Humans breathe, animals breathe, and even plants breathe if you count cellular respiration. The coordinators behind the second “Tales from Planet Earth Film Festival” hold that an idea too can draw breath and live if shared by motivated individuals with a passion to positively affect both the local and global environments. The festival presented from Nov. 6 to 8 harnesses the can-do spirit imbued in the Wisconsin Idea to extend the life of the subject matter depicted in the festival film beyond the big screen.

For more than 150 years, proponents of the Wisconsin Idea have advocated the use of education to creatively apply UW learning for the betterment of the state. “Tales from Planet Earth” exemplifies this goal. The theme for the 2009 festival is “Justice” depicted through four strands: Landscapes of Labor, Precious Resources, Strange Weather and In the Company of Animals. The interplay between justice and the environment coupled with speakers, audience discussions and events will encourage festivalgoers to carry forth the spirit of the films into the theater of their own lives.

“We’re really interested in taking the inspiration and enthusiasm of the audience members watching these films and turning it into a means of community engagement and activism,” said Gregg Mitman, interim director for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

This year’s festival, expanded exponentially from its predecessor, is designed to inspire cooperation and involvement extending beyond the confines of a local network by leveraging the films to transform the community.

Nine community organizations and a number of local businesses have partnered with the festival, pledging funds and resources. The surge of community interaction has been made possible by the use of social media.

“It has really been the students driving this,” Mitman said. “They’re using Facebook [and] Twitter. … [It] has certainly spread the word much farther and to many different kinds of communities.”

Through the efforts of event organizers and students involved in associated classes at UW, the festival elevates the act of passive viewing to engage interaction. Prominent speakers like green justice advocate Majora Carter, named one of Newsweek’s Top 25 to watch in 2007, will highlight the importance of environmental understanding while local food products made through a job training program for the homeless can be sampled after the showing of “Cooked.”

The festival has a promising track record beginning with its creation in 2007.

“I really planned it to be a one shot deal; it was hugely successful. There was a line two blocks long around State Street. Given the enthusiasm for the festival we decided to try it again,” Mitman said.

The 50 films for this year were selected from a pool of more than 250. Mitman plans to challenge audiences with the immense variety in film selection. Whether analyzing food ingredients or imagining an Orwellian future of closed borders and robotics, festival organizers aim to expand the common perception of the environment and shatter stereotypes.

“It’s about endangered species and public lands,” Mitman, said. “[But] the environment is also about where people live, work and play.”

Mitman discussed the general perception that individuals harbor about environmental films and the direct contrast to the films slotted to run at “Tales from Planet Earth.”

“They’ll find the stories quite surprising. People think about environmental film as doom, gloom and despair. [But,] there’s a great flourishing of environmental film produced in very creative ways.”

The range of content the festival will feature showcases the relationship of the environment to its inhabitants.

The festival’s target audience is not limited to environmental studies majors. Students and community members will find themselves able to relate to the collection of wide-ranging content. After all, “The stories are about our relationships with each other, with other species and with the environment around us,” Mitman said.

The festival also features a tribute to the 1930s, from documentary films like “The Plow that Broke the Plains” to the Hollywood classic, “The Grapes of Wrath.” During the Great Depression, documentary film served to make visible the plight of struggling people and served as a common thread.

“We are in the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. […] There are lessons to be learned from that period in history,” Mitman said.

The environment is in a critical state. The “Tales from Planet Earth” film festival aspires to blur the boundaries between the campus and the state through community events that link the films to local issues and needs of participating community organizations.

“To me it’s a complete embodiment of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Mitman, “And speaks to [this University’s] long tradition of progressive social reform.”

“Tales from Planet Earth” films will show at the Wisconsin Union Theater and Fredric March Play Circle in the Memorial Union, the UW Cinematheque and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. For a complete list of events and showings, visit www.talesfromplanetearth.com.