11th E?! - Environmental Film Festival focused on solutions

For the past decade, through the 11th E?! program, we have been striving to deepen our understanding of various environmental and social crises, which can be quite daunting.

This year, we are focusing on concrete solutions to these crises. They are local, national, and global, but also practical, political, and philosophical.

At the 11th E?! festival, you can expect:

• 13 documentary films
• a cycling film evening powered by "cyclo-cinema"
• permaculture and sustainable textiles workshops 
• a clothing exchange party
• musical opening with the ethno band Balkalar
• a program "from an early age" for primary school children
• a surprise rave party!

The festival will be opened with the film "River", a cinematic concert piece created through a collaboration between director Jennifer Peedom and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The film is an ode to the wilderness and magnificence of rivers while also highlighting their vulnerability.

We'll explore solutions within both the fashion industry and the legal system. The films "Fashion Reimagined" and "Duty of Care: The Climate Trials" are gripping documentaries that slowly unveil the struggles and successes of two heroes: fashion designer Amy Powney and her first sustainable fashion collection, and Roger Cox, a lawyer who successfully sued the state and a corporation for the climate crisis.

We'll also learn about the "Landless Workers Movement", one of the largest social movements in Latin America, which creates spaces of equality, food sovereignty, education, and sharing for those who possess nothing.

One of the solutions which the Environmental Film Festival consistently emphasizes is various forms of activist practices, which will be explored in two films this year. "Clown's Planet" introduces us to activist clowns who travel to places affected by diseases, war, and hardships, bringing magic and laughter into the lives of people in difficult situations. The other activist film showcases a plethora of seven young protagonists who reveal the magnificent world of courage and dedication to something "Bigger than Us" - from the favelas in Rio to remote villages in Malawi, from makeshift boats off the coast of Lesbos to indigenous ceremonies in the mountains.

We have prepared two thematic blocks of films as well. On one hand, we explore autonomous spaces that are often hubs of culture and alternative scenes, representing resistance to the capitalist system. On the other hand, we investigate ways in which we can work and collaborate with natural elements. We meet young adventurers who deliver goods and packages via rivers, sailboats, and wind, as well as inspiring projects, communities, and families from across the Balkans, who share their experiences of natural building and living in harmony with nature. In the same block, we acquaint ourselves with the world of fungi, often neglected but crucial for soil health.

We will close the festival with the multi-award-winning documentary, "Everything that Breathes", directed by Shaunak Sen. The film follows the journey of two brothers in one of the world's most densely populated cities, as they devote their lives to the Quixotic quest of rescuing the black kite, a magnificent bird of prey crucial to New Delhi's ecosystem. With this poetic and meditative film, we underscore the common theme of this year's edition: the idea that solutions, solidarity, and heroism are found even in the toughest situations.

Find detailed descriptions of the films and accompanying programs on the festival's official website and Facebook event.

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The festival is organised with the financial support of the European Union. The festival's content is the sole responsibility of  FoE Croatia and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or AMPEU. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.