
Green Screen
Four must-see films that highlight, each in its own way, urgent issues related to climate change and the environment, and promote actions to make positive changes in our communities.
Green Screen is sponsored by Future Planet through our award-winning Sustainability Partnership.
2024 Programme
JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
Documentary
A poetic portrait of contemporary wildlife conservation, Just Above the Surface of the Earth reflects on empathy, agency, and the role of hope in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.
This debut nonfiction feature examines scientists and citizen scientists who conduct surveys of frogs, which serve as an indicator species; study sea stars threatened by disease; track bats whose populations have been decimated by white-nose syndrome; and collect data on insects declining at unprecedented rates.
Set primarily at night, the film weaves together observational and lyrical sequences, texts written by authors including W.S. Merwin and Adam Nicolson, and an otherworldly soundscape. Just Above the Surface of the Earth is a visceral, sensory meditation on what it means to live in a broken world.
FRI 8 | TRISKEL | 16:30

PETRA KELLY - ACT NOW!
Subtitled, Documentary
Petra Kelly was one of the most influential political figures of the 20th century. In 1980, she co-founded the German Green Party, the world’s first green party to rise to prominence. She fought relentlessly for radical social change, disarmament and a society at one with nature. For Kelly, environment, peace and human rights issues were one. She was convinced that a single person could change the world. Influenced by the American civil rights movement and Martin Luther King’s concept of “civil disobedience”, she campaigned to protect the environment and ban uranium mining, demonstrating solidarity with the peace movements in both the East and West.
Today, her spiritual legacy is continued by many young climate activists. With previously unseen international film footage, the film paints a picture of a sensitive, unwavering woman who let no one stand in her way.
PANEL DISCUSSION: Filmmaker Doris Metz will discuss Petra’s legacy and her close relationship with Ireland with Gisela Holfter, director of the Centre for Irish-German Studies at University of Limerick.
SUN 10 | TRISKEL | 14:00

ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST (HAVUMETSÄN LAPSET)
Subtitled, Documentary
In this modern fairy tale set in the enchanting embrace of the Finnish forest, we witness young people seamlessly woven into the fabric of nature, swimming in crystalline lakes and revelling in the calm presence of the ancient trees. This idyllic harmony is imperilled as the forest faces man-made extinction. Driven by her love for the forest, 22-year-old Ida becomes the leader of the new Forest Movement, coming face to face with Finnish forest industry giants and confronting generational bias.
Breathtaking visuals and the sublime score composed by Sanna Salmenkallio take viewers into the heart of the forest… and the centre of the conflict.
Not only is it a hopeful ode to nature and its protectors, but the words “once upon a time” also conjure up the great westerns of a bygone century, with the welcome replacement of former ideals of manliness by a generation of actual superheroes, whose greatest weapon is their gift for harmony.
SAT 9 | ARC CINEMA | 17:45
SUN 17 | TRISKEL | 16:30

SAVAGES (SAUVAGES)
Fiction, Subtitled
In Borneo, at the edge of the tropical forest, Kéria is given a baby orangutan that has been rescued from the oil palm plantation where her father works. At the same time, her young cousin Selaï has come to live with them, seeking refuge from the conflict between his nomadic family and the logging companies.
A deeply moving and hopeful tale about ecosystem preservation, Savages is made in Claude Barras’ signature stop-motion animation. After the worldwide success of Ma Vie de courgette (My Life as a Courgette) (2016), the Swiss filmmaker developed for eight years this very personal – and, frankly, adorable – ecological fable alongside the indigenous Penan people who live at the heart of a tropical forest. A world without cars, where everyone lives self-sufficiently.
Carried by an undeniable sincerity, Savages plays all the right notes. Yes, there is anger. But also an idea of how to direct it where it is useful.
SUN 17 | EVERYMAN | 11:00

More information
Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) is dedicated to promoting environmental sustainability through its programmatic and operational initiatives and published its Sustainability Statement in September 2022. As the largest film festival in Ireland, we champion film as a powerful platform to tell stories, raise awareness of issues, promote active discussion and deliver positive impacts.
You can read more about the Festival’s Sustainability Statement here.