Our CFF '26 Film Program is Here!
53 films. 34 premieres. One unforgettable weekend.
Drumroll please… the film program for the 3rd annual Climate Film Festival, happening September 18-21, is here!
We have four days of films and discussions ready for you. Check out the program below, and get tickets now! PS: Save 10% on all tickets through August 28! Click the button below and just add the early bird to your cart.
And stay tuned for even more programs and special events to be announced in the coming weeks!
In this Newsletter:
🎬 Discover CFF’s 2026 Lineup: Our Weekend Schedule + All the Films!
🙋♀️ Volunteer With Us!
CFF 2026: The Schedule
🍿 Opening Night
Friday, Sept. 18 at Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11106
The festival kicks off on Friday night with the East Coast premiere of House of Fish (dir. Santiago Burin des Roziers. 2026), a film that tells the extraordinary story of a humble Italian fisherman with a revolutionary vision. Like our festival itself, the opening night film explores the crossroads of art, activism, and the natural world, with a conversation to follow. Followed by a Q&A with the director.
🎬 Festival Screenings
Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20 at Regal Essex Crossing, 129 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002
Attend two full days of film screenings across 18 programs. With films spanning genres—from documentary to narrative, experimental to family-friendly—there’s something for everyone.
Don’t miss our Centerpiece film on Saturday: The Keeper (dir. Jon Bowermaster, 2025), which follows the charismatic river steward who, through 25 years of patrolling the Hudson in his wooden boat, has become the river’s watchdog and its poet laureate. The weekend concludes on Sunday at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in downtown Brooklyn with our Closing-Night screening of the film The Lake (dir. Abby Ellis, 2026), an NYC premiere. Followed by Q&As with the filmmakers.
✨ Filmmaker Forum
Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20 at Regal Essex Crossing, 129 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002
In addition to film screenings, we’ll also be hosting two days of live sessions: panels, workshops, partner activations, pitch competitions, and more focused on crafting, pitching, producing, and marketing intersectional climate stories. Whether you’re a filmmaker, a writer, a climate professional, or an engaged audience member, these sessions are for you! Full list and details about each session will be announced soon.
🏆 Awards Night
Sunday, Sept. 20
This year, we’ll also be hosting our annual Climate Film Festival Awards! Eight juried prizes will honor outstanding work across Feature Documentary, Short Documentary, Short Narrative, Youth Choice, Seeds of Hope, Sustainable Production, Climate Activism, and a special Horizon Award for filmmakers under 30. Winners will be selected by a distinguished panel of leaders in film, journalism, climate justice, and the creative industries.
🌅 Narrative Change Summit
Monday, Sept. 21 at SVA Theatre, 333 W. 23rd St.
Last but not least, we’re back for our second annual Narrative Change Summit: a full-day summit bringing together filmmakers, foundations, creative agencies, and nonprofit leaders to explore strategies for reshaping climate narratives. Full agenda to come. Save the date here.
CFF 2026: The Films
Our 3rd annual festival will feature a selection of more than 50 films spanning genres and subject matter, from feature films to short documentaries.
What’s showing at this year’s festival? Here’s an overview:
10 World and North America Premieres, including the World Premieres of Ages of Ice: The Polar Seas (2026, dir. Karina Holden), narrated by David Tennant, Light (2026, dir. Luke Fatora, Sophie Davis), So Long, Goodbye (2026, dir. Maya Wallis Echeverri), and How to Plant a Lake / Cómo plantar un lago (2026, dir. Satomi Blair and CG Foisy); and the North America Premieres of Jirapo (2025, dir. María Rojas Arias), Workshop with a Ghost (2025, dir. Elise Orlowski), Hidden Paradise (2026, dir. Kawin Sirichantakul), Warnings to the distant future (2026, dir. Juliane Jaschnow and Stefanie Schroeder), Glacier Speak: Listening to Matanuska (2025, dir. Max Romey), F* the Lawn / Réabhlóid Ar Chul An Tí - A Farmland Revolution (2026, dir. Craig Speer).
11 feature documentaries spanning the globe (from Mongolia’s coal roads to the shores of Manitoba) and broadening perspectives (from conservatives advocating across-the-aisle climate action to an exploration of the ecological legacies we inherit and leave behind), each grappling with what it means to live, work, and survive on a rapidly changing planet.
Our second annual Tectonics program, which celebrates experimental films from across the globe. This year’s program highlights works that enact alternative modes of seeing and being in the world to reorganize the way we engage with climate change.
A stunning lineup of narrative shorts that explore themes like climate grief and mourning a changing planet, generational relationships with the earth, the sudden reality of becoming a climate refugee, and choosing what side of history to stand on.
Documentary shorts programs covering topics including: intergenerational dialogues and plucky solutions, life in a (melting) frozen world, environmental stewardship in communities across the globe, glaciers that talk back, the ecological and cultural relationships between humans and the natural world, and more.
Saturday morning programming for the whole family: Animation for younger audiences that introduces climate to the next generation and explores youth voices in climate advocacy.
34 film premieres, bringing these movies to New York City audiences for the very first time.
Ready for the festival? Early bird tickets are on sale now! Take 10% off through Friday, August 28. Discount applies automatically at checkout.
PS: Are you a student? We’re offering exclusive $10 tickets for students! Click here to learn more.
🙋 Volunteer at CFF ’26!
Curious about where climate and culture collide? Volunteer with us at CFF ’26!
Calling all film lovers, environmentalists, and local New Yorkers! We’re on the lookout for energetic, passionate, creative, and hands-on volunteers to help us lead the Climate Film Festival. Whether it’s working the box office, greeting filmmakers, or whipping up climate solutions social media content, our CFF volunteer team is the glue that holds the festival together.
Interested? Fill out our volunteer interest form here, or reach out to our volunteer operations coordinator at volunteer@climatefilmfest.com with any questions.
Thanks to the Filmmakers!
This year, we received a record-breaking 550+ submissions. Our team was blown away by the depth, creativity, and urgency of the films in contention. It’s a testament to the vibrant and growing global community of filmmakers using cinema to engage with the climate crisis in bold, imaginative ways. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who shared their work with us. Choosing just a weekend’s worth of programming was no easy task, and we only wish we had more time to spotlight the full range of stories and voices.
This incredible response inspires us to keep growing: to expand the platform, deepen our year-round programming, and find new ways to celebrate and support the artists shaping the future of climate storytelling.
Thanks to our 2026 Festival Sponsors
Anew and The Carmack Collective, with more to be announced.
The Guardian is a media sponsor. PR services provided by the Betancourt Group. Experiential design by Interim Design. Legal services from Romanette Legal. The festival logo and design come from Studio Rodrigo. The marquee theatre partner is Regal.