San Francisco Green Film Festival is the Bay Area’s leading movement for films and conversations about people and the planet. Our mission is to educate and connect communities through forward-thinking programs of environmental films, dialogue, and action opportunities. San Francisco is a city of people that care deeply about the environment. At the heart of the global Green movement, it leads by example and challenges government, business and communities alike to live a more sustainable future. But, even here, it can be hard to cut through the noise, to get to the facts and feel you can make something happen.
Sitting in the SF premiere of The Age of Stupid in 2009, Rachel Caplan realized her two passions - film and the environment - could come together to do exactly that. The film itself was provoking audience debate on climate change, but so was the way it brought people together in a global wave of discussion, ideas and action. At the same time, as Festival Director at the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, Rachel was approached constantly by filmmakers struggling to get their documentaries screened. From agriculture to rainforests, from mining to monkeys, there was a diverse mix of environmental stories all seeking to reach audiences in San Francisco. Rachel spotted an opportunity to use the power and immediacy of these films, coupled with the local environmental expertise and enthusiasm, to inspire social change on a large scale. In 2011, the first San Francisco Green Film Festival was launched with 90 new, international films and an emphasis on audience discussion and participation. Now heading into its fifth year, the annual festival and year-round screenings add up to over 200 compelling and relevant environmental film programs.
Each festival presents carefully-curated, new films from both established and emerging filmmakers. The festival also brings together green artists from across the Bay Area, including musicians, painters, sculptors, designers, and photographers who are inspired by the environment. They have all provided a participatory space for the eco-savvy and green-curious to meet filmmakers, environmental experts and campaigners to watch, discuss, and create ideas for a better world. The core of SFGFF programs is to bring audiences the films, expertise and participation that gives them a chance to find their thing, their environmental passion, then hook on and act on it.
Films include:
