Vermont documentary filmmaker, Karen Akins, wins Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking

Vermont documentary filmmaker, Karen Akins, wins Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking, to be presented at Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival on August 25th

STOWE, VERMONT, USA, August 13, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Vermont-based filmmaker, Karen Akins, will be presented with the Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking on August 25th at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. The prize honors a feature film that delivers exceptional insights in environmental and sustainability issues. The award recognizes her latest film, THE QUIETEST YEAR, which exposes the unaddressed health impacts of noise pollution in Vermont and beyond.

Akins, who lives in the village of Stowe, is especially honored by the recognition, since one of her goals in making the film was to elevate the issue of noise to be better understood as an environmental pollutant. “It’s not just about annoyance anymore... it’s about our acoustic environment , which can negatively affect our health,” she says. “Noise is the new 'secondhand smoke' " says Akins.

Released in late 2023, THE QUIETEST YEAR is currently on on a Vermont screening tour, with two remaining events scheduled. It will screen in Middlebury on August 23rd at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Film Fest, and in Stowe at Spruce Peak Arts on September 7th. The Stowe screening will include a Q&A with the filmmaker and featured experts, including Les Blomberg from the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Dan Gauger - Retired distinguished engineer with Bose Corporation, UVM Pediatric Neurologist Dr. Peter Bingham, Retired Air Force Colonel Rosanne Greco, as well as many of the Vermonters affected by noise who appear in the film. 

Tickets for upcoming screenings can be purchased online at these links: 


https://middfilmfest.org/

https://www.sprucepeakarts.org/events/the-quietest-year/

The filmmaker is also scheduled to present a lecture in Stowe on October 9th as part of the OLLI lecture series, where she will talk about the motivation for the film and the latest scientific understanding about noise and its impact on health. She will show clips of THE QUIETEST YEAR, partly shot in Stowe, and discuss the disturbing lack of noise regulations in Vermont, both locally and at the state level.

Electronic Press Kit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IuPBhoNQUuMOCQlX2gAQBI2C0iD4jShNKcIl7HT4LCE/edit?usp=sharing

Karen Akins
Director/Producer, The Quietest Year
+1 802-793-1481
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Official Trailer: The Quietest Year