2026 Films by Topic

Accessibility: OEFF commits to an ongoing effort to make our events as open and as accessible as possible. Our 2026 accessibility page is here!

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For tickets, click film images below.

This schedule is subject to change. New screenings may be added, and program details will follow soon.

Wildlife

Featured
Opening Screening Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope & Post-Film Opening Reception
Opening Screening Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope & Post-Film Opening Reception

Earth Day, Wednesday 4/22/2026
Film Row Cinema 8th Floor: 1104 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60605, 6-9PM
$80 per ticket/ two for $150
Accessibility Note: A live captioner and ASL interpreter will be present during this event.

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Waste & Recycling

Featured
Plastic People
Plastic People

Synopsis: The film follows journalist Ziya Tong as she explores how plastic particles infiltrate our bodies, organs, and blood, urging a rethink of our relationship with plastics.

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Built Environment

Featured
Beyond Zero
Beyond Zero

Synopsis: Beyond Zero (2022) is a documentary following Ray Anderson, CEO of industrial giant Interface, who experiences a life-altering epiphany about his company's environmental impact. He embarks on a high-stakes, 20-year mission to transform the company into a restorative enterprise, overcoming intense skepticism and investor pressure to prove that sustainable business is profitable.

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Environmental & Social Justice

Featured
Earth Day Action Fair + In Our Nature
Earth Day Action Fair + In Our Nature

Synopsis: In Our Nature explores how environmental education - and the people who teach with it - can help heal some of our most pressing social, emotional, and political divides. Through stories of resilience and reconnection, the film reveals why nature belongs at the heart of what it means to be truly educated.

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Drowned Land
Drowned Land

Synopsis: Drowned Land (2025) is a documentary directed by Choctaw filmmaker Colleen Thurston that follows Indigenous water protectors fighting to save the ecologically diverse Kiamichi River in Oklahoma. The film highlights the struggle against, and the cycle of, displacement and environmental exploitation, featuring stories of local advocacy to preserve a vital community lifeline.

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Sustainable Food/Ag

Featured
Rooted
Rooted

Synopsis: In this food justice documentary, activist and urban farmer Germaine Jenkins is taking on the power structure in Charleston, SC, to counter the tide of toxic food that has ravaged her community for decades. Will this oasis in a food desert survive and advance civil rights' latest frontier, or become another mirage in the battle against food apartheid?

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Energy

Featured
How to Power A City
How to Power A City

Synopsis: How To Power A City explores the front lines of the clean energy revolution. From zeitgeist solar adopters to hurricane survival and communities fighting to keep the lights on, How To Power A City showcases a diverse group of people leading the way to our nation’s clean energy future.

Historical Perspectives

Featured
Chasing Time + Planetwalker Double Feature
Chasing Time + Planetwalker Double Feature

Planetwalker Synopsis: After witnessing a devastating oil spill, a man takes a vow of silence and gives up motorized transport, embarking on a 17-year journey across the US to raise awareness about environmental issues, armed only with a banjo and his principles.

Chasing Time Synopsis: Chasing Time follows photographer James Balog concluding his 15-year Extreme Ice Survey, blending breathtaking imagery of melting glaciers with a personal meditation on mortality and, mentorship.

People/Cultures

Featured
40 Acres
40 Acres

Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world with food scarcity, a Black family of Canadian farmers descended from American Civil War migrants defend their homestead against cannibals trying to seize their resources.

Water

Featured
Whose Water?
Whose Water?

Synopsis: Through the stories of communities fighting for safe, affordable water and sanitation, Whose Water examines how the erosion of democracy prevents millions of people from accessing this basic necessity of life, and offers concrete solutions to address this unprecedented human rights crisis.

Transportation

Featured
From Rails to Trails
From Rails to Trails

Synopsis: From Rails to Trails explores the origins of America’s trails movement, a political movement that emerged from the enthusiasm and passion of citizen activists who sought to protect unused rail corridors to create safe spaces for people to walk, bike and be active outside.

Climate Change

Featured
Chasing Time + Planetwalker Double Feature
Chasing Time + Planetwalker Double Feature

Planetwalker Synopsis: After witnessing a devastating oil spill, a man takes a vow of silence and gives up motorized transport, embarking on a 17-year journey across the US to raise awareness about environmental issues, armed only with a banjo and his principles.

Chasing Time Synopsis: Chasing Time follows photographer James Balog concluding his 15-year Extreme Ice Survey, blending breathtaking imagery of melting glaciers with a personal meditation on mortality and, mentorship.