This film premiered in 2021 at the Nature of Cities Festival, a global festival where over 2,200 people from 72 different countries gathered to radically imagine cities of the future.
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Many of us recognize the need for more ecological lifestyles, but if we live in a city with little or no ‘ecology’ around us, where on earth do we start? Can city dwellers live in harmony with nature? These questions set up an insight-filled journey through urban and rural landscapes in Japan, while natural farmers offer tokens of wisdom.
These short stories of transition show us ways to harness the kind of creative innovation that will help us re-imagine our cities as ecologically and socially just places. In turn, they also suggest that beautiful, delicious, ecological lifestyles are possible no matter where we live … it all depends how we see ourselves in relation to the universe.
Production
A City is Part of the Universe was independently produced by City as Nature with previously unreleased archival footage from our feature length documentary, Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness.
Country: Japan, United States
Length: 8 minutes
Year: 2021
Director / Cinematographer: Patrick M. Lydon
Editor: Suhee Kang
Music: WindSync
Cast: Yoshikazu Kawaguchi, Kenji Murakami, Larry Korn
We would like to thank the following supporters, whose recent donations made this production possible: The Cole Winery, Borycki Foundation for Art, Fireclay Tile, Robin Lasser, Kachua, Kelly J Steele, Madhukara Gopal Rao Sringeri
Watch the Film
Festival Screenings
This film premiered at The Nature of Cities festival in 2021, and was an official selection of VIDA VERT Sustainable Film Festival in 2021 and 2022.
How to Support Our Films
This film was made possible directly through donations from viewers like you. To support the continued creation of more works like this, you can donate to City as Nature directly. A full 100% of your donation goes directly into the production of free, publicly available films, resources, and projects to further environmental wellness.