeland Film Festival is a global story-telling platform. This year, we are focusing on films that explain the drivers and impacts of pandemics, and how we can prevent them from recurring by addressing their root causes. As always, we want to showcase films that inspire hope for our planet and all of its inhabitants

Freeland’s Mission: We are a frontline counter-trafficking organization working for a world that is free of wildlife trafficking and human slavery. Our team of law enforcement, development and communications specialists work alongside partners in Asia, Africa and the Americas to build capacity, raise awareness, strengthen networks and promote good governance to protect critical ecosystems and vulnerable people from criminal and over-exploitation. Since early February 2020, we have been co-leading a global campaign called “End Pandemics”, which aims to address the root causes of pandemics, including commercial trade in wild animals, destruction of wild habitat, and intense, industrial farming.

This year’s festival will be held mainly virtually due to restrictions from COVID-19, but we will also have small audiences and panel discussions held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok and the Town Square of Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Thank you to Vines and Rushes for choosing us as their cause for the June 21st Cause of the Mondays! 25% of pizza sales and all cash donations go directly to supporting Freeland Film Festival!

The proceeds will benefit the 2021 Freeland Film Festival! Freeland Film Festival is a global storytelling platform featuring films about people, wild animals and ecosystems that are facing daunting challenges. These are stories of hope and inspiration. An annual weekend festival that includes films, panels, live music, local food, and workshops presented to the public, critics, students, aspiring filmmakers, and activists

Stop in between 4pm and 8pm for some fantastic pizza & wine, plenty of outside seating available to spread out, relax and support the community!

RSVP to the event on Facebook and invite your friends! https://fb.me/e/7GR39Qmbe

Episode 7 of Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller is a Nat Geo produced docuseries streaming on Hulu! Freeland is featured on the Tigers episode, adding valuable insight to the illegal wildlife trade. Freeland’s frontline investigators and anti-poaching personnel met van Zeller in Bangkok and along Southeast Asia’s dangerous border areas, where we track who is behind the killing. Follow Van Zeller and the film crew as they follow Freeland’s efforts to put these “Tiger King-Pins” out of business.

Check out the trailer featuring Steve Galster!
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0E35xrUbiY

​With the recent CDC restrictions slowly loosening up, we are in a much better position going forward in planning what we’d like to do next. Saturday May 22nd looks to be sunny and warm (81 degrees as we speak), so an outdoor film at BikeFest will be perfect, don’t you think? Breaking Away is a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. And it’s rated PG, so bring the family!

This will be at Mill Pond Terrace, located in the back of Green Lake Town Square. The event is 2:30pm to 10:00pm. The film will start about 8:15pm.