Biologists estimate 20,000 to 40,000 species go extinct every year, many times higher than the "background extinction rate" built into the evolutionary process. The cause? Human environmental impact, the product of consumption times population. Many environmentalists focus on our excessive consumption, but discussing the latter factor in the equation - population - has fallen out of vogue. Welcome to environmentalism's radical fringe: the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement and the Church of Euthanasia. Armed with slogans like "Thank You For Not Breeding" and "Live Long and Die Out," their ideas are usually greeted with laughter or hostility. But beneath the silliness, do they have a point? Through humorous animation and live-action interviews with academics, economists, and activists across the political spectrum, "Thank You For Not Breeding" takes a new look at our species, our environment, and our future.

Biologists estimate 20,000 to 40,000 species go extinct every year, many times higher than the "background extinction rate" built into the evolutionary process. The cause? Human environmental impact, the product of consumption times population. Many environmentalists focus on our excessive consumption, but discussing the latter factor in the equation - population - has fallen out of vogue. Welcome to environmentalism's radical fringe: the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement and the Church of Euthanasia. Armed with slogans like "Thank You For Not Breeding" and "Live Long and Die Out," their ideas are usually greeted with laughter or hostility. But beneath the silliness, do they have a point? Through humorous animation and live-action interviews with academics, economists, and activists across the political spectrum, "Thank You For Not Breeding" takes a new look at our species, our environment, and our future.

Biologists estimate 20,000 to 40,000 species go extinct every year, many times higher than the "background extinction rate" built into the evolutionary process. The cause? Human environmental impact, the product of consumption times population. Many environmentalists focus on our excessive consumption, but discussing the latter factor in the equation - population - has fallen out of vogue. Welcome to environmentalism's radical fringe: the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement and the Church of Euthanasia. Armed with slogans like "Thank You For Not Breeding" and "Live Long and Die Out," their ideas are usually greeted with laughter or hostility. But beneath the silliness, do they have a point? Through humorous animation and live-action interviews with academics, economists, and activists across the political spectrum, "Thank You For Not Breeding" takes a new look at our species, our environment, and our future.

Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.

Parallel lines get close, but never meet. Music video for Gala's Parallel Lines.

Our free culture anthem gets a fabulous arrangement by Nik Phelps. Vocals by Connie Champagne. Animation and song by Nina Paley.

A man plays fetch with his dog, only to have both him and his dog mired in a series of optical illusions.

A man plays fetch with his dog, only to have both him and his dog mired in a series of optical illusions.

You don't need to be a cat lover to appreciate Nina Paley's gorgeous animated short (though it will be a dose of nip to you if you are). A loving set of color-treated, drawn-over images of the titular cat, seen playing and staring back at the camera to a suitably bright and bouncy score by Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble.

"This is a nice fruit tree here. Why don't you eat from it? " Working from about 2,500 images, all painstakingly drawn and painted and textured onto clear 70mm film leader, Nina Paley’s brilliant, camera-less short film paints the proverbial "Fall from Grace" as a labyrinthine trip through Pandora's box. It is a mad race, a dance with death and a rollicking good time in this raucous, vibrant set of color images shimmering and shimmying over a black background, all to the driving insouciance of Scottish punk rockers the Revillos' "Yeah Yeah."