DCEFF 2022

Fire of Love

Sara Dosa

<p>Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things &mdash; each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, chasing eruptions, documenting their discoveries. Ultimately, they lost their lives in a 1991 volcanic explosion, leaving a legacy that forever enriched our knowledge of the natural world. Director Sara Dosa and the filmmaking team fashion a lyrical celebration of the intrepid scientists&rsquo; spirit of adventure, drawing from the Kraffts&rsquo; spectacular archive. Fire of Love tells a story of primordial creation &amp; destruction, following two bold explorers as they venture into the unknown, all for the sake of love.</p>

Tigre Gente

Elizabeth Unger

<p>A Bolivian park ranger and a young Hong Kongese journalist risk their lives to go undercover and investigate a new, deadly jaguar trade that&rsquo;s sweeping South America. Along the way, they grapple with questions of empathy, responsibility, and bridging a cultural gap to prevent the jaguar trade from spiraling out of control. Shuttling between the breathtaking biodiversity of Madidi National Park in Bolivia and the tense China-Myanmar border, TIGRE GENTE juxtaposes the tranquility and splendor of the jungle against the small-minded, sadistic nature of Man, its Destroyer.</p>

Beans (2020)

Tracey Deer

<p>Based on true events, Tracey Deer&#39;s debut feature chronicles the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 Quebec.</p>

The Territory

Alex Pritz

<p>A young indigenous leader and his environmental team fight against farmers involved in the wholescale destruction of vast swathes of the Amazonian rainforest.</p> <p>Alex Pritz&rsquo;s film focuses on the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous Surveillance Team as they set about challenging the way landowners are destroying environmentally rich areas for profit. It draws on intimate access to both the Indigenous community and the opposing farmers network, to track the enormous changes that have taken place in Amazon region over the last three years. The escalation of activity by the farmers forces Bitate and Neidinha, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor, to find new ways to protect the rainforest from a rapacious industry whose support reaches all the way to Brazil&rsquo;s President Jair Bolsonaro.</p>

Breaking Trail (2021)

Jesse Roesler

<p>Emily Ford sets out with a borrowed sled dog to become the first woman and person of color to thru-hike the 1200 mile Ice Age Trail in winter. As the journey tests their endurance, the duo embraces the unexpected kindness of strangers.</p>

We Feed People (2022)

Ron Howard

<p>A chronicle of how Andr&eacute;s and his nonprofit rebuilds nations in the wake of disaster, providing healthy food to those affected.</p>

After Antarctica

Tasha Van Zandt

<p>In a dramatic attempt to bring attention to climate change, an international expedition led by renowned explorer Will Steger embarked on the first-ever coast-to-coast expedition across Antarctica in 1989. Six men and their sled dogs braved howling storms, sub-zero temperatures, snow crevasses, and other perils as they traversed the icy terrain. Tasha Van Zandt&rsquo;s enthralling feature debut catches up with Steger 30 years later as he revisits the frigid continent, deftly weaving his contemporary journey with rare, dynamic footage of his original, treacherous seven-month odyssey.</p>

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Raj Patel Zak Piper

<p>Anita Chitaya has a gift: she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and maybe she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home in Malawi from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, she meets climate sceptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions that shape the USA: from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, and to the American exceptionalism that remains a part of the culture. It will take all her skill and experience to help Americans recognise, and free themselves from, a logic that is already destroying the Earth.</p>

Ascension (2021)

Jessica Kingdon

<p>The absorbingly cinematic Ascension explores the pursuit of the &quot;Chinese Dream.&quot; This observational documentary presents a contemporary vision of China that prioritizes productivity and innovation above all.</p>

Becoming Cousteau

Liz Garbus

<p>A look at the life, passions, achievements and tragedies surrounding the famous explorer and environmentalist Jacques Cousteau, featuring an archive of his newly restored footage.</p>

Beneath the Polar Sun

Diana Kushner Stephen Smith

<p>In the Arctic&rsquo;s Last Ice Area, 500 nautical miles from the North Pole, a scientific team is on a rare mission to measure the world&rsquo;s oldest ice floes. Tiny specks in a vast ocean wilderness, they are alone. And they&rsquo;re in trouble. Jumbled slabs of sea ice are closing in from every corner. Hauling loaded kayaks, the team struggles to follow a route that had been navigable only years earlier. Trapped in a frozen maelstrom &ndash; caught in the grip of the floes they came to study &ndash; something has to give. The science is scuttled: bearing witness to Earth&rsquo;s most pressing existential threat, what matters now is survival. They must escape the chaos by traversing a narrow channel between Canada and Greenland &ndash; the most formidable passage of the polar North.</p>

Burning (2021)

Eva Orner

<p>Looks at the deadly Australian bushfires of 2019-2020, known as &#39;Black Summer&#39;. An exploration of what happened as told from the perspective of victims of the fires, activists and scientists.</p>

Coral Ghosts (2021)

Andrew Nisker

<p>Inspired by the effects that global warming and chemical run off on the world&#39;s coral reefs, Coral Ghosts follows eccentric and driven Dr. Tom Goreau, a marine biologist who inherited the family legacy of protecting the world&#39;s coral reefs at a time when they have never faced greater threats. Told through intimate verite, never before seen archival film and photographs, and stunning underwater photography, this character driven film brings viewers from a dusty attic in Cambridge, to the shores of Jamaica, Bikini Atoll, Indonesia, Australia, and Nunavut on a &quot;mad&quot; scientist&#39;s journey to protect the coral that his father died documenting.</p>

Devil Put the Coal in the Ground

Peter Hutchison Lucas Sabean

<p>Uniquely structured upon the personal storytelling of native West Virginians, Devil Put The Coal In The Ground is a meditation on the suffering and devastation brought on by the coal industry and it&#39;s decline. From the realities of a crumbling economy, to the ravages of the opioid epidemic, to the irreparable environmental damage and its tragic impact on human health - the film is a cautionary tale of unfettered corporate power, and an elegy to a vanishing Appalachia.</p>

El Naturalista Isleño (Island Naturalist)

Freddy Arturo Ginebra Eladio Fernandez

<p>Explores conservation photographer Eladio Fernandez&rsquo;s unique relationship with nature, revealing hidden stories on the islands of the Caribbean. For most, the Caribbean is a vacation spot known for its white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. For Eladio, the islands are biodiversity hotspots that are largely undocumented. These islands, and the natural wealth they possess, are in a race against time. Overpopulation, deforestation, mining, poverty, and corrupt governments threaten many of the very species this island naturalist fights to preserve.</p>

Expedition Content (2020)

Ernst Karel Veronika Kusumaryati

<p dir="ltr">In 1961, filmmaker Robert Gardner organized the Harvard Peabody Expedition to Netherlands New Guinea (current day West Papua) with the intention, as he put it, to carry out &ldquo;a comprehensive study of a single community of Neolithic warrior farmers.&rdquo; Funded by the Dutch colonial government and private donations, and consisting of several of the wealthiest members of American society wielding 16mm film cameras, still photographic cameras, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and a microphone, the expedition settled for five months in the Baliem Valley, among the Hubula (also known as Dani) people. It resulted in Gardner&#39;s highly influential film &#39;Dead Birds&#39;, two books of photographs, Peter Matthiessen&#39;s book &#39;Under the Mountain Wall&#39;, and two ethnographic monographs. Michael Rockefeller, a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller (Standard Oil) family, was tasked with taking pictures and recording sound in and around the Hubula world.</p> <p dir="ltr">&#39;Expedition Content&#39; is an augmented sound work composed from the archive of 37 hours of tape which document the encounter between the Harvard Peabody Expedition and the Hubula people. The piece reflects on intertwined and complex historical moments in the development of approaches to anthropology, the lives of the Hubula and of Michael Rockefeller, and the ongoing history of colonialism in West Papua.</p>

Explorer: The Last Tepui (2022)

Renan Ozturk Taylor Rees

<p>Follows elite climber Alex Honnold and a world-class climbing team on a grueling mission deep in the Amazon jungle.</p>

Exposure (2022)

Holly Morris

<p>An international group of women test their limits in completing one of the last attempted expeditions to the North Pole.</p>

Forest for the Trees (2021)

Rita Leistner

<p>A war photographer embeds in a community of tree planters who overcome grueling conditions and emotional difficulties to bring back the forest.</p>

Sentinels

Derek Knowles Lawrence Lerew

<p>Young environmentalists take to the trees to save an old-growth grove and outwit loggers.</p>

Fruits of Labor

Emily Cohen Ibañez

<p>A Mexican-American teenager dreams of graduating high school, when increased ICE raids in her community threaten to separate her family and force her to become the breadwinner for her family. She works long days in the strawberry fields and the night shift at a food processing factory. Set in an agricultural town on the central coast of California, FRUITS OF LABOR is a coming of age story about an American teenager traversing the seen and unseen forces that keep her family trapped in poverty.&nbsp; A lyrical meditation on adolescence, nature and ancestral forces, the film asks, what does it mean to come into one&rsquo;s power as a working young woman of color in the wealthiest nation in the world?</p>

Full Circle (2021)

Anne Via McCollough

<p>Celebrates Helen Hays 50-year quest to save 2 species of threatened seabirds, the Great Gull Island Project. During her long term study, she vastly increased the numbers of nesting Terns on a small, uninhabited island in Long Island Sound.</p>

Going Circular

Richard Dale

<p>Going Circular dares to imagine a future where humankind not only survives, but flourishes, by rethinking global paradigms and respecting the limits of our planetary resources. Meet four groundbreaking thinkers who navigate environmental, economic, and social crises of the modern age. They each discover that the solutions for creating a circular economy and planet have already been perfected in nature itself.</p> <p>An Off the Fence production for Curiosity Studios in coproduction with ZDF Enterprises, ZDF and Arte. Executive Producers Robert-Jan van-Ogtrop, Thomas Anthony and Allison Bean. Produced by Ellen Windemuth and Sam Barton- Humphreys, Directed By Nigel Walk and Richard Dale.</p>

Helena from Sarayaku

Eriberto Benedicto Gualinga

<p>Helena is a 17-year-old student in Finland. Her father is Swedish, and her mother is originally from the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, who live in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon. On a recent trip there, Helena participates in the traditional Uyantza Raymi cultural festival, and meets with Kichwa leaders who ask her to deliver a message to the world &mdash; Kawsak Sacha, or &lsquo;Living Forest,&rsquo; an innovative concept in conservation, in which the jungle is considered to be a living being. After COVID-19 confines Helena in Puyo &mdash; the closest city to Sarayaku &mdash; she learns that 80% of her community has been infected with the virus, and that the Bobonaza River has flooded part of her village. She is Helena of Sarayaku, and this is her story.</p>

High Tide Don’t Hide

Niva Kay Emily McDowell Nia Phipps Phil Stebbing

<p>In the race for existence, striking teenagers discover that activism, authority and awareness make for a steep learning curve.</p>

Crazy Bloody Greens

Bryce Vernon Groves

<p>The &quot;world&#39;s politest man&quot; and an indigenous activist share the leadership of the New Zealand Green Party and a special bond, standing for their beliefs in a Covid-year election, amongst acidic public opinion.</p>

La Saison des Tourteaux (Crab Season)

Martin Benoist

<p>Behind the &Eacute;tretat cliff, Christophe, who is profoundly visually impaired, fishes &ldquo;&agrave; la t&acirc;te&rdquo; crabs and lobsters in an almost lunar space where no one ventures. At his side, we experience what Christophe feels, starting with the beauty of the landscape.</p>

Last of the Right Whales

Nadine Pequeneza

<p>North Atlantic right whales are dying faster than they can reproduce. With unprecedented access to film the whale migration, Last of the Right Whales brings a message of hope about the most at risk great whale on the planet.</p>

The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

Joshua Zeman

<p>THE LONELIEST WHALE is a cinematic quest to find the &quot;52 Hertz Whale,&quot; which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude, calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. As a group of scientists mount an expedition to locate this elusive creature, the film delves into the profound interconnection that exists between whale culture and our own.</p>

Marcher Sur L’eau (Above Water)

Aïssa Maïga

<p>12-years-old Houlaye lives in Niger, and travels several kilometers each day to fetch water. The village got together to construct a well. This is the promise of a new life for people who have literally been walking on water since birth.</p>

Meren tuomat (Walk the Tideline)

Anna Antsalo

<p>The movie follows today&rsquo;s beachcombers in Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Japan. The same endless piles of trash left by humans cover all the shores. Our shared ocean is loaded with time travelers made of plastic, the fruit of our throwaway culture and our indifference. They are the seeds of destruction, as they end up in the entrails of creatures living in the sea. Most of the beachcombers share the same worries about the environment. Besides the plastic trash, many travelers drift between continents, such as various plants&rsquo; seeds. Like all species, they look for new living environments where they could survive on a warming&nbsp;planet.</p>

Mottainai Kitchen (2020)

David Gross

<p>Mottainai Kitchen is a culinary road movie, tackling the issue of food waste and other environmental issues in Japan, searching for sustainable solutions. The film follows filmmaker and food activist David Gross as he discovers the fascinating Japanese concept of &ldquo;Mottainai&ldquo;, meets local chefs, scientists and farmers while creating tasty recipes for a &ldquo;Zero Waste Kitchen Revolution&rdquo;.</p>

The Mushroom Speaks

Marion Neumann

<p>THE MUSHROOM SPEAKS&nbsp;explores the healing qualities of fungi and their ability to regenerate. This personal journey takes us on a walk alongside parasites, symbionts and decomposers offering ideas of both interconnectedness and collaboration. Driven by a vision of resistance, the encounters seek possibilities of renewal and question what connects us when the world seems to be falling apart. With mushrooms and their allies, the film invites us to imagine a myco-cultural (r)evolution. What if the fungus could help us address and radically change our relationship to this world?</p>

Newtok (2021)

Michael Kirby Smith Andrew Burton

<p>After decades of government inaction put them in the direct path of a slow- moving climate disaster, the Indigenous village of Newtok, Alaska, may still be able to keep their community intact, but their future hinges on the political will of those in power and finding the money to build a new village.</p>

Pushed up the Mountain

Julia Haslett

<p>PUSHED UP THE MOUNTAIN is a poetic and emotionally intimate film about plants and the people who care for them. Through the tale of the migrating rhododendron, now endangered in its native China, the film reveals how high the stakes are for all living organisms in this time of unprecedented destruction of the natural world. Beginning in my godfather&#39;s garden in the Scottish Highlands, the film travels between conservationists in Scotland and China who devote their lives to the rhododendron&rsquo;s survival. Patiently observed footage of conservationists at work combines with centuries-old landscape paintings and my speculative voice to create a thought-provoking film about human efforts to protect nature for and from ourselves.</p>

România Sǎlbǎtic (Wild Romania)

Cosmin Dumitrache Dan Dinu

<p>The Carpathian Mountains, the Danube River and the Black Sea gave birth to the wildest country in Europe. Following the four seasons of the year, we discover the life of Romania&#39;s most emblematic animals and unfold the story of its most amazing natural landscapes.</p>

Scenes From the Glittering World

Jared Jakins

<p>Three Indigenous youth come of age on the fringes of the Navajo Nation. &#39;Scenes from the Glittering World&#39; is a meditation on adolescence, trauma and the power of connecting with a homeland.</p>

Silence of the Tides

Pieter-Rim de Kroon

<p><em>Silence of the Tides</em>&nbsp;is a cinematic tribute to the Wadden Sea, the world&rsquo;s largest, and most varied, uninterrupted intertidal area, extending along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.</p> <p>The film plays witness to the rough, yet fragile relationship between man and nature as it pulsates with the inhaling and exhaling of the tides. It&rsquo;s a hypnotizing large screen look into the cycles and contrasts of the seasons: life and death, storm and silence, the masses and the individual. All set against a larger-than-life backdrop of sky, water, wind, mist and constantly changing light.</p>

Water’s Way: Thinking Like a Watershed

Sandy Cannon-Brown Dave Harp Tom Horton

<p>Millions of beaver ponds and dams once sponsored a lush mosaic of wetlands throughout the Chesapeake region. These slowed and spread and retained water flowing to the Bay from every creek and river, letting it soak in and percolate through the ground. Because beavers have been gone so long &mdash; they were trapped out of the Chesapeake watershed by 1750 &mdash; there is almost an &lsquo;ecological amnesia&rsquo; as to the benefits they conferred, the world they created&hellip;how the watershed &lsquo;thought&rsquo; for thousands of years.</p>

Youth Unstoppable (2021)

Slater Jewell-Kemker

<p>Interviews with young, passionate activists looking to save the planet. Filmed over ten years from all parts of the world.</p>

Zero Gravity

Thomas Verrette

<p><em>Zero Gravity</em> follows a&nbsp;diverse group of middle-school students who go on the journey of a lifetime when they&nbsp;compete in a nationwide tournament to code satellites aboard the International Space Station. Seen through the wondrous eyes of three young students and their first-time coach, they each take an intimate and personal journey to space as their team grows from amateur coders to representing California in the ISS Finals Tournament &mdash; the culmination of a summer-long adventure that sees their incredible accomplishment performed by astronauts in orbit.</p> <p>The competition in&nbsp;<em>Zero Gravity&nbsp;</em>is called Zero Robotics and is run by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory in collaboration with NASA and CASIS, and their goal is to utilize the International Space Station for student experiments in zero gravity in support of real-world problems facing space scientists today. The mission in the film is to create a GPS system around Mars for future exploration of the red planet.&nbsp;</p>

Humanity Has Not Yet Failed (Greta Thunberg)

Norma V. Toraya Jared P. Scott

<p>Climate activist Greta Thunberg juxtaposes the absurdity of political inaction with the straightforward high-stakes of the climate emergency.</p>

Generation on Fire (2021)

Sam Eilertsen Nate Birnbaum

<p>In the summer of 2021, two groups of young people from the climate-activist group Sunrise Movement, marched hundreds of miles--from New Orleans to Houston and Paradise, CA to San Francisco -- to demand good jobs and a well-funded Civilian Climate Corps to fight the climate crisis. This is their story.</p>

Our Future Our Fight (2021)

Beth Murphy

<p>OUR FUTURE, OUR FIGHT is an upbeat, fun, fact-filled docu-series that brings audiences into the exciting world of teens leading the climate action movement. It&rsquo;s an inspiring look at the movement to save the planet from the teens who say, this is our future, this is our fight. In each episode the featured activist is introduced to a dynamic early- to mid-career scientist whose life work is aligned with the activist&rsquo;s specific area of interest. Together they research scientific advances, seek out experts, and travel to destinations around the world in search of greater knowledge and possible solutions.</p>

Arctic Summer (2021)

Daniel Fradin Kyle Rosenbluth

<p>Arctic Summer is a poetic meditation on Tuktoyaktuk, an Indigenous community in the Arctic. The film captures Tuk during one of the last summers before climate change forced Tuk&#39;s coastal population to relocate to more habitable land.</p>

After Ice (2021)

Kieran Baxter

<p>Glaciers reflect our past and reveal our future. This short film overlays imagery from the archives of the National Land Survey of Iceland with current day footage of six outlet glaciers in the Hornafj&ouml;r&eth;ur region of Southeast Iceland to reveal the breathtaking story of a rapidly disappearing frozen world.</p>

We the Power (2020)

David Garrett Byars

<p>The energy crisis, war, and changing climate all push us to reimagine how we think about energy. The film and following debate explore the future of the sector. Imagine a new local and sustainable energy system that is built on bringing social and economic benefits to neighbouring communities. The movie follows neighbourhoods of Girona, the urban roofs of London, and Bavaria as they build a more resilient and healthy future of the energy sector.</p>

Ocean Odyssey (2021)

Nick Robinson

<p>Follow a three-month-old baby whale on a magical journey down one of the Earth&#39;s great ocean highways to discover the incredible world of ocean currents - hidden marine rivers that flow around the Earth. As our young whale goes with the flow of the current on a great migration from the warm tropics to the frozen ice floes of Antarctica, she meets the curious creatures that call the current home, and discovers how the ocean nurtures all life on earth, from the smallest fish...to us.</p>

Farm Free or Die (2022)

Roger Sorkin

<p>Extreme weather events are hitting America&rsquo;s farmers hard and with greater frequency than ever before. Combined with the mounting costs of conventional farming methods that require increasingly expensive fossil-based fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides for ever-decreasing yields, these events are driving many farmers to economic failure. The cycle of extractive agriculture creates dire economic, food security, health, and environmental hazards &ndash; for farmers and everyone else. Farm Free or Die advocates for transformative agricultural policies that improve farming livelihoods and address the climate crisis. The stories of farmers on the front lines of severe environmental and economic adversity will catalyze support for policies that stabilize rural communities, strengthen food security, and incentivize soil health and carbon removal.</p>

Craig, America (2021)

Matt Mikkelsen Palmer Morse

<p>A story of transition and renewal in the rural west, Craig, America shares the many perspectives that encompass a community upheld by coal but looks towards a future without it. It brings to life the unique story of Craig, Colorado, and how its people, economy, and community are both resilient and adaptive.</p>

Guardians of the River (2020)

Shane Anderson

<p>In this film by American Rivers and Swiftwater Films, Indigenous leaders share why removing four dams to restore a healthy Klamath River is critical for clean water, food sovereignty and justice.</p>

A Flyfishing Refugee

Brian Kelley

<p>Pressured out of Poland as a dissident in the early 1980s, Mariusz Wroblewski set out for freer territory, with his family, a yearning for wild rivers, and not much else. Four decades later, he&rsquo;s become a conservationist and advocate for wild rivers &ndash; and discovered the true reason rivers figure so prominently in his life.</p>

An Alaskan Fight (2021)

Brian Kelley

<p>Sometimes conservation can feel like an ultramarathon. In this short biopic, runner and wild fish advocate Sam Snyder fights for Bristol Bay, Alaska over the course of a decade and learns the meaning of home and place in the process.</p>

The Fish & The Flame

David Hutchinson

<p>This film documents Jim White, an aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and his collaboration with a reclusive ranch manager, Tim Haarmann, to save an obscure fish from muddy asphyxiation and genetic roadblock (imagine the Habsburgs, but with gills). We answer such pressing questions as: how do you rescue fish from a burn area? Once rescued, what happens next? This is a story about a passionate biologist risking his neck for a species most people have never heard of. It&rsquo;s also a light-hearted look at watersheds, and how both public agencies and private landowners can work together to protect landscapes from the cascading effects of development and climate change.</p>

When Rivers Return (2021)

Francisco E. Campos

<p>Learn about the positive impact of river restorations in Maine and Massachusetts, narrated by local people.</p>

Loon (2021)

Chris Zuker Jason Whalen

<p>Is wilderness more valuable than money? It depends on who you ask. Loon is a through hiking naturalist who understands what&rsquo;s truly valuable in life. At 80 years old with more than 2,000 acres of wilderness to his name, he must decide what to do with this precious asset.</p>

The Wonder of the Bobolink

Jon Bowermaster

<p>Follow the migration of tiny, ground-nesting birds from a New York farm field to Argentina and back, with noted Bobolink-chaser Noah Perlut.</p>

American Scar (2021)

Daniel Lombroso

<p>Dynamite blasts echo through canyons as construction for the southern border threatens flora and fauna for centuries to come.</p>

The Predator-Prey Project

Sara Joy Steele Benjamin Drummond

<p>Who&rsquo;s eating who? Where? How often? As wolves return to Washington State, people have questions. But understanding complex predator-prey dynamics in landscapes where people live, work and recreate is not easy. Catch deer, collar cougars, and deploy camera traps with researchers as they collect data to inform wildlife management and conservation.</p>

Finding Gulo (2021)

Tyler Wilkinson

<p>It follows a backcountry ski guide and a field biologist as they set out to document and protect an elusive population of wolverines.</p>

Last of My Kind (2021)

Nicolas Brown

<p>One hundred and sixty species have become extinct over the past decade, and the rate of loss is increasing rapidly. FaithInvest&rsquo;s Martin Palmer leads a service to mourn them: he believes humanity must go through a grieving process to acknowledge the harm done, before it becomes possible to reforge a deeper link to the natural world of which we are all a part. In an echo of the Christian tradition of tolling the bell for the dead, Martin rings the bell of his local Somerset church once for each lost species, to mark their passing. Like it or not, human beings have to power to destroy or protect life on Earth, and Martin asks us all to consider what the future will be for those plants and animals with whom we share the planet. Will we allow more species to vanish, never to return? Or together, can we turn the tide?</p>

The Tracker (2020)

Sarah Menzies

<p>Arrested every year for over a decade, Mutinda thought poaching was great, simply because he learned it from his father. Never knowing the value of the animals, Mutinda was collecting elephant tusks by the tons when his wife delivered an ultimatum: she would leave him should he not seek alternative options of employment. With a renewed outlook, Mutinda discovered that he can use his knowledge and skills for good &mdash; spending the last 18 years as a ranger with Richard Bonham&rsquo;s Big Life Foundation, Mutinda has a new mission: stopping poachers.</p>

Trees for Tamarins (2021)

Geoff Luck Whitney Beer

<p>Cotton-top tamarins live in only one corner of Colombia&mdash;right where Rosamira Guillen grew up. Today, she helps local communities earn their living sustainably and even restore the neighboring forest instead of chopping it down.</p>

La Voz del Mar: Hope for Hawksbill Turtles

Jon Bougher

<p>Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered globally, and for many years it was believed they had disappeared from El Salvador. Today, grassroots conservation is delivering renewed hope for hawksbills. Each year, tens of thousands of hatchlings now begin their amazing life journey.</p>

The Jujurana’s Kingdom

Munmun Dhalaria

<p>A journey into the kingdom of Jujurana, one of the most vulnerable pheasants on our planet, residing in the backdrop of extreme socio-political pressures exerted on a beautiful temperate and subalpine forest landscape. The red faced, blue-wattled, horned male of the species is a gorgeous pheasant, mesmerizing the females with his breathtaking courtship dance. My goal was to video document this Tragopan, one of the least photographed birds in the world, and share it with everyone. This short film on my journey into the kingdom of the Jujurana, highlights what it takes to protect this species at a time that India is rapidly losing its biodiversity. The state of Himachal Pradesh in India, is not only home to one of the largest protected populations of these birds, but is also the only place in the world where they are currently being bred in captivity for eventual release in the wild.</p>

La Forêt d’Ebo (2021)

Paolo Sodi

<p>Ebo is a lush rainforest in southwestern Cameroon, home to up to 25 of what might be the rarest gorilla subspecies &ndash; the Ebo gorillas. But it is also representative of an alarming trend all over the world where the rights of indigenous communities are being ignored in favor of short-term, exploitative practices that ultimately harm the well-being of both human and wild species that call these places home.</p>

The Land of Griffons (2021)

Riccardo Soriano

<p>On the Northwestern coast of Sardinia lives the last native Italian colony of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus fulvus). Domenico Ruiu, an experienced photographer and conservationist, tells us about the dangers threatening the survival of the colony and about the work of the &lsquo;Life Under Griffon Wings&lsquo; project which is fighting to ensure a safe future for the colony.</p>

The Bat Man and Woman of India

Emily Driscoll

<p>Chiropterologists Chelmala and Bhargavi Srinivasulu are researchers at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. They have been called the bat man and bat woman of India. The title suits them, they say. And their chiropteran-infused love has guided their passion for finding, studying and ultimately helping to protect endangered bat species all over India. And it is what launched them on a strange and, at times, dangerous journey to find a bat that had not been seen in two decades- the Kolar leaf-nosed bat.</p>

Yoshino Ringyo: The Lumberjacks of Japan

David Caprara

<p>Yoshino has been the breadbasket of Japan&#39;s forestry for 500 years. Due to globalization and shifts in culture, however, the forestry industry has nearly collapsed and small villages are reliant on forestry are becoming ghost towns. This film explores the lives of Japanese foresters striving to keep this centuries-old tradition alive, determined not to be the village&#39;s last.</p>

Rdza (Rust) (2020)

Rafal Malecki

<p>Artist Mariola Wawrzusiak roams post-industrial areas with her faithful dog in search of scrap metal, which she uses in her artwork. During the welding process she creates the sculptures of endangered animals, androids and children affected by war. Her critique of the ravages of civilization drives her obsessive need to create in spite of her painful hand condition. When the air quality in the city exceeds acceptable limits she, together with her family, escapes to an uninhabited island to wait out the difficult time in close contact with nature. Mariola Wawrzusiak is the professor of the Acadamy of Fine Arts in Krakow and a renowned Polish sculptress.</p>

Tracks (2022)

Kajsa Määttä Viktor Björnström

<p>Tracks is not a regular snowboarding movie, it&#39;s not really even a documentary. It&#39;s a story about winter and global warming in the arctic circle, told from our perspective as local snowboarders. Tornetr&auml;sk, the largest mountain lake in Scandinavia, is today frozen for a month shorter on average compared to when we were children, a clear sign that winters are changing quickly. What can we expect from our winters in the future?</p>

August Sky (2021)

Jasmin Tenucci

<p>As the Amazon burns for the seventeenth day, a nurse in Sao Paulo finds herself drawn to a Neo-Pentecostal church.</p>

When the Swallows Fly Away

Sebastian Pins

<p>In a small rural village, a young boy befriends Fernand and Andree, a farmer couple who, at the age of 80 years, find themselves at trouble feeding their remaining livestock.</p>

SŪKŪJULA TEI (Stories of My Mother)

David Hernández Palmar

<p>During a visit to her sister Amaliata, Rosa, a wise Wayuu woman, teaches her grandchildren the importance of reciprocity within their culture. This film is part of a series and multimedia platform, made in partnership with Indigenous storytellers and their communities worldwide, invites learning from time-honored and current Indigenous ways of being. Facing a climate crisis, the Reciprocity Project embraces Indigenous value systems that have bolstered communities since the beginning of time. To heal, we must recognize that we are in relationship with Earth, a place that was in balance for millenia</p>

Bahçeler Put Kesildi (Gardens Petrified)

Ali Cabbar

<p>After his father&#39;s death, Yusuf goes to his village, where he has not been for years, and learns that a geothermal company wants to buy his father&#39;s agricultural lands and drill a well. He wants to solve problems without disrespecting his father&#39;s memory, but things don&#39;t go as he hoped.</p>

Camp Yoshi (2021)

Faith E. Briggs

<p>After moving to Oregon and falling in love with the ability to explore the outdoors with ease with his wife and two kids, Rashad Frazier knew he had to extend the invitation to others. Driven by the magic of his experiences, his background as a chef, and his love of good food and connecting people to incredible places that open up to conversation, he created Camp Yoshi, which curates custom outdoor adventures centered around shared meals and shared experience with the goal of creating a space for Black people and allies to unplug and in turn reconnect with the wilderness. By virtue of being in these places, Camp Yoshi&#39;s trips transform historically segregated spaces into safe havens for community, conversation and nourishment.</p>

Beyond the Scope (2021)

Chelsea Jolly

<p>Meet Anna Le, an aquatic ecologist and environmental educator. Anna has spent years welcoming students, families, community members, and beginners in the outdoors to connect with our outdoor spaces, and each other. Beyond the Scope is a film amplifying Anna&rsquo;s story and conveying her contagious love for conservation and her deep desire to cultivate a more inclusive outdoors for all.</p>

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)

Brit Hensel

<p>Filmed on the Qualla Boundary and Cherokee Nation, Udeyonv (What They&#39;ve Been Taught) explores expressions of reciprocity in the Cherokee world, brought to life through a story told by an elder and first language speaker.</p>

Spirit of the Peaks (2021)

Tim Kressin Connor Ryan

<p>Playing as part of the Minds Moving Mountains Speaker Series: Bridging Divides with Dr. Len Necefer Centered around skier and Hunkpapa Lakota, Connor Ryan, Spirit of the Peaks dives deep into the struggles of identity that comes with being stuck between two worlds. His mission is to connect the Ute people with the mountains that they were displaced from and work towards restoring balance through his own reciprocity. This film will call on anyone who spends time in the mountains to feel a deeper connection to the land and embrace traditional Indigenous ethics when fighting for the preservation of these sacred places.</p>

This is the Way We Rise

Ciara Leinaala Lacy

<p>The film follows Native Hawaiian slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio as she reconnects with her art through activism, particularly in the movement to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai&#39;i.</p>

Pili Ka Mo’o (2021)

Justyn Ah Chong

<p>The Fukumitsu &#39;Ohana (family) of Hakipu&#39;u are Native Hawaiin taro farmers. When a nearby corporation digs up their familial burial ground, they are drawn into a logistically and emotionally complex quest to preserve their ancestral land.</p>

What Travelers Are Saying About Jornada del Muerto

Hope Tucker

<p>Visitors and residents of New Mexico&#39;s Tularosa Basin, site of the first detonation of an atomic bomb, contribute to the production of public memory as they offer reckonings and advice about making &quot;the journey of the dead.&quot;</p>

Jet Line: Voicemails From the Flight Path

Patrick McCormack Duane Peterson III

<p>Employs an anonymous hotline to elevate the voices beneath Vermont&rsquo;s F-35 flight path, the first urban residents to live with one of the US military&rsquo;s most controversial weapons systems overhead. Tranquil scenes of unassuming neighborhoods near Burlington International Airport are juxtaposed with voicemails of the unheard, those drowned out by the ear-shattering &ldquo;sound of freedom.&rdquo; Exploring the relationship between picturesque residential areas and the deafening weapons systems overhead, Jet Line is a poetic portrait of a community plagued by war machines, documenting untenable conditions in a small city once voted one of the best places to live in America.</p>

We Have Reached the Moment (2021)

Liz Smith Christi Cooper

<p>We Have Reached the Moment follows Vic&rsquo;s journey as he tries to explain to his climate-denying father the impacts of the climate crisis on their own disenfranchised communities. Adding to this deeply emotional challenge is Vic&rsquo;s concurrent gender transition, shifting their relationship from father-daughter to father-son, for which there is no instructional manual. Vic ultimately, like any son or daughter, desires unconditional acceptance, love, and support from his parent&hellip; but how do we connect with loved ones when their belief systems undermine our very identity and right to a healthy future?</p>

Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of Our Ancestors)

Princess Daazhraii Johnson

<p>A Gwich&#39;in grandfather teaches his granddaughter how reciprocity is embedded in our lives. The northern lights warm the caribou; they feed and sustain us; we honor the connections, bringing new meaning and wishes for the next generation.</p>

Remothering the Land

Mark Decena

<p>Young Black Farmers like Will Smith, a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, work small tracts of available farmland on Huchiun ancestral territory in the Bay Area, California. Will and other farmers share space with members of the Sogorea T&eacute; Land Trust, the Indigenous, women-led community focusing on ecological farming and food justice. Their mission to rematriate land aims to restore people to their rightful place in sacred relationship to their ancestral land.</p>

Seasons (2022)

Michael Fearon Gabriella Canal

<p>Nevia No is a classically trained performer who runs Bodhitree Farm in Pemberton, New Jersey. Nevia struggles to maintain equilibrium on the farm and provide for her farmhands, mother and adult daughter, Euni. Euni is ambivalent about farming, but during the pandemic, she returns back home to help her mother. Nevia dreams that a season of farming will persuade her daughter to take over the family business, but Euni may have dreams of her own.</p>

Women of the Earth, Melany & Freya

Chiara Hollender

<p>Each year industrial agriculture is responsible for destroying 24 billion tons of topsoil, and that destruction leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions and climate temperatures everywhere. Melany and Freya Dobson grew up on a farm, and are now reigniting their passion for farming and agriculture as adults. Together, these sisters are on a mission to reverse the damage done by climate change by using hemp to pull heavy metals and toxins from the ground and replenish their 700 acre farm.</p>

Toxic Neighbour

Colin Scheyen

<p>Eugene Bourgeois had no concerns about nuclear energy when he built his farm next door to the world&#39;s largest nuclear facility in 1974. Over that time, he and his wife Ann ran a successful wool business and taught generations of people around the world the art of knitting. They really believed they had found paradise. However, over the next few decades, Eugene, his family, and his sheep flock were frequently exposed to hydrogen sulfide, a deadly nerve gas from the nuclear plant, which caused hundreds of his sheep to be blinded, born deformed, or killed. The industry has denied any wrong doing, but Eugene has always known the truth and dedicated the rest of his life to pushing his nuclear neighbour for greater transparency and accountability.</p>

My Vulnerable Country (2021)

Eve Golecruz

<p>Explores the variance between renowned Filipino environmental advocate Mitzi Jonelle Tan&#39;s experiences with the direct impacts of climate change, and the filmmaker&#39;s own seemingly far-removed relationship to the issue. The piece also reflects on the cultural identity of the filmmaker, a Filipino-American, and the feeling of dissonance between their Asian heritage and American culture.</p>

Ghost Ponds (2021)

Amanda Sosnowski

<p>In the farmland of England, a search and rescue mission is underway. A team is working to excavate land haunted by ghosts&hellip; but these are not ordinary ghosts&hellip; they are ghost ponds. Norfolk used to have a record number of ponds, but modern-day farming is burying England&rsquo;s wetlands at an exponential rate. With a looming biodiversity crisis, a grassroots movement is reviving farmland ponds as an unexpected last hope to protect freshwater wildlife.</p>

Growing Up Kiwi (2021)

Madeleine Brennan

<p>Follow Almer, a young Haast tokoeka kiwi chick, as he strives to survive his first year of life thanks to the ground-breaking conservation programme Operation Nest Egg.</p>

My Neighbour is a Bear (2020)

Mattia Cialoni

<p>A rare Marsican bear family wanders down from the Italian Apennines to the charming village of Villalago, in search of food in the local orchards. For most people this would be a cause for concern, but for the residents of Villalago it is a rather different situation. The film tells the story of the determination of one woman to understand these bears, and gives an important lesson of the fragility of our connection with nature.</p>

Turtles on the Hill

Carolyn Decker

<p>Turtles on the Hill&nbsp;is a love story about a population of rare turtles, the dedicated community conservation group, and the changing coastal landscapes that they share. Over one year in a suburban Rhode Island wildlife refuge, a young woman scientist joins this community to reveal how&mdash;despite the existential threats of coastal development, predation, and sea level rise&mdash;the lives of the people, the diamondback terrapins, and the estuary are inextricably intertwined.</p>

A View From Above (2020)

Dylan Werkman

<p>Follows the intimate journey of an astronaut going up into space, guided by metaphors from the life on earth. The film reveals the emotional complexity of the astronaut&rsquo;s journey and raises questions about our shared home and our broader collective consciousness.</p>

Spirits and Rocks: An Azorean Myth

Aylin Gökmen

<p>On a volcanic island, inhabitants are caught in an unending cycle: the threat of impending eruptions and earthquakes, and the burden of past traumas loom over them. Some draw upon myth and religious beliefs to interpret their precarious situation, while others demonstrate resilience, rebuilding their villages from the volcanic rocks. Mirroring the ethereal atmosphere of the island&#39;s landscapes, the film gradually takes on the appearance of the stories it recounts.</p>

Planktonium

Jan van IJken

<p>Planktonium is a short film about the unseen world of living microscopic plankton. It is a voyage into a secret universe, inhabited by alien-like creatures. These stunningly beautiful, very diverse and numerous organisms are unknown to most of us because they are invisible to the naked eye. However, they are wandering beneath the surface of all waters around us and they are of vital importance for all life on earth.</p> <p>Jan van IJken filmed the plankton through his microscopes, revealing the beauty and delicate structures of the minute organisms in the finest detail. The film is without any voice-over or explanation.</p> <p>Renowned Norwegian artist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.janawinderen.com/">Jana Winderen</a>&nbsp;made a sound composition for the film. She is recording audio environments and creatures which are hard for humans to access, both physically and aurally &ndash; deep under water, inside ice or in frequency ranges inaudible to the human ear.</p> <p>Phytoplankton (small plant-like cells) are producing half of all oxygen on earth by photosynthesis, like plants and trees do on land. Zooplankton are forming the base of the food chain of aquatic life. Plankton are also playing an important part in the global carbon cycle. The plankton are threatened by climate change, global warming and acidification of the oceans.</p>

Hekumallinen, Hypermuovinen (Orgiastic Hyper-plastic)

Paul Bush

<p><span data-sheets-root="1">An elegy to a love affair that has gone sour, a fond farewell to that most beautiful material that has subjugated our planet - plastic.</span></p>

Under Control

Ville Koskinen

<p>Under Control shows human action from the insect&#39;s level. The botanical garden is an artificial nature-like installation where each room has its own microclimate. Despite&nbsp; human attempts to control the environment, pests are spreading and eating the plants all over the garden. The gardeners are fighting against the pests with cryptobugs; thousands of ladybirds that are specially bred for killing and imported from abroad. But since cryptobugs alone don&rsquo;t solve the problem, the gardeners have to rely on the help of an exterminator who kills the pests as well as all the other insects with poisons. As the remedies get harsher, the bystanders will have to face the consequences.</p>

Our Ark (2021)

Deniz Tortum Kathryn Hamilton

<p>We are backing up the planet, creating 3D models of animals, rainforests, cities and people. We are archiving as if ecological collapse could be staved off through some digital Noah&rsquo;s Ark of beasts and objects. OUR ARK is an essay film on our efforts to create a virtual replica of the real world.</p>

Under Review: Katahdin

Kelly Ashton Todd

<p>A boy grows up spending his days amongst the trees. Through his daily visits of climbing, playing and swinging from branches, he develops a loving friendship with the tree and her saplings. But, the boy grows up. His visits become few and far between and he loses his affection for the natural world. He follows his lineage into the field of logging; therefore he must choose between protecting or slaughtering his beloved family of trees. Under Review: Katahdin tells the heart-wrenching story of our evolving relationship with trees.</p>