The Activist group of Zelena akcija/FoE Croatia invites you to the 13th E?! – Environmental Film Festival

 We are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction and many species are disappearing due to human activity. Therefore, we want to draw attention to this crisis and the importance of preserving and regenerating biodiversity. The festival program will focus on the dynamic communities of plants, animals, micro-organisms and their inanimate environment. We will meet various species, endangered, extinct, but also the ones around us, about which we know little, but whose role in the functioning of the ecosystem is invaluable. We will also cover both human practices and systems of thought that represent true or false solutions in protecting biodiversity.

At the 13th OFF, expect:

• 13 feature and short films
• Program for children 
• Two panel discussions
• Urban biodiversity walk in Zagreb
• Musical opening

We are opening the festival with a premiere of ‘’Nature – Call for Reconciliation’’, by renowned director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, which traces the history of life, from its cosmic beginnings to the present-day challenges.

We will close the first day with a Finnish film “Once Upon a Time in a Forest” in which young activists driven by their love for the environment create a new movement for forest protection, confronting the giants of the Finnish forest industry as well as generational prejudices.

On Friday, April 24th, we will screen “Taming The Garden”, which, without many words, confronts us with the bizarre habits of the rich, as we follow the former Prime Minister of Georgia using enormous machinery and capital to collect century-old trees and move them to his own private garden.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic of monetization of nature. We will discuss the boundaries between biodiversity protection and exploitation, and the consequences of different approaches on individual ecosystems, nature as a whole, and on society as well.

The day continues with a selection of short films, where mushrooms, forests, tigers and entropy await us.

On Saturday, April 25th, the last day of the festival, we begin with our program for children, in which we will show films made by elementary and high school students in Croatia. In a simple and creative way the films will bring the topic of biodiversity closer to younger children (8-14), but also to all ages.

We will spend Saturday morning outside the cinema!
By observing birds, looking for insects and learning how to identify plants on Dubravkin put, together with the Biom Association, we will discover how rich biodiversity is in the very center of the city. Everyone interested will be able to join us on an educational walk through the city's nature with experts in the fields of ornithology, entomology and botany.

Saturday's film program starts with the documentary “Symbiotic Earth”, which brings us closer to the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a scientific rebel who questioned dominant theories of evolution to offer us a new narrative: that life actually evolves through cooperation.

Two films from the region follow: “Let The River Flow” and “Komarnica - The Wild That Remains”, which brings to light harmful hydroelectric power plant construction projects in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and the destructiveness of such megalomaniacal projects for rivers, the environment and local communities. After the films, we will talk to activists from the region who are directly involved in the fight against these projects.

We close the festival with the documentary “The tale of Siljan”, by North Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, about the unusual symbiosis of man and stork and their collective road to recovery. We close the 13th OFF with a story about climate change, economic migration, resilience, the power of connection and solidarity.

Detailed descriptions for all films and accompanying program are available on the official page of the festival as well as on our Facebook event.

Why is this year's festival focusing on the topic of biodiversity?

Human activities are putting so much pressure on wild species and natural habitats that scientists believe we are in the midst of the sixth major extinction in the history of our planet. It is estimated that species are becoming extinct at a global rate of several dozen to several hundred times faster than they were 10 million years ago. The biodiversity crisis is partly a result of the climate crisis, but it is also a separate global problem, with the two processes being strongly linked and mutually reinforcing. Healthy ecosystems, in which diverse species work together to maintain the cycle of matter, are crucial for climate regulation because they store carbon, mitigate extreme weather conditions and regulate water cycles. However, when ecosystems degrade, they lose these functions, which further accelerates climate change. Given this year's festival theme, we have established a collaboration with the Biom Association, one of the leading civil society organizations for nature conservation in Croatia, which is engaged in the protection and study of wild birds, the fight against poaching and other threats to living things.

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**The festival is organized with the financial support of the City of Zagreb. The content of the festival is the sole responsibility of Zelena Akcija and under no circumstances can it be considered as reflecting the views of the City of Zagreb.