Section

Environmental Focus

Sponsored by Ward & Carol Klein

This spotlight brings together films that confront today’s most urgent environmental challenges. Through powerful storytelling, these works invite audiences to reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature and to recognize the ongoing fight for sustainability and environmental justice.

Environmental Focus, International Spotlight, Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight

An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

Film An Irish Atlantic Rainforest Directed by Gary Lennon When a Dublin sculptor trades city life for 73 acres of ecologically ravaged land on Ireland's wild Atlantic…

Animation Spotlight, Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, Human Rights Spotlight, Human Ties, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

Anyone lived in a pretty how town

Film Anyone lived in a pretty how town Directed by Daniel Kreizberg In a picturesque town, a man named “anyone" rejoices in the beauty of everyday life and celebrates the…

Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Race In America: The Black Experience, Women In Film Spotlight

Buckskin

Film Buckskin Directed by Mars Verrone An experimental portrait of the filmmaker’s grandfather: Carroll B. Williams Jr., a ground-breaking African-American forester, reflecting on his…

Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, Fine Arts Spotlight, Human Ties, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Couture To the Max

Film Couture To the Max Directed by DORI Berinstein COUTURE TO THE MAX" shines a light on an extraordinary young designer who inspires us to dream boldly…

Environmental Focus, Human Rights Spotlight, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

Degree of Certainty

Film Degree of Certainty Directed by Simon Schneider It’s 1982, and Jackson Miller, a young risk analyst at one of the biggest US oil companies, fears…

Environmental Focus, Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight, Race In America: The Black Experience, Women In Film Spotlight

Fork in the Road

Film Fork in the Road Directed by Jonathan Nastasi, Vivian Sorenson Through compelling stories from independent farmers across the United States, from Alaskan kelp harvesters to dairy farmers in…

Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Growing Humanity

Film Growing Humanity Directed by Zoe Malen Growing Humanity follows six resilient women farmers in the Western U.S., as they navigate gender discrimination, balancing life’s…

Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight, Race In America: The Black Experience, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Harvest

Film Harvest Directed by Hyacinth Parker, Natalie Baszile Four brothers. One farm. A season that could change everything. HARVEST follows the Nelson brothers, fourth-generation farmers in…

Animation Spotlight, Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

Hell

Film Hell Directed by Parker Croft A place where dreams are real, wishes come true, and everything is always awful for everyone.

American Indie Spotlight, Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

I Am Not The Last

Film I Am Not The Last Directed by Alvaro Donado Marooned by time and place in a natural world untouched by humankind, a young boy and his refugee…

Environmental Focus, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Show-Me Cinema, Women In Film Spotlight

Intervention

Film Intervention Directed by Kate Grumke, Kyle Pyatt Scientists head into some of the last remaining prairies in North America to undertake the painstaking work of…

American Indie Spotlight, Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, Human Rights Spotlight, Human Ties, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

Ornamental Horticulture

Film Ornamental Horticulture Directed by Sam Hyatt After experiencing the wrath of the internet firsthand, an aspiring succulent influencer struggles to make her second post.

Environmental Focus, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Polyphem

Film Polyphem Directed by Ilaria Di Carlo POLYPHEM is the second chapter in a series of short landscape films that reinterpret the stages of the…

Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, Human Ties, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Spanish-Language Focus, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Si la Isla Quiere (“Island Willing”)

Film Si la Isla Quiere (“Island Willing”) Directed by Cece King Chile's Robinson Crusoe Island, named for the marooned sailor who inspired the novel, has a higher percentage of…

Asian Focus, Environmental Focus, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition

Sight of Fish

Film Sight of Fish Directed by Wanqing Xu At a remote mountain stream, streamer Yin Lu rehearses a cruel fishing livestream—until a mysterious boy emerges from…

Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, International Spotlight, Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition, Spanish-Language Focus, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition, Women In Film Spotlight

Sotobosque

Film Sotobosque Directed by Raina Bhargava Dany Murillo was born and raised in Camarones, a small community nestled in Ecuador's Pacific Forest. With the…

Cinema For Students Program, Environmental Focus, Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition

The [Conserv]atives

Film The [Conserv]atives Directed by Dominic Whinfield Gill, Nadia Michelle Gill As extreme weather intensifies and the 2024 election looms, four Republicans embedded in different corners of the conservative…

Environmental Focus, Human Ties, Leon & Mary Strauss Documentary Spotlight, Spotlight on Inspiration Documentary Competition

The Life We Leave

Film The Life We Leave Directed by JJ Gerber An ambitious entrepreneur and two funeral directors pioneer a groundbreaking eco-friendly deathcare facility in Washington state, challenging traditional…