Group for the East End creates environmental documentary, in running for $10,000 award

An 11-year-old girl stands alone in a lifeless, sprawling parking lot. An instant later, the scene changes, and the same girl is happily surrounded by a verdant meadow, green stalks of grass waving gently in the breeze.

A simple scene. A striking message.

These are two of several poignant images in a recently released documentary by the Group for the East End, which seeks to protect and restore the natural environment through education, citizen action and public advocacy. “Faith in a Seed,” named after an inspirational anthem by Henry David Thoreau, represents the group’s first venture into new forms of media, including video, Facebook and Twitter. With a backdrop of brilliant sunrises and sunsets, aerial views of farmland, seaside vistas and children interacting with nature, the documentary interviews a number of local leaders in the environmental conservation movement.

“The medium is really not utilized to the extent that it should be in the non-profit world. Non-profits are awash in paperwork and piles of things to sift through,” observed William Goins, who produced and directed the film. “These days people respond much better to an image, something with an emotional impact.”

“Faith in a Seed,” filmed over five days last year, is a short but powerful documentary. The full version runs for 12 and a half minutes. A slightly abbreviated version is in the running for a $10,000 prize in an online contest, in which viewers can vote for their favorite videos at the CBS Films website. Nearly 170 videos have been uploaded for the “Extraordinary Measures” contest, which is sponsored by CBS Interactive Inc. Voting closes on Friday, January 29.

While the prize would certainly be welcome for Group for the East End, members are concentrating more on the long-term message promoting the urgency of protecting the East End before it “becomes converted to total suburbia,” as landscape photographer Kathryn Szoka explains in one scene. Even the soundtrack of the movie is somewhat somber, yet hopeful—an undertone of urgency streaming throughout.

Mr. Goins noted that one problem in creating the film was the lack of horrific images of environmental disasters. “There are no smoking stacks, no oil-covered seagulls floundering in the surf, no Exxon-Valdez off shore,” he said. “We had to think of a way to approach a very jaded community.”

It was a difficult challenge, but not an insurmountable one. And the Group looked to an unlikely source for inspiration: the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future in Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” Transitioning between the past, present and possible future of the East End, the documentary paints an urgent picture.

Robert DeLuca, Group for the East End president, noted that one does not have to be a scientist to appreciate the beauty of the area. Educating and inspiring the community to be good stewards of their environmental heritage is the “bread and butter of local decision making” on a policy level, and, he explained, it is necessary to remind people of the history behind such policies because the sense of responsibility risks being forgotten if not reinforced. “It is easy to forget the passion and history that helped this area become what it is,” he noted.

Richard Hendrickson, the respected 97-year-old local weather observer, shares nuggets of wisdom and experience that he has acquired over the decades. “We must realize it is an island. It is a narrow piece of land. Two miles to the ocean, three miles to the bay,” he says. “And if we want to pollute it all, then you won’t have what you came for.”

“Faith in a Seed” premiered at a dinner for the Group late last spring, the first of what the Group hopes will be many to come. Ideas for future documentaries include zooming in on more specific topics, such as the Peconic estuary.

The Group’s aspirations for the new form of outreach are summarized by Thoreau: “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders.”