Upcoming DC Environmental Film Festival!

As we come into spring, it’s delightful to see the growing green and budding blossoms that begin to reappear throughout the DC area. If nature intrigues you or you just want to spend a little more time out of the house while the weather gets warm, look no further than DCEFF’s 32nd annual environmental film festival taking place March 21-30.

DCEFF’s mission is “to advance understanding and stewardship of the environment through the power of film” and since 1993, they’ve been able to support an educational atmosphere dedicated to this art form. The upcoming festival features films from around the globe and for a wide variety of nature-loving and activism-oriented audiences. Five outstanding films are receiving awards, another twenty full-length films are being showcased, and thirty additional short films will have screenings. From the National Portrait Gallery to the Museum of Asian Art, this film festival will lead you all around the city. While many of these screenings do require paid admission, DCEFF also offers a number of free events as well. And even if you prefer to watch from the comfort of your home, DCEFF also has curated their own collection of hundreds of nature films on their website with access through multiple free and streaming platforms. Click the links below to find out more!

Check out the DCEFF Website

Explore the film guide

Films Receiving Awards

For The Bees

Illustration of a man in a beekeeping suit holding a slide from a bee box. The man is surrounded by bee boxes with faint drawings of flowers in the background. The entire image contains yellow and orange hues. The film title "For the Bees" appears in large text in the top center of the image and the title is surrounded by seventeen film awards arranged in a symmetrical pattern

Director: Chloë Fitzmaurice

“Khaled came from war-torn Yemen to Oakland, CA to pursue beekeeping and a better life. But with an increasing amount of uncertainties, life’s not always as sweet as honey.” (no showing scheduled yet)

Mongolia, Valley of the Bears

This is a photograph with a man dressed in heavy layers, a hat, and backpack carries a white sheep on top of a brown horse. The subject is just off center in the middle of a blanket of snow and the horse is mid-step. At the bottom of the image, small gray rocks poke up from the snow and are surrounded by footprints in the snow.

Director: Hamid Sardar

“[F]or more than 30 years, the rich natural resources of these Mongolian lands have fallen prey to illegal hunters and miners, often from the local population. In just a few years, the country has witnessed an alarming collapse of its biodiversity. Faced with this worrying situation, the Mongolian Ministry of Environment created the “Red Taiga” Park in 2012, at the head of which it appointed ranger Jal Tumursukh. The mission of this former local hunter is now to enforce the law of environmental protection. A very delicate mission for a just cause to which the chief ranger is trying to rally more and more forest guards from the disgruntled local communities.” Screening March 28th, 7:00PM at Naval Heritage Center

The Night Visitors

This is a photograph of a fuzzy, brown moth sitting on some brown tree bark with its wings spread completely open. The background is black and shadows begin to obstruct the bark underneath where the moth is perched.

Director: Michael Gitlin

“The Night Visitors is a movie about moths. In large and small fragments, looking both inward and out, through a critical lens that is by turns social and personal, the film closely considers these underknown creatures. While The Night Visitors is interested in moths as organisms, with fascinating life histories, staggering biodiversity, and a functional importance as indicators of climate change and habitat degradation, its engagement with them is not primarily entomological. Instead, the film looks at moths as aesthetic beings and as carriers of meaning, aiming for a deep encounter with the beauty and incommensurability of the profoundly other.” Screening March 22nd, 7:00PM at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

We Are Guardians

This is a photograph of a group of people standing in the Amazon Rainforest. They are all wearing black clothing and at the forefront of the group is a young woman wearing a halo-like headdress with multicolor feathers. Other members of the group are holding tools or have tools slung over their shoulder. A sunny sky lights up the leaves on trees around them.

Directors: Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene & Rob Grobman

“Through intimate, character focused storytelling, the film brings the issues to the forefront — from the science of the Amazon Rainforest and its pivotal role in our global climate stability to the economic drivers of deforestation. The film weaves together politics, history, economics, science, and consciousness, providing an in-depth exploration of this incredibly complex and critical situation — the origins and the impact of which ripple out far beyond the boundaries of the Amazon itself. Directed by Indigenous activist Edivan Guajajara and environmental filmmakers Chelsea Greene and Rob Grobman; produced by Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens.” Screening March 30th, 7:00PM at Naval Heritage Center

Wings of Dust

This is a photograph of a gentleman standing in the foreground of the image with a camera and strap slung around his neck. He is wearing a vest and looking off into the distance. Behind him is a short, concrete wall and a bright yellow fence further back. Past the yellow fence is a gray hill with a cloudy sky overcast.

Director: Giorgio Ghiotto

“Vidal Merma, a Peruvian Indigenous journalist, risks his life daily to secure a future where his son, Erik, can savor the simple joy of drinking clean water. Wings of Dust illuminates a father’s sacrifice, community resilience, and the unwavering human spirit in the face of environmental injustice.” Screening March 23rd, 7:00PM at Naval Heritage Center

Enjoy this festival and all it has to offer from March 21st to March 30th!

Quotes of mission statement and film descriptions found at dceff.org.