September 18–21: The Climate Festival returns during Climate Week NYC with 53 films, 33 premieres, the Narrative Change Summit, and four days of public and industry programming
NEW YORK — August 14, 2026 — The Climate Film Festival (CFF) returns September 18–21 for its third annual edition, bringing 52 films—including 33 premieres—to venues across New York City during Climate Week NYC. The four-day festival will pair boundary-pushing climate cinema with filmmaker conversations, immersive experiences, industry programming, and free public events connecting artists, scientists, advocates, and audiences from around the world.
Opening Night launches Friday, September 18, at the Museum of the Moving Image with the East Coast premiere of Santiago Burin des Roziers’ House of Fish. Then, on Saturday, September 19, CFF will host its Centerpiece screening of local New Yorker environmental heroes in The Keeper at Regal Essex Crossing. On Sunday, September 20, the festival closes at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn with the New York City premiere of Abby Ellis’s The Lake. The full festival schedule and tickets are available at climatefilmfest.com.
“At a moment when climate communication is being tested, we need stories that invite people in rather than shut them out,” said CFF co-founder Alec Turnbull. “The Climate Film Festival platforms bold work that moves beyond familiar tropes and makes the climate conversation more human, more accessible, and more expansive. When audiences see themselves in these stories, they become more than witnesses to the climate crisis—they become participants in its solutions.”
The 2026 festival will also welcome back the Narrative Change Summit following its successful 2025 debut. The full-day convening returns Monday, September 21 at the SVA Theatre, bringing together filmmakers, foundations, creative agencies, nonprofit leaders, and climate communicators to develop more effective strategies for reshaping climate narratives.
The festival builds on a landmark 2025 edition that welcomed more than 3,000 attendees and presented 50 films, including 33 premieres. The inaugural Narrative Change Summit convened more than 800 leaders from NGOs, media organizations, foundations, and the private sector to examine how storytelling can accelerate climate action. Read the 2025 Annual Report for more.
Beyond its film program, CFF will present free public events, partner activations, and industry programs, including a live pitch competition and conversations about screenwriting, financing and distribution, impact measurement, and sustainable production. Networking and community events will create new opportunities for collaboration across the film, climate, philanthropy, and business sectors.
2026 Festival Highlights
- Friday, September 18 — Opening Night: House of Fish at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Queens.
- Saturday–Sunday, September 19–20 — Festival screenings: Regal Essex Crossing, 129 Delancey Street, Manhattan.
- Saturday, September 19 — Centerpiece Screening: The Keeper at Regal Essex Crossing.
- Saturday–Sunday, September 19–20 — Filmmaker Forum: Panels, workshops, filmmaker conversations, and community events at locations across New York City.
- Sunday, September 20 — Awards and Closing Night: The Lake at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn, 445 Albee Square W 4th Floor, Brooklyn.
- Monday, September 21 — Narrative Change Summit: SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, Manhattan. Full agenda to be announced.
The Climate Film Festival was co-founded by Alec Turnbull and J. English Cook. Since launching CFF events in 2023, they have brought together filmmakers, audiences, and changemakers to spark dialogue, shift narratives, and advance a more just and sustainable future.
Official 2026 Film Selection
Feature Documentary
- River of Spirits (Dir. Tawna Collective & Nase Lino, 2026, U.S. Premiere)
- Black Water (Dir. Natxo Leuza, 2025, East Coast Premiere)
- House of Fish (Dir. Santiago Burin des Roziers, 2026, East Coast Premiere)
- Fork in the Road (Dir. Vivian Sorenson & Jonathan Nastasi, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Land of Canaan (Dir. Maggie Lemere, 2025, NYC Premiere) — with ZAG, Tall trees have deep roots
- The [Conserv]atives (Dir. Nadia Gill & Dominic Gill, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Closing Night: The Lake (Dir. Abby Ellis, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- VS. GOLIATH: Appalachia (Dir. Maggie Lemere, Sam Eilertsen & Nate Birnbaum, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Colors of White Rock (Dir. Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig, 2026)
- Humboldt USA (Dir. G. Anthony Svatek, 2026)
- Nuisance Bear (Dir. Gabriela Osio Vanden & Jack Weisman, 2026)
- Centerpiece Screening: The Keeper (Dir. Jon Bowermaster, 2025)
Short Documentary
- How to Plant a Lake / Cómo plantar un lago (Dir. Satomi Blair & CG Foisy, 2026, World Premiere)
- F* the Lawn / Réabhlóid Ar Chul An Tí – A Farmland Revolution (Dir. Craig Speer, 2026, North American Premiere)
- Glacier Speak: Listening to Matanuska (Dir. Max Romey, 2025, North American Premiere)
- Hidden Paradise (Dir. Kawin Sirichantakul, 2026, North American Premiere)
- Workshop with a Ghost (Dir. Elise Orlowski, 2025, North American Premiere)
- Sikoqqinngisaannassooq (Dir. Adam Sébire, 2025, U.S. Premiere)
- The Herring Queen (Dir. Eilidh Munro, 2025, U.S. Premiere)
- Grassroots: The Re:wild Your Campus Story (Dir. Josh Izenberg & Palmer Morse, 2026, East Coast Premiere)
- SILA (Dir. Ciril Jazbec & Lucía Flórez, 2026, East Coast Premiere)
- Fish for the Future (Dir. Matthew Benton, 2025, NYC Premiere)
- Gladice (Dir. David Garrett Byars, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Listen (Dir. Taliesin Black-Brown, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Plant Life (Dir. Brett Marty & Josh Izenberg, 2026, East Coast Premiere)
- Sound Guardians (Dir. Leah Varjacques, 2025, NYC Premiere)
- Sueños de una Monarca (Dir. Julián Trejo Bax, 2025, NYC Premiere)
- The Coral Rescuers (Dir. Jason Spingarn-Koff, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Bear Guardians (Dir. Mariah Wilson, 2024)
- Sallie’s Ashes (Dir. Brennan Robideaux, 2025)
- The Boys and the Bees (Dir. Arielle Knight, 2025)
- Waska: The Forest Is My Family (Dir. Nina Gualinga, 2024)
- What The River Knows (Dir. Diego Riley & Will Buckley, 2025)
- Wild Hope: Thunder and Fire (Dir. not provided, 2025)
- ZAG, Tall trees have deep roots (Dir. Clara Wetzel, 2025)
Tectonics
- Jirapo (Dir. María Rojas Arias, 2025, North American Premiere)
- Warnings to the distant future (Dir. Juliane Jaschnow & Stefanie Schroeder, 2026, North American Premiere)
- A Hundred-Headed Dragon (Dir. Helena Girón & Samuel Delgado, 2025, NYC Premiere)
- Velella Velella (Dir. James DeLisio, 2025, NYC Premiere)
- STILL STANDING (Dir. Victor Tadashi Suarez & Livia Albeck-Ripka, 2026)
- Suspicions About the Hidden Realities of Air (Dir. Sam Drake, 2025)
Short Narrative
- Light (Dir. Luke Fatora & Sophie Davis, 2026, World Premiere)
- So Long, Goodbye (Dir. Maya Wallis Echeverri, 2026, World Premiere)
- AQI 302 (Dir. Brant Rotnem, 2022, NYC Premiere)
- Degree of Certainty (Dir. Simon Schneider, 2026, NYC Premiere)
- Entre tormentas (Dir. Fran Zayas, 2025)
- Flatastic (Dir. Alice Saey, 2024)
- Heirs (Dir. Charlie Barker Theobald, 2025)
- It’s Only 47°C (Dir. Tej Sisodia, 2026)
Episodics
- Ages of Ice: The Polar Seas (Dir. Karina Holden, 2026, World Premiere)
Kids
- ASALi: Power of The Pollinators (Dir. Maya S. Penn, 2026)
- She Creates Change: Dewmini (Dir. Siqi Song & Martha Adams, 2024)
2026 Festival Jury
The 2026 Climate Film Festival jury brings together 23 leaders working across film, journalism, culture, environmental justice, philanthropy, food systems, and climate advocacy:
- Jonathan Mallow, Head of Impact, TED
- Furhana Husani, Vice President, Programs and Strategy, Waterfront Alliance
- Sonia Shechet Epstein, Curator of Science and Technology, Museum of the Moving Image
- Ricardo Benavidez, Managing Director, The Carmack Collective; Associate Producer, Carmack Productions
- Gabrielle Canon, Senior Climate Reporter and Extreme Weather Correspondent, The Guardian
- Abre’ Conner, Director, Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, NAACP
- Wawa Gatheru, Founder and Executive Director, Black Girl Environmentalist
- Lucas Mueller, Youth Culture Specialist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Sam Read, Executive Director, Sustainable Entertainment Alliance
- Nancy Rosenthal, Founder and Executive Director, New York WILD Film Festival
- Chandra Simon Ritvo, Sustainability Creative, Netflix
- Rebecca Strawn, Senior Associate, Entertainment Partnerships, NRDC
- Harry Winer, Producer and Professor
- Eric Holthaus, Meteorologist and Climate Journalist
- Julián Etienne, Head of Climate Story Unit and Lead, Climate Story Fund, Doc Society
- Meredith Smith, Cultural Producer and Program Strategist
- Sherrell Dorsey, Journalist, Author, and Host of TED Tech
- Isabel González Whitaker, Associate Vice President for Public Engagement
- Annelise Wunderlich, Director of Programs, The Redford Center
- Tamseel Hussain, Founder and CEO, PLUC
- JC Salazar, Cinema Programme Lead, Jeu de Paume
- Ken Baker, Culinary Director, Rethink Food
- Marianna Olinger, Impact Strategist and Producer; Director, Earth Alliance
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About the Climate Film Festival
The Climate Film Festival (CFF) is a nonprofit cultural organization and annual New York City film festival held during Climate Week NYC. Founded in 2023, CFF uses the power of cinema to reshape the climate conversation, make complex issues accessible, and move audiences toward action. Its year-round work brings together filmmakers, artists, communities, advocates, policymakers, and sustainability leaders through screenings, filmmaker conversations, public programs, and the Narrative Change Summit. CFF is fiscally sponsored by Ecologistics, a 501(c)(3) organization. Visit climatefilmfest.com and follow CFF on Instagram, Substack, and LinkedIn.