Thursday, February 23, 2023, under GO Pavilion

Pleistocene Park

Directed by Luke Griswold-Tergis (USA, 100m, 2022)

A Russian scientist, part genius, part madman. A vanished Ice Age ecosystem. A climatic time bomb. And a crazy plan to save the world. Director Luke Griswold-Tergis, in search of a documentary subject, accepts the invitation of Sergey Zimov to visit him in Siberia, where he is attempting to restore the tundra to its prehistoric state in order to stave off climate change.

This film features an introduction and panel discussion with festival co-director Prof. Joanna Huxster (Environmental Studies, Eckerd College), Prof. Nick Corrao (Film Studies, Eckerd College), and Prof. Hilary Flower (Environmental Studies, Eckerd College).

Friday, February 24, 2023, Miller Auditorium

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Directed by Daniel Goldhaber (USA, 103m, 2023)

This entertaining heist film, adapted from environmental theorist Andreas Malm’s book on the morality of ecosabotage, explores how and why several individuals from very different walks of life become convinced they need to come together and blow up a pipeline in order to call attention to the real costs of the oil industry and the urgency of the climate crisis.

The film’s director, Daniel Goldhaber, will be present at the screening to introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.

Saturday, February 25, 2023, Miller Auditorium

All of Our Heartbeats are Connected through Exploding Stars

Directed by Jennifer Rainsford (Sweden, 77m, 2022)

Taking as its starting point the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, this essay documentary by Jennifer Rainsford examines the connections between environmental destruction and human devastation, demonstrating powerfully through word and image that everything, from the smallest plankton in the depths of the seas to exploding stars in outer space, is interconnected.

This film features an introduction and discussion with Instructor Jason Sears (Philosophy, Eckerd College).

The film will be preceded by a screening of the short film “Dear Tampa Bay – Stories from the Gulf Coast,” that focuses on ways Tampa Bay can prepare for and solve climate-related issues using storytelling from Gulf Coast community leaders. Produced by the National Wildlife Federation (USA, 20m, 2022). The film’s director, Katie Bryden, will be here to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards.

Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Miller Auditorium

A Common Sequence

Directed by Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark (USA, 80m, 2023)

This powerful experimental essay film, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, examines the question whether anything still belongs to all of us in a world of patents and privatization.

One of the film’s co-directors, Prof. Mike Gibisser (Film, Video, Animation and New Genres, University of Milwaukee), will be present for the screening to introduce the film and run a discussion afterwards.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023, Miller Auditorium

Hunt for Planet B

Directed by Nathaniel Kahn (USA, 93m, 2022)

As we look further into the possibility of life on other planets, we must also consider the future of life on this planet. This documentary film interweaves the creation of Nasa’s massive Webb telescope in 2021 – the most ambitious space observatory ever built – with the story of a pioneering group of female scientists on a quest to find life beyond our solar system. Yet on the brink of seeing farther out than ever before, we find ourselves looking back at our own imperiled planet with new eyes.

This film features an introduction and discussion with Prof. Matthew Pasek (Professor of Astrobiology, USF Tampa).

Thursday, March 2, 2023, Miller Auditorium

Fire of Love

Directed by Sara Dosa (USA, 98m, 2022)

Drawing on years of documentary footage, this film chronicles the life and love of married volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together. The film explores the obsession to unravel the mysteries of nature by examining some of the most explosive and dangerous places on Earth. Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the upcoming 2023 Academy Awards.

The film features an introduction and discussion with Prof. James Deutsch (program curator at the Smithsonian Institution and adjunct professor of American Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.)

Friday, March 3, 2023, Miller Auditorium

Godland

Directed by Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland, 143m, 2022)

Toward the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty. This remarkable and starkly beautiful film examines the legacies of colonialism as it highlights the dangers of European hubristic attitudes towards the natural world and about the people whose lives are deeply intertwined with its vicissitudes.

This film features an introduction and discussion with festival co-director Prof. Nathan Andersen (Philosophy and Film Studies, Eckerd College).

Saturday, March 4, 2023, Miller Auditorium

All that Breathes

Directed by Shaunak Sen (India, 97m, 2022)

In one of the world’s most populated cities, two brothers fall in love with a bird – the black kite. From their makeshift bird hospital in their tiny basement, the “kite brothers” care for thousands of these mesmeric creatures that drop daily from New Delhi’s smog-choked skies. As environmental toxicity and civil unrest escalate, the relationship between this Muslim family and the neglected kite forms a poetic chronicle of the city’s collapsing ecology and rising social tensions. Easily the most celebrated and award-winning documentary of 2022, the film was also nominated for Best Documentary at the upcoming 2023 Academy Awards.

This film features an introduction and discussion with Prof. Beth Forys (Environmental Studies and Biology, Eckerd College).