Spotlight on animated environmental film ‘Watch the Feet’
The Fort Myers Film Festival will show the documentary short film Watch the Feet during the “Random & Animated Shorts Block” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20.
Most consumers want to do the right thing to help keep our planet healthy, but it can be confusing. Feel good words like biodegradable, natural, recyclable, sustainable, etc. may actually encourage consumers to purchase more without guilt. But everything has an environmental footprint that affects our planet, and to truly keep our environment healthy, we need to reduce the number of nonrenewable resources we extract and the number of toxins we release. In just a few minutes, the character Elsie (LC) shows 
consumers how to consider a product’s entire life cycle to make their actions have more impact than just the words. In this regard, LC uses her five toes to summarize the life cycle that consumers should consider when making purchases.
The information provided in the documentary is based on extensive Life Cycle Assessments done by governmental environmental agencies. The filmmakers are not promoting the use of any one material over another. Rather, their goal is to encourage consumers to “watch their footprints” 
and strive to keep them as small as possible by remembering all five stages of a products’ life cycle.
“A healthy economy is important,” point out Laura Tufariello (director/screenwriter, photos 2 & 3) and Sashko Danylenko (director/animator). “We make our living and provide for ourselves and our families with the exchange of goods and services. Watching our footprints can still maintain a prosperous economy for all by shifting our thinking from thoughtless disposable consumption to creating a demand for quality items that have smaller footprints and longer lives.”
“I’m very passionate about educating consumers how to make the best choices and not be fooled by greenwashing,” adds Tufariello.
Watch the Feet was the winner of Best Environmental Film at the December 2021 Environmental Film Festival.
You can view a trailer of the film here.
May 14, 2022
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.