Check Out Past CEFF Films
Explore our collection of the 2020 festival films now available for streaming and click on titles for descriptions. Titles in green indicate films featured in the CEFF 4 Kids screening, and titles with a $ indicate films available to rent.
A Trail to Seacacar (2020)
PLAY NOW (30 minutes)
Change is difficult, but if Guatemala’s Q’eqchí Maya don’t change, environmental and cultural collapse is inevitable.
Directed by: Paul Heesaker
A Trout with Feathers (2020)
PLAY NOW (9 minutes)
A Trout with Feathers follows conservationist and photographer Mike Forsberg on his quest to photograph the American dipper diving underwater in the Poudre River in Colorado and will introduce you to a lifelong birder, retired school teacher, and ex-Harley rider Steve Den who helps Mike along the way.
Directed by: Mariah Lundgren
Bee Mindful: Preserving the Hive Together (2020)
PLAY NOW (10 minutes)
Kids and instructors focused their attention on local beekeepers and the importance of taking care of our local pollinators. The students conducted the interviews and shot the documentary at three different locations over a period of two days and edited their movie with the help of the PACTV staff.
Directed by: Erika Christensen, Ben Alexander, Zach Dolan
#BlackSummer19: Black Teens Explore the Climate Crisis in North Carolina (2020)
The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges in human history, so why does it seem like it is not a pressing issue for black and brown communities? This short documentary aims to highlight some of the impacts of climate change in North Carolina while centering the voices of black and brown people.
Directed by: Kaleia Martin, Milik Robinson
Butterflies & Borders (2020)
PLAY NOW (18 minutes)
Butterflies & Borders is a brief look at the often overlooked environmental and ecological consequences of border wall construction in the American Southwest. This film introduces audiences to the faces, places, flora and fauna on the front lines of biological devastation in one of the most biodiverse landscapes on our planet.
Directed by: Andrew Motte
Clean Green Dream (2020)
PLAY NOW (5 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Clean Green Dream is a student-created musical documentary of our students’ environmental concerns and their desire to make a difference.
Directed by: Wilson Moyer
Dammed to Extinction (2020) - $
RENT NOW (50 minutes)
For centuries, a unique pod of killer whales thrived on vast numbers of chinook salmon. To save salmon and the whales that depend on them, say a growing number of activists, dams on what was once the largest chinook producing river on earth must be removed.
Directed by: Michael Peterson
Deforestation Made in Italy (2020)
PLAY NOW (1 hour 8 minutes)
Two years of inquiries, travels, researches, in a documentary filmed throughout Italy, Europe and Brazil. A different view of the direct link between the main Italian specialties and tropical deforestation.
Directed by: Francesco De Augustinis
Electric Vehicles: Colorado's Future of Transportation (2020)
Electric vehicles promise massive environmental and economic benefits, but what is slowing widespread implementation? Experts Will Toor, RJ Harrington and Matt Frommer explain opportunities for Colorado to make this next leap in transportation.
Directed by: Jesse Barlow
Estado Salmonero (2020)
PLAY NOW (23 minutes)
In a nation known for its massive resource extraction, salmon farming is now bigger than all of Chile’s industries except copper mining. Ramon Navarro exposes the industry, its negative effects, and traces the surprising origins of the industry and largest per-capita consumption of Chilean farmed salmon to the same country: Japan.
Directed by: Alex Lowther, Daniel Casado
Fracked (2020)
PLAY NOW (26 minutes)
In the film the director, Antony Stone’s prediction of the earth’s future as a result of global warming is a disturbing eye-opener. FRACKED takes us into his vision of our dystopian future as a result of fracking the earth. The film features exceptional film storytelling with a very relevant message which is global warming is real.
Directed by: Antony Stone
Green Gone (2020)
PLAY NOW (3 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
This infomercial parody pokes fun at the overuse of pesticides and herbicides and the psychology used to market them.
Directed by: Keanu Frith, Tess Moretti-Hill, Gabriel Jeffers, Māhea Dunn
Green Team Superheroes (2020)
PLAY NOW (4 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
The Green Team Superheroes film is about the President’s Environmental Youth award-winning program that develops lifelong leaders in sustainability through a student-led, real-world, project-based program. Draped in green capes and waving a sword, you’ll see how the Green Team Superheroes take on and battle pollution.
Directed by: Lisa Dewil
Growing Our Future (2020)
PLAY NOW (9 minutes)
In partnership with Ma Ka Hāna Ka ʻIke’s project-based learning cohort at Hāna School, this short documentary features interviews with Hāna youth as they learn about traditional agriculture in Wailua and launch a student-run business growing hydroponic lettuce.
Directed by: Jesiah Malaikini, Huaka Park, Ire Pu-Akina, Nakualakuhikuhi Kanakaole-Park
Guarding the Forest (2020)
PLAY NOW (26 minutes)
Winner of 2020 CEFF Spirit of Activism Award
What does it take to stop deforestation on the ground in the Amazon? “Guarding the Forest” takes you to the frontline of forest protection in the Brazilian Amazon. Follow the Guardians of the Forest, and indigenous volunteer force, as they risk their lives patrolling their protected indigenous lands and destroying illegal logging camps.
Directed by: Max Baring, Karla Mendes
Horse Rich and Dirt Poor (2020)
PLAY NOW (16 minutes)
Horse Rich and Dirt Poor follows ecologist Charles Post as he explores America’s pressing wild horse issue and the effects it has on the surrounding ecosystem.
Directed by: Ben Masters, Charles Post
Kids Speak on Plastic Pollution (2020)
PLAY NOW (5 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
What do kids think about the growing problem of plastic pollution? Our students explore young perspectives on plastic pollution causes, impacts and solutions through interviews with Maui kids ages five through ten.
Directed by: Hokuaokaʻale Gilman, Kailani Ibanez, Mikaela Lagasca
Maasai Olympics: The Hunt for Medals, Not Lions (2020)
PLAY NOW (8 minutes)
Winner of 2020 CEFF Best Short Film Award
At the behest of the Menye Layiok, or Maasai “cultural fathers,” Big Life established The Maasai Olympics, an organized sporting event based on traditional Maasai warrior skills to replace the long-held tradition of hunting lions as a mark of manhood, bravery, and prestige, representing a shift from killing to conservation.
Directed by: James Suter
Nigerians Fight to Protect the World's Most Trafficked Mammal (2020)
PLAY NOW (10 minutes)
Pangolins are believed to be the most trafficked mammals in the world. As the four Asian species of pangolins have dwindled, poachers are increasingly turning to the African species to supply the trade. Meet the bold Nigerians who are fighting to protect this vulnerable creature.
Directed by: Katie Schuler
Osa - The White Hawk Foundation (2020)
PLAY NOW (16 minutes)
The White Hawk Foundation is determined to protect the unique flora and fauna of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Directed by: Roman Willi
Our Future Birds (2020)
It’s the story of a young boy living in the year 2050 and the entire wildlife has disappeared because of the terrible activity humans are doing for money, destroying our planet. He is fascinated by birds, even if he has never seen one. But one day, he gets the most stunning gift he has ever had…
Directed by: Clara Diet
Plastic Addiction (2020)
PLAY NOW (2 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Created in an anti-drug PSA format, Maui students address our modern addiction to plastic.
Directed by: Taylor Redman, Kiana Liu, Lehua Jimenez, Sebastian Byhre, Christine Davis
REBBL With a Cause (2020)
PLAY NOW (33 minutes)
REBBL is boldly reimagining business as usual to fight human trafficking and climate change. The film traces the global supply chain of a single ingredient—the mighty brazil nut—to exemplify the potential businesses have for revitalizing communities through ethical, impact sourcing.
Directed by: Renee Fuller
Remember (2020)
PLAY NOW (3 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
In this short theatrical film, three generations of women reflect on the beauty of their island home and the changes they see taking place in their natural environment.
Directed by: Chloe Chin, Tessa Chin, Ka’imi Kaleleiki
Save Tomorrow (2020)
PLAY NOW (7 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Inspired by the other Young Voices for the Planet films, three 9-year-old girls testify at their town hall to change a town law (with unanimous support!) to allow solar panels on public buildings. They then save their local woods.
Directed by: Lynne Cherry
Soil (2020)
PLAY NOW (5 minutes)
Winner of 2020 CEFF Best Youth Film Award
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Soil is a critical resource for lifeforms on Earth, but it is being quickly depleted around the world. It is, therefore, crucial to have better ways of measuring soil quality, such as our BioRemeter device, to help in sustaining our environment.
Directed by: Kylan Jin, Ryan Zhang, Catherine Zhang
The Commons: Reclaiming What is Ours (2020) - $
RENT NOW (3 minutes)
In the face of increasing privatization and destruction of commons, activists are re-awakening commons communities and re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity and shared resources – ancient Commons principles.
Directed by: Kevin Hansen
The Encirclement (2020)
Protesters spent years demonstrating and getting arrested at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant near Denver. In 1983 they decided to try something completely different–to join hands around the 17-mile perimeter of the factory.
Directed by: Erik Sween
The Last Straw: Las Vegas and the Colorado River (2020)
PLAY NOW (6 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Las Vegas gets its water from the Colorado River, but it has to use it wisely to keep those fountains going. How does it do this?
Directed by: Miller Chetwynd
Washing Ashore (2020)
PLAY NOW (9 minutes)
Featuring interviews with local experts, this short film documents a study of marine plastics being conducted in remote areas of Maui’s northeast coast, and what it may tell us about the sources of plastic pollution, and potential solutions.
Directed by: Kiana Liu, Taylor Redman
Where Life Begins (2020)
Along the Arctic Coast, at the north most point on American soil, we explore the inseparable bond between mother and child, the sacred and fragile moments after birth and the importance of protecting the place Where Life Begins.
Directed by: Katie Schuler
Words Have Power (2020)
PLAY NOW (6 minutes)
Featured in 2020 CEFF 4 Kids Screening
Ten-year-old Jaysa rallies the community with her speeches about how the power plant causes asthma and “so much suffering.” When they succeed in shutting down the plant, Jaysa concludes that “words have power.”
Directed by: Lynne Cherry