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Arts & Entertainment

Audubon Film Event Sheds Light on Cancer & Light Links

‘The City Dark’ Film Event @ Audubon Greenwich to host Richard Stevens, a research epidemiologist who will explain research into how light relates to breast and other cancers. 

Friday, May 18 ~ 7:00-9:00 pm

With more than half of the world population now living in cities, the loss of the night sky threatens to create a profound gap in perspective. What is lost when we can no longer see beyond our own planet?

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Exploring health and humanity, Ian Cheney, a Peabody Award winning filmmaker, brings us “The City Dark.” His new documentary that examines the disappearance of darkness, and the human relationship to the stars. Featuring stunning astrophotography, engaging animations, and an eclectic cast of scientists, astronomers, philosophers, historians, and designers, “The City Dark” is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.

As a special treat for our audience, Richard Stevens, the research epidemiologist in the film, has graciously agreed to be a speaker at the Audubon Greenwich screening. He will discuss the role that light plays in the development of breast and other cancers. Followed by independent star gazing on Hawk Watch lawn, just outside the center. Picnics baskets are welcome before or after the film. 

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$12/adult; $5/children in advance. Door tickets, if remaining, will be $3 more. RSVPs and advance tickets required (via check or debit card.) Space limited. RSVP to Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239 or jcordulack@audubon.org. 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT

Note: All ages welcome but the film may not entertain young children.

MORE ABOUT THE FILM:

When filmmaker and amateur astronomer Ian Cheney moves to New York from rural Maine, he pulls a telescope onto his Brooklyn rooftop hoping to survey the night sky. But the glow of orange streetlights in the City That Never Sleeps obscures all but a handful of stars. THE CITY DARK becomes a journey to answer a deceptively simple question: Do we need the night?

In chronicling the disappearance of darkness, THE CITY DARK takes viewers on a quest to understand how light pollution affects people and the planet. The film’s six chapters weave together cutting-edge science with personal, meditative sequences reflecting on the human relationship to the sky.

THE CITY DARK makes forays into science and culture within and well beyond New York City. Joining a troop of Manhattan Boy Scouts on their first night of stargazing outside the city, exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawai’i, tracking hatching sea turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights—including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids who grow up without a glimpse of the universe above.

Viewers meet city planners and lighting designers trying to balance the human love of light with our need for darkness, our love of the starry skies, and our desire to cut energy costs with more efficient designs.

In the course of Cheney’s journeys and interviews with people tackling these issues by day, THE CITY DARK poses important questions about the human relationship to the night. With more than half of the world population now living in cities, the loss of the night sky threatens to create a profound gap in perspective. What is lost when we can no longer see beyond our own planet? Featuring stunning astrophotography, engaging animations, and an eclectic cast of scientists, astronomers, philosophers, historians, and designers, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars. 

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