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Now just around the corner and with screening announcements out of the way, Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival (DLAFF) organizers are redirecting the “lime light” to a fitting cause.

On Sunday, August 17 from noon to 10:00pm, a series of programs presented free to the public will cover issues of urban environmentalism, mixing several hands-on activities with screenings of shorts dedicated to green awareness. Panel discussions from some of LA’s most notable figures and a special organic farmers’ market pushing “slow food” will take place during the day.

The festivities will be centered on Grand Avenue between 2nd and 4th streets.

Later that evening, the day-long event concludes with an outdoor screening of FLOW (For Love Of Water), the hit documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival detailing the effects of Earth’s overpopulation on our most valuable natural resource.

DFFLA is scheduled to run August 13 through August 17 in venues throughout the Historic Core and Arts District.

-downtown film festival programming announced
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Program highlights include:

Farmers Market and Slow Food Court
Grand Avenue between 2nd and 4th, 12:00pm noon to 6:00pm.

Over 60 food, farm, green business, craft and green not for profit booths will offer California fare. Salads, ice cream, rotisserie chicken, fish, cobbler, juices, and more. Talk to small local growers about their farms, while sampling their produce.

Also, sample local beer and organic wine in the Karl Strauss beer and Silver Lake Wine garden! Shop for organic produce, native plants from the Theodore Payne Foundation, green crafts, products and services. Visit community booths featuring a bicycle rodeo and repair, organic gardening and cooking demonstrations. And bicycle valet service!

Panel Discussions – Four panels will tackle topics on the minds of all environmentally-conscious Angelenos: “Electric Cars: Are They Ready For Their Close-up?”; “Green Collars Jobs – Building a Renewable Future”; “Think Slow, Eat Local – A New Way Of Thinking About Food,” and “Pocket Parks: Grassroots Gardens in the Urban Landscape.” Moderators include Anna Scott, Downtown News; Russ Parsons, food columnist for the LA Times, and the author of How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table; Ken Bensinger, automotive reporter, LA Times, and Jan Perry, Los Angeles City Councilperson, Council District 9.

Documentary Film Screenings – Over 20 environmental-theme documentary short and feature films, including the Live Earth Shorts Program and ranging in topics from urban farms to alternative fuels and L.A.’s diverse bicycle culture. All screenings are free at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) theater, adjacent to California Plaza.

Live Entertainment – The evening’s festivities will begin with a live musical performance from the piano-driven trio Gabe Dixon Band, whose new self-title album is about to be released by Fantasy Records. The band draws heavily from Seventies singer-songwriter crafted music and has been compared critically to early Elton John and Jackson Brown and contemporary Ben Folds,

Los Angeles Premiere Screening of the New Environmental Documentary Film FLOW
For Love Of Water (2008, USA, 93 mins.) Following a successful Sundance premiere Irena Salinas’s film comes to LA with FLOW, a cautionary documentary detailing the precarious future faced by both rich and poor nations unless change is realized soon. Water is our most important natural resource, more crucial to our civilization than gold, iron, or even oil. Our water supplies are being stretched to the limit by population, social, and economic pressures.

The festival’s complete programming line-up and ticket information is available at dffla.com.