List of films set around Earth Day
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An Earth Day film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on the celebration of Earth Day. Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. Films in this genre are typically similar to documentary and drama films among other genres.
Notable examples of Earth Day films[edit]
Some notable examples of films in this genre are listed as follows. Many of the films listed are sourced from a 2021 Earth Day film guide published by the Sundance Institute.[1]
March of the Penguins[edit]
March of the Penguins (French La Marche de l'empereur ; French pronunciation: [lamaʁʃ dəlɑ̃ˈpʁœʁ]) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica. In autumn, all the penguins of breeding age (five years old and over) leave the ocean, which is their normal habitat, to walk inland to their ancestral breeding grounds. There, the penguins participate in a courtship that, if successful, results in the hatching of a chick. For the chick to survive, both parents must make multiple arduous journeys between the ocean and the breeding grounds over the ensuing months. It took one year for the two isolated cinematographers Laurent Chalet and Jérôme Maison to shoot the documentary, which was shot around the French scientific base of Dumont d'Urville in Adélie Land. March of the Penguins was released in France on 26 January 2005 by Buena Vista International and in the United States by Warner Independent Pictures on 24 June 2005. The documentary won the 2006 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. On 1 June 2010, a home video release in France included the movie in the Disneynature collection. The documentary had a 2007 follow-up movie, Arctic Tale, which only took in at the box office $1.8 million worldwide. A direct sequel titled March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step (aka March of the Penguins 2: The Call) was released in France in 2017 by Disneynature. It was released in the United States exclusively on Hulu on 23 March 2018.
Who Killed the Electric Car?[edit]
Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film directed by Chris Paine that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid-1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the federal government of the United States, the California government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology. After a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, it was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics in June 2006 and then on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 14, 2006. A follow-up documentary, Revenge of the Electric Car, was released in 2011.
An Inconvenient Truth[edit]
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 American concert/documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own estimate, he has presented over 1,000 times to audiences worldwide. The idea to document Gore's efforts came from producer Laurie David, who saw his presentation at a town hall meeting on global warming, which coincided with the opening of The Day After Tomorrow. Laurie David was so inspired by his slide show that she, with producer Lawrence Bender, met with Guggenheim to adapt the presentation into a film. Premiering at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and opening in New York City and Los Angeles on May 24, 2006, the documentary was a critical and commercial success, winning two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song. The film grossed $24 million in the U.S. and $26 million at the international box office, becoming the 11th highest grossing documentary film to date in the United States.
Everything's Cool[edit]
Everything's Cool is a 2007 documentary film that examines the divide between scientists and the general populace on the topic of global warming. Director Dan Gold said of the motivation for the film that "I'm optimistic that finally the message that this is real, that human beings are the cause of the most recent warming trend, and that it's an important issue, that message is actually reaching America. On the other hand ... if that message was fully understood, we would be moving a lot faster to slow this down and to reverse this course." The documentary was shown at the Sundance film festival in January 2007 and at the San Francisco International Film Festival in May 2007. The directors also took Blue Vinyl, a film about plastic pollution, to Sundance in 2002. It was shown on CBC in Canada as part of the Passionate Eye series.
The Unforeseen[edit]
Main article: The Unforeseen (2007 film)
The Unforeseen is a 2007 documentary film, directed by Laura Dunn and written by Wendell Berry, about the development around Barton Springs in Austin, Texas, and the environment's unexpected response to human interference. The film tracks the career of Gary Bradley, a west Texan farm boy who went to Austin and became one of the largest real estate developers in the state. In the ’80s, Bradley had plans to transform miles of pristine hill country into large-scale subdivisions. But the development jeopardized Barton Springs, a watering hole treasured by locals, and served as a lightning rod for mobilizing environmental activism that flourished under Governor Ann Richards.
Up the Yangtze[edit]
Up the Yangtze is a 2007 documentary film directed by Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang. The film focuses on people affected by the building of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze river in Hubei, China. The theme of the film is the transition towards consumer capitalism from a farming, peasant-based economy as China develops its rural areas. The film is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and Montreal's EyeSteelFilm with the participation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Geographic Channel, P.O.V., SODEC, and Telefilm. The film is being distributed in the US by Zeitgeist Films. The United Kingdom distributor is Dogwoof Pictures.
The Cove[edit]
The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos which analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills and captures, change Japanese fishing practices, and inform and educate the public about captivity and the increasing hazard of mercury poisoning from consuming dolphin meat. Since the film's release, The Cove has drawn controversy over its neutrality, secret filming, and portrayal of the Japanese people. The documentary won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. It was selected out of the 879 submissions in the category.
Crude[edit]
Crude is a 2009 American documentary film directed and produced by Joe Berlinger. It follows a two-year portion of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Chevron Corporation in Ecuador.
Dirt! The Movie[edit]
Dirt! The Movie is a 2009 American documentary film directed by filmmakers Gene Rosow and Bill Benenson and narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis. It was inspired by the book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan. The documentary starred environmentalists like Wangari Maathai, Vandana Shiva, Gary Vaynerchuk, Paul Stamets and Bill Logan. The film explores the relationship between humans and soil, including its necessity for human life and impacts by society. Dirt! The Movie was an official selection for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won several awards, including the best documentary award at the 2009 Visions/Voices Environmental Film Festival and the "Best film for our future" award at the 2009 Mendocino Film Festival.
Earth Days[edit]
Earth Days is a 2009 documentary film about the history of the environmental movement in the United States, directed by Robert Stone and distributed by Zeitgeist Films in theaters. Earth Days premiered at the 2009 Wisconsin Film Festival, and released to theatres on August 14, 2009. The film reviews the development of the modern environmental movement—from the post-war 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s bestseller Silent Spring, to the successful Earth Day celebration in 1970.
No Impact Man[edit]
No Impact Man is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein, based on the book by Colin Beavan. The film, which premiered September 4, 2009, follows Colin Beavan and his family during their year-long experiment to have zero impact on the environment. The film mostly takes place in New York City.
Climate Refugees[edit]
Climate Refugees is a 2010 American documentary film, directed and produced by Michael P. Nash. The documentary attempts to cover the human impact of climate change by considering those who could most be affected by it.
Waste Land[edit]
Waste Land is a 2010 British-Brazilian documentary film directed by Lucy Walker. The film chronicles artist Vik Muniz, who travels to the world's largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho outside Rio de Janeiro, to collaborate with a lively group of catadores of recyclable materials, who find a way to the most prestigious auction house in London via the surprising transformation of refuse into contemporary art. The catadores work in a co-operative founded and led by Sebastião Carlos Dos Santos, the ACAMJG, or Association of Pickers of Jardim Gramacho, who dreamed of improving life for his community. The money created by the selling of the artworks was given back to the catadores and the ACAMJG, as well as the prize money from the film awards, to help the catadores and their community. The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as win over 50 other film awards including the International Documentary Association's Best Documentary Award, which was handed to director Lucy Walker inside a garbage bag.
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front[edit]
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front is a 2011 American documentary film by filmmaker Marshall Curry. It tells the story of activist Daniel G. McGowan of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), from his first arson attacks in 1996 to his 2005 arrest by the Department of Justice. The film also examines the ethics of the ELF at large and how terrorism is to be defined.
Premiering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, If a Tree Falls was rapidly acclaimed by critics as many considered it one of the best documentaries of 2011 for its thought-provoking portrayal of complex environmental and political issues. It won a number of awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The Last Mountain[edit]
The Last Mountain is a feature-length documentary film directed by Bill Haney and produced by Haney, Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and went into general release on June 3, 2011. The film explores the consequences of mining and burning coal, with a particular focus on the use of a method for coal strip-mining in Appalachia commonly known as mountaintop removal mining. Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s 2005 book, Crimes Against Nature and featuring Kennedy and a cast of activists and experts, the film considers the health consequences of mining and burning coal and looks at the context and history of environmental laws in the United States. Exploring a proposal to build a wind farm on a mountain in the heart of "coal country," rather than deforesting and demolishing the mountain for the coal seams within, the film suggests that wind resources are plentiful in the U.S., would provide many domestic jobs and that wind is a more benign source of power than coal and has the potential to eliminate the destructive aspects of coal.
Chasing Ice[edit]
Chasing Ice is a 2012 documentary film about the efforts of nature photographer James Balog and his Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) to publicize the effects of climate change. The film was directed by Jeff Orlowski. It was released in the United States on November 16, 2012. The documentary includes scenes from a glacier calving event that took place at Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland, lasting 75 minutes, the longest such event ever captured on film. Two EIS videographers waited several weeks in a small tent overlooking the glacier and finally, were able to witness 7.4 cubic kilometres (1.8 cu mi) of ice crashing off the glacier. "The calving of a massive glacier believed to have produced the ice that sank the Titanic is like watching a city break apart."
A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for A Living Planet[edit]
Main article: A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for A Living Planet
A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for A Living Planet is a 2012 documentary film, written and directed by Mark Kitchell, and starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, and Ashley Judd explores the history of the environmental movement - grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change.
A River Changes Course[edit]
A River Changes Course is a 2013 documentary by Kalyanee Mam. The film explores the damage rapid development has wrought in her native Cambodia on both a human and environmental level. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2013, and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary. The film also received the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2013 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Blackfish[edit]
Blackfish is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. It concerns Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films for wider release. It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.
The Great Invisible[edit]
Main article: The Great Invisible
The Great Invisible is 2014 documentary, directed by Margaret Brown, features the BP oil spill in the Gulf in 2010 and Deepwater Horizon oil spill aftermath. The feature documentary won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for Documentary and received an Emmy nomination for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and aired on Independent Lens on PBS in April 2015.
Above All Else[edit]
Main article: Above All Else
Above All Else is a 2014 documentary film, written and directed by John Fiege, that follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist, as he rallies neighbors and environmental activists to join him in a final act of brinkmanship: a tree-top blockade of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from crossing his land and bringing tar sands to rural East Texas.
Marmato[edit]
Marmato is a 2014 American documentary film written, directed and produced by Mark Grieco. It is the debut feature film of Grieco. The film narrates 6-years long struggle of townspeople of Marmato, Caldas with Canadian mining company that wants the $20 billion in gold beneath their homes. The film premiered in competition category of U.S. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014, where it won the Candescent Award.
Yakona[edit]
Main article: Yakona
Yakona is a 2014 documentary film directed and written by Anlo Sepulveda and Paul Collins. Yakona means "water rising" in the language of the Indigenous people of the San Marcos River in Texas. The film is a visual journey through the crystal clear waters of the San Marcos River and its headwaters at Spring Lake, which is home to seven threatened or endangered species.
How to Change the World[edit]
Main article: How to Change the World (film)
How to Change the World is a 2015 British documentary film, from writer-director Jerry Rothwell (Deep Water), which chronicles the adventures of an eclectic group of young pioneers who set out to stop Richard Nixon's nuclear bomb tests in Amchitka, Alaska, and end up creating the worldwide green movement with the birth of Greenpeace.
Racing Extinction[edit]
Racing Extinction is a 2015 documentary film about the ongoing Anthropogenic mass extinction of species and the efforts from scientists, activists and journalists to document it by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos, who directed the documentary The Cove (2009). The film received one Oscar nomination, for Best Original Song, and one Emmy nomination for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Racing Extinction premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, followed by limited theater release, with worldwide broadcast premiere on The Discovery Channel in 220 countries or territories on December 2, 2015. Racing Extinction′s website details further information about contemporary extinction and campaigns with which to prevent them. The film was created by the Oceanic Preservation Society.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power[edit]
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is a 2017 American concert film/documentary film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, about former United States Vice President Albert A. Gore Jr.'s continuing mission to battle climate change. The sequel to An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the film addresses the progress made to tackle the problem and Gore's global efforts to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy, culminating in the landmark signing of 2016's Paris Agreement. The film was released on July 28, 2017, by Paramount Pictures, and grossed over $5 million worldwide. It received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 71st British Academy Film Awards.
Chasing Coral[edit]
Chasing Coral is a 2017 American documentary film about a team of divers, scientists and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs. Chasing Coral was produced by Exposure Labs and directed by Jeff Orlowski. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released globally on Netflix as a Netflix Original Documentary in July 2017. Jeff Orlowski has previously directed the movie Chasing Ice in 2012 which share a similar plot to Chasing Coral.
The Devil We Know[edit]
The Devil We Know is a 2018 investigative documentary film by director Stephanie Soechtig regarding allegations of health hazards from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8), a key ingredient used in manufacturing Teflon, and DuPont's potential responsibility. PFAS are commonly found in every household, and in products as diverse as non-stick cookware, stain resistant furniture and carpets, wrinkle free and water repellant clothing, cosmetics, lubricants, paint, pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and many other everyday products. Two of the most common types (PFOS and PFOA) were phased out of production in the United States (US) in 2002 and 2015 respectively, but are still present in some imported products, and were replaced by the similarly toxic GenX in Teflon products. PFOA and PFOS are found in every American person's blood stream in the parts per billion range, though those concentrations have decreased by 70% for PFOA and 84% for PFOS between 1999 and 2014, which coincides with the end of the production and phase out of PFOA and PFOS in the US. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The director, Soechtig, has also produced similar documentary exposés including Tapped (2009), about the pollution caused by bottled water, Fed Up (2014), dealing with the obesity-promoting food industry, and Under the Gun (2016), about the gun lobby. The documentary was also shown on BBC Four in November 2018 as Poisoning America – The Devil We Know as part of the BBC Storyville documentary series.
Sea of Shadows[edit]
Sea of Shadows is a 2019 documentary directed by Richard Ladkani about environmental activists (Sea Shepherd), the Mexican Navy, and undercover investigators trying to prevent the extinction of the vaquita, a species of porpoise and the smallest whale in the world, by pulling gillnets, doing research, and fighting back Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia who are destroying ocean habitats in their brutal pursuit to harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, known as the "cocaine of the sea".
References[edit]
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