Earth Connection Film Festival
This shorts program highlights the radical acts of kindness, generosity, and giving found across humanity, both little and small, in the face of environmental challenges that feel insurmountable when viewed alone. Q&A to follow.
How can we foster hope in the shadow of environmental crises? This program illustrates our collective concern for future generations and the choice to be a positive force on Earth. [73 min. total runtime]
There will be a Q&A following the screening.
We are Earth (dir. Zoe Rose, 2022, France): In a world crushed by pollution, conflicts, eco anxiety, alienation of the individual, and fear of the future, a human being is lying down, hopeless and surrounded by shadow. Yet, anger and refusal of the disaster to come will ignite in him/her—and in us all—a flame of life, carrying the hope of a better tomorrow. [5 min; French with English subtitles]
Soil: The World at Our Feet (dir. Radford Nicholls, 2025, United Kingdom): A documentary following five artists as they explore humanity’s relationship with the soil beneath us. Through the lens of artists and designers, this film uncovers the role of soil in the life of our planet and the way we as humans connect with the natural world. From the microscopic, to the mountain-sized, we unpack the life cycle of soil across the world and how we can reconnect with the ground that sustains us. [16 min; English]
Our Circle in the Storm (dir. Ray Jacobs, 2025, United Kingdom): A group of climate refugees, most of whom have disabilities, have made a home of an abandoned house. They live, cook, laugh, cry, eat, dance, and work the land together, feeling like a family while feeling vulnerable to the hostile outside climate, such as when a wild storm arrives and one of the group has to leave. [10 min; English]
Radical Neighboring (dir. Mattias Olsson, 2025, Sweden): What do humans who aren't consumers look like? What happens when we feed ourselves and each other without buying or selling food? Sand River Community Farm is an experiment in gift economy and community building. Since farmer Adam Wilson was offered $500K from a community member to take this land off the market, the food here has been offered as a gift to neighbors and strangers who find their way in. Welcome to the farm where nothing is for sale. [18 min; English]
The Wishing Table (dir. Maria Korporal, 2023, Germany): The Wishing Table in the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale overflows with food and drink at the command “Little table, spread thyself!” This video proposes a series of key concepts like sustainable agriculture, food waste reduction, and permaculture that refer to sustainable agricultural and biological cultivating methods as an alternative for often disastrous industrial food production. An animation of charcoal drawings which proceeds along the lines of a natural food production, distribution, and consumption cycle, we end with an abundance of healthy food. [4 min; silent]
The Bird in My Backyard (dir. Ryan Wilkes, 2024, Canada): In an urban backyard on Canada’s West Coast, a window salesman has created a living laboratory for investigating hummingbird behavior. The Bird in My Backyard follows citizen scientist Eric Pittman as he documents the journeys of two female Anna’s hummingbirds as they attempt to raise their young in his urban garden. It’s a story about the childlike curiosity in all of us, the wonders it can reveal, and the doors it can open if we just lean in a bit closer. [20 min; English]
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
