RVA Environmental Film Festival, Richmond, VA (2026)

03/03/2026

FUTURE COUNCIL!!!
Come out for the FINAL film of the 2026 RVA Environmental Film Festival!
March 7, Saturday, 1-3 at the VMFA, Reynolds Lecture Hall.

After the film there will be a guest video appearance by one of the young ones who went on this journey!

In FUTURE COUNCIL Director Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film) invites eight children on an epic adventure across Europe in a school bus powered by biofuel. Their mission is to better understand the planet’s predicament, explore solutions and, most importantly, take the conversation from the streets, into the boardrooms of some of the world’s largest polluters and most influential companies.

This inspiring and surprisingly humorous journey, where ‘School of Rock’ meets ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, results in the children forming a ‘Future Council’ to advise and influence the world's most powerful companies on their decisions that impact nature.

Wild Virginia University of Richmond Sustainability Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine Virginia Outdoors Foundation RVA Magazine RVA Paddlesports VPM Richmond Audubon Society Groundwork RVA

02/24/2026

The festival continues!
Our partners in the Richmond Community are hosting some amazing films and events. Please come out and support them and the festival!

Tuesday, February 24, 6:00 - 8:30 pm “Honeyland”
Libbie Mill - Henrico Public Library (2100 Libbie Lake E St, Richmond)
Explore modern beekeeping practices with demonstrations from East Richmond Beekeepers Association (ERBA) before the film!

Wednesday, February 25, 6:00 PM - “The Street Project”
Main Library - Richmond Public Library
“The Street Project” will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from local organizations who seek to make the streets safer for anyone not in a car, including pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation users.

Thursday, February 26, 6:00 PM “The Cigarette Surfboard”
University of Richmond, Jepson Hall, Room 118
Hosted by University of Richmond Office of Sustainability
There is a reception with the filmmaker, Ben Judkins, and a Q&A following the film!
Yes - it is about a surfboard made of discarded ci******es and the activism around that.

Friday, February 27, 5:30 PM - “Common Ground”
ICA/ VCUarts hosted by VCUarts Cinema program.
This film highlights how regenerative farming practices can heal the soil, improve health, and stabilize the economy, while also addressing issues of racism in the food industry.

Saturday, February 28, 2:30 PM- “Teach Me to Be Wild”
The Robins Nature Center - Maymont
A beautiful and touching film about an animal sanctuary and a therapeutic program for ‘at-risk’ youth.
(Free - ticket to Robins Nature Center not required)

Tuesday, March 3, 5:30 PM- “The Little Things that Run the World”
Library hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library
Through striking visuals and authoritative voices, “The Little Things That Run the World” uncovers the essential role insects play in sustaining life on earth.

Stay tuned for the festival’s grand finale, March 7th!

University of Richmond Sustainability Groundwork RVA James River Association Chesapeake Climate Action Network Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Style Weekly RVA Magazine Capital Region Land Conservancy

02/23/2026

“The Little Things That Run the World”
3/3/2026 5:30pm

Hosted by Chesterfield County Public Library @ LaPrade Library, 9000 Hull Street Road, North Chesterfield

With Karen Kester Ph.D. Professor Emerita, Biology, Distinguished Career Professor from Virginia Commonwealth University and Master Naturalist

THE LITTLE THINGS THAT RUN THE WORLD introduces viewers to a diverse group of scientists, nature lovers, gardeners, farmers, and general bug enthusiasts in exploring the importance of flying insects amid rapid declines in their numbers. This most numerous groups of animals on the planet by far - three quarters of all species - have also been called the “glue of life” on Earth. They literally hold ecosystems together.

Insects were the first animals to evolve flight nearly 440 million years ago, and they survived all five of the known mass extinctions since then. But there is evidence that the pace of decline among insects in parts of the world today is fast approaching the levels of previous catastrophes. What this means for the rest of life on Earth, including humans, is the focus of THE LITTLE THINGS THAT RUN THE WORLD.

Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine University of Richmond Sustainability Capital Region Land Conservancy RVA Magazine VPM

02/22/2026

Day two of the RVA ENvironmental Film Festival!
It’s a good day to watch films about rivers, environmental activism, connecting to and appreciating our natural environment.

Sunday, February 22, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM @ Studio Two Three
FREE and open to the public!

Films: (full schedule at rvaeff.org)
• Undammed
• Exposing the Darkside of American AI Data Centers Explosion. Q/A Dakin Campbell, Business Insider
• River Called Home
• Not On This Land. Q/A Jessica Sims, Virginia Conservation Network
• Out There: A National Parks Story
• Look Down, Not Up. Q/A Yehuda Goldman and Rick Siber, Filmmakers

AND our Virginia Environmental Film Contest Winners!!!
All Forward! (Justin Black) and Catching Pinecones (Chad Heddleston) with Q&A following the films!

Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group James River Association Wild Virginia Chesapeake Climate Action Network VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability University of Richmond Sustainability RVA Magazine Richmond Audubon Society Richmond Public Library

02/21/2026

Hosted by Maymont’s Robins Nature Center, Saturday, February 28 @ 2:30pm

“Teach Me to Be Wild” explores the work of a sanctuary in Northern California, where a team of injured, non-releasable wild animals become Wild-Teachers and are helping heal generations of hurt children (at-risk teens, justice-involved youth, foster kids and others). The traumatic histories of the creatures, who range from an Andean condor to a two-toed sloth, often parallel those of the at-risk children who visit. Unexpected and empathic connections are forged that ripple into stories of transformation.

Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine Appalachian Voices Richmond Audubon Society Richmond Public Library Virginia League of Conservation Voters Wild Virginia

02/21/2026

Hosted by VCUarts’ Cinema program, @ VCUarts Institute Contemporary Art. 601 W. Broad Street

Friday, February 27 - 5:30

COMMON GROUND profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late.
Sobering yet hopeful, ‘Common Ground’ exposes the toxic interconnections of American farming policy, politics, and health, by sharing stories of destruction and healing across the United States and beyond, and how regenerative agriculture and soil health plays a vitally important role in changing these systems for the better. At it's root, it explores how people from different walks of life, different political backgrounds, and different places share one thing in common – the very soil beneath their feet.
The film is directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell (Big Picture Ranch), who have created bold and inspiring environmental films (Kiss the Ground, On Sacred Ground, Regenerate Ojai, Fuel, The Big Fix), while winning coveted awards along the way from Sundance, Cannes, Red Nation, and Tribeca.
Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group Chesapeake Climate Action Network James River Association Virginia Outdoors Foundation VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Citizens Climate Lobby VPM

02/20/2026

Saturday!!! The RVA ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL begins with a full day of films that bring awareness of environmental issues facing our city, region, and our planet.
Due to the generosity of local non-profit organizations, businesses and our volunteers, the RVA Environmental Film Festival remains FREE and open to the public. (THANK YOU!)

Saturday and Sunday screenings are at STUDIO TWO THREE, beginning at 11am (doors open at 10:30)

Parking is available in the lot across the street.
Please bring your own water bottle as we won’t have bottled water. 🙂

SATURDAY, the films are:

• Little Brown Bird
• Reviving the Forgotten River
• Last Wild Herd (followed by directors video appearance)
• Plastic People: Hidden Crisis of Microplastics
• Fire Lines
• Chesapeake Rhythms. Q/A with Lauren Hines-Acosta, Journalist
• American Southwest

University of Richmond Sustainability VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Wild Virginia Citizens Climate Lobby VPM Richmond Audubon Society Virginia League of Conservation Voters Capital Region Land Conservancy Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group

02/19/2026

“The Cigarette Surfboard” screening this Thursday, the 26th! Hosted by the University of Richmond Office of Sustainability @ Jepson Hall, Room 118.
6:00 reception with filmmaker, Ben Judkins.
Screening at 7:00 and a Q&A following the screening!

Small decisions and actions, like littering a cigarette butt, cumulatively can have a large impact, for better or for worse. This immersive documentary provides viewers an up-close experience of the ocean through surfers’ eyes, to amplify a message of urgency and possibility regarding the ocean’s wellbeing. As our ocean faces mounting threats, we as surfers have a responsibility to protect it.
An impassioned surfer, Taylor Lane, creates a functional surfboard with 10,000 littered cigarette butts collected from California beaches. The CIGARETTE SURFBOARD takes Taylor around the world to learn from professional surfers who are working to protect and restore the health of the ocean through science, education, art, business and political activism.

Recommended parking lot for University of Richmond is U-6
The UR Office for Sustainability is screening the film in partnership with the World of Cinema Endeavor class.

James River Association Chesapeake Climate Action Network Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group Virginia Outdoors Foundation Style Weekly University of Richmond Sustainability VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability RVA Magazine RVA Paddlesports

02/17/2026

“The Street Project” is an inspiring story about a massive movement across the US and around the world to reclaim our largest public spaces, our streets. Addresses pedestrian and biking safety, critical to discussions happening here at home.

Hosted by the Richmond Public Library @ 101 E Franklin St Richmond VA
Followed by a panel discussion with local transit advocates.

Wednesady, the 26th, at 6:00pm.

Style Weekly VPM Richmond Public Library

02/17/2026

The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.

“Honeyland” is a Macedonian documentary film that was directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. It portrays the life of Hatidže Muratova, a lonely beekeeper of wild bees who lives in the remote mountain village of Bekirlija and follows her lifestyle before and after neighbors move in nearby. The film was initially planned as a short film documenting the region surrounding the river Bregalnica but its area of focus changed when the directors met Hatidže.

Program includes a group discussion led by Adult Services Programming Librarian, Kimberly Bridges!

Hosted by Henrico County Public Library Mill (2100 Libbie Lake E St, Richmond, VA)

Chesapeake Climate Action Network Virginia League of Conservation Voters James River Association University of Richmond Sustainability VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Science Museum of Virginia

02/16/2026

Screening this Sunday - “Look Down Not Up”!

We will be joined by Director Written Yehuda Goldman and Executive Producer Richard Silber!

Synopsis - A team of scientists and locals trek Nepal’s Everest region to document native mushrooms and educate against deadly misidentification. Featuring breathtaking visuals and expert insights, the film blends science, culture, and conservation. It underscores the need for ecological awareness and indigenous education.

VPM James River Association Virginia Outdoors Foundation Sierra Club- Falls of the James Group Chesapeake Climate Action Network Wild Virginia Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine University of Richmond Sustainability VCU Life Sciences and Sustainability Appalachian Voices Richmond Audubon Society

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