D.C.’s Environmental Film Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. The festival runs from March 14 through 26 and features around 150 films at 40 different venues around D.C. The venues include Smithsonian museums, art galleries, embassies, universities and libraries. Most screenings are free.
The festival is the longest-running environmental film festival in the U.S., according to the D.C. EFF website.
Flo Stone, who also founded the Margaret Mead Film Festival in 1977 and who has served on many film award juries, founded the festival in 1993 with the goal of advancing public understanding of the environment through film. Outside of film, Stone founded the organization Trees for Georgetown and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Must-see films in this year’s festival include “The Beekeeper and His Son,” “Shorts: Women of the Rebellion” and “Sacred Water: Standing Rock.” Last year’s festival had several films about sustainable farming and eating as well as about conservation, but this year’s feature films are more social justice-oriented.
Foodies should check out “Ants on a Shrimp” on March 18, a documentary following the staff of Noma, a Danish fine-dining restaurant, as they attempt to create a gourmet menu with only Japanese ingredients. For visually beautiful films, check out “Kivalina,” “Pristine Seas: Wild Galapagos” and “Koneline: Our Land Beautiful.”
Many of the films are followed by a discussion and Q&A with either the director or experts in the fields covered in the film. While it is free to attend most of the films in the festival, tickets for paid events range from $3 to $30. Seats must be reserved in advance, and guests can register on to attend screenings on the D.C. EFF website.
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