DCEFF 2019

The River and the Wall (2019)

Ben Masters

<p>This film follows five friends on an immersive adventure through the unknown wilds of the Texas borderlands. They travel 1,200 miles, from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico, on horses, mountain bikes, and canoes. Realizing the urgency of documenting the last remaining wilderness in Texas as the threat of new border wall construction looms, they set out to document the borderlands and explore the potential impacts of a wall on the natural environment. As the wilderness gives way to the more populated and heavily trafficked Lower Rio Grande Valley, they come face to face with the human side of the immigration debate.</p>

Jeune bergère (A Modern Shepherdess)

Delphine Détrie

<p>A few years ago, St&eacute;phanie left her Parisian life for the vast salt meadows of the Cherbourg Peninsula. The former graphic designer discovered a deep connection with this land by the sea where she now raises sheep. Here, she has reinvented herself. In pursuing her new calling, the single mother became the manager of a farm. It needs to be profitable, as this is the leitmotif of our time that even small farmers cannot escape from. She must also face up to neighbors who are hostile to the stranger that she still remains in their eyes. Through her courage, creativity, and strength of character, St&eacute;phanie aims to evade the birds of ill omen and win her freedom. This is the story of a shepherdess that invites us to question our own desire to lead a life in keeping with who we really are.</p>

When Lambs Become Lions

Jon Kasbe

<p>In the Kenyan bush, a small-time ivory dealer fights to stay on top while forces mobilize to destroy his trade. When he turns to his younger cousin, a conflicted wildlife ranger who hasn&#39;t been paid in months, they both see a possible lifeline.</p>

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)

Nicholas de Pencier Jennifer Baichwal Edward Burtynsky

<p>The filmmakers take us on a worldwide tour encompassing concrete seawalls in China, which now cover 60 percent of the mainland coast; the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany; potash mines in Russia&rsquo;s Ural Mountains; a heavy metal festival in the closed city of Norilsk, Siberia; the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia; and lithium evaporation ponds in South America&rsquo;s Atacama Desert. High-end production values and stateof-the-art camera techniques capture evidence of human planetary domination. At the intersection of art and science, this film bearswitness to a critical moment in geological history.</p>

Lost World (2018)

Kalyanee Mam

<p>As Singapore dredges sand out from beneath Cambodia&rsquo;s mangrove forests, the threat of erasure looms over an ecosystem, a communal way of life, and one woman&rsquo;s relationship to her beloved home.</p>

Acid Forest (2018)

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė

<p>A wispy stretch of land from Russia to Lithuania becomes an unlikely tourist attraction: a dying forest of leafless trees overtaken by thousands of ancient black birds ruining the area with their acid-fortified feces.</p>

Sengiré (The Ancient Woods)

Mindaugas Survila

<p>Filmed in one of the last remaining patches of old growth forest in Lithuania, The Ancient Woods is a place where the boundaries of time melt and everything that exists does not wither or age but &quot;grows into&quot; eternity. A poetic and atypical nature film takes its viewers on the endless journey - from the forest thickets to the wolves&#39; caves and up to black stork&#39;s nest, and then deep into the water to the underwater forest, returning after to the human beings inhabiting the edge of the woodland. There&#39;s no commentary, only the rich, almost palpable sounds of the forest and the magical situations captured by the camera.</p>

Aquatic Cathartic (2018)

Gad Girling

<p>A short documentary investigating the entangled roles of art and science in making the world a better place.</p>

Beatrix Farrand’s American Landscapes (2019)

Stephen Ives

<p>Follow award-winning public garden designer Lynden B. Miller as she sets off to explore the remarkable life and career of America&#39;s first female landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand. Miller journeys to iconic gardens designed by Farrand and engages with designers, scholars and horticulturists in a spirited dialogue about the meaning and importance of this ground-breaking early 20th-century woman.</p>

The Blessing (2018)

Hunter Robert Baker Jordan Fein

<p>A Navajo coal miner raising his secretive daughter on his own, struggles with his part in the irreversible destruction of their sacred mountain.</p>

Blowout (2019)

Zach Toombs

<p>Investigative journalists, scientists, and concerned citizens trace the fallout of a new American fossil fuel boom. From the oil fields of west Texas to tanker traffic busting the Panama Canal at its seams, to an energy revolution in Asia, this documentary takes a deep dive into American energy&rsquo;s global impacts on profits, public health, and climate change.</p>

Confluence (2018)

Amy Marquis Dana Romanof

<p>The Colorado River has carved a deep imprint both on the physical landscape and on the lives of he people who rely on it. This film follows an up-and-coming indie folk band as they traverse and document this endangered river system in the form of original music.</p>

COOKED: Survival by Zip Code (2018)

Judith Helfand

<p>This searing yet quirky film investigates the &ldquo;natural&rdquo; disasters we&rsquo;re willing to see and prepare for and the &ldquo;unnatural&rdquo; ones we&rsquo;re not. Adapted from Eric Klinenberg&rsquo;s groundbreaking book Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand uses her signature serious-yet-quirky connect-the-dots style to take audiences from the deadly 1995 Chicago heat disaster deep into one of our nation&rsquo;s biggest growth industries &ndash; disaster preparedness. Along the way she forges inextricable links among extreme weather, extreme disparity, and politics, daring to ask: What if a ZIP code were just a routing number, and not a life-or-death sentence?</p>

The Dawn Wall (2017)

Peter Mortimer Josh Lowell

<p>In January, 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their effort to climb the Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible 3,000 foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, California. The pair lived on the sheer vertical cliff for weeks, igniting a frenzy of global media attention. But for Tommy Caldwell, the Dawn Wall was much more than just a climb. It was the culmination of a lifetime defined by overcoming obstacles. At the age of 22, the climbing prodigy was taken hostage by rebels in Kyrgyzstan. Shortly after, he lost his index finger in an accident, but resolved to come back stronger. When his marriage fell apart, he escaped the pain by fixating on the extraordinary goal of free climbing the Dawn Wall. Blurring the line between dedication and obsession, Caldwell and his partner Jorgeson spend six years meticulously plotting and practicing their route. On the final attempt, with the world watching, Caldwell is faced with a moment of truth. Should he abandon his partner to fulfill his ultimate dream, or risk his own success for the sake of their friendship?</p>

Eating Up Easter (2018)

Sergio M. Rapu

<p>On Easter Island, the most isolated community in the Pacific uses lessons learned from their past to solve environmental and social challenges brought on by booming tourism and rapid development.</p>

Epic Yellowstone: Return of the Predators

Eric Bendick Tom Winston Tria Thalman

<p>It&rsquo;s the dawn of a new era in Yellowstone. The wolves have returned. The grizzly bear population is at an all-time high. And the mountain lions? They never left. The presence of these iconic predators touches every aspect of life in Yellowstone. Through their eyes, Smithsonian Channel&rsquo;s Epic Yellowstone allows us to witness nature&rsquo;s dramas play out over the course of a year. These carnivores play a critical role in keeping Yellowstone in balance, but what does it take to survive, protect your turf, and raise young, all while trying to stay at the top of the food chain?</p>

The Fisherman and the Forest (2018)

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<p>Oyster farmer Shigeatsu Hatakeyama is something of a maverick. He is a fisherman, author, university professor, and recipient of the U.N. Forest Hero Award. At a time when industrialization was devastating the ocean, he requested an academic survey and then began planting trees. More than three decades later, a healthy forest, river, and ocean contribute to some of the finest oysters in the world. Even after the 2011 great tsunami swept everything away, nature proved resilient. Hatakeyama restarted his oyster farm and now passes his love for the sea to his grandson. This is a marvelous celebration of Hatakeyama&rsquo;s small bay, its richness, and the ongoing cycle of life.</p>

Free Solo (2018)

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Jimmy Chin

<p>Alex Honnold faces the biggest challenge of his career, climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He pursues it Free Solo, which means climbing without a rope and alone.</p>

Ghost Fleet (2018)

Shannon Service Jeffrey Waldron

<p>Ghost Fleet follows a small group of activists who risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find justice and freedom for the enslaved fishermen who feed the world&#39;s insatiable appetite for seafood. Bangkok-based Patima Tungpuchayakul, a Thai abolitionist, has committed her life to helping these &quot;lost&quot; men return home. Facing illness, death threats, corruption, and complacency, Patima&#39;s fearless determination for justice inspires her nation and the world.</p>

The Green Lie (2018)

Werner Boote

<p>This documentary questions the sustainable marketing images big global players made up in the last years, to get back trust from the rising crowd of skeptical customers. What about fair palm oil? Is BP really Beyond Petrol? The camera follows the two protagonists around the globe, doing research and interviews with company speakers, philosophers and with those fighting for a better and living friendly world.</p>

Grit (2018)

Sasha Friedlander Cynthia Wade

<p>When Dian was six years old, she heard a deep rumble and turned to see a tsunami of mud barreling towards her village. Her mother scooped her up to save her from the boiling mud. Her neighbors ran for their lives. Sixteen villages, including Dian&#39;s, were wiped away, forever buried under 60 feet of mud. A decade later, 60,000 people have been displaced from what was once a thriving industrial and residential area in East Java. Dozens of factories, schools and mosques are completely submerged under a moonscape of ooze and grit. The cause? Lapindo, an Indonesian company drilling for natural gas in 2006, unleashed a violent, unstoppable flow of hot sludge from the earth&#39;s depths. It is estimated that the mudflow will not end for another decade. Shot over the course of six years, GRIT bears witness to Dian&#39;s transformation from young girl to a politically active teenager as she and her mother launch a resistance campaign against the drilling company.</p>

Ground War (2018)

Andrew Nisker

<p>A filmmaker&#39;s investigation reveals that the use of pesticides around the world may have farther reaching consequences than he had ever imagined. The only hope he sees for a brighter future lies with the incredible people he encounters along the way.</p>

Harvest Season (2018)

Bernardo Ruiz

<p>Lush and luxurious, California&#39;s Napa and Sonoma Valleys are known for their top-notch wine making. The unsung heroes of the industry are the vineyard workers and small producers, who lovingly oversee all aspects of the wine-making process, from vine to vintage. Unfolding over the course of one of the most dramatic harvests in history, HARVEST SEASON follows three people whose lives are rooted in wine making, immersing the audience in the challenging and unpredictable process.</p>

Who Speaks for Nature (2019)

Larry Engel

<p>This short film looks at three different Amazonian indigenous peoples&rsquo; battles with their Ecuadorian government and big oil and mining to protect their land and human rights.</p>

Hidden Rivers (2019)

Jeremy Monroe David Herasimtschuk

<p>A mother grizzly raises what could be her last pair of cubs. A desperate lone wolf searches for a new family to call his own. An elusive mountain lion waits for the cover of night to catch her prey. Years ago, stories of carnivores in Yellowstone were few and far between, but recently the predators have made a huge comeback. They play a critical role in keeping Yellowstone in balance, but what does it take to survive, protect your turf, and raise young, all while trying to stay at the top of the food chain?</p>

Your Rivers Need You (2019)

Jim Pattiz Will Pattiz

<p>Documentary short on local Kentucky legend Joe Bowen. The film documents Bowen&#39;s personal connection to Kentucky&#39;s Red River Gorge and how his views on protecting the area evolved. The film features interviews with Bowen as well as scenes from the Red River Gorge using a combination of aerial, video, and time-lapse photography. The film tells Bowen&#39;s story in an effort to promote the protection of Wild and Scenic Rivers.</p>

Rock-Paper-Fish

Connor Gallagher Colin Arisman

<p>Every year all five species of salmon return to Southeast Alaska&rsquo;s Chilkat River to sustain the communities of Haines and Klukwan, as well as insatiable grizzly bears, hordes of fascinated tourists, and the world&rsquo;s largest gathering of bald eagles. But now a modern day gold rush is underway in the mountains above the river&rsquo;s headwaters, and locals are reckoning with the changes that could come with a hard-rock mine. &ldquo;Rock-Paper-Fish&rdquo; offers a vivid look into the lives of Alaskans grappling with questions as immense as the place they call home.</p>

Hostile Planet (2019)

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<p>In today&rsquo;s more violent and volatile climate, animals&rsquo; epic battles for survival take on a new urgency as they face intensified wildfires, blizzards, droughts, and downpours. These challenges are too much for some but present new opportunities for others.</p>

A House in the Fields

Tala Hadid

<p>House in the Fields is a film that examines the life of an isolated rural Amazigh community in the south- west region of the High Atlas Mountains. The thousand-year history of the Amazigh in Morocco has been, for the most part, recounted, preserved and transmitted by bards and storytellers in oral form among Tamazight speaking pastoral communities. House in the Fields continues this tradition of transmission, in an audiovisual form, in an attempt to faithfully document and present a portrait of a village and community that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years despite being confronted with the rapidly changing sociopolitical realities of the country at large. The film follows the lives&rsquo; of certain villagers, most specifically two teenage sisters, one who must give up school to prepare for her wedding, and the other who dreams of being a lawyer. House in the Fields is the first part of a triptych set in Morocco, that starts in the Atlas Mountains, journeys through Casablanca and finishes beyond the borders.</p>

The Human Element (2018)

Matthew Testa

<p>During his four-decade career as a photographer and explorer, James Balog has focused his lens on the complex relationship between humans and nature. Human activity has now surpassed all other forces shaping our world. Balog&#39;s work has challenged us to contemplate our place in, and responsibility to, the natural world. Balog investigates how altering the elements is in turn affecting everyday Americans right now. The Human Element features subjects who are often overlooked victims of climate change. Balog visits Tangier Island, a fishing community facing the imminent reality of sea level rise threatening their future. We meet Yadira Sanchez and her three children in Denver, Colorado, all of whom suffer from asthma, and attend a special school for children struggling with air. Balog embeds with a Cal Fire strike team on the frontlines of the most expensive wildfire in California history. And he ventures deep into Kentucky coal country, meeting unemployed miners finding hope from a new source. Balog argues that humans are part of the whole system of nature and not apart from it. Knowing this, he finds great hope that the fifth element, the human element, can bring the whole system back into balance.</p>

Into the Canyon (2019)

Peter McBride

<p>In 2016 filmmaker/photographer Pete McBride and writer Kevin Fedarko set out on a 750-mile journey on foot through the entire length of the Grand Canyon. From the outset, the challenge was far more than they bargained for. More people have stood on the moon than have completed a continuous through hike of the Canyon. McBride and Fedarko took a sectional approach, achieving a feat that many adventurers have taken decades to complete. Others have lost their lives trying. But their quest was more than just an endurance test - it was also a way to draw attention to the unprecedented threats facing one of our most revered landscapes. Throughout their passage, McBride and Fedarko encountered an astonishingly diverse and powerful landscape, rich in history, that is now facing perhaps the gravest crisis in the 100-year history of the Grand Canyon National Park. The threat is made stark when they encounter an organization of Navajo women fighting a billion dollar proposed tram project to be built on sacred ground. Directed by Pete McBride and produced by the award-winning team at Insignia Films, INTO THE CANYON is a story of extreme physical hardship that stretches the bonds of friendship and a meditation on the timeless beauty of this sacred place. It is an urgent warning about the environmental dangers that are placing one of America&#39;s greatest monuments in peril and a cautionary tale for our complex relationship with the natural world.</p>

Journey of the Whooping Crane

Rhett Turner Greg Pope

<p>At five feet tall, and with a wingspan of over seven feet, the whooping crane has the distinction of being North America&rsquo;s tallest bird and, sadly, also one of its rarest. Habitat loss caused by European settlers reduced the population to just 15 birds by the 1940s. Since then, in an intense effort to protect and restore the species, a broad coalition of NGOs, private interests, and government agencies has worked collectively and tirelessly to nurture the remaining wild flock to its current population of about eight hundred.</p>

Last Glimpse (2019)

Josh Burstein

<p>Explores the island paradise of the Maldives &mdash; the lowest-lying nation in the world. Due to rising sea levels, this community and its culture are on the brink: &ldquo;Modern Atlantis.&rdquo; And rather than offering another climate change tale of doom and gloom, the filmmakers celebrate the stories they find. Young people take action on the frontlines of change, while former President Nasheed gives his last international interview before his incarceration (he has since been released). Director and host Josh Burstein leans on best practices from his experience serving in the Obama administration and advocating against the Keystone XL pipeline and for protecting the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.</p>

LOBSTER WAR: The Fight Over the World’s Richest Fishing Grounds

David Abel

<p>Lobster War is an award-winning feature film about a climate-fueled conflict between the United States and Canada over waters that both countries have claimed since the end of the Revolutionary War. The disputed 277 square miles of sea, known as the Gray Zone, were traditionally fished by US lobstermen. But as the Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than nearly any other body of water on the planet, the area&rsquo;s previously modest lobster population has surged. As a result, Canadians have begun to assert their sovereignty, warring with the Americans to claim the bounty.</p>

The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid (2017)

Feargal Ward

<p>Thomas Reid, a 55-year-old Irish farmer, lives and works on the land of his ancestors. He leads a solitary life, wearing threadbare clothes and maintaining his farm with weathered hands. However, his quiet world is disrupted when a powerful multinational corporation, one of the world&rsquo;s largest computer chip manufacturers, eyes his land for expansion. Despite mounting pressure and legal battles, Thomas refuses to sell, determined to protect his heritage and way of life. His struggle transforms from a personal fight into a larger exploration of power, principle, and resistance.</p>

The Lost City of the Monkey God

Bill Benenson

<p>When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, a wild-card C.I.A. agent joins forces with three international agents on a mission to retrieve it, while staying a step ahead of a mysterious woman who&#39;s tracking their every move.</p>

Love Flows (2019)

Francisco Campos-Lopez

<p>Once upon a time, massive fish migrations were observed yearly around the world, sustaining civilizations and wildlife. Rivers provided food, recreation, and energy for millennia. However, as generations have passed, many free-flowing rivers have deteriorated due to human activity, habitat destruction, and pollution. Love Flows brings to life the struggles that voiceless rivers and migratory fish face today. More importantly, it highlights the global efforts being made to restore these waterways and ensure their survival for future generations.</p>

Maj Doris (2019)

Jon Blåhed

<p>Maj Doris is a documentary that follows the life of 74-year-old S&aacute;mi woman Maj Doris Rimpi. Two decades ago, she led a life filled with global travels and diverse experiences. Currently, she resides alone on a farm above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, managing reindeer and pursuing her passions as an artist, painter, and actress&mdash;most notably recognized for her role in S&aacute;mi Blood (2016). The film delves into the challenges she faces, especially during harsh winters, and explores themes of resilience, cultural identity, and the intersection of traditional lifestyles with modernity.</p>

Manufactured Landscapes (2006)

Jennifer Baichwal

<p>Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes due to industrial work and manufacturing.</p>

Meow Wolf: Origin Story

Morgan Capps Jilann Spitzmiller

<p>When a group of young DIY artists in Santa Fe can&rsquo;t find a door into the art world, they blow open an entirely new portal with their grit, passion, and tenacity. Within just a few short years &ndash; and with a little help from George R.R. Martin &ndash; this group called Meow Wolf ultimately hits a cultural nerve and garners massive, unexpected success with their exhibit</p>

Mia and the White Lion

Gilles de Maistre

<p>Mia moves to South Africa with her family to manage a lion farm and develops a special bond with Charlie, a white lion cub; however, things change when she uncovers her father&#39;s secret.</p>

Mori, The Artist’s Habitat

Shuichi Okita

<p>He lies among the shrubs and trees in his garden and observes the scurrying ants. This 94-year-old bearded man is Morikazu Kumagai, a.k.a. Mori, and he is a painter. For the last 30 years he&rsquo;s hardly left his property. Most of his day is spent tirelessly observing his garden and all living things in it, which he renders in paint while his wife Hideko attends to a string of visitors. When some developers decide to build a condominium next door that would block his sunlight, Mori and Hideko decide to take action.</p>

On the Front Line: The Rangers of Gorongosa National Park

Carla Rebai James Byrne

<p>In Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, a brave team of rangers protects this beautiful wilderness from a range of threats, including bushmeat hunting and illegal logging. But Gorongosa is a million acres &mdash; the Rangers urgently need reinforcements. Seven hundred candidates attempt to pass the intense mental and physical tests required to become a Gorongosa Ranger. And, for the first time ever, women are allowed to apply. But they won&rsquo;t be shown any preferential treatment &mdash; they have to endure the grueling 60-day trial just like the men.</p>

Paris to Pittsburgh

Michael Bonfiglio Sidney Beaumont

<p>An anthology series that follows three women in different decades all living in the same house, as they deal with infidelity and betrayals in their marriages.</p>

Peat, Palm and Haze

Isaac Kerlow

<p>Peat, Palm and Haze explores the environmental and socio-economic impact of peat forest burning in tropical Southeast Asia. The documentary delves into how this large-scale deforestation and agricultural expansion&mdash;driven by a government-sponsored transmigration program and the boom of oil palm farming&mdash;has led to severe haze pollution, health crises, and displacement of indigenous communities. Featuring perspectives from scientists, government officials, farmers, and displaced minorities, the film examines the complex and often conflicting narratives surrounding this environmental challenge.</p>

A Polar Year (2017)

Samuel Collardey

<p>A teacher in Denmark takes a job in rural Greenland where he struggles to fit in with the locals.</p>

Return to Mount Kennedy

Eric Becker

<p>In 1965 Jim Whittaker led Senator Robert Kennedy to the first ascent of a remote mountain in the Yukon named after the late president, JFK. Fifty years later, the sons of the original climbing team&mdash;a raucous band manager, a candidate for governor, and a young mountaineer&mdash;embark on an expedition to the mountain to celebrate the special bond that connects them all. Featuring unreleased instrumentals by Eddie Vedder and never before seen footage and photos of Robert Kennedy, the feature-length documentary sits at the intersection of politics, human rights, environmentalism and adventure.</p>

Revolution (2007)

Rob Stewart

<p>Revolution is a film about changing the world, going for it, taking a stand, and fighting for something. A true-life adventure following Director, Rob Stewart (SHARKWATER) over four years and 15 countries discovering there is a lot more than sharks at risk of becoming extinct. Climate change, environmental degradation, species loss, ocean acidification, pollution, and food/water scarcity are reducing the earth&#39;s ability to house humans and we need to start doing something about it now!</p>

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

Stephen Nomura Schible

<p>Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda is an intimate documentary that explores the life and career of legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Known for his work in electronic music and film scores, Sakamoto&rsquo;s artistry evolves in response to his personal experiences, including his battle with cancer and his activism following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. As he returns to music, the film captures his process of creating a new masterpiece, offering a deeply personal look at one of the world&#39;s most influential musicians.</p>

Seeds! (2018)

Walker Lambert

<p>This six-part journey into the wonder and power of seeds introduces us to seed people around the world, from farmers to baristas, from gardeners to scientists, from pioneers to visionaries.</p>

Vital Liquido (2018)

Zachary Zimmerman Michelle Morandotti

<p>Subsistence Mayan farmers in the highlands of Guatemala are struggling to hold onto their lives and futures at the hands of a five-year drought that has caused their wells, springs, and pipes to run dry. The faraway rivers are polluted, and finding potable water is an everyday challenge.</p>

Sharkwater Extinction (2018)

Rob Stewart

<p>Discovering that sharks are being hunted to extinction, and with them the destruction of our life support system - activist and filmmaker Rob Stewart embarks on a dangerous quest to stop the slaughter. Following the sharks - and the money - into the elusive pirate fishing industry, Stewart uncovers a multi-billion dollar scandal that makes us all accomplices in the greatest wildlife massacre ever known.</p>

Sharkwater (2012)

Rob Stewart

<p>An investigation of sharks&#39; importance to ecosystems and humankind&#39;s mass destruction of shark species worldwide.</p>

Thirst for Power (2018)

Mat Hames

<p>Shot across Europe and the United States, this film traces the history of civilization&rsquo;s quest to procure abundant water and energy &mdash; from ancient Roman aqueducts in the south of France and Israel, to modern America&rsquo;s vast hydroelectric infrastructure. Thirst for Power explores our dependence on water for energy as well as the huge vulnerabilities in our current systems, exacerbated by climate change. The documentary is adapted from Dr. Michael E. Webber&rsquo;s book of the same name. Combining anecdotes and personal stories with insights into the latest science of energy and water, both the book and the documentary identify a hopeful path toward wise long-range water-energy decisions and a more reliable and abundant future for humanity.</p>

Thirteen Ways (2019)

Ian Cheney

<p>A series of scientists (and, for good measure, a few nonscientists) travel to a plot of Maine land they have never seen before. One-by-one, through all four seasons, they walk the land and describe what they see. What unfolds is an unusual meditation upon the human relationship to the natural world and the power of different ways of seeing.</p>

This Mountain Life (2018)

Grant Baldwin

<p>Martina Halik and her 60 year-old mother Tania embark on a six-month ski trek through the treacherous Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This journey has only been completed once before, and never by a female duo. Their adventure is interspersed with beautifully crafted portraits of high-altitude human endurance and passion-an avalanche survivor, a snowshoe artist, a snowbound convent-that are by turns captivating and inspiring. Woven between their arduous and uplifting story are vignettes of others who have chosen a mountain life: a group of nuns inhabiting a mountain retreat to be closer to God; a photographer is buried in an avalanche; an impassioned alpinist; a focused snow artist; a couple who has been living off grid in the mountains for nearly 50 years. What is it that leads these adventurous people to sacrifice everything - comfort, family, personal safety - for a life in the mountains?</p>

Tigerland (2019)

Ross Kauffman

<p>Conservation activists talk about and illustrate the desperate fight to save the tiger, actually two of the remaining subspecies. For the Bengal tiger, the (great-)grandson of the India forestry director who lobbied to make PM Indira Ghandi sign the world&#39;s first tiger protection legislation and set up reserves, while converting the mentality of the colonial age prestige tiger hunts and cattle protective culling into guarding the national icon. A Russian WWF nature fan risks life and limbs to save the Siberian tiger from poachers and villages inside reserves.</p>

The Trouble with Wolves

Collin Monda

<p>Death threats, court battles, and an iconic endangered species in the middle, The Trouble With Wolves takes an up close look at the most heated and controversial wildlife conservation debate of our time. The film aims to find out whether coexistence is really possible by hearing from the people directly involved.</p>

Watermark

Jennifer Baichwal Edward Burtynsky

<p>Watermark is a feature documentary from multiple-award winning filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier, and renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky, making their second collaboration after&nbsp;<em>Manufactured Landscapes</em>&nbsp;in 2006.&nbsp;<em>Watermark</em>&nbsp;is the third part of Burtynsky&#39;s Water project which includes a book and major photographic exhibition. Shot in stunning 5K ultra high-definition video and full of soaring aerial perspectives, this film shows water as a terraforming element and the scale of its reach, as well as the magnitude of our need and use. In&nbsp;<em>Watermark</em>, the viewer is immersed in a world defined by a magnificent force of nature that we all too often take for granted - until it&#39;s gone.</p>

Wild Amsterdam (2018)

Mark Verkerk

<p>In this eye-opening exploration of the wilder, often hidden side of Amsterdam, we discover that the bustling, historic capital of the Netherlands is home not only to colorful human beings but also to a rich and varied range of wildlife. Made by acclaimed wildlife filmmakers, Wild Amsterdam turns urban nature into a humorous and engaging experience for the whole family. You won&rsquo;t look at Amsterdam, or even your own city, in the same way again!</p>

Wild Relatives (2018)

Jumana Manna

<p>Deep in the earth beneath the Norwegian permafrost, seeds from all over the world are stored in the Global Seed Vault to provide a backup should disaster strike. For the first time ever, seeds held there from a major gene bank in Aleppo are now being replicated, after its holdings were left behind when the institution had to move to Lebanon due to the civil war. It is refugees from Syria who are carrying out this painstaking work in the fields of the Beqaa Valley. In the Levant, dry conditions and the power of global agricultural corporations are the biggest challenge, while in the Arctic Circle - where the seed vault was supposed to withstand anything - it is rising temperatures and melting glaciers.</p>

Wildland (2019)

Alex Jablonski Kahlil Hudson

<p>Wildland tells the story of a single wildland firefighting crew as they struggle with fear, loyalty, love and defeat all over the course of a single fire season. What emerges is a story of a small group of working class men, their exterior world, their interior lives and the fire that lies between.</p>

The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

Alison Reid

<p>The Woman Who Loves Giraffes is a 2018 Canadian documentary directed by Alison Reid that chronicles the life and groundbreaking work of Dr. Anne Innis Dagg. In 1956, at the age of 23, Dr. Dagg embarked on a solo journey to South Africa, becoming the first person to study giraffes in the wild&mdash;preceding Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey in their respective research endeavors. The film intertwines archival footage and personal letters with contemporary interviews, highlighting both Dr. Dagg&#39;s pioneering contributions to zoology and the challenges she faced as a female scientist. It also sheds light on the current conservation issues surrounding giraffes, offering a poignant reflection on the changes over the decades.</p>

World at War (2019)

Robert Nixon

<p>The fish he loves to catch are disappearing, so teenage fisherman Jack Nixon enlists the help of marine conservationist Sylvia Earle. Finding a solution becomes a years-long global quest to save a dying ocean. Explorers Brian Skerry and Max Kennedy join the battle on the high-seas killing fields amid industrial fishing fleets and rapidly melting ice of the Chukchi Sea. The science and wisdom of Harvard biologist Dr. E. O. Wilson, deep diving pioneer Dr. Richard Pyle, and Stanford&rsquo;s Dr. Barbara Block inform the mission. Apollo 8 astronaut Major General William Anders and activist Bill McKibben provide relevant lessons of how humanity met past challenges. Sobered by a close examination of the daunting scale of the challenge, the teenagers find hope in nature&rsquo;s ability to heal and the ways a previous generation of youth overcame the global test of World War II.</p>

Under Her Wings (2019)

Elizabeth Herzfeldt-Kamprath

<p>Compassion can take you by surprise. Toni Lance came to St. Croix as a young artist, expecting to discover and express the beauty of the island. She never anticipated the heart connection she would develop with the island birds, and how many she would take &ldquo;under her wing.&rdquo; This short documentary explores Toni&rsquo;s passion as an artist and her life as a caretaker for wild birds.</p>

An Island Out of Time (2018)

Sandy Cannon-Brown David Harp Tom Horton

<p>This half-hour documentary about Smith Island, MD, features Mary Ada and Dwight Marshall, whose lives personify the Chesapeake Bay&rsquo;s seafood-harvesting culture and history, and their four children, who chose to break with that tradition. The film, like Tom Horton&rsquo;s 1996 book of the same name, is both a celebration and elegy for a place beset with erosion, dwindling population, and vanishing economic opportunities.</p>

The Plow That Broke the Plains

Pare Lorentz

<p>This documentary is about what happened to the Great Plains of the United States when a combination of farming practices and environmental factors led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.</p>

The River (1937)

Pare Lorentz

<p>This documentary short film looks at the devastating and costly problems, including seasonal flooding and erosion of precious topsoil, associated with the Mississippi River system and promotes more Federal projects to remedy the situation.</p>

Power and the Land (1940)

Joris Ivens

<p>In the framework of the New Deal politics, Joris Ivens was commissioned to film the benefits of rural electrification. The film shows the situation before and after the Rural Electrification Administration brought electricity to the farm of the Parkinson family.</p>

Amazon Forest Guardian Fight to Prevent Catastrophic Tipping Point

Sam Eaton

<p>In Brazil&#39;s Maranhao State, indigenous groups are battling a powerful logging mafia to protect the region&#39;s remaining and fragile Amazon rainforest. After years of decline, deforestation is again on the rise, threatening a terrifying climate change tipping point. Special correspondent Sam Eaton reports with support from the Pulitzer Center, in collaboration with The Nation and PRI&rsquo;s The World.</p>

Cold Comfort: Arctic Communities

Nick Mott Amy Martin

<p>Shishmaref, Alaska, is a town of 600 people, located on a small barrier island off the northwest coast of Alaska. This island is going through an erosion process put on steroids by climate change. Loss of sea ice and permafrost thaw mean the coastline is being worn away, bringing the cold Arctic water closer and closer each year, circling this village in an ever-tighter noose. When a major storm hit Shishmaref in 2005, the town became a poster child for climate change in the Arctic. Dramatic pictures of houses falling into the sea showed up in news outlets around the world. But climate change isn&rsquo;t the only threat this community is facing &mdash; to truly understand why Shishmaref is at risk, you have to start way before that storm.</p>

Losing Earth – From the Air

George Steinmetz

<p>George Steinmetz traveled the world to document the effects of climate change for The New York Times Magazine&#39;s &#39;Losing Earth&#39; edition in August 2018, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. In this video, Steinmetz recounts the yearlong journey and what he learned.</p>

Borneo’s Vanishing Tribes

Kent Wagner

<p>In the forests of Borneo, a native community struggles to protect its ancestral homeland from industries poised to destroy one of the Earth&rsquo;s oldest and most biodiverse rainforests. Borneo&rsquo;s Vanishing Tribes offers a glimpse into the lives of those most at risk, the Dayak &quot;people of the forest,&quot; who for millennia have relied on the forests for everything. Their close bond with the natural world is being threatened as they watch their forest being exploited.</p>

Permafrost Now (2018)

Stash Wislocki

<p>The Arctic is warming twice as fast as other parts of the planet. Nowhere is it more evident then in Alaska&rsquo;s Yukon Delta, a vast treeless landscape, 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Scientist Max Holmes and the students from the Woods Hole Research Center travel there to study the effect of climate change on permafrost, which contains more carbon then in all the fossil fuels still in the ground. Previous estimates had permafrost beginning to melt over the next half century, now as they discover, the thaw could start as early as the next decade.</p>

Becoming Ocean (2018)

Scott K. Foley

<p>When climate-change journalist Eiren Caffall is diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, she realizes that, like the planet, she is slowly drowning.</p>

Beyond Climate (2018)

Ian Mauro

<p>Beyon Climate explores the human and environmental impacts of climate change in British Columbia, and is a timely contribution to the province and country as we grapple with climate change, the paramount issue of our time. The film is directed by Ian Mauro, Professor and Filmmaker, from the University of Winnipeg.</p>

5,000 Miles of Wild

Ben Masters

<p>2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. To celebrate, American Rivers staff, Senator Tom Udall, Ted Roosevelt IV and others took a four-day canoe trip through iconic canyons of the Wild and Scenic Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park. 5000 Miles of Wild combines stunning scenery with insightful commentary on the state of river conservation, explains the importance of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and provides a powerful call to action for protecting our country&rsquo;s remaining wild rivers for future generations.</p>

Return of the Desert Bighorn (2018)

Charles Post Ben Masters

<p>Wildlife biologists in West Texas are returning Desert Bighorn Sheep to their historic habitat after being extirpated in the mid 1900s. Trapping and relocation techniques have changed over the years, but it&rsquo;s still a lot of hard work for everyone involved.</p>

Horse Rich and Dirt Poor

Charles Post Ben Masters

<p>This film follows ecologist Charles Post on a mission across the American West to better understand how wild horses and burros are affecting native wildlife and vegetation communities on our public lands.</p>

How the World Looks Now (2018)

Katie Cokinos Guy Reed

<p>A retired teacher reflects upon the 1968 Apollo 8 &quot;Earthrise&quot; photo, and the personal impact of seeing our world for the first time from outer space</p>

Earthrise (2018)

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

<p>Earthrise tells the story of the first image captured of the Earth from space in 1968. Told solely by the Apollo 8 astronauts, the film recounts their experiences and memories and explores the beauty, awe, and grandeur of the Earth against the blackness of space. This iconic image had a powerful impact on the astronauts and the world, offering a perspective that transcended national, political, and religious boundaries. Told 50 years later, Earthrise compels us to remember this shift and to reflect on the Earth as a shared home.</p>

Predicting Pandemics (2019)

Roshan Patel

<p>Smithsonian researchers partner with experts in Myanmar studying human and animal health to find out what diseases are present in wildlife and whether they could pose a threat to humans. This film shows how these scientists sample wildlife and work with communities to prevent the spread of disease.</p>

Human-Elephant Conflict (2019)

Roshan Patel

<p>Humans and elephants are increasingly living in the same places, which can lead to significant challenges. Tracking technology may be able to provide solutions that allow for people and elephant to thrive with fewer conflicts.</p>

Tracking Elephants (2019)

Roshan Patel

<p>Follow our scientists as they track endangered elephants in Myanmar with GPS collars. They have collared about 35 elephants during the past 17 years. The more they learn about how Asian elephants travel and move through the landscape, the better they can protect them.</p>

Elephant Poaching (2019)

Roshan Patel

<p>Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists are tracking Asian elephants in Myanmar&rsquo;s Ayeyarwady region using GPS collars. Though they set out to understand how elephants use the land, their research has also revealed a troubling rise in poaching. Unlike African elephants, Asian elephants are poached for their skin and meat &mdash; making males, females, and calves equal targets. Conservation efforts in Myanmar are shifting to stop this urgent threat.</p>

Refugiados do Desenvolvimento (Development Refugees)

Fabio Nascimento

<p>Brazil, just like most countries in Latin America, is a source of gold and silver, oil, iron, copper, meat, fruits, coffee, and other raw material. But the wealth goes to the prosperity of few, at the expense of the majority. The richest 1 percent of Brazilians makes almost one hundred times more than the poorest 10 percent, and 13 million Brazilians are illiterate. &ldquo;Progress&rdquo; and &ldquo;development&rdquo; only magnify the problems.</p>

Mar Incendiado (The Burnt Sea) (2017)

Carlos Armella

<p>Since 1940, abalone has been the primary fish caught off Isla Natividad, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The inhabitants of this community make efforts to adapt to the threat of climate change.</p>

Alimento (Food)

Mijaíl Peralta Wendy P. Espinal

<p>On the Dominican-Haitian border, the struggle to survive is getting harder every day. There is a lot of food being harvested, transported, and sold. But it ends up very far away</p>

The Black Mambas (2018)

Bruce Donnelly

<p>Formed by a group of local, black women from communities surrounding the Kruger National Park, The Black Mambas is South Africa&#39;s first and only all-female, anti-poaching unit, the first line of defense in an attempt to rescue their country&#39;s threatened rhino population from the edge of extinction. They are the eyes and ears on the ground, patrolling over 150 square miles of dangerous bush, and monitoring its borders. With military training, yet unarmed, these women have reduced rhino poaching significantly in their area, but know they may have only won a small, short-term battle in a much larger war. Their mission now is to take their work well beyond the reserve, to the schools and communities across South Africa, to empower and employ other women, educate children and bring upliftment to underprivileged communities. Only then will they bring about lasting and sustainable change to their country.</p>

A Film about Animals (for my children to watch when they are older)

Eric Daniel Metzgar

<p>After a sobering trip to film Cambodia&#39;s disappearing wildlife and rain forests, a filmmaker struggles to know how and when to tell his young children about the destruction of the natural world. He decides to tell his children the truth of what he witnessed in a filmed &#39;letter&#39; that they should watch when they are older.</p>

Poachers and Protectors: The Story of Scarlet Macaws in Honduras (2018)

Christi Lowe

<p>In the dangerous La Moskitia region of Honduras, poachers seek out the chicks and eggs of wild scarlet macaws. Their goal: sell them in the lucrative illegal pet trade. To counter the traffickers, brave community members have united to patrol and protect the nests, recognizing that in some ways, their own fates are tied to those of the birds. Poachers and Protectors: The Story of Scarlet Macaws in Honduras puts a spotlight on the wildlife trafficking crisis in Latin America, but introduces us to some of the heroes who are willing to risk it all for these iconic birds.</p>

Antamiki (2018)

Steve Ellington

<p>Illegal logging is a threat to the world&rsquo;s forests and to the many people who rely on them. This film follows a group of musicians to the Peruvian Amazon to listen to the stories of indigenous leaders and to learn how consumer choices directly impact forest communities. Featuring Ash&eacute;ninka activist Diana Rios Rengifo, James Valentine of Maroon 5, Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band, Adam Gardner of Guster, and singer/songwriter KT Tunstall.</p>

The River of the Kukamas

Nika Belianina

<p>Being born from the Spirit of the river, Kukama people have a special connection with the water. The river shrinks and grows throughout the year, affecting the lives of its citizens. Filmed at its widest state at the end of the rain season, we learn the cosmology of this disappearing culture in Peru.</p>

Crannog (2018)

Isa Rao

<p>Nobody should have to die alone. A young woman cares for 48 rescued and sick animals staying with them when they die. A contemplation on life, death and kindness.</p>

Bayandalai – Lord of the Taiga (2018)

Aner Etxebarria Moral Pablo Vidal Santo

<p>From inside his yurt deep within the heart of the Taiga, Bayandalai an elder of the Dukhas tribe muses about the significance of life and death in the largest forest on Earth. He is the last of the great reindeer herders of the Taiga.</p>

Ligne Noire (Black Line)

Mark Olexa Francesca Scalisi

<p>A woman fishing in turbid waters, a suffering nature, the broken chant of the muezzin, all linked by a thin black line.</p>

Insect Guardian – Butterfly Paradise

Tim Visser Sander van Iersel

<p>Back in 1980, Willem bought a remote potato farm and transformed it into a butterfly paradise. He has worked the land with shovel and scythe for almost 40 years in order to preserve the butterflies. Willem&rsquo;s paradise has become one of the most important habitats in the region for these fluttering beauties, but there is a problem. Due to an overload of nitrogen in the air, a monoculture of grass slowly drives away this flower-rich butterfly paradise. Butterflies that used to be common just a few decades ago are rare these days, or have completely disappeared.</p>

The Call of Pashmina (2018)

Taira Malaney

<p>After news of a tragic snow storm in Changtang (Ladakh) reaches him, a Kashmiri man quits his job and embarks on a journey to become a shepherd. Six years later, he starts the Pashmina Goat Project - an NGO to protect the Changpa community and their goats from the harsh implications of climate change in the region.</p>

The River Is Me (2019)

David Freid

<p>For many years, this river&rsquo;s ownership was under dispute. Now, it owns itself. In what&rsquo;s believed to be a world&rsquo;s first, the Whanganui River&rsquo;s been granted legal personhood, with the same rights and responsibilities as you and me. But determining where a river ends and the rest of nature begins &mdash; that may be up for some debate.</p>

For the Love of Salmon (2018)

Jan Vozenilek

<p>Under a haze of wildfire smoke and with her ancestors watching from above, Keely Weget-Whitney steps into the frigid and fast-moving waters of the Fraser River with one goal in mind: make people care. Join the 25-year-old member of the Stl&rsquo;atl&rsquo;imx First Nation as she embarks on a 60-kilometer swim to bring awareness to the depleting number of salmon and its impacts on her culture and the environment. &ldquo;I just feel that if I care, a young Indigenous Stl&rsquo;atl&rsquo;imx mother, people will reflect on that, and they&rsquo;ll say why am I not caring, what can I do for a change?&rdquo; As she battles the strong current and her own self-doubt, Keely encourages us all to come together to make change.</p>

Seldom Seen Sleight (2018)

Taylor Graham

<p>When Ken Sleight first floated the Colorado River through southern Utah&rsquo;s Glen Canyon in 1955, he recognized the canyon as a place where he could spend the rest of his life. Shortly thereafter, he left a comfortable desk job at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company to start his own river guiding company. With plans for Glen Canyon Dam already in the works, however, he knew he was building his life around a condemned world.</p>

Space to Explore (2018)

Katherine DuBois

<p>On an outdoor adventure to the Mars-like terrain of Moab, Utah, Natalie Panek seeks to reconcile life&rsquo;s stumbles, redirections, and challenges in her pursuit of space travel. Panek has spent her life focused on her biggest dream &mdash; to be the first to set foot on another planet. An aerospace engineer, a pilot, an influencer, an avid explorer, she has made it to the top 100 of astronaut candidates. Amidst sky-high arches and pinnacles, breathtaking views, and a canopy of stars, it&rsquo;s easy to believe that all the adventure you need is right here on Earth.</p>

The Passage (2018)

Nathan Dappen

<p>&ldquo;In 1974,&rdquo; the filmmaker recalls, &ldquo;My 20-year-old parents and uncle Andy built their own canoes, launched them into the Pacific, and became some the first people in modern history to canoe from Washington to Alaska up the Inside Passage.&rdquo; He continues, &ldquo;My brother and I grew up paddling those wooden canoes in the Virginia rives and the 1974 adventure became legend in our family &mdash; shaping who we&rsquo;ve become, how we view our parents, and how our parents view themselves. In the summer of 2017, we renovated those canoes and with our aging parents completed their 1974 journey. The Passage is a story about the dreams of aging brothers, fathers and sons, and the wild places that define us.&rdquo;</p>

The Incredible Oyster Reef

Russ Nichols Alison Nichols

<p>Most of us who love the Chesapeake Bay know that oysters once existed in storied numbers, long before poor water quality, disease, and harvesting nearly put an end to them. This film explores oysters as a keystone species with a remarkable, and it seems, indispensable ability to heal the bay&rsquo;s troubled waters.</p>

Shad Run (2018)

Ben Dorger Becky Harlan

<p>The American shad, a migratory fish, were once so abundant in the Potomac River that people said the river would &ldquo;run silver&rdquo; each spring. By the 1970s numbers were so low that even seasoned anglers went home empty-handed. Shad Run chronicles the abundance, demise, and quest to bring back America&rsquo;s forgotten fish.</p>

On the Waterfront With Arthur Cotton Moore

Tim Persinko

<p>This film centers on the development of the Georgetown Waterfront National Harbor and its architect, Arthur Cotton Moore. It touches on a variety of environmental approaches to waterfront development in the District of Columbia. A world-renowned architect who was in the forefront of new designs for a changing environment as early as the 1960s, Moore addresses the role that architecture plays in the evolving environment of Washington&rsquo;s urban system.</p>

Healing Baltimore’s Harbor: A Pipe Dream?

Sirjaut Kaur Dhariwal Crystal Berg

<p>Baltimore&rsquo;s Inner Harbor is a source of pride for city residents, but every year millions of gallons of sewage seep into waterways that drain to the harbor, threatening anyone who comes in contact with the water. Is the Inner Harbor salvageable? The short answer is yes &mdash; but it is going to take a lot of work.</p>

Treeline (2018)

Jordan Manley

<p>Quietly, patienty, trees endure. A film about our relationship with the forest.</p>

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (2019)

Elisabeth Tova Bailey

<p>When a woman is bedridden by a mysterious pathogen, a forest snail unexpectedly takes up residence on her nightstand. Together, the woman and snail share an intimate journey of survival and resilience. Their captivating and graceful explorations expand the boundaries of the bedroom. An intimate and surprising live action story. Adapted from the award-winning nonfiction memoir of the same title.</p>

Empty Skies (2017)

Wenting Den Luke Fisher

<p>A boy and his new friend hunt their village&#39;s last sparrow for a reward to save his sick Grandma during Communist China&#39;s Great Leap Forward (1958-1961).</p>

The Open Door (2018)

Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk

<p>It was an age-old custom in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan to keep the doors open, only closing it before bed. If doors were closed during the day, neighbors would become anxious. This short film follows the life of a girl, Pema, from infancy to adulthood, spanning over half a century. The film is divided into four chapters, each representing a season, roughly every two decades in the girl&rsquo;s life.</p>

Sides of a Horn (2019)

Toby Wosskow

<p>Shot on location and based on actual events, this dramatic short is the first film to tell the story of South Africa&#39;s rhino poaching war from both sides of the fence.</p>

Nuuca (2017)

Michelle Latimer

<p>Over the last decade, an oil boom in North Dakota has seen the state&#39;s population double with primarily male workers flocking to the region. With this dramatic increase, has come an influx of drugs, crime and sexual violence. On the Fort Berthold Indian reservation alone, rates of sexual violence have increased 168%, with Indigenous women most affected. Juxtaposing the ravaged yet starkly beautiful landscape with personal testimony from young Indigenous women living on the reservation, Nuuca is an evocative mediation revealing the connections between the rape of the earth and the violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls.</p>

Collapsing Time (2019)

Dorian Warneck

<p>Zoe Keller is a graphite artist creating large-scale, highly detailed drawings. Using the traditions of scientific illustration, she weaves complex visual narratives about at-risk species and wild places. Collapsing Time takes a look at the motivations behind her work.</p>

Herd Impact (2019)

Peter Byck

<p>A north Texas couple lets nature dictate how they graze their cattle. They are having tremendous success in regenerating their land and their lives.</p>

Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee (2019)

Len Necefer Greg Belkin

<p>The Gwich&#39;in have been fighting oil and gas development to protect way of life and caribou in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for over 40 years. In 2017, people from across the country came together to support Indigenous groups as they fought for their land around Southern Utah. If we showed our support for the five tribes in Utah, shouldn&#39;t we be able to care about the Gwich&#39;in as well?</p>

Tracking Snow (2018)

Tanya Martinez Jaclyn Aliperti J.P. Lawrence

<p>To estimate the distribution of elusive carnivores, researchers rely on finding snow tracks, which often leads to a lot of work without conclusive results. Join two scientists as they repurpose an old technique in a way that may revolutionize how we study threatened species and manage our landscapes. Created during the 2018 International Wildlife Film Festival Filmmaker Labs, this film highlights the importance of conservation through collaboration by bringing together the scientific minds of two distinct branches of the U.S. Forest Service.</p>

Parrots in Peril: Miami’s Wild Macaws

Neil Losin Nathan Dappen

<p>Parrot lover and conservationist Daria Feinstein is on a mission to protect one of Miami&rsquo;s most spectacular wild residents: the blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna). Indigenous to Central and South America, these colorful parrots have established a small but well-beloved breeding population in Miami. Today, however, their numbers are crashing as poachers capture the macaws and their chicks for sale into the lucrative pet trade. Florida state law provides no legal protection for these non-native birds, but the state&rsquo;s wildlife agency considers them &ldquo;non-invasive&rdquo; because they don&rsquo;t seem to compete with or harm native species. Therefore, some municipalities have adopted &ldquo;bird sanctuary laws&rdquo; to protect them. How far should we go to protect non-native species, and can Miami&rsquo;s wild macaws be saved before it&rsquo;s too late?</p>

Great Old Broads for Wolves

-

<p>Welcome to the southwest, where the land is wild and the women&hellip;might be even wilder. Introducing the Great Old Broads for Wilderness and their fight to keep southwestern Colorado&rsquo;s wilderness an intact and natural environment. These women have come together to find their voice, and now are using it to give these lands a fighting chance.</p>

Cowboys & Scientists (2018)

Eric Bendick

<p>Thirty years ago, a partnership between Archbold Biological Station and Buck Island Ranch inspired a new mission: cowboys and scientists working together to advance scientific discovery on a ten-thousand-acre working cattle ranch. Bridging this cultural divide has resulted in a series of transformative discoveries that have begun to reshape our misconceptions about agriculture, sustainability, and conservation in the 21st century.</p>

The New Way Forward: Wetlands (2019)

Rusty Prevatt

<p>California&rsquo;s Chinook salmon population is crashing. Governmental agencies, environmentalists and others are scrambling to find answers to reverse this potentially catastrophic outcome. Meanwhile, there may be a solution just beyond the riverbank. Discover how farmers, scientists, and conservationists are using northern California rice fields to create not only habitat for wild birds but to help save the salmon.</p>

Blue Carbon: A Story from the Snohomish Estuary (2018)

Sara Joy Steele Benjamin Drummond

<p>Blue carbon is carbon that is captured and stored by coastal wetlands, helping to mitigate climate change. This film is about mud and the multiple benefits that estuaries provide for us. &ldquo;You never go into a wetland and just restore one benefit,&rdquo; says wetlands ecologist John Rybczyk. It improves water quality, provides salmon habitat, protects our shorelines, and also benefits our climate. Restore America&rsquo;s Estuaries recently lead a first-of-its-kind study in the Snohomish estuary to quantify the climate benefits of estuary restoration. Set in the Snohomish, this film helps to build awareness of blue carbon as a climate mitigation tool and to encourage more investment in wetland restoration at local, state, and federal levels.</p>

Renewal: Think Like a Scientist (2018)

Jessica Plumb

<p>Featuring an emerging young wildlife biologist from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, this is a heartwarming story of transformation and restoration on Washington State&rsquo;s Elwha River. This profile of two women in science is part of Howard Hughes Medical Institute&rsquo;s Think Like a Scientist series. It also follows up on the award-winning feature film Return of the River, which chronicled the largest dam removal in history.</p>

Roots (2018)

Morgan Heim Jenny Nichols Allison Ott

<p>Discover the daily work, hope, and perspective of one professional female tree-planter in Oregon &mdash; from an early start with coffee, through planting countless saplings in the Willamette River Valley with her team, Ash Creek Forest Management. A new analysis says forests are shrinking on state and private land in Oregon, where an estimated 522,000 acres of forest cover have disappeared since 2000. This project was conceived and funded by reforestation nonprofit One Tree Planted.</p>

The Last Green Thread (2018)

Eric Bendick Danny Schmidt

<p>In 2018 three friends set out on an expedition into the most rapidly developing landscape in central Florida, traveling the narrowest and most imperiled wildlife corridor in the state.</p>

The Shrinking Sky (2018)

Hannah Silverman

<p>In the near future, Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere is rapidly shrinking due to carbon dioxide emissions, and the planet will soon be uninhabitable. Ten-year-old Henry spends his days caring for his grief-stricken mother, but when he meets Alana, his nature-loving neighbor, he gains a new appreciation for the planet.</p>

The Bride’s Tree (2017)

Shadi Habib Allah

<p>A twelve-year-old boy is put in charge of watching over a 400-year-old tree. Life in the village unfolds beneath the tree, where the reality of living close to the separation wall is mixed with stories of loss and love.</p>

Fate of a Mustang (2018)

Hyatt Mamoun

<p>Wild mustangs roam the American West, but their freedom, and even their existence, is threatened. This documentary uncovers the truth about these beautiful horses and highlights efforts to protect them.</p>

Lumbardhi (2019)

Andi Bilibani

<p>This is the story of how a river that once used to epitomize purity and supply an entire town with clean water lost its glory due to modernization and development.</p>

The Spring in Summer (2014)

Vanja Ristić Mila Radonjikj Edin Alija

<p>This short documentary film captures the moments when we use the water fountain. It is a poetic and allegorical story about people, differences, connections, similarities. We all stop by the water fountain, even just for a moment, no matter where we come from or where we go. This is a story about all of us - young, old, happy or sad, angry or delighted, or just being thirsty. This is a story about the little moments of magic that happen there, at the fountain.</p>

The Station (2018)

Leart Rama

<p>Discover the high mountains on either side of a small ship that breaks the quietness of this small part of the world.</p>

Concrescence (2017)

Dan Browne

<p>Static winter forms melt in sunlight.</p>

Even In Paradise (2018)

Duane Peterson

<p>Serene forest groves and opaque Silicon Valley windows provide the visual framework for an assumption-challenging essay film taking a critical geography approach toward a new way of seeing the costs of warmaking as they are found in the very flesh of California.</p>

The Los Angeles River

Margaret Brown Jeffrey Peixoto

<p>Directed by Margaret Brown (Be Here To Love Me, The Order of Myths, The Great Invisible), the film explores the rich natural and human diversity of the Los Angeles River with a delicate, poetic touch. The short documentary is a moving and beautiful portrait of one of the great and unknown anomalies of Los Angeles &mdash; a river that was covered in concrete and is slowly being brought back to life. To make the film, Brown and her co-director, Jeff Peixoto, explored the river on foot over the course of a full year.</p>

Skywards (2017)

Eva Weber

<p>This poetic and evocative visual study takes the viewer on a journey into the world of pigeon flying high above the bustling and crowded streets of Old Delhi.</p>

God Has Already Gone Ahead

Peter Böving

<p>The Egyptian geese marches through the ages: From the bird&acute;s perspective, a centuries-long settlement history is told. While the water level in the pond continues to fall, the inhabitants have the water up the neck. In the end, nothing stays as it was, only the goose suspects nothing bad.</p>

Reboot (2018)

EIlen Osborne

<p>Humans have finally succeeded in destroying the planet. As the last people board the ship to Mars, the earth breathes a sigh of relief and the boundless resilience of nature springs into action!</p>

Ghost Fleet (VR) (2018)

Lucas Gath Shannon Service

<p>This harrowing look at slavery in the Thai fishing industry is told through the experience of one man&#39;s harrowing ordeal to escape a prison of water after 10 years at sea.</p>

Sanctuaries of Silence (2017)

Adam Loften Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

<p>Silence just might be on the verge of extinction and acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton believes that even the most remote corners of the globe are impacted by noise pollution. In &quot;Sanctuaries of Silence,&quot; join Hempton on an immersive listening journey into Olympic National Park, one of the quietest places in North America.</p>

The Lost City of Mer

Liz Canner Gregory Bennet

<p>This cross-platform interactive experience combines a smartphone app with VR. It utilizes a groundbreaking living narrative structure where the audience&rsquo;s real-world actions impact the story as it unfolds. Innovative &ldquo;swimming,&rdquo; game play, elements of sci-fi, and mystery inspire users to reduce their carbon footprint in order to restore a magical lost civilization.</p>

Bears Ears National Monument: VR Event (2018)

Aaron Huey

<p>Take a special, one-of-a-kind virtual reality tour of Bears Ears National Monument with National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey, who&rsquo;s using cutting-edge technology to capture its beauty and significance to the indigenous people who consider it sacred. Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah was established by President Barack Obama in December 2016. The area within the monument contains a wide array of historic, cultural, and natural resources. The monument is co-managed by the Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service, along with a coalition of five local Native American tribes, all of which have ancestral ties to the region. The monument&rsquo;s original size of 1.3 million acres was reduced 85 percent by President Donald Trump in December 2017.</p>

Our Alaskan Stories (2016)

Emmett Williams

<p>High school students from villages throughout Alaska spent a semester learning how to make documentaries about the importance of place and their connection to home. They took cameras home for the summer and produced this collection of short films.</p>

Indigenous – Zambia (2017)

Emmett Williams

<p>Tells the story of people throughout Zambia, from farmers to chefs to students, who are learning how to hold on to their food traditions in the face of staggering climate change.</p>

We Are All Fisherman

Emmett Williams

<p>In southeast Alaska, fishermen young and old struggle to maintain a sustainable lifestyle in spite of threats from irresponsible corporations, climate change, and the high costs associated with the job.</p>

Current Revolution (Episode 2: Nation in Transition)

Roger Sorkin

<p>In this followup to &ldquo;The Transformation Cannot Be Stopped,&rdquo; the coal-to-renewables transition in northern Arizona and across the Navajo Nation serves as a case study for workers and communities navigating toward a carbon-free future.</p>

Current Revolution (Episode 1: The Transformation Cannot Be Stopped)

Roger Sorkin

<p>The utilities industry, a driving engine of the U.S. economy, tackles the challenge of modernizing the power grid. Whether they fail, prevail, or adapt, the outcome will profoundly affect us all.</p>

Elephant Path / Njaia Njoku (52min)

Todd McGrain

<p>An indelible tale of friendship and commitment set against the luminous beauty of the Central African Rainforest. Together, elephant behavioral biologist, Andrea Turkalo, and indigenous tracker, Sessely Bernard, will be tested by the realities of war and the limits of hope for the majestic animals they have committed their lives to study and protect.</p>

Island Of The Hungry Ghosts

Gabrielle Brady

<p>Christmas Island; in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 50 million red crabs make their ancient annual voyage from the jungle to the oceans edge. While thousands of asylum seekers are detained indefinitely in a high security facility. Poh Lin, a trauma counsellor living on the Island of Hungry Ghosts, bears witness to the decline of those being detained.</p>

The Most Unknown

Ian Cheney

<p><em>The Most Unknown</em> is an epic documentary film that sends nine scientists to extraordinary parts of the world to uncover unexpected answers to some of humanity&rsquo;s biggest questions. How did life begin? What is time? What is consciousness? How much do we really know?<br /> <br /> By introducing researchers from diverse backgrounds for the first time, then dropping them into new, immersive field work they previously hadn&rsquo;t tackled, the film pushes the boundaries of how science storytelling is approached. What emerges is a deeply human trip to the foundations of discovery and a powerful reminder that the unanswered questions are the most crucial ones to pose.</p>

Science Fair

Cristina Costantini Darren Foster

<p dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent; color:#000000; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Nine high school students from disparate corners of the globe navigate rivalries, setbacks, and hormones on their quest to win the international science fair. Only one can be named &quot;Best in Fair.&quot;</span></span></span></p>

Silent Forests

Mariah Wilson

<p>SILENT FORESTS is an intimate, character-driven portrait of conservationists and activists who are fighting against all odds to stop forest elephant poaching in Africa&#39;s Congo Basin region. After a study revealed that more than half the central African forest elephant population has been lost to poaching in the last decade, there has been a concerted effort to save those that remain. SILENT FORESTS will explore this story through a range of dynamic subjects; including one of Cameroon&rsquo;s first female eco-guards, a grassroots wildlife law enforcement group, a Congolese biologist studying elephant behavior, a reformed elephant poacher, and a team of anti-poaching sniffer dogs led by a Czech conservationist. As passionate and tenacious as these conservationists are, they are up against huge institutional challenges like corruption and lack of funding that threaten to derail all their attempts to fight for the future of the forest elephant. More info: <a href="https://silentforests.com/">https://silentforests.com/</a></p>

Welcome to Sodom

Christian Krönes Florian Weigensame

<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"><span style="color:black">Hundreds of thousands of mobile phones, LCD TVs, notebooks and the likes become useless and &quot;out&quot; relatively soon and end up in Ghana where children and adolescents dismantle them in toxic smoke. A &quot;clean&quot; business for some, a poisonous routine for others.</span></span></span></p>

The Elephant's Song

Lynn Tomlinson

<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">&quot;The Elephant&#39;s Song&quot; tells the true and tragic tale of Old Bet, the first circus elephant in America, as recounted in song by her friend the old farm dog. Their story is portrayed in colorful clay-on-glass animation, where oil-based modeling clay is spread thinly on a glass sheet and moved frame-by-frame like a moving finger painting. Old Bet the elephant sings the choruses, which are animated with oil pastel on video frames printed from archival films, paintings, and photographs.&nbsp;Old Bet&rsquo;s song, written by Sam Saper and performed by the band Trucker Talk with vocals by Deletta Gillespie and Brooks Long, draws on American folk, blues and spiritual musical traditions.</span></span></p> <p><br /> &nbsp;</p>

Lowland Kids

Sandra Winther

<p>As climate change erases the Louisiana coast, the last two teenagers on Isle de Jean Charles fight to stay on an island that&#39;s been their family home for generations.</p>

Nobody Dies In Longyearbyen

David Freid

<p>They say that when you&#39;re hit by the polar bug, you never leave.&nbsp;Don&#39;t say we didn&#39;t warn you.&nbsp;</p> <p>Nobody dies in Longyearbyen, or so goes the rumor. We went to the northernmost city in the world to find out why, and stumbled into the first act of a science fiction flick about something deadly, long buried in the permafrost.</p>

A Year Along The Geostationary Orbit

Felix Dierich

<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:#ffffff; color:#1a2e3b">A year through the distant eyes of meteorological satellite Himawari-8 &ndash; a hypnotic stream of Earth&#39;s beauty, fragility and disasters.</span></span></span></p>

Scenes from a Dry City

Simon Wood And François Verster

<p>What happens when a major metropolitan area runs out of water? In Cape Town, South Africa, residents fear the arrival of &ldquo;Day Zero,&rdquo; when the city&rsquo;s taps will be shut off.</p>

Dulce

Guille Isa Angello Faccini

<p>&nbsp;In coastal Colombia, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim so that she may go to the mangroves and harvest the piangua shellfish with the other women in the village.</p>

Dignity At A Monumental Scale

Kelly Whalen

<p>When images of everyday Navajo life began appearing at a monumental scale on abandoned buildings, roadside stands and water towers across the Four Corners region, it was a surprise for many in the community to discover it was the work of Chip Thomas (aka Jetsonorama), a long-time resident known by many as a healer of another kind.</p>

Station 15

Kira Akerman Sophie Tintori

<p>High school student and poet, Chasity Hunter, experienced intense flooding in her New Orleans neighborhood during both Hurricane Katrina and recent summer rainstorms. Inspired to find out how safe her city really is, she investigates her city&rsquo;s infrastructure and questions water experts, finding her own voice along the way.</p>

Dust Rising

Lauren Schwartzman

<p>Dust surrounds us endlessly. We fight a Sisyphean battle with it in our homes. It makes us sneeze. What could be more mundane? But those tiny specks actually have astonishing power. This 25-minute documentary film takes you on an eye-opening journey with dust from the microscopic to the global scale. Along the way, you&rsquo;ll meet scientists on the cutting edge of dust research, as well as people whose lives have been threatened by dust. You&rsquo;ll discover that dust can be both life-giving and deadly in turn, and that its impact is shifting as Earth&rsquo;s climate warms. You&rsquo;ll never look at dust the same way again.</p>

Becoming (2017)

Jan van IJken

<p>Becoming is a short film about the miraculous genesis of animal life. In great microscopic detail, we see the &lsquo;making of&rsquo; an Alpine Newt in its transparent egg from the first cell division to hatching. A single cell is transformed into a complete, complex living organism with a beating heart and running bloodstream.</p> <p>The first stages of embryonic development are roughly the same for all animals, including humans. In the film, we can observe a universal process which normally is invisible: the very beginning of an animal&rsquo;s life.</p>

animistica (2018)

Nikki Schuster

<p>Nikki Schuster&#39;s <em>animistica</em> opens with the viewer awakening as if inside a restless dream, transformed into a strange vermin. The camera assumes the perspective of an insect burrowing through the dark crumbling underground, kindred to the community of beetles swarming under the idyllic green facade of the lawn in David Lynch&#39;s famous opening sequence of <em>Blue Velvet</em>. However, this is no straightforward soil. Organic textures of all kinds interweave and rush by, innumberable macro shots of Mexican flora and fauna morph and melt into a pulsing visual weave conjuring an instinctive sense of creepy crawling by way of a wondrous fantasy biotope. As in nature, change constitutes its basic principle, the interplay of growth and decay: Earth becomes bark becomes bone becomes feathers becomes sand, stone, pelt and fur.<br /> <br /> Naturally, this mutating world has its own soundtrack that is no less multifaceted. It crackles and snaps, rustles and scrapes, rattles and chirps &ndash; a veritable musique concr&egrave;te et organique. Paralleling the ambiguity of the image, time and again curious synthetic aural sprinklings sprout in a way that makes you unsure what is &quot;artificial&quot; and what is &quot;natural&quot; to this symphony of sounds. The only thing that is beyond any doubt is the eeriness - to which in fact the entire film tends. An expedition is undertaken in a realm of rotting animal carcasses and rampant spider webs, accompanied by a gloomy droning like sound of hungry swarms of flies. <em>animistica</em> forages around most decidedly in the borderlands of the horror genre. And as is true of its most exciting practitioners, Schuster boldly immerses himself in the darkness, revels in its creepiness, and celebrates the splendor of decay. A kaleidoscope of ecology in all its horrifying beauty. (Andrey Arnold)</p>

Leafcutters

Catherine Chalmers

<p>&ldquo;Leafcutters&rdquo; is an unusual collaboration with millions of wild ants. Focusing on four supposedly unique human traits - language, ritual, war and art &ndash; the narrative aims to blur the boundaries between culture and nature.</p>

End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock

Shannon Kring

<p>A group of indigenous women risk their lives to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which jeopardizes their land, water and entire way of life. Despite the desecration of their ancient burial and prayer sites, violent confrontations, and limited resources, these women refuse to back down. Calls for change reverberate nationally as the women of Standing Rock lead a tireless effort to defend their right to clean water and rich heritage.</p>