Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Packed screening has everyone seeing green

— BRUNSWICK — Typically when I arrive at an event 15 minutes early, I'm one of the first through the door. But on Thursday night when I showed up at 6:45 p.m. for the 7 p.m. premiere of the ''Sustainability Across Maine'' short films at the Frontier Cafe, I was in essence more than an hour late. As I walked through the door, many others were already leaving.

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Avery Yale Kamila/Staff Writer: Bob Peixotto, board chairman of Maine Huts & Trails, Rob Holmes, founder of the Green Living Project, and Dave Herring, executive director of Maine Huts & Trails.

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Turns out lots and lots of Mainers love to see our state's green side shine on the big screen.

Heather Chandler, who lives in Portland and is the publisher of the popular green living Sunrise Guide, had a meeting in Brunswick that afternoon so she decided to come by early to grab some of the cafe's acclaimed local and organic fare before checking out the films. She was surprised to find the cafe and the adjacent theater begin to get packed by 5:45 p.m.

As I squeezed through the crowd, I ran into Jonah Fertig, who's one of the founders of the Local Sprouts Cooperative. The community-supported kitchen and catering company is among the eight Maine organizations profiled in the films. Fertig told me the theater was filled to capacity by 6 p.m., and that was after the staff removed all the chairs so more audience members could squish into the room.

Despite the overflow crowd that spilled into the hall, I somehow managed to squeeze into the back row and peer over the heads of those in front of me (thank goodness I wore my tall boots).

''We wish we could knock out the wall here,'' Rob Holmes told the crowd, as it was clear there were many in the adjacent cafe who wanted to see the films.

Holmes, who grew up in Boston and now lives in California, is the founder of the Green Living Project, which produced the films. He started the organization in 2007 and now travels the world documenting successful and innovative models of sustainability. All of the company's past films have focused on initiatives in Africa and South America.

But when Holmes and his team decided it was time to turn their camera lens on domestic undertakings, they made a beeline for Maine.

''There's so much exciting stuff going on in Maine,'' Holmes told me after the screening. ''Sustainability is important here in Maine.''

In addition to Local Sprouts, the organizations profiled in the films include the Maine Compost School, which has trained more than 600 students from across the country; the Chewonki Foundation, which provides children's summer camps and adult classes focused on renewable energy and sustainable living; Primo Restaurant, which grows most of its own vegetables and raises 100 laying hens in the backyard; the Island Institute, which works to maintain a healthy ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine and support island communities; Guyot Designs, which designs eco-friendly outdoor products; Inn by the Sea, which has recently remodeled the hotel inside and out to be both luxurious and green; and Maine Huts & Trails, which is creating a unique off-the-grid hut-to-hut network for hikers and cross- country skiers in Western Maine.

Jay Braunscheidel and Jeremy Stultz, who work for the consulting firm Integrated Forest Management, were crammed into the back row near me and enjoyed the screening. As advocates of sustainable forestry, they'd like to see a similar documentary effort highlight the low-impact harvesting and certified forest management practices taking place in the state.

''It seems like they're just scratching the surface here,'' Braunscheidel said.

''The film was great, and the turnout was great,'' said Dave Herring, executive director of Maine Huts & Trails. ''I think if the theater had been twice as big it still would have been full.''

Gwen Hall, who owns an eco-friendly promotions company called Logo Owl, helped organize the premiere. She's known Holmes since they attended the Appalachian Mountain Club's family camp on Lake Winnipesaukee as kids.

''The work that he's doing is unbelievable,'' Hall said.

Holmes admitted that in the lead-up to the screening he was skeptical about whether or not an event of this nature could draw a crowd if it wasn't held in Portland.

''This definitely exceeded my expectations,'' Holmes said.

Since we Mainers like to boast that our state embodies ''the way life should be,'' it only makes sense that we're ahead of the curve when it comes to supporting sustainable living.

Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:

akamila@pressherald.com