Our Earth Week Program is Here!
Appalachian Coal, Chicago Heatwaves, and Amazonian Guardians feature in our NYC screenings this month
Hi all,
In just 10 days we’re kicking off our biggest program yet. For Earth Week we’re partnering with incredible organizations around the city to showcase climate cinema.
We’re going deep into coal country with 🌄 KING COAL (2023, dir. Elaine McMillion Sheldon) alongside Asia Society’s COAL + ICE exhibition, highlighting the dangers and racial disparities of extreme heat with 🔥 Cooked: Survival by Zip Code (2020, dir. Judith Helfand) in partnership with WE ACT, and heading to the Amazon with 🏞️ Our Children’s River (2023, dir. Dominic Gill) as part of the MYCO summit.
Earth Week Features
🌄 KING COAL: Wed, April 24 at Asia Society
🔥 Cooked: Survival by Zip Code: Fri, April 26 at the Maysles Documentary Center
Earth Week Shorts
🏞️ Our Children’s River: Sun, April 21 at BKLYN Commons as part of MYCO
Read on for more details about the Earth Week program, a fantastic new addition to our spotlight series on Leave the World Behind (2023, dir. Sam Esmail), and over a dozen more opportunities and events for climate filmmaking.
CFF’s Earth Week Lineup
🌄 KING COAL
When: Wednesday, April 24th at 6:00 PM
Where: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue New York, NY 10021
A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, 🌄 KING COAL (2023, dir. Elaine McMillion Sheldon) meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. We’re thrilled to partner with Asia Society’s COAL + ICE exhibition for this screening, and the director will be calling in for a Q&A after the film. Tickets here.
🔥 Cooked: Survival by Zip Code
When: Friday, April 26th, Reception from 6:00 - 7:00PM, Screening at 7:00PM
Where: 343 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, NY 10027
🔥 Cooked: Survival by Zip Code (2020, dir. Judith Helfland) tells the story of Chicago’s 1995 heatwave, the most traumatic in U.S. history, in which 739 citizens died over the course of just a single week, most of them poor, elderly, and African American. We’re honored to show this film with WE ACT, and the screening will be followed by a talk with an incredible panel: Elijah Hutchinson (NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice), Kim Knowlton (Columbia University), Leslie Vasquez (South Bronx Unite), and moderated by Caleb Smith (WE ACT), with an introduction by Peggy Shepard (WE ACT). Tickets here.
🏞️ Our Children’s River
When: Sunday, April 21st
Where: BKLN Commons, 495 Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225
🏞️ Our Children’s River (2023, dir. Dominic Gill) follows the indigenous guards who risk their lives to protect their ancestral lands and one of earth’s most biodiverse places from the threats of extractive industries including mining, oil, and logging. We’ll be screening this short film at MYCO, an Earth Day summit exploring the climate and environmental justice movement and its intersections with racial, gender, and queer liberation. Tickets here.
Submit your film to our September Festival on FilmFreeway!
Our regular deadline closes May 3rd, with late submissions through June 3rd.
🌅 The Spotlight
The Spotlight series takes a fresh look at works of climate cinema
Sam Esmail’s slow-burning thriller, Leave the World Behind (2023), follows the Sandford family on a vacation out of the city to a hamlet in Long Island. After they settle into their vacation home, the unexpected arrival of strangers, the loss of internet connections, and other odd occurrences create an ominous environment that forces them to piece together what appears to be a mysterious, large-scale event and face their own prejudices.
The film, which stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, and Myha’la, features one particular scene that is subtly filled with climate symbolism. In an establishing shot, we see a beautiful blue sky and calm waters with only a tiny dot on the horizon to disturb the perfectly parallel lines in the frame. But as the Sandfords settle in, and the kids go for a walk, the camera pans over a beachscape that is unfortunately familiar to anyone who has spent time on the shore in the past decade: a tide line of seaweed littered with plastic soda bottles, Solo cups, and food wrappers.
The idyllic setting is tainted with plastic pollution, in sharp contrast to the establishing shot that depicted a bluebird day. The camera’s gaze over the litter makes it impossible for the audience to ignore, even as it is overlooked by the characters. But while young Archie (Charlie Evans) is busy ogling two young women, his sister Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) first notices a boat on the far horizon.
Rose is the only one who pays attention to the ship, which she notes is getting closer. Clay, the father, says, “Oh yeah, she’s a beaut’. Looks like an oil tanker,” minimizing his daughter’s obvious concern while signaling to the audience what the impending danger represents. Finally, the ship comes so close that the parents can no longer ignore the threat. At the last moment they hurry their family out of the way just as the tanker crashes onto the shore.
There are other references in this scene to the crisis we face. The youngest member of the family is the first to notice that something is amiss, and her elders quickly and easily dismiss her concern. How can we not think of the throngs of young people who have taken to the streets to demand action on climate change, only to be dismissed, mocked, and even demonized by the older establishment?
In some ways, the scene points out the pleasant banality of life that keeps us from recognizing approaching danger. The Sandfords nap, snack, and ogle their way through a day at the beach, oblivious to the swiftly approaching threat pointed directly at them. Film buffs will connect this scene with the masterful beach scene in Jaws (1975, dir. Steven Spielberg), where another sun-drenched day at the shore ends in terror. The final shot appears to make this connection by paying homage to Jaws’ famous poster.
In a moment of sarcastic levity, Rose and Archie’s mom, Amanda (Julia Roberts), gleefully spots a Starbucks on the drive home, and for the time being, the comforts of consumerism allow the Sandfords to ignore the traumatic events that have already begun to unfold around them.
Opportunities & Events
🟡 Shut the Fossils Up (STFU) / Yellow Dot Studios’ Dirty Disinfo Smackdown (Due Apr. 12)
We’re looking for material that is original, funny, or creative, and can be helpful to mobilizing people to take action against disinformation, with $25,000 in prizes to combat disinformation spread by the fossil fuel industry.
♀️ Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (Due Apr. 16)
The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (AWAW EAG) will distribute a total of $300,000 in funding—up to $20,000 per project—to support environmental art projects led by women-identifying artists in the United States and U.S. Territories.
⛰️ Cascade PBS is open for submissions to their Origins docuseries project (Due Apr. 17)
This project gives Pacific Northwest and Canadian filmmakers a chance to collaborate with our production team. Filmmakers can apply for $40,000 in funding for a five-part docuseries, with the opportunity for your series to air on broadcast in 2025.
🌎 Mad World at SoMad (Apr. 20)
Mad World is a multifaceted event meant to spotlight sustainability, local community, and resilience by bringing artists and audiences together for conversations focusing on Planet Earth. Earth needs YOU to join us for Mad World at SoMad! We are coming together to celebrate our planet with multidisciplinary arts programming.
🎬 Where Nature Meets City: Three Short Films and Discussions (Apr. 22)
Celebrate Earth Day by joining The New School’s Urban Systems Lab in-person for an eye-opening event about the crucial role of nature in crafting cities that overcome climate change. This evening will feature three short films, after which members of the Urban Systems Lab will share insights on how integrating nature into cities can help make them more resilient.
🎭 Braving a New World: Audio Theater and the Climate Crisis (Apr. 23)
Every artform can open us up to our own ability to take meaningful action on the climate crisis. The New School and the Climate Museum are delighted to present a program examining forms of audio theater dedicated to this end. This event will share work from artists focused on climate justice who are redefining ‘sound art’ forms.
📽️ Bloomberg Green Docs Open Call (Due Apr. 26)
The Bloomberg Green Docs competition is open to all eligible filmmakers who would like to compete to win a $25,000 grand prize for a short climate documentary. We want to explore our climate future with documentaries that reveal the world we are making today. Ecosystems are being restored and tomorrow’s zero-carbon communities are being formed. At the same time, extremes in our habitats warn of cascading climate consequences.
🌊 Art at the Edge Climate Exhibition RFP (Due Apr. 26)
The Waterfront Alliance seeks original proposals from individual artists, collaborative artist teams, arts and culture-related businesses, graduate-level art and design students, and other for-profit or nonprofit organizations or entities that will provide a public art project (sculpture, installation, performance, or other artistic medium) that will activate spaces through a climate, water, or environmental justice lens. The project will feature three to five artists and award each up to $7,500.
🎭 Creative Climate Awards Film Screening (Apr. 27)
Join the Human Impacts Institute and immerse yourself in a collection of thought-provoking films that highlight the urgent need for climate action while celebrating the resilience and hope of communities worldwide. From the lush landscapes of Brazil to the nomadic traditions of Kazakhstan, these films offer powerful insights into the human impact on the environment and the collective efforts to create a sustainable future.
Upcoming Opportunities
🔬Science New Wave Fund (Due May 1)
🎨 Arts & Climate Incubator (Due May 5)
🌊 6th Annual Youth Environmental Justice Forum/AquaVision Summit, with John Jay College (May 8)
🎞️ Redford Center Grants (Due May 10)
🐺 2024 Jackson Wild Media Awards (Due May 15)
🌐 Jackson Wild’s My World Film Grant (Due May 29)
✍️ Grist’s Imagine 2200: Write the Future (Due June 24)
🪨❄️ Coal + Ice @ Asia Society (Ongoing)