The Green Film Network is an international association of environmental film festivals and was founded to support the work of international documentary filmmakers and promote films that raise awareness of environmental topics. The network currently comprises 32 festivals in 23 countries.

Green Film Network Award

The annual GFN Awards honor the most inspiring and impactful environmental films of the past year, exploring critical issues such as climate, food, energy, wildlife, and oceans. Films are nominated by 30 international film festivals that focus on environmental issues, and the winners are selected by an international jury. The awards ceremony is hosted at one of the GFN member festivals, rotating each year. In February 2014, the network presented the inaugural Green Film Network Award as a new international award for best environmental documentary of the year. The first GFN Award was presented to filmmaker

Reuben Aaronson Reuben or Reuven (name), Reuven is a Hebrew Bible, Biblical male first name from Hebrew language, Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben (son of Jacob), Reuben was the Reuben (son of Jacob), firstborn s ...

for the documentary ''Amazon Gold'' during the opening ceremony of Fife Île-de-France (International Environmental Film Festival) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on February 4. In 2018, an award for Best Green Short was introduced. The 2020 Awards included a special presentation ceremony on April 28, 2021, which took place online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 43 films from 25 countries were nominated. A special one-time award was also presented for Best Film of the Decade 2010-2020.

Best Green Feature

*2024 - ''Plastic Fantastic'' directed by Isa Willinger *2022 - '' Eating Our Way to Extinction'' directed by Ludo Brockway and Otto Brockway *2021 - no award due to festivals being on hiatus during COVID-19 pandemic *2020 - ''Anthropocene: The Human Epoch'' directed by

Jennifer Baichwal Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, writer and producer. Biography Baichwal was born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in Victoria, British Columbia.

Edward Burtynsky Edward Burtynsky (born February 22, 1955) is a Canadian photographer and artist known for his large format photographs of industrial landscapes. His works depict locations from around the world that represent the increasing development of indust ...

, and

Nicholas de Pencier Nicholas de Pencier is a Canadian cinematographer and filmmaker. The spouse and professional partner of filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal in Mercury Films, he is the cinematographer and producer on most of her films as well as codirector of the films '' ...

*2019 - ''Ghost Fleet'' directed by Shannon Service and

Jeffrey Waldron Jeffrey Waldron is an American cinematographer and director. Waldron worked on various feature films and TV series, including '' Little Fires Everywhere'', ''Dear White People'', '' Transpecos'', '' You Hurt My Feelings'', and ''Haunted Mansion'' ...

*2018 - '' Genesis 2.0'' directed by

Christian Frei Christian Frei (born 1959 in Schönenwerd, Solothurn) is a Swiss filmmaker and film producer. He is mostly known for his films '' War Photographer'' (2001), '' The Giant Buddhas'' (2005) and '' Space Tourists'' (2009). Frei has been an associate ...

and

Maxim Arbugaev Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition * Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Si ...

*2017 - ''24 Snow'' directed by Mikhail Barynin (joint winner) *2017 - ''

Plastic China ''Plastic China'' () is a 2016 Chinese documentary film depicting the lives of two families who make their living recycling plastic waste imported from developed countries. The film premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam ...

'' directed by Jiu-liang Wang (joint winner) *2016 - ''

Landfill Harmonic ''Landfill Harmonic'' (stylized as ''landillharmonic'') is a 2015 documentary film directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley. It stars and tells the story of Paraguayan music teacher Favio Chavez and his Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a childre ...

'' directed by

Brad Allgood Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

and Graham Townsley *2015 - ''La Mujer y el Agua'' directed by Nocem Collado *2014 - ''Amazon Gold'' directed by

Best Green Short

*2022 - ''Dans La Nature'' directed by Marcel Barelli *2021 - no award due to festivals being on hiatus during COVID-19 pandemic *2020 - ''All Inclusive'' directed by Corina Schwingruber Ilić (joint winner) *2020 - ''Kofi and Lartey'' directed by Sasha Rainbow (joint winner) *2019 - ''Lost World'' directed by

Kalyanee Mam Kalyanee Mam (born in Battambang, Cambodia) is a filmmaker whose film, '' A River Changes Course'', which she directed and produced, has won several awards, including the Grand Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Fest ...

*2018 - ''Water Warriors'' directed by

Michael Premo Michael Premo is an artist who lives in Brooklyn. He played a significant role in Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Sandy's hurricane response effort. Work On October 30, 2012, one day after Hurricane Sandy hit the New York region, Premo and thr ...

Best Green Film of the Decade

*2020 - ''

Racing Extinction ''Racing Extinction'' is a 2015 documentary about the Holocene extinction, ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction of species and the efforts from scientists, activists, and journalists to document it by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos, who ...

'' directed by

Louie Psihoyos Louis (Louie) Psihoyos (born April 15, 1957) is an American photographer and documentary film director known for his still photography and contributions to National Geographic Society, National Geographic. Psihoyos, a certified SCUBA diver, has ...

GFN Award Host Festivals

*2023 - Cinema Planeta, Cuernavaca, Mexico *2022 -

Innsbruck Nature Film Festival The Innsbruck Nature Film Festival (INFF) is an annual film competition focusing on nature, environment, and sustainability. Based in Innsbruck, Austria, it was founded in 2002 by the Tyrolean Environmental Ombudsman, Johannes Kostenzer. In 2013, ...

, Innsbruck, Austria *2021 - no ceremony due to festivals being on hiatus during COVID-19 pandemic *2020 - Online edition (due to COVID-19 pandemic) *2019 - CineEco, Seia, Portugal *2018 -

San Francisco Green Film Festival The San Francisco Green Film Festival was an environmental film festival which was held annually from 2011 to 2019. History The festival was founded by Rachel Caplan, who had previously worked for the Edinburgh Film Festival, the San Francisco ...

, San Francisco, USA *2017 -

Planet in Focus Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival (PIF) is an incorporated not-for-profit film festival and registered charitable organization, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Planet in Focus International Environmental Fil ...

, Toronto, Canada *2016 - Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic *2015 - EcoZine Film Festival, Zaragoza, Spain *2014 - Festival International du Film d’Environnement, Paris, France

References

{{reflist

External links

Green Film Network official website
Environmental film festivals International environmental organizations Documentary film organizations