One Earth Film Festival returns March 4-13, 2022 for its 11th festival season with 17 thoughtfully curated film events that will be streamed online, with a number of in-person screenings at Chicago-based venues.
The 2022 Festival kicks off with its annual opening night launch party on Friday, March 4 that will offer both live and virtual participation.
For this year’s theme, the Festival chose Turn The Tide to highlight the urgency of the global climate crisis and the need for individuals and communities far and wide to take action on changing the planet’s catastrophic course. From forest fires in the Colorado suburbs to a deep freeze in the normally temperate Pacific Northwest to town-leveling tornadoes in the mid-South and unheard-of flooding in urban New York City, every area of the country faces climate-related threats.
“Since its inception, One Earth Film Festival has stressed the importance of taking collective action,” Festival director Ana Garcia Doyle said. “Film is a powerful way to spur us toward social change and collective action. Much environmental communication heavily depends on data, but that’s not going to change hearts. The stories told through film invoke our empathy and spur our will to act. We must pull together to turn back the wave of catastrophes rushing at us. The urgency is now.”
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Films screened during the festival encompass a range of environmental topics and themes that will take viewers around the planet: From “Life at 50 Degrees,” which reveals how extreme temperatures around the world are wreaking havoc on nature, forcing climate migration, causing water shortages and triggering dangerous health conditions to “On the Fenceline: A Fight for Clean Air,” an urgent call for justice in Philadelphia’s low-income communities.
Other festival highlights are a Young Children’s Short Film Program virtual watch party at 11 a.m. March 5. The Young Filmmakers Contest Awards Celebration will take place virtually at 3 p.m. March 12. This year’s contest entries revealed young people’s deep concern with loss of ecosystems and their impatience with an older generation’s inability to address this existential crisis, according to program director Lisa Files.
Through its streamed programs, One Earth now reaches audiences across the U.S., also attracting participant viewers in other countries. Its in-person programs reflect One Earth’s work with a slate of partners to activate communities across the Chicago region around solving the climate emergency.
All One Earth presentations are designed to educate, inspire and prompt action amid current environmental catastrophes. Screenings are accompanied by an expert panel discussion, offering ideas to equip audiences with ways to take action on the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
Tickets are now available and are free, with a suggested $8 donation. Tickets, film and program information can be found at oneearthfilmfest.org.
One Earth Film Festival Official selections and schedule
In-person events are being added, so check oneearthfilmfest.org for the latest program details.
2022 Opening Night Launch Party | March 4, 6:30 p.m. ] Virtual and In-Person at the Packingtown Museum at The Plant, Chicago, IL
Young Children’s Short Film Program | March 5 | Virtual Watch Party
“Life at 50 Degrees” | March 5| Virtual Watch Party
“Bring Your Own Brigade” | March 5| Virtual Watch Party
“The Pollinators” | March 6| Virtual and In-Person at Navy Pier
“My Octopus Teacher” | March 6| Virtual Watch Party
“On the Fenceline: A Fight for Clean Air” | March 6| Virtual and In-Person at Euclid Ave. United Methodist Church, Oak Park, IL
“The Sacrifice Zone: Life in an Industrial Wasteland” | March 6| Virtual and In-Person at Euclid Ave. United Methodist Church, Oak Park, IL
“Exposure” | March 8 | Virtual Watch Party
“The Ants & the Grasshopper” | March 9| Virtual Watch Party
“Youth Unstoppable” | March 10| Virtual Watch Party
“Plastic Bag Store: The Film” | March 11| Virtual and In-Person at Swedish American Museum, Chicago
“Here We Stand” | March 12| Virtual Watch Party
“Understory” | March 12| Virtual Watch Party
Young Filmmakers Contest Awards Celebration | March 12 | Virtual Watch Party
“Inhabitants: Indigenous Perspectives on Restoring Our World” | March 12 | Virtual and In-person at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, Chicago
“Girls for Future” | March 13 | Virtual and In-Person at the Institute of Cultural Affairs, Chicago
“Let Us Breathe” | March 13 | Virtual Watch Party
“The Campaign Against the Climate” | March 13 | Virtual Watch Party
“Extinction: The Facts” | March 13 | Virtual Watch Party
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