Join filmmaker and former Climate Reality LA Chapter Co-Chair Michael Zelniker for a special in-person happy hour and screening of his documentary, The Issue with Tissue - a Boreal Love Story, November 12 at the Lark Theater in Larkspur. Happy hour at 4pm, screening at 5pm, Q&A to follow.
"What we do to the land, we do to ourselves.”
Michael’s film documents the little-known, largely untold story of the world’s largest land biome — the boreal forest — and the Indigenous Peoples who call it home; how it is being clear-cut for the manufacture of toilet paper, and how protecting and conserving the boreal is an existential imperative.
Told by First Nations Elders and Leaders of the boreal, leading scientists, and activists, The Issue with Tissue creates a kind of talking circle that inspires these storytellers to speak with intimacy and candor. They share their vision: that the way forward lies in elevating Indigenous knowledge and stewardship in combination with the ages-old wisdom in the life of these forests and trees.
Check out the trailer and buy your tickets now.
About the filmmaker: Michael Zelniker is a lifelong environmentalist with longtime memberships in NRDC, the Sierra Club, EDF, and Greenpeace. Born and raised in Montreal, he is an award-winning actor and filmmaker who, after more than 30 years of working on film, television, and theater stages around the world, and 14 years of training actors and filmmakers at the Los Angeles campuses of the New York Film Academy and AMDA College and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, left his teaching job to work full time as a volunteer on the climate crisis. Since being trained in 2018 by former Vice President Al Gore, Michael joined the Climate Reality Project’s Leadership Corps, served 2.5 years as Co-Chair of the Los Angeles chapter, and has mentored many climate leaders.
With The Issue with Tissue - a boreal love story, Michael has returned to filmmaking, melding his passions for storytelling, film, and climate action. This film, which he wrote, produced and directed, is his documentary debut, and is in its early stages of release. Michael is also currently in pre-production on a second documentary about water and the women on the frontlines who are waging a courageous, inspiring fight to protect and conserve it.
About the Lark Theater: The Lark is a restored historic Art Deco theater that aspires to be the foremost example of a revitalized single-screen/single stage theater. It runs as a non-profit, community-based film and cultural center, and is also an all-electric and County of Marin Green Business.
This event is hosted by former Climate Reality Bay Area Chapter Co-Chair Antonina Markoff and her husband Bruce, an architect team which recently engineered the Lark Theater’s transition to 100% electrical power!