RVA Environmental Film Festival

The grand finale of the RVA Environmental Film Festival! 1-3pm, Saturday March 7 in the VMFA Reynolds Lecture Hall Followed by brief video appearance by one of the young participants of FUTURE COUNCIL! In FUTURE COUNCIL Director Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film) invites eight children on an epic adventure across Europe in a school bus powered by biofuel. Their mission is to better understand the planet’s predicament, explore solutions and, most importantly, take the conversation from the streets, into the boardrooms of some of the world’s largest polluters and most influential companies. This inspiring and surprisingly humorous journey, where ‘School of Rock’ meets ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, results in the children forming a ‘Future Council’ to advise and influence the world’s most powerful companies on their decisions that impact nature. #climateaction #rva @capitalregionlandconservancy @climateactionrva @veganactionorg @jamesriverfilmsociety @jamesriverpark @jravirginia @vcuslss

The festival continues!!!! Our partners in the Richmond community are hosting screenings of exciting and motivating films! Tuesday, February 24, 6:00 - 8:30 pm - “Honeyland” Libbie Mill - Henrico Public Library (2100 Libbie Lake E St, Richmond) Explore modern beekeeping practices with demonstrations from East Richmond Beekeepers Association (ERBA) before the film! Wednesday, February 25, 6:00 PM - “The Street Project” Main Library - Richmond Public Library The film will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from local organizations who seek to make the streets safer for anyone not in a car, including pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation users. Thursday, February 26, 6:00 PM - “Cigarette Surfboard” University of Richmond, Jepson Hall, Room 118 Hosted by University of Richmond Office of Sustainability There is a reception with the filmmaker, Ben Judkins, and a Q&A following the film! Friday, February 27, 5:30 PM - “Common Ground” ICA/ VCUarts - hosted by VCUarts Cinema program. This film highlights how regenerative farming practices can heal the soil, improve health, and stabilize the economy, while also addressing issues of racism in the food industry. Saturday, February 28, 2:30 PM- “Teach Me to Be WIld” The Robins Nature Center - Maymont A beautiful film about an animal sanctuary and a therapeutic program for ‘at-risk’ youth. (Free - ticket to Robins Nature Center not required) Tuesday, March 3, 5:30 PM- “The Little Things That Run the World” LaPrade Library hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library Through striking visuals and authoritative voices, “The Little Things That Run the World” uncovers the essential role insects play in sustaining life on earth. @maymont_rva @vcuartscinema @capitalregionlandconservancy @groundworkrva @sportsbackers @rvabikesafety @virginia_beekeepers @henricolibrary @ccplva @rvalibrary @beagreenspider

Hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library @ LaPrade Library, 9000 Hull Street Road, North Chesterfield March 3, 5:30pm With Karen Kester Ph.D. Professor Emerita, Biology, Distinguished Career Professor from Virginia Commonwealth University and Master Naturalist THE LITTLE THINGS THAT RUN THE WORLD introduces viewers to a diverse group of scientists, nature lovers, gardeners, farmers, and general bug enthusiasts in exploring the importance of flying insects amid rapid declines in their numbers. This most numerous groups of animals on the planet by far - three quarters of all species - have also been called the “glue of life” on Earth. They literally hold ecosystems together. Insects were the first animals to evolve flight nearly 440 million years ago, and they survived all five of the known mass extinctions since then. But there is evidence that the pace of decline among insects in parts of the world today is fast approaching the levels of previous catastrophes. What this means for the rest of life on Earth, including humans, is the focus of THE LITTLE THINGS THAT RUN THE WORLD. #sustainablity @ccplva

We are honored to have been awarded the top prize at the @rvaeff Film Festival in Richmond, VA this weekend! Catching Pinecones will be screened free to the public at @studiotwothree on Feb 22 at 5:25pm. We hope you can come join us!

Come on out for Day 2 of the RVA Environmental Film Festival! Free and open to the public. Sunday, February 22, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM @ Studio Two Three Films: (for full schedule go to our website. Rvaeff.org • Undammed • Exposing the Darkside of American AI Data Centers Explosion. Q/A Dakin Campbell, Business Insider • River Called Home • Not On This Land. Q/A Jessica Sims, Virginia Conservation Network • Out There: A National Parks Story • Look Down, Not Up. Q/A Yehuda Goldman and Rick Siber, Filmmakers • AND our Virginia Environmental Film Contest Winners!!! Filmmakers will be present for Q&A! All Forward! (Justin Black) and Catching Pinecones (Chad Heddleston) #environmentalfilm #RVA @headwatersdown @catchingpinecones @businessinsider @va_conservation

“Teach Me To Be Wild” Hosted by Maymont @ The Robins Nature Center February 28 2:30pm This beautiful film explores the work of a sanctuary in Northern California, where a team of injured, non-releasable wild animals become Wild-Teachers and are helping heal generations of hurt children (at-risk teens, justice-involved youth, foster kids and others). The traumatic histories of the creatures, who range from an Andean condor to a two-toed sloth, often parallel those of the at-risk children who visit. Unexpected and empathic connections are forged that ripple into stories of transformation. @maymont_rva

Hosted by VCUarts’ Cinema program, @ VCUarts Institute Contemporary Art. 601W. Broad Street COMMON GROUND profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late. Sobering yet hopeful, ‘Common Ground’ exposes the toxic interconnections of American farming policy, politics, and health, by sharing stories of destruction and healing across the United States and beyond, and how regenerative agriculture and soil health plays a vitally important role in changing these systems for the better. At it’s root, it explores how people from different walks of life, different political backgrounds, and different places share one thing in common – the very soil beneath their feet. The film is directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell (Big Picture Ranch), who have created bold and inspiring environmental films (Kiss the Ground, On Sacred Ground, Regenerate Ojai, Fuel, The Big Fix), while winning coveted awards along the way from Sundance, Cannes, Red Nation, and Tribeca. #regenerativefarming #soilhealth @vcuartscinema @beagreenspider @vcuslss @vcuricerivers

Saturday!!! The start of the 2026 RVA Environmental Film Festival!!! Yes, we’re excited. ALL FILMS ARE FREE and open to the public. Parking is available in the lot in front of Studio Two Three. Films start at 11am pronto. We encourage you to bring your water bottle, to conserve. You know. For a complete schedule of films, times and places through March 7, check out our website - rvaeff.org. Come out and network, discuss, get inspired and inspire. ON SATURDAY, February 21 screening: • Little Brown Bird • Reviving the Forgotten River • Last Wild Herd (with a video appearance of the filmmakers) • Plastic People: Hidden Crisis of Microplastics • Fire Lines • Chesapeake Rhythms. Q/A Lauren Hines-Acosta, Journalist • American Southwest #rva #jamesriverparksystem #friendsofjamesriverpark

Thursday, February 26 come out and meet the filmmaker! 6:00 reception with filmmaker, Ben Judkins. Screening at 7:00 and a Q&A following the screening! Small decisions and actions, like littering a cigarette butt, cumulatively can have a large impact, for better or for worse. This immersive documentary provides viewers an up-close experience of the ocean through surfers’ eyes, to amplify a message of urgency and possibility regarding the ocean’s wellbeing. As our ocean faces mounting threats, we as surfers have a responsibility to protect it. An impassioned surfer, Taylor Lane, creates a functional surfboard with 10,000 littered cigarette butts collected from California beaches. The CIGARETTE SURFBOARD takes Taylor around the world to learn from professional surfers who are working to protect and restore the health of the ocean through science, education, art, business and political activism. Hosted by the University of Richmond Office of Sustainability @ Jepson Hall, Room 118 Recommended parking lot for University of Richmond is U-6 (The UR Office for Sustainability is hosting in partnership with the World of Cinema Endeavor class. #sustainability #cleanoceans @beagreenspider @jravirginia @jamesriverpark @veganactionorg @vcuricerivers @vcuslss

“The Street Project” is an inspiring story about a massive movement across the US and around the world to reclaim our largest public spaces, our streets. Addresses pedestrian and biking safety, critical to discussions happening here at home. Hosted by the Richmond Public Library @ the Main Library, 101 E Franklin St Richmond VA Followed by a panel discussion of local transit advocates. Wednesday, February 26, at 6pm. #rvabike #rva @bikewalkrva @sportsbackers @vcusustainability

The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood. “Honeyland” is a Macedonian documentary film that was directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. It portrays the life of Hatidže Muratova, a lonely beekeeper of wild bees who lives in the remote mountain village of Bekirlija and follows her lifestyle before and after neighbors move in nearby. The film was initially planned as a short film documenting the region surrounding the river Bregalnica but its area of focus changed when the directors met Hatidže. Program includes a group discussion led by Adult Services Programming Librarian, Kimberly Bridges. Hosted by Henrico County Public Library @Libbie Mill (2100 Libbie Lake E St, Richmond, VA) #rvabeekeepers #beekeepers #rva #henricocountypubliclibrary #henricocounty @rvamag @maymont_rva @virginia_beekeepers

Drum roll! The First Place winner of the Virginia Environmental Film Contest is … “Catching Pinecones” directed by Virginia filmmaker Chad Heddleston. “Catching Pinecones” was made as a passion project over 10 years and tells the life story of pioneering rock climbers, cavers and nature preservationists, Jan and Herb Conn. The Conns began their wilderness explorations in Virginia and lived a sustainable lifestyle off the grid for nearly 70 years. They have inspired generations of environmentalists. From the films’ website: “Director Chad Heddleston first learned of the Conns from encountering climbing routes they pioneered and named along the East Coast. Looking more closely into their travels led him to reach out to Jan in 2015 (Herb passed away in 2012). After several letters exchanged – Jan’s preferred means of correspondence – Chad went to visit her in South Dakota and was welcomed into the famed “Conncave” dwelling that Jan and Herb had shared for almost 60 years.” #RVA #virginiafilm #climbeverymountain #environmentalist @catchingpinecones @rvamag @jamesriverpark @jravirginia @capitalregionlandconservancy @vcuartscinema