From "Truth" To "Penguins" To "Flow", Documentaries Chronicle Beauty Of Earth, Humans' Unease - CNN

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By far and away the majority support the view that humanity has a role in creating global warming. But even in the face of potential catastrophe the environmental movement is not without its feel-good hits. "March of the Penguins", which follows a family of penguins across the ice, was a surprise success, in which many felt they had found a philosophical subtext about the importance of family and self-sacrifice. "Winged Migration" was a beautifully-shot film showing the immense and incredible journeys undertaken by birds. David Attenborough's "Planet Earth" series reached new heights with its stunning cinematographic depictions of life on Earth. Both of these films create a profound feeling of awe of the natural world, underpinned by a sense of its fragility.

While viewers might loose themselves in the beauty of it all, they leave the movies with a creeping sense of what is at stake.

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But while the market for green documentaries is growing, concern for the environment in film is in some ways nothing new. Ecology has formed the basis of many Hollywood plots in one way or another for decades, with films like "Ferngully", "Erin Brockovich", "Silkwood" and "Gorillas in the Mist" all fictionalizing issues around pollution and conservation. Many of the classic horror films from the 1950's onwards -- from "Godzilla" to "Return of the Living Dead" - featured a plot based on humankind facing the consequences of an arrogant approach to nature.

We've always felt a link with the natural world and always felt uneasy about our relationship with it, and that's found expression at the cinema. But until recently we haven't really engaged with those feelings. What marks out the new generation of films is their seriousness. They are challenging, inspiring, even. They ask their audiences not just to react, but to act as well, and actually make change happen.

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/22/eco.films/index.html#cnnSTCText