1. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
An Inconvenient Truth is a film adaptation of former vice president Al Gore’s long-running educational campaign on climate change and global warming. Perhaps the most ever critically acclaimed feature film-length slideshow presentation, Gore discusses the history, science, and lack of public knowledge around global warming. Deemed by The New Yorker an “attempt to warn Americans off our hellbent path to global suicide,” the film is a keystone piece of popularly-accessible education on climate change that wields effective and sobering rhetorical power. An Inconvenient Truth is not only informative, but an excellent example of science communication to which current environmental activists owe credence.
An Inconvenient Truth is available for home use from the library circulation desk.
2. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
A sequel to An Inconvenient Truth, Truth to Power updates the original film’s agenda with modern science and for a rapidly changing political landscape. If you were a fan of the 2006 feature and want to watch Al Gore punch up at fossil fuel corporations, you can stream Truth to Power through the library website.
3. Thank You for the Rain (2017)
Whereas Al Gore’s oeuvre looks at climate change from a global lens, the 2017 picture Thank You for the Rain starts as a feature of a rural Kenyan farmer, Kisilu Musya, whose life is overturned due to changing climate patterns in his region. In their wake, Kisilu teams up with Norwegian documentarian Julia Dahr and begins a crusade of climate justice through international diplomacy. The film won a host of festival awards upon release and was lauded as a compelling “bottom-up” narrative on climate change.
Thank You for the Rain is available for streaming through the library website.
4. Landfall (2020)
Landfall tells the story of the devastating effects that Hurricane Maria brought to Puerto Rico in 2019 and the economic crisis on the island that preceded it. Through interviews with affected locals and protest footage concerning gubernatorial mismanagement of relief aid, Landfall depicts the unique effects that Maria had on Puerto Rico and that natural disasters have on an community.
Landfall is available for streaming through the library website.
5. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)
In Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, photographer Edward Burtynsky examines the effects of widespread human development on Earth’s landscape. Urban sprawl, vast industrial complexes, the ivory trade, waste management and more are visually stunning and existentially horrifying as they inflict permanent scars to the planet. This film is a stark and spanning gallery of the human activity causing climate change and our attempts–and failures–at fixing them.
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is available for streaming through the library website.
But wait, there’s more!
These picks are just a small portion of climate change documentaries that the library has to offer. To browse our collection, check out these resources:
Streaming services:
– Kanopy
– Docuseek
– Film Platform
– Films on Demand
To peruse our physical collection, see this searching guide.