Resist was the message echoing through the first Forum of Environmental Film Festivals held in Europe last month.
Representatives from 38 green film festivals in 20 countries had gathered at the CineEco Film Festival in Seia, Portugal, to strengthen ties, reflect on current issues, and debate ways to drive social and environmental change.
Over two days, attendees took part in structured sessions and workshops and heard thoughtful keynotes from speakers including Ailton Krenak, Indigenous leader and Brazilian writer; Catherine Beltrandi, UNEP–United Nations Environment Programme; and Giulia Camilla Braga, External Communication of the World Bank and Connect4Climate.
SF Green Film Festival's Founder Rachel Caplan was proud to present our work to this international audience of festival colleagues, partners, and filmmakers.
There is much to celebrate in our growing international Green Film Network, which now presents many thousands of film screenings to global audiences each year.
There is also much to raise concern. Our partner festivals are grappling with many challenges to the arts & environment worldwide, from increasing government censorship in Russia, to devastating funding cuts in Colombia. Our partner in Iran has only recently returned with NGO support after a 10 year hiatus.
Yet overshadowing all was the imminent election of Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro, who is committed to opening up the Amazon to destructive new resource extraction and infrastructure projects.
In spite of this news, the spirit of resistance pervaded the meeting, with our three Brazilian partner festivals - Filmambiente, Rio de Janeiro; Festcineamazônia, Festival Latino Americano de Cinema Ambiental, Porto Velho; and FICA, Goiás - leading the way.
In all our work, one message was very clear: the language of cinema is universal, without any walls.
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Watch Forum highlights:
Check out the Forum photo gallery here.
Attending Festivals:
BEFF, Borneo Eco Film Festival, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Belgrade Green Fest, Belgrade International Green Culture Festival "Green Fest", Serbia
Cinema Planeta, Festival Internacional de Cine y Medio Ambiente de Mexico, Cuernavaca, Mexico
CinemAmbiente, Environmental Film Festival, Turin, Italy
CineMare, International Ocean Film Festival Kiel, Germany
Cine’Eco, Seia, Portugal
CMS Vatavaran, International Environment & Wildlife Film Festival and Forum, New Delhi, India
DCEFF, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, Washington D.C., USA
Deauville Green Awards, International Festival of Film Productions on Sustainability and Eco-Innovations, Deauville, France
DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Prizren, Kosovo
DREFF, Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
ECOCUP, Green Documentary Film Festival, Moscow-Saint Petersburg, Russia
Ecozine Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Cine y Medio Ambiente de Zaragoza, Spain
EFFA, Environmental Film Festival in Albania, Tirana-Shkodra-Përmet-Skrapar, Albania
Festcineamazônia, Festival Latino Americano de Cinema Ambiental, Porto Velho, Brazil
Festival du Film Vert, 60 different cities, Switzerland and France
Festiver, Barichara Green Film Festival, Barichara-Santander, Colombia
FICA, Festival Internacional de Cinema e Video Ambiental, Goiás, Brazil
FICMEC, Festival Internacional de Cine Medioambiental de Canarias, Garachico, Tenerife, Spain
Filmambiente, International Environmental Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
FINCA, Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental, Buenos Aires, Argentina
FReDD Festival, Film, Recherche et Développement Durable, Toulouse, France
Glimmerglass Film Days, Cooperstown, New York, USA
GMIFF, Green Montenegro International Film Fest, Danilovgrad-Nikšić-Bečići, Montenegro
Green Image Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan
Green Screen, Internationales Naturfilmfestival Eckernförde, Germany
Greenpeace Film Festival, Online Film Festival, Global
IIGFF, Iran International Green Film Festival, Tehran, Iran
Interfilm, Berlin International Short Film Festival, Germany
International Nature Film Festival Gödöllő, Hungary
One World, Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
PELICAM, International Film Festival, Tulcea, Romania
Planet in Focus, Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
San Francisco Green Film Festival, California, USA
SEFF, Seoul Eco Film Fest, South Korea
SEFF, Smaragdni Eco Film Festival, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Croatia
Find out more at greenfilmnet.org
