Starts Today: Workshop for Climate Storytellers

New narratives for climate justice, plus screenings, opportunities, & more.

Marisa Guerrero, Alec Turnbull, and J. English Cook

May 26, 2026

What climate stories does our city need? That's the question at the heart of our new workshop series with Global Rise, which kicks off this evening in the West Village.

Also in this week’s roundup: don’t miss a sneak peak of the upcoming climate narrative film Alfalfa, your final chance to catch The Unfixing in NYC, our upcoming Anew Café takeover, and a CFF film alum that needs a little push to reach the big screen.

In this Newsletter:

🌇 Starts Today! CFF x Global Rise Workshop Series: The City as Commons: New Stories of Climate Justice
🌱 Sneak Peak: Alfalfa: The Future of Climate Storytelling
☕️ CFF Takeover at Anew Café
🎬 The Unfixing: Final NYC Screening
⚙️ Crowdfunding Request: Help Get Valve Turners (CFF ’24 Climate Action Film Award Winner) Streaming & In Theaters!
🌿 Opportunities & Events

🌇 Starts Today! CFF x Global Rise Workshop Series: The City as Commons: New Stories of Climate Justice

We’re teaming up with Global Rise: Stories for the Future to present three free workshops for climate storytellers to imagine new stories that illuminate climate justice. All experience levels welcome!

The series kicks off this week with our first interactive workshop:

Workshop #1: The Multidimensional Challenges of Climate Justice.

📆 When: Tuesday, May 26 from 5-8pm

📍 Where: Anew, 526 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014

We’ll open with conversation among policy advocates, community organizers, and experts about the new climate justice narratives we need for our city. Speakers will include:

Chris Dobens, Director of Communications, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Lonnie Portis, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Memphis Washington, Community Outreach & Engagement AmeriCorps Member, Waterfront Alliance

Through guided prompts and collaborative exercises, we’ll begin mapping a creative narrative response in the medium of your choice (film, creative writing, journalism, and more all welcome!).

Participants who want to take their project further are also invited to submit a one-page story proposal to Global Rise! Several submitted projects will be selected to be workshopped in July at Part 2 of this series.

Join The City as Commons Workshop

Whether you’re a seasoned climate storyteller or ready to start your creative journey, all are welcome! This event is free to attend with advance RSVP. Attendees should bring a notebook and pen.

Alfalfa: The Future of Climate Storytelling

📆 When: Wednesday, May 27 from 6pm-9pm

📍 Where: 22 E 2nd St, New York, NY

Join us on Wednesday, 5/27 for an exclusive sneak peek and panel discussion for ALFALFA—a dynamic eco-noir thriller from award-winning director Jack Fessenden. Set against the parched backdrop of the American West, this Altman-esque tale of a desert community ravaged by water scarcity is a bold case study for entertaining, high-impact cinema. RSVP here!

CFF’s Co-Founder J. English Cook will moderate a panel discussion with actress and environmental activist Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black, Sideways), Sam Read (Executive Director, Sustainable Entertainment Alliance), Dr. Casey Ivanovich (NASA), and director Jack Fessenden in support of ALFALFA, a story that reframes climate as a culture fight.

☕️ CFF Takeover at Anew Café

This week, we’re taking over Anew Café & Goods in the West Village with film and climate programming! Sip on the cafe’s new signature CFF matcha, and enjoy these special screenings and events:

Tuesday, May 26: CFF x Global Rise Workshop Series: The City as Commons: New Stories of Climate Justice (see above for details!)
Wednesday, May 27: Cafe Takeover Exhibition Screening & Walkthrough, 3-5pm, with filmmaker Rebecca Huang (The Human Fossil, CFF ’25) and nonprofit leader Mackenzie Feldman (Groundswell: The Re:wild Your Campus Story), hosted by CFF Co-Founder J. English Cook.
Sunday, May 31: Screening at 3pm of the short film Hot Soda (CFF ’25) + discussion with director Nello DiGiandomenico, organized by CFF’s youth-based Next Gen Climate Film Collective.

🎬 The Unfixing: Final NYC Screening

Have you seen The Unfixing yet? Last month, we hosted two sold-out screenings of this impactful film that weaves together themes of destruction, trauma, love, and renewal. This weekend, we’re back again with your last chance to catch this film in NYC—don’t miss out on Sunday, May 31 at 5pm at New Plaza Cinema!

🤝 Partner Shoutout: This event is presented by CFF, ReelAbilities Film Festival, Climate Imaginarium, Climate Cafe NY, and Women Make Movies.

Get Tickets to The Unfixing on May 31

⚙️ Help Get a CFF ’24 Film Streaming & In Theaters!

The documentary Valve Turners (2024, dir. Steve Bonds-Liptay) had its world premiere at our inaugural festival in 2024, taking home the CFF award for Best Climate Action Film. The film follows a small group of activists from the Pacific Northwest as they turn the valves and halt the flow of five oil pipelines entering the U.S. from Canada, spotlighting the climate emergency and eliciting strong and thoughtful responses from audiences across the country.

Now, the Valve Turners team has offers from two distributors, for both digital and theatrical releases this fall/winter!

But they’re in a bit of a bind: to get the film across the finish line, they need to raise $15k for final sound mix/design, E&O insurance, QCing and fair use certification.

With the climate crisis continuing to be accelerated by those in power, these stories of resistance are needed more than ever. Please consider supporting this important project.

Support Valve Turners

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