The Redford Center Awards $325,000 to 13 environmental films, championing solutions across the globe

The Redford Center, one of the only US-based nonprofits solely dedicated to environmental impact filmmaking, announces the selection of 13 visionary environmental filmmakers and film projects set to receive funding from the organization as part of its signature Redford Center Grants program. This international cohort of films, which were selected for their high impact potential and unique solutions-based themes, will each receive $25,000 to support the completion of their projects and to advance their impact efforts and goals.

This year marks a significant expansion for the program, with an increase in both cohort size and funding amount. The Redford Center received more than 500 applications from 67 countries, marking the most expansive and globally diverse open call in the organization’s history, demonstrating the overwhelming presence of impact-driven independent films and the striking gap of funding and support currently offered by the film industry.

One of the few vehicles of philanthropic funds available to environmental documentary filmmakers working today, The Redford Center Grants Program was established in direct response to the lack of support available and is a central pillar of work that The Redford Center’s late co-founder, documentary filmmaker James Redford, wanted to prioritize.

Since its inception in 2016, The Redford Center Grants Program has awarded a total of $2 million to 60 documentary film projects. This cohort is generously funded by the Walton Family Foundation, New York Community Trust, Manitou Fund, Farvue Foundation, and GoPro for a Cause.

Jill Tidman, Executive Director of The Redford Center, shared her enthusiasm for the projects: “With so much working against climate progress – not the least of which is time and a defeatist mindset – this new cohort of Redford Center grantees overwhelms me with hope. Their stories bring to life a very different picture than what we get from mainstream media. Collectively, they reassure us that we are in fact making environmental gains. Individually, they show us courageous leaders taking action and how communities are coming together to solve complex problems and what it looks like when young people stand up for their future. All of which will undoubtedly inspire more of the same. I couldn’t have dreamt up a more interesting group of films and filmmakers to support, there is something for everyone in this cohort, including a shared future vision that I believe we all dream about: a world where all people and the planet can thrive.”

In addition to financial support to the projects, Redford Center Grants provides professional development opportunities to grantee filmmakers, with mentorship support from the Grants Advisory Board made up of esteemed environmental and film industry leaders that work closely with each team on their impact goals and potential. The program also includes an in-person grantee summit where all the filmmakers in the cohort are invited to participate in tailored workshops and learnings, peer-to-peer networking and collaborations, one-on-one sessions with the grants advisors, and more. 

Recent notable completed Redford Center grants projects include Razing Liberty Square, directed by Academy Award-nominated director, Katja Esson, and now streaming on PBS; Path of the Panther, directed by Eric Bendick, a National Geographic film recently awarded an Emmy for Best Nature Documentary and now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu; Impossible Town, an award-winning documentary by Meg Griffiths and Scott Faris; and Bring Them Home, directed by Blackfeet siblings Ivan and Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick, and narrated by Academy Award-nominated Blackfeet / Nez Perce actor Lily Gladstone. 

The selected projects, all feature-length films at various stages of production, thoughtfully examine a wide range of critical climate and environmental issues, offering insights of the complexities and aspirations of contemporary environmental leadership.

The 13 awarded films and their teams are as follows:

Derek’s Ark
James Dawson (Director), Serena Kennedy (Producer), David Broder (Producer), Adam Wishart (Executive Producer), Jon Sayers (Camera), Mairi Eyres (Wildlife Camera)

As climate change impacts Britain (with the wettest winter ever recorded), ‘Derek’s Ark‘ tells the comedic story of two visions colliding in the English countryside. A maverick rewilder is set on creating a haven for nature while over the hedge a dyed-in-the-wool intensive farmer is hell bent on producing food on an industrial scale.

Good Fire
Roni Jo Draper (Director), Marissa Lila (Co-Director), Jenn Lee Smith (Producer), Nicole Docta (Producer)

Since time immemorial, Yurok people have placed fire on the land to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem. Over the past 100 years, settlers banned that fire, and the environment and people have suffered. Now, Yurok people are returning fire medicine to the land in order to heal the world.

Green Gold
Sélim Benzeghia (Director and Producer), Ivonne Serna (Co-Director and Producer)

A Mexican community risks everything to stop the cartels that are destroying their land and lives to make a fortune from avocados.

Green is the Fire’s Tint
Arya Rothe (Director,  Producer, and Writer), Cristina Hanes (Director, Producer, Writer, and Cinematographer), Isabella Rinaldi (Director, Producer, Writer, and Sound Recordist)

Somi (37), an indigenous woman, faces eviction from her land due to the opening of an iron mine. Somi was an armed Naxalite rebel; now, she’s determined to lead her community in fighting against displacement and deforestation–this time without her rifle.

In Between Worlds
Masha Karpoukhina (Director and Producer), Michael Preston (Director), Rose Wyatt (Producer), Tasha Van Zandt (Supervising Producer), Justin LaFleur (Director of Photography), Pippa Ehrlich (Executive Producer)

Amidst climate chaos, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe fights to keep a sacred promise to return their ancestral Chinook salmon to California waters, just as salmon runs across the world are collapsing. Guided by Chief Caleen Sisk, they must journey to New Zealand where miraculously, the genetic descendants of their salmon survived.

In Earth We Trust
Sophie Morgan (Director and Producer), Adrienne Hall (Producer), Mecky Creus (Director of Photography), Clayton Worfolk (Editor)

The mistrust between faith and science is the greatest hurdle in the battle against climate change, but in 2008, one man was on the cusp of changing this world. This is a documentary about the rise and fall of the man who nearly saved the planet, and what comes next.

Infertile Ground
Reniqua Allen-Lamphere (Director and Producer), Crystal Whaley (Producer)

‘Infertile Ground’ looks at how the climate crisis is impacting Black reproductive health. Through several interconnected stories, this film explores the pain, frustration and joy as Black families navigate the rocky path to parenthood as the air gets dirtier, the world warms up, and extreme weather becomes a commonplace.

One Point Five (Working Title)
Alexandra Kerry (Director), Jeff Reichert (Director), Lisa Remington (Producer), Diane Becker (Producer), Melanie Miller (Producer)

‘One Point Five’ is a cinema verité geopolitical thriller that follows key climate diplomats and activists from around the globe as they fight to save the planet and deliver climate and environmental justice.

Panda Diplomacy
Devon Blackwell (Director), Jessica Kingdon (Producer), Harry Vaughn (Producer), Sigrid Dyekjaer (Executive Producer)

‘Panda Diplomacy’ peels back the layers of sentimentality surrounding panda conservation, revealing the unsettling realities that hinder its primary objective: protecting the species from human ambitions.

The Acid Rain Movie
Victoria Lean (Director and Producer), Jade Blair (Producer), Jonas Prupas (Producer)

‘The Acid Rain Movie’ follows one of the greatest environmental success stories of all time, revealing how trailblazing scientists and activists achieved the seemingly impossible: convincing politicians to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

The Invisible Valley
Elivia Shaw (Director and Producer), George Alfaro (Associate Producer)

An immersive portrait of California’s Central Valley, ‘The Invisible Valley’ captures every-day life in the most polluted place in America – which is also the world’s most productive agricultural region. Told through intimate observational scenes that transform into surreal poetic chapters of farm labor, mechanized harvesting, asthma clinics, ambulances and living rooms, the film shows the intimate, everyday reality of environmental change on the body and mind. 

This Was The Place
Erika Cohn (Director, Producer, and Writer), Nicole Docta (Producer)

This hybrid documentary weaves a cinematic tapestry of magical realism and socio-political commentary about the disappearance of Great Salt Lake, in a visually stunning, environmental thriller.

To Use a Mountain
Casey Carter (Director, Cinematographer, and Editor), Colleen Cassingham (Producer), Jonna McKone (Producer)

Physics, geology, and democracy collide across the expansive American interior, in a series of vignettes from six candidate sites for a sacrificial nuclear dumping ground.

The Redford Center extends heartfelt thanks to its Grants Advisory Board for their invaluable support and guidance as mentors to the filmmakers and program.