Environmental issues have increasingly become a topic in film and television.
Within the last twenty years, commercially successful films with an environmentalism theme have been released theatrically and made by the major Hollywood studios. The Annual Environmental Media Awards have been presented by the Environmental Media Association (EMA) since 1991 to the best television episode or film with an environmental message.[1]
A documentary film is a film whose author(s), at the time of its production, believed its information to be true.
Title | Theme(s) and subtheme(s) | Author(s) | Year(s) | The 11th Hour | Global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction, social responsibility, Conservation movement | Nadia Conners, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Leila Conners Petersen | 2007 |
Angry Inuk | Hunting: seal hunting | Alethea Arnaquq-Baril | 2016 |
Ashes to Honey | Nuclear power: radiation | Hitomi Kamanaka | 2011 |
Baraka | Natural phenomena, Human behavior | Constantine Nicholas and Genevieve Nicholas | 1992 |
Before the Flood | Global Climate Change | Mark Monroe | 2016 |
Before Vanishing | Water pollution: Barada (river) | Joude Gorani | 2005 |
The Bell of Chernobyl | Chernobyl nuclear disaster | Rollan Sergienko | 1987 |
Bhopal Express | Air pollution: from a pesticide factory | Prasoon Pandey and Piyush Pandey | 1999 |
Biùtiful cauntri | Pollution: toxic waste dumping in Southern Italy | Esmeralda Calabria and Andrea D'Ambrosio | 2007 |
Black Hole | Coal mining: Australia | João Dujon Pereira | 2015 |
Blue Vinyl | Pollution: production and disposal of polyvinyl chloride | Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand | 2002 |
Coal in America | Mining: mountaintop removal mining | David Novack and Richard Hankin | 2008 |
The Burning Season (1994) | Forests: Amazon rainforest | William Mastrosimone | 1994 |
The Burning Season (2008) | Forests: deforestation in Indonesia | Cathy Henkel | 2008 |
Butterfly | Environmentalism: resisting clearcutting | Doug Wolens | 2000 |
The Conquest | Introduced species: cane toads in Australia | Mark Lewis | 2010 |
An Unnatural History | Introduced species: cane toads in Australia | Mark Lewis | 1988 |
The Chances of the World Changing | Endangered species: turtles | Eric Daniel Metzgar | 2006 |
Chasing Ice | Global warming | James Balog | 2012 |
Chernobyl Heart | Chernobyl disaster: acute radiation syndrome | Maryann DeLeo | 2003 |
No More Tears | Natural disasters: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami | Satya Sivaraman, Nur Raihan, Suren de Silva, and Pipope Panitchpakdi | 2005 |
The City Dark | Light pollution | Ian Cheney | 2011 |
Climate Refugees | Climate change: effects on natural resources | Michael P. Nash | 2010 |
Clouds of Smoke | Global warming | Fatmir Terziu | 2007 |
The Cove | Hunting: dolphin drive hunting | Mark Monroe | 2009 |
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret | Animal husbandry, policies of environmental organizations, global warming, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones, | Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn | 2014 |
Crude (2007) | Petroleum industry: peak oil and climate change | Richard Smith | 2007 |
Crude (2009) | Petroleum industry: pollution and class action | Joe Berlinger | 2009 |
The Oil Crash | Peak oil, Petroleum industry | Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack | 2006 |
The Exxon Valdez Disaster | Petroleum industry: Exxon Valdez oil spill, United States Environmental Protection Agency, disaster response | Paul Seed | 1992 |
General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment | Energy: nuclear weapons | Debra Chasnoff | 1991 |
Demain (English: Tomorrow) | Sustainable communities | Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent | 2015 |
Dreamland | Dams: Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in Iceland | Þorfinnur Guðnason, Andri Snær Magnason | 2009 |
The Health Effects of 9/11 | Air pollution: from September 11 attacks, United States Environmental Protection Agency | Heidi Dehncke-Fisher | 2006 |
Earth | Environmental change: effects on three particular species | Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield, and Leslie Megahey | 2007 |
Earth Days | Environmentalism: environmental movement in the United States | Robert Stone | 2009 |
The Story of Paul Watson | Hunting: anti-whaling | Trish Dolman | 2011 |
Elemental | Water pollution: Ganges River | Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Gayatri Roshan | 2012 |
The End of Eden | Environmental degradation: cattle ranching | Rick Lomba | 1986 |
Fight for the Planet | Global warming, Social responsibility | Colin Carter | 2009 |
Food, Earth, Happiness | Food, farming, natural farming, biophilia | Patrick M. Lydon and Suhee Kang | 2015 |
For Love of Water | Water privatization: big business and the natural environment | Irena Salina, Steven Starr | 2008 |
Food, Inc. | Agriculture: corporate farming, Sustainable agriculture, meat industry, Intensive farming, food labelling regulations | Robert Kenner | 2009 |
Forbidden Forest | Forests: sustainable forest management | Kevin W. Matthews | 2004 |
Forests for the 21st Century | Forests: reforestation, carbon emissions | Forestry Commission of Great Britain, IUCN | 2009 |
The Forgotten District | Forests: ecotourism in Belize | Oliver Dickinson | 2008 |
Energy | Energy: renewable energy | Carl-A. Fechner | 2010 |
Fractured Land | Environmentalism: awareness of hydraulic fracturing, First Nations | Fiona Rayher and Damien Gillis | 2015 |
The Future of Food | Agriculture: genetically modified food | Deborah Koons Garcia | 2004 |
The Signs and The Science | Global warming | Alanis Morissette | 2005 |
What You Need to Know | Global warming | Nicolas Brown | 2006 |
GMO OMG | Genetically modified organisms, Monsanto | Jeremy Seifert, Elizabeth Kucinich | 2013 |
The Great Global Warming Swindle | Global warming: climate change denial | Martin Durkin | 2007 |
The Great Warming | Global warming: politics of global warming, Climate change mitigation, Climate change policy of the United States | Michael Taylor | 2006 |
On the Edge of the World | General environment of Haida Gwaii, Rising sea level, natural disaster, climate change | Charles Wilkinson | 2015 |
Home | Various themes | Yann Arthus-Bertrand | 2009 |
How to Change the World | Environmentalism: Greenpeace | Jerry Rothwell | 2015 |
Ice and the Sky | Global warming: Antarctic | Luc Jacquet | 2015 |
The Idiot Cycle | Chemical industry: genetically modified organisms | Emmanuelle Schick Garcia | 2009 |
A Story of the Earth Liberation Front | Forests: eco-terrorism | Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamacheck | 2011 |
If You Love This Planet | Nuclear weapons, Nuclear power in the United States, Nuclear policy of the United States | Terre Nash | 1982 |
Truth to Power | Climate change: activity of Al Gore | Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk | 2017 |
An Inconvenient Truth | Global warming | Al Gore | 2006 |
An Inconvenient Truth...Or Convenient Fiction? | Global warming | Steven F. Hayward | 2007 |
Journey to the Safest Place on Earth | Radioactive waste | Edgar Hagen | 2013 |
Laloorinu Parayanullathu | Environment of India: municipal waste in Laloor | Sathish Kalathil | 2012 |
On the Track of Rare Animals | Endangered species | Eugen Schuhmacher | 1967 |
March of the Penguins | Wildlife: Emperor penguins | Luc Jacquet, National Geographic | 2005 |
Material Of The Future | Controversies of plastic recycling, plastic pollution, plastic industry, bioplastics | Vern Moen | 2014 |
The Messenger | Songbirds: bird conservation | Su Rynard | 2015 |
The Victims and Their World | Water pollution: mercury poisoning | Noriaki Tsuchimoto | 1971 |
Mountaintop Removal (film) | Mining: mountaintop removal mining | Michael O'Connell | 2007 |
No Impact Man | Sustainability: sustainable living | 2009 |
No Pressure | Climate change mitigation | Richard Curtis and Franny Armstrong | 2010 |
Oil on Ice | Petroleum industry: Arctic Refuge drilling controversy | Stephen Most | 2004 |
Oil Sands Karaoke | Petroleum industry: oil sands of Alberta | 2013 |
On the Line | Petroleum industry: Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines | Frank Wolf | 2011 |
Pandora's Promise | Nuclear power and climate change | Robert Stone | 2013 |
Polluting Paradise | Waste management: in Turkey | Fatih Akın | 2012 |
How Cuba Survived Peak Oil | Peak oil: anti-consumerism, urban agriculture, energy dependence, and sustainability | Faith Morgan | 2006 |
Energy for Everyone | Energy: renewable energy | David Chernushenko | 2010 |
The Redwoods | Forests: protection of redwoods | Trevor Greenwood, Mark Jonathan Harris | 1967 |
Renewal | Environmentalism: environmental movement in the United States, religious-environmental movement | Marty Ostrow, Terry Kay Rockefeller | 2008 |
The Return of Navajo Boy | Uranium mining in the United States, environmental racism, uranium pollution | Jeff Spitz | 2000 |
Revenge of the Electric Car | Sustainable design: electric cars | Chris Paine and P.G. Morgan | 2011 |
Revolution | Various themes, including environmental collapse | Rob Stewart | 2012 |
The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes (short) | Various themes, including ice age and anthropogenic change | Bill Mason, National Film Board of Canada | 1968 |
Sea of Life | Various themes, including ocean acidification and overfishing | Julia Barnes | 2016 |
Search for the Super Battery | Energy: energy storage devices, including batteries | Daniel McCabe | 2017[3] |
Always Faithful | Water pollution: Camp Lejeune water contamination | Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon | 2011 |
Sharkwater | Endangered species: sharks | Rob Stewart | 2007 |
The Shiranui Sea | Water pollution: mercury poisoning | Noriaki Tsuchimoto | 1975 |
Shored Up | Weather: Hurricane Sandy: rising sea level | Ben Kalina | 2013 |
Silent Storm | Nuclear weapons testing: radioactive contamination | Peter Butt | 2003 |
Spoiled the Movie | Energy: environmental impact of the energy industry, problems with alternative energy, etc. | Kevin Miller | 2011 |
The Story of Stuff | Product lifecycle management: anti-consumerism | Annie Leonard | 2007 |
Surviving the Tsunami - My Atomic Aunt | Nuclear power: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster | Kyoko Miyake | 2013 |
Our Children Will Accuse Us | Agriculture: agrochemicals | Jean-Paul Jaud | 2008 |
The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: A Looming Disaster | Air pollution: from September 11 attacks | Alison Johnson | 2006 |
Toxic Legacy | Air pollution: from September 11 attacks | Susan Teskey | 2006 |
The Secret Life of Garbage | Waste management: landfills | Alison O'Brien, Carl Quintanilla | 2010 |
The True Cost | Garment industry, consumerism, river and soil pollution, pesticide contamination, fair trade, sustainable clothing | Andrew Morgan | 2015 |
Ultimate Tornado | Unusually violent tornadoes in the United States | National Geographic Channel | 2006 |
Unacceptable Levels | Environmental toxicology | Edward Brown | 2013 |
Under the Dome | Air pollution in China | Chai Jing | 2015 |
Vanishing of the Bees | Honey bees: colony collapse disorder | Maryam Henein, George Langworthy, and James Erskine | 2009 |
Vanishing Point | Climate change: Arctic sea ice decline | Marina Endicott and others | 2012 |
Virunga | Wildlife conservation: Democratic Republic of the Congo | Orlando von Einsiedel | 2014 |
Voices of Transition | Agriculture: energy and resource scarcity | Nils Aguilar | 2012 |
Walking Through A Minefield | Uranium mining in Australia | Cathy Henkel | 1999 |
Watch | Forests: clearcutting | Briana Waters | 2001 |
Watermark | Water | Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky | 2013 |
Life at the End of Empire | Various themes: peak oil, climate change, overpopulation, and species extinction | Timothy S. Bennett | 2007 |
What Is the Electric Car? | Sustainable design: electric cars | Ken Grant and Scott DuPont | 2010 |
The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: acute radiation syndrome | Steven Okazaki | 2007 |
Who Killed the Electric Car? | Sustainable design: electric cars and roles of industries and governments | Chris Paine | 2006 |
Wind Over Water: The Cape Wind Story | Energy: Cape Wind | Ole Tangen Jr. | 2003 |
Windfall | Wind power: environmental impact of wind power | Laura Israel | 2010 |
The World According to Monsanto | Agriculture: Monsanto | Marie-Monique Robin | 2008 |
The Plow That Broke the Plains | Dust Bowl | Pare Lorentz | 1936 |
The River (1938 film) | Erosion: Mississippi River | Pare Lorentz | 1938 |
De platte jungle | Wadden Sea, overfishing, nuclear energy, water pollution, Overexploitation | Johan van der Keuken | 1978 |
The Atomic Cafe | Nuclear warfare | Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty and Pierce Rafferty | 1982 |
Koyaanisqatsi | Various themes, including natural landscape, urbanization, development | Godfrey Reggio with Philip Glass | 1982 |
Some fictional films are based on true events.
Title | Theme(s) and subtheme(s) | Author(s) | Year(s) | The Roots of Heaven | Conservation of elephant herds from poaching. | John Huston, Romain Gary | 1958 |
Iracema (1975 film) | Trans-Amazonian Highway, Ecology | Jorge Bodanzky and Orlando Senna | 1975 |
L'An 01 | Consumerism, Ecology | Jacques Doillon, Alain Resnais and Jean Rouch | 1973 |
The War Game | Nuclear warfare | Peter Watkins | 1965 |
Wind Across the Everglades | Conservation biology: poaching | Nicholas Ray | 1958 |
2012 | Natural disasters: 2012 phenomenon | Harald Kloser and Roland Emmerich | 2009 |
The Age of Stupid | Climate change | Franny Armstrong | 2009 |
Aftermath | Nuclear warfare | Christian McDonald | 2012 |
Avatar | Natural resources | James Cameron | 2009 |
Shock and Terror | Global warming | James Nguyen | 2008 |
Captain Planet, Ted Turner's animated television series | Various themes |
Carface | Petroleum industry: car culture | 2015 |
The China Syndrome | Energy: nuclear meltdown | Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, and James Bridges | 1979 |
A Civil Action | Water pollution: by trichloroethylene | Steven Zaillian | 1998 |
Climate Change Denial Disorder | Climate change denial | Nicol Paone | 2015 |
The Day After Tomorrow | Climate change | Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff | 2004 |
Denmark | Pollution: water pollution | 2010 |
Earthquake | Earthquake in Los Angeles | George Fox and Mario Puzo | 1974 |
Earthquake in Chile | Earthquake in Chile | Helma Sanders-Brahms | 1975 |
Erin Brockovich | Energy development: water pollution | Susannah Grant | 2000 |
The Last Rainforest | Forests: rainforests | 1992 |
Fire Down Below | Pollution: from mining | 1997 |
Fly Away Home | Wildlife: Canada goose | Bill Lishman, Robert Rodat, and Vince McKewin | 1996 |
Into the Wild Green Yonder | Natural resources and Wildlife | Peter Avanzino | 2009 |
H2O | Water supply: Kaveri River water dispute in India | Upendra | 2000 |
The Happening | Toxicology | M. Night Shyamalan | 2008 |
Happy Feet | Environment of Antarctica | Warren Coleman, John Collee, George Miller, and Judy Morris | 2006 |
Hell and High Water | Atomic bomb explosion in the Cold War | Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., Samuel Fuller, and David Hempstead | 1954 |
If You Love Your Children | Climate change | Sanjay Patel (filmmaker) | 2014 |
An Inconvenient Penguin | Invasive species | 2008 |
The Lorax | Forests | Dr. Seuss | 2012 |
Chicken Run | Battery cage and Intensive animal farming | 2000 |
Over the Hedge | Forests being taken over by suburbia | Michael Fry and T. Lewis | 2006 |
Muro Ami | Fishing: illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing | Marilou Diaz-Abaya | 1999 |
On Deadly Ground | Pollution: from petroleum industry | Ed Horowitz and Robin U. Russin | 1994 |
Once Upon a Forest | Forests | 1993 |
Paddle to the Sea (short) | Various themes | Holling C. Holling, Bill Mason, National Film Board of Canada | 1966 |
Plastic Bag | Plastic bags | Ramin Bahrani and Jenni Jenkins | 2009 |
Safe | Multiple chemical sensitivity | Todd Haynes | 1995 |
San Andreas | Earthquake in California | 2015 |
Sharknado | Severe weather and sharks | Thunder Levin | 2013 |
Sizzle | Global warming | Randy Olson | 2009 |
Soylent Green | Natural resources, pollution, global warming, Human overpopulation | Richard Fleischer | 1973 |
Space Tourists | Pollution: space debris | 2002 |
The Voyage Home | Wildlife: Humpback whale | 1986 |
After The Impact | Impact event | 2007 |
Tentacles | Wildlife: gigantic octopus | Steven W. Carabatsos, Tito Carpi, Jerome Max, and Sonia Molteni | 1977 |
WALL-E | Waste management | 2008 |
Pom Poko | Deforestation: wildlife displacement | Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki, Kenji Miyazawa | 1994 |
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Conservation: insects | Hayao Miyazaki | 1984 |
Princess Mononoke | Technology vs. nature | Hayao Miyazaki | 1997 |
1. ^Environmental Media Awards website {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906001856/http://www.ema-online.org/awards_general.htm |date=2007-09-06 }}
2. ^[https://www.straight.com/article-86423/green-film-faves-of-all-time Georgia Strait "Top 10 environmental movies of all time"]
3. ^{{cite web |author=Staff |title=Search for the Super Battery |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/super-battery.html |date=February 1, 2017 |work=Public Broadcasting Service |accessdate=February 2, 2017}}