2023 Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival: Tickets and Information
Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival encourages dialogue and better understanding of environmental issues, and motivates audiences to create and engage in positive change in their communities.
The Festival extends public media’s mission of strengthening communities through education, complimenting KCET’s award-winning environmental series, "Earth Focus," and Link TV's curated environmental documentary program, "Earth Focus Presents."
Festival attendees enjoy premieres of award-winning documentaries, and engage with filmmakers, environmental experts and each other in post-screening conversations.
The 2023 Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival is a hybrid event on May 22-25, offering virtual screenings on the Eventive platform and in-person screenings at the Landmark Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles. The festival is open to everyone.
May 22 | Virtual
"Delikado"
Directed by Karl Malakunas
Monday, May 22 | 7:00 PM | Virtual screening on Eventive for U.S. audiences only | 94 minutes
Palawan appears to be an idyllic tropical island. Its powder-white beaches and lush forests have made it one of Asia’s hottest new tourist destinations. But it's a battlefield for a tiny network of environmental activists dedicated to protecting the island’s spectacular natural resources. The film follows Bobby, Tata and Nieves, as they put their lives at risk in order to stop politicians and big business from destroying the Philippines’ last ecological frontier.
Virtual conversation immediately following screening by Director and Producer Karl Malakunas in Hong Kong with DCEFF Director of Programming Brad Forder
Co-presented by DCEFF
May 23 | In-Person
Los Angeles Premiere
"Deep Rising"
Directed by Matthieu Rytz
Tuesday, May 23 | 7:00 PM | In-person screening at the Landmark Westwood Theatre | 93 minutes
Executive-produced and narrated by actor Jason Momoa, the film brings to light the vital relationship between the deep ocean and sustaining life on Earth. The documentary follows a mining company as it pursues funding, political and public favor, and permission from the International Seabed Authority to mine wide corridors of the Pacific Ocean sea floor.
Live conversation immediately following screening with Elizabeth DeLoughrey, UCLA professor, English Department and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Jeanne Everett, Director of Programs and Operations, Blue Climate Initiative, and Lorena de la Puente Burlando, UCLA PhD candidate, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, moderated by Jon Christensen, UCLA Adjunct Assistant Professor, Co-founder of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, and Executive Producer of "Earth Focus," KCET and the Public Media Group of Southern California.
Co-presented by UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Luskin Center for Innovation, Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies
Listen to the full Q&A from the screening below.
May 24 | Virtual
Los Angeles Premiere
"Fashion Reimagined"
Directed by Becky Hutner
Wednesday, May 24 | 7:00 PM | Virtual screening on Eventive for U.S. audiences only | 100 minutes
Fashion designer Amy Powney is a rising star in the London fashion scene. When she wins the coveted Vogue Award for the Best Young Designer of the Year, she decides to use the cash prize to create a sustainable fashion line from field to finished garment. Amy transforms her entire business and soon becomes a catalyst for societal change in the fashion industry.
Virtual conversation immediately following screening by Director Becky Hutner in London with Maria Hall-Brown, Producer and PBS SoCal and KCET Senior Director
May 25 | In-Person
Southern California Premieres
Wild Hope: "Does Nature Have Rights?" and "The Beautiful Undammed"
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
Thursday, May 25 | 7:00 PM | In-person at the Landmark Westwood Theatre | 60 minutes combined
"Wild Hope" is a series of short films that traverses the globe to spotlight the change-makers who are restoring and protecting the natural world.
"Does Nature Have Rights?" | Follow frontline Ecuadorian conservationists who invoke the “rights of nature,” granting wild species their own legal right to exist in order to save biodiversity hotspots in Ecuador.
"The Beautiful Undammed" | Ten years after the largest dam removal in history, scientists on the Elwha River in Washington are chronicling an inspiring story of ecological rebirth. Recovering salmon populations are transferring critical nutrients from the ocean into the forests along the Elwha’s banks, enriching the entire ecosystem. The Elwha’s revival is encouraging advocates to push for the removal of many larger dams in the region.
Conversation immediately following screening with Sean B. Carroll, Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and Vanessa Castle, Wildlife/Fisheries Technician, Olympic Cougar Project, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Moderated by Rosanna Xia, environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times.
Co-presented by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
