Filmmakers & Video Artists Face the Climate Emergency

A La Luz is excited to announce the open call for Films of Return, an online film and video art festival that will showcase works by filmmakers and video artists from across the globe who are addressing the urgency of the environmental breakdown our world is facing and its far-reaching consequences. We invite artists worldwide to submit films and video art works which shed light on the complex and urgent challenges of the climate emergency, inspiring action through creative exploration.

Films of Return seeks works that delve into critical questions around the climate crisis, sparking fresh perspectives and fostering a deeper understanding of the ways it intersects with human lives and ecosystems. As the world faces accelerating changes—rising sea levels, extreme weather patterns, biodiversity loss, and social inequality—this online festival aims to amplify voices that address these interconnected struggles and reflect on possible pathways toward resilience and restoration.

Films of Return is also a celebration of our place within the vast, intertwined fabric of life. It challenges the notion of nature as “other,” inviting filmmakers and audiences alike to consider the profound ways we are shaped by—and in turn shape—the world around us. Through this shared lens, the festival becomes a space to explore the beauty, complexity, and urgency of living in harmony with all that sustains us.

The festival aims to showcase films which are not only calls to action but also reflections on belonging—films which illuminate the creativity and courage needed to face the climate crisis while honoring the connections that make restoration possible. In reexamining the world through film and art, we reimagine ourselves as stewards, collaborators, and kin—interwoven with the Earth’s rhythms and stories, striving together toward a renewed sense of balance.

The festival will run online from August 1 to September 30, 2025. Screenings at selected venues may happen as opportunities arise, though they cannot be guaranteed at this time. A La Luz will make efforts to facilitate these additional screenings.

Theme

Submissions should explore one or more of the following topics, encouraging critical reflection and creative responses to pressing environmental issues:

• Climate justice: The disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized and frontline communities, especially those least responsible for its causes. Works that engage with the movement for equitable environmental rights, justice, and resilience-building in vulnerable populations are encouraged.

• Biodiversity and ecosystem preservation: The urgency of protecting habitats, species, and natural landscapes under threat. This includes examining the loss of biodiversity, extinction rates, and the vital role that biodiversity plays in maintaining planetary health and resilience against climate change.

• Pollution and resource exploitation: Addressing the effects of industrial pollution, overconsumption, and the exploitation of natural resources. Topics may include the global consequences of waste, such as plastic pollution, electronic waste, chemical pollutants, and the ethical questions surrounding resource extraction.

• Urban and rural sustainability: Sustainable urban and rural planning, renewable energy initiatives, and the need for circular economies. Films might explore urban ecology, green architecture, sustainable agriculture, and community-led efforts to balance human activity with the natural world.

• Water scarcity and oceans health: The crisis of water access and sanitation, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, and the devastation of marine ecosystems. Topics might range from the overuse of water resources to coral reef conservation, sustainable fishing practices, and the global impact of melting ice caps.

• Land stewardship and indigenous knowledge: Celebrating Indigenous ecological wisdom, sustainable land management, and traditional knowledge systems. Artists may delve into themes of cultural preservation, land sovereignty, and the pivotal role of Indigenous communities in safeguarding the environment.

• Climate migration and human rights: Exploring the social and human rights issues tied to climate-induced migration. This includes stories of displacement due to natural disasters, desertification, or rising sea levels, and the associated legal, social, and ethical considerations.

• Agriculture, food systems, and food security: Examining sustainable agriculture, food justice, and the impact of climate change on food availability. Topics might include regenerative agriculture, food sovereignty, and innovative farming practices designed to reduce environmental footprints.

• Environmental activism and social movements: Documenting grassroots activism, community-driven projects, and global movements pushing for environmental change. Artists may explore how individuals, groups, and organizations are coming together to demand environmental policy reform, conservation efforts, and corporate accountability.

• Renewable energy and technological innovation: Investigating clean energy solutions, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and innovative sustainable technologies. Works might look at the potential of renewable energy to reshape economies, reduce emissions, and mitigate climate impacts.

• Forest and land conservation: The critical importance of forests, wetlands, and other carbon sinks in climate mitigation. Topics could range from deforestation and reforestation efforts to forest guardianship, protected areas, and community-led conservation initiatives.

Each of these themes invites artists to tackle the complexities of our relationship with the planet, urging audiences to think critically and compassionately about the pathways forward.

Jury

Full list of jury members to be confirmed soon

Javier Bardón, Project and Festivals Director at La Fábrica

Brian Brooks, VP Documentary Projects at Cinetic Media

Alicia García González, Art Historian, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Rattanamol Singh Johal, Art Historian, Curator & Professor, University of Michigan

Stephanie Marlin-Curiel, Executive Director, The Somerville Museum

Miranda Massie, Director, The Climate Museum

Susannah Sayler & Edward Morris, Artists, Guggenheim Fellows, Founders of The Canary Project

Rosa Parma, Curator & Artist

Rules & Terms

Eligibility

• The Films of Return festival is open to filmmakers, video artists, and multimedia creators worldwide.

• Submissions must align with the festival's themes, exploring environmental issues and the intersections of climate, society, and ecosystems.

• We accept films in the following categories:

  • Short Documentary

  • Short Experimental

  • Video Art

  • Short Fiction

  • Short Animation

  • Feature Films (limited selection)

• Films must have been completed on or after January 1, 2021.

• While we prefer short films under 15 minutes, we may consider exceptional works up to 30 minutes.

• The festival also accepts feature-length films (over 40 minutes), though only a small number will be selected.

Language & Subtitles

• Films may be in any language, but non-English films must include English subtitles.

• We encourage high-quality subtitles for accessibility.

Submission Guidelines

• All films must be submitted via FilmFreeway.

• Each submission must include:

  • A synopsis (max 250 words)

  • An artist/filmmaker statement (max 250 words)

  • A brief bio (max 100 words)

• Multiple entries are allowed, but each film must be submitted separately.

• We do not accept rough cuts or incomplete films.

• If FilmFreeway is inaccessible or presents issues, please email us directly at info@alaluz.org to discuss alternative submission options—we’re happy to help.

Submission Fees

• There is a $8 USD fee for short film submissions.

• There is a $12 USD fee for feature-length submissions.

• These modest fees help us cover administrative and technical costs for the festival.

• However, if the fee presents a barrier to submission, please reach out—this should not be an obstacle to participation. We are committed to accessibility and will do our best to accommodate.

Selection & Exhibition

• Selected films will be part of the Films of Return online festival, running August 1 – September 30, 2025.

• The final end date of the festival may vary depending on audience reception, partnerships, or extended programming opportunities.

• Additional in-person screenings may take place at select venues, but they are not guaranteed.

• By submitting, you grant A La Luz the non-exclusive right to screen your film during the festival period.

• Selected artists will be notified by July 5.

Rights & Permissions

• The filmmaker must have full copyright ownership of the work, including music, images, and any third-party content.

• The festival assumes that by submitting, you have secured all necessary permissions.

• A La Luz and Films of Return will not be responsible for any copyright claims regarding submitted films.

General Terms

• Submission fees are non-refundable, unless waived by prior arrangement.

• We are a small team artist-run project operating, at this time, without funding; thus, we cannot pay participation fees. Revenue from this open call goes entirely to project production.

• By submitting, you agree to allow A La Luz to use stills, trailers, and excerpts (up to 30 seconds) for promotional purposes.

• The festival reserves the right to disqualify submissions that contain hate speech, misinformation, or material unrelated to the festival’s themes.

• Decisions by the selection committee are final. Regretfully, as a small team, we cannot offer individual feedback.

Deadline

• The submission deadline is June 15, 2025.

For news and updates on Films of Return, follow us on Instagram.

About A La Luz

A La Luz—meaning “to bring to light”—is an artist-led platform founded by environmental artists David Cass and Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar Romero, with Ivana Larrosa as our Exhibitions & Programs Coordinator. We support and showcase environmentally engaged artistic practices across disciplines, grounded in the belief that art can illuminate the urgent, layered realities of our ecological moment.

We believe that environmental art holds the power to express complex ideas—offering space for reflection, resistance, grief, connection, and hope in the face of planetary crisis. Through creativity, we explore not only what is being lost, but what might still be possible.

A La Luz is the organizing body behind Points of Return—a project that began as an online exhibition and later evolved into a physical show, gathering artists whose work speaks to environmental tipping points and potential paths forward. Building on this foundation, Films of Return extends the project into the realm of moving image through an online film event foregrounding artists working with climate, ecology, and care.

Our platform is rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and attention. We share work across forms—visual art, performance, sound, text, architecture, and more—highlighting practices that reflect not only on environmental themes but also on the impact of how we create and share.

Alongside exhibitions and screenings, we host events and publish resources for and from artists, writers, and thinkers. We welcome proposals from those we know and those we’ve yet to meet.

At every step, we ask what it means to make art in a time of climate crisis—and how we can do so with care, integrity, and collective purpose.