JovannaForFuture / 15 min / 2019 / The Netherlands / dir. Mirjam Marks
Teenage Jovanna goes on strike – a new generation sets the tone for the fight against global warming.
Jovanna, like many young people, was inspired by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg to take climate action. Following in Greta’s footsteps, Jovanna takes to the streets every Friday as part of a “school strike for the climate” to draw adults’ attention to the specter of a climate catastrophe. She realizes that only immediate action can ensure a peaceful future for her and her peers. It seems that she is even more aware of this than the politicians she calls on to finally look after the planet. She knows that children can’t vote, so she has no choice but to demonstrate in public. This young Dutch girl—extremely mature for her age—isn’t just speaking empty words. She doesn’t eat meat, she doesn’t have a refrigerator at home, and she gave up traveling by plane. Sometimes she dreams of a sweet dessert, which she refuses, however, because of the plastic packaging. The roles have been reversed: it is the younger generation that is teaching adults an important lesson about caring for the environment. But will we be able to do something about it in time?

The Green Lie / 93 min / 2018 / Austria / dir. Werner Boote A behind-the-scenes of how products and companies are greenwashed. 
Are green products a way to save the world from disaster or a clever marketing ploy to fuel consumption? Werner Boote’s film analyzes the market for “green” goods – from groceries to electric cars. Traveling around the world, he looks behind the scenes of new, environmentally-friendly corporate images, exposing marketing strategies that exploit growing Western awareness of ecology to vault profits. The film shows how often simple social engineering tricks influence our perception of a given product as environmentally friendly. When did we let ourselves be persuaded that buying “consciously” can save the world? And that our commitment to the environment can come down to just that – consumer choices?