Environmental Film Festival '26
Description
Melbourne’s premiere showcase of environmental cinema Environmental Film Festival returns for 2026, screening more than 20 films from around the world across 25 October - 8 November.
Presented by Environmental Films Australia, a volunteer-run not-for-profit that’s been part of the city’s arts landscape since 2010, the EFF26 program includes feature documentaries, shorts, experimental cine-art, talks, events and, of course, the annual festival litter-pick.
With cost of living pressure increasing, the far right on the rise, and our rights to peaceful protest being eroded, climate change and our connection with the planet are seemingly being left at the wayside. So, on the 20th anniversary of Al Gore’s urgent warning in An Inconvenient Truth, this year’s theme is getting serious, with a simple yet stirring call out: ‘Who Cares?’
And the program responds with a Salena Godden-inspired punch: pessimism is for lightweights. Audiences can expect rousing stories of communities taking daring stands against unbeatable odds, eye-opening reflections on the power of care and kindness, intimate accounts of responsibility, grief, conservation and custodianship, and heart-tugging animations to remind us of our interconnection with flora, fauna and the more-than-human world.
Environmental Film Festival 2026 is brought to you by Environmental Films Australia, in partnership with Queen Victoria Women’s Centre and Ironbark Films, and is supported by Science Gallery, Trocadero Projects, Palace Kino and Champagne Video Bar.
Full program and event information available at environmentalfilms.org.au.
Program
25 Oct | Premiere: Gardens of Fez
Journey through the gardens and water systems of the walled city of Fez, once central to the city’s cultural and social life, now largely abandoned. Uniquely personal, the award-winning documentary Gardens of Fez spotlights the integral role the city’s gardens play connecting history, community and culture. Through the eyes of a schoolteacher remembering the gardens and streams of the past, an architect developing a play, and a poet, gardener and dancer trio cultivating stories, rituals and songs, Fez is revealed as a city of memory and imagination. Director and researcher Heidi Vogels combines Moroccan nature and culture, weaving through the narrow streets and slivers of green within the ancient city to remember natural places that have been neglected or simply vanished. 2025, Netherlands, Documentary, Heidi Vogels, 50” Screening with 'From The Mountain, We See The Mountain' --- 16:30 - 17:55, Sun 25 Oct Champagne Video Bar
25 Oct | Premiere: Ea
I ka wa ma mua, ka wa ma hope - The future is in the past. Community leader and cultural steward Keʻeaumoku Kapu has been fighting a legal battle to reclaim his family’s ancestral lands in Maui for nearly two decades. Bridging past and present, this visually stunning documentary chronicles Kapu’s struggles through both the courts and his own community, weaving through enduring legacies of plantation agriculture and the impacts of modern mili-tourism. With archival and contemporary projections of community link songs, chants, animations, digital cartography, field recordings, legal texts and interviews, this cinematic reflection of Indigenous resilience captures so much more than the legacy of Kapu, it’s produced a roadmap for future generations fighting for sovereignty in Hawai'i. 2025, United States, Documentary, Noah Keone Vierne and Sancia MIala Shiba Nash, 70' -- Sun 25 Oct, 18:30 - 19:55 Champagne Video Bar, Fitzroy North
27 Oct | Premiere: Valve Turners, with 'Is It A Crime To Care' panel
After decades of failed climate policy, five activists travel to remote sites in the United States to halt the flow of over 2 million barrels of oil per day, evoking backlash from the fossil fuel industry and local authorities. Charged with 27 felonies and 15 misdemeanors, this compelling documentary follows their protracted legal battles across Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Washington. A stirring call to action that explores privilege and responsibility, this urgent story asks you to consider the rights of citizens and when is it okay for citizens to take action to protect their families, communities and ultimately the planet? Awards: Climate Film Festival - Climate Action Award 2024, Wild & Scenic Film Festival - Spirit of Activism Award 2025, Sundarban International Film Festival 2025 - Outstanding Achievement Award 2024, United States, Steve Bonds-Liptay, 75' -- Tue 27 Oct, 18:30 - 20:40 Palace Kino
28 Oct | People, Power, Protection Shorts
It’s been 11 years since the Paris Agreement and just 2 months since the UN said 1.5 degrees is no longer possible… with many feeling overwhelmed with climate anxiety and cost of living pressures, it’s hard not to back away, like no one cares. Challenge yourself to lean in, with a selection of international shorts that aren’t afraid to ask tough questions, pitting nihilism against joyous hope and exploring what it means to be human in a world of uncertainty. From the macabre and mercurial to intimate and inspirational, this package centers our connection to one another and how ultimately it;s our propensity for love that is our ultimate source of power. Films: - Biir Gardi (Guardian of the Well) (2025) - The Darkness (2025) - The Generators (2024) - Maze of Joy (2025) - Misery and other choices (2025) - Mud Below Sun Above (2026) --- Tue 27 Oct, 18:30 - 20:15 Palace Kino, Melbourne CBD
29 Oct | Premiere: Lost For Words
Acorn. Bramble. Fern. Otter. Magpie. Badger. In 2007, these words quietly disappeared from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, alongside a bushel of other nature-related nouns. In her debut feature documentary, Hannah Papecek Harper responds to this loss by journeying across the UK, meeting with scientists, artists, activists and children to explore the interconnection of language, culture and care. A scientific film with an artistic heart, Harper takes a lens of hope to the pressing concerns of climate change, habitat destruction, population displacement, species extinction, and impending ecological catastrophe, asking ‘what is our future, and how can we approach it with kindness?’ Weaving through changing seasons, remote landscapes, museum archives and science labs, the film is a heartfelt and empowering rally cry to reawaken our senses, encouraging us to forge deeper, more compassionate bonds with the world we live in. Awards: LAND X SEA MONTROSE - North Light Award 2025, France / United Kingdom, Documentary, Hannah Papacek- Harper, 90’ --- Thu 29 Oct, 18:30 - 20:15 Palace Kino, Melbourne CBD
3 Nov | We Don't Care About The Cup: Annual Festival Litterpick
Say Nup To The Cup with us, with our annual festival litterpick on the 3 November public holiday. This year we’re teaming up with Lalala Outpick (queer women-led multicultural environmental group and stars of festival favourite ‘Outpicker’) and Trocadero Projects to heading out west, focussing on the rivers and nature of Footscray. Join us in turning climate anxiety into action, with a relaxed, informal and family-friendly litterpick and community get-together. --- 10:30 - 12:00, Tue 3 Nov Footscray. Meeting point TBA.
6 Nov | The Future Cares, with 7 Seasons - Fundraiser
Action today means everything to the people of tomorrow. This special event creates space to remember the future and our responsibility as custodians for upcoming generations. An evening of film, community and cultural sharing, 'The Future Cares' brings together both Indigenous knowledge and the power of young people to highlight the important roles they play in creating pathways towards climate resilience and caring for those that come after us. The evening will include a screening of local hit '7 Seasons' (a dynamic documentary short, exploring the local Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung seasons and how Indigenous knowledge can restore our connection to nature) plus community activities with the team behind the film. This event is a Pay As You Feel fundraiser for Just Futures Collab, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island-led giving circle activating resources for climate justice. --- 18:30 - 19:45, Fri 6 Nov Trocadero Projects, Footscray
7 Nov | Premiere: The Unfixing
After a surfing accident triggers inexplicable symptoms that leave her unable to work or parent her children, award-winning artist Nicole Betancourt embarks on a quest of self-discovery, exploring the relationships that bind people to one another and to the natural world Standing in front of the camera, Nicole listens to the rhythms of nature, discovering how grief and hope ripple across bodies, generations, and landscapes. Through intimate family archives, creative filmmaking, and animation, Betancourt shares an introspective, authentic and earnest exploration of radical transformation and renewal. Guided by dreams, nature, and wisdom from others, Betancourt weaves an immersive diary of destruction, trauma, love, and renewal, illuminating her struggles with a debilitating illness and the ripple effects on her family, while asking larger ecological questions about our time and place on the planet. Awards: Vermont Film & Folklore Festival 2025 - Audience Award Best Feature, Between The Blue and Green Film Festival - Best Documentary, Cerdanya Film Festival 2025 - Best International Documentary & Best Cinematography 2024, Spain, United States, Documentary, Nicole Betancourt, 86' --- 16:15 - 18:00, Sat 7 Nov Queen Victoria Women's Centre, Melbourne CBD
7 Nov | More Than Human Shorts
This year, we’re closing the festival with something a little different - a celebration of shorts, creativity, conservation and a world beyond people. Presenting mesmerising perspectives on animals, forests, sand and stones, the ‘More Than Human’ series is a gentle and awe-inspiring reminder that we aren’t the only ones calling Earth home. With animations, experimental cinema, and dreamy documentaries, showcasing stories from Columbia, the United States, Taiwan, Austria, and Melbourne, this showstopping selection is not to be missed. Films: - Corteza (2025) - Alpine Tundra (2025) - Tanatanetek (2024) - Dispersal (2025) - Kainga tupu (2025) - Subtle Gazer (2025) Ticket price includes entrance to the EFF26 ‘We EFFIng Care Closing Celebration’.
7 Nov | We EFFing Care Closing Celebration
Show that you 'EFFing Care' by joining us in a toast to the fest, with a drink on the unique city rooftop of the historic Queen Victoria Women's Centre in Melbourne's CBD. A community get-together, hang out with EFA volunteers new and old, and enjoy some plant-based snacks and a glass of wine or two.
8 Nov | Enviro Film Club: The Day After Tomorrow
An Enviro Film Club Self-Care Special! Sometimes we all just need to relax with a Hollywood popcorn-fest, so on Sunday 8 November, the day after the festival, the team will run a special session of their monthly ‘Enviro Film Club’ spotlighting the Jake Gyllenhaal 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. Jack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek across America to reach his son, trapped in the crosshairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a climatologist whose concerns about the dangerously shifting climate are largely ignored by officials at the United Nations. His research proves true when an enormous "superstorm" develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters around the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is trapped in New York with his friend Laura (Emmy Rossum) and others, Jack and his crew must travel by foot from Philadelphia, braving the elements, to get to Sam before it's too late.
Find out more
- TICKETS & PASSES
Single Sessions
Champagne Video Bar and QVWC sessions: $16
Palace Kino: $26
Trocadero Projects: Pay As You Feel Fundraiser for Just Futures Collab
Litter-pick: Free
Passes (Best Value)
Full Festival pass: $126 (save $32!)
Palace Kino Pass: $66 (Save $12)
Champagne Video Bar Pass: $36 (Save $12)
QVWC Pass: $26 (save $6)
- VENUES
Champagne Video Bar
Palace Kino
Queen Victoria Women's Centre (QVWC)
Trocadero Projects
- ABOUT EFF26
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
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