DREFF Joins 37 Festivals from around the World in the First International Forum of Environmental Film Festivals

Under the organization and sponsorship of CineEco environmental film festival that takes place annually in Seia, Portugal, the First International Forum of Environmental Film Festivals united 38 film festivals from all around the world, all the members of the Green Film Network. The director of the
Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), Natasha Despotovic, was among the participants.

The Forum represented a unique opportunity to meet, network, exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas while strengthening collaboration and agreeing on strategies for further growth and enhancement of the Green Film Network, now celebrating fifteen years of its existence. Film festival directors all the way
from Borneo, Korea, India and Japan, numerous European and South American countries, United States and Canada held lively meetings and formed working groups in order to discuss how to best unite their resources, foster cooperation and offer the most efficient and effective ways of spreading knowledge and creating awareness on environmental issues through the use of audio-visual media.

During the Forum, each festival director had the opportunity to present his or her
festival. This led to a much deeper interaction of participants and facilitated a creation of joint initiatives. Following the presentations, working groups were organized to review the Green Film Network’s achievements up to the moment and establish a working plan for the future. Two discussion panels took place as well. Catherine Beltrandi from UNEP; Ailton Krenak, an indigenous leader and environmental activist from Brazil; Giulia Camilla Braga, from the World Bank’s
Connect4Climate project; Helena Freitas from UNESCO and Ashley Hoppin from National Geographic were some of the speakers. The opening and the closing of the Forum was attended by local and state authorities.

“It was a historic moment for the worldwide environmental filmmaking community. We have been collaborating for years now but most of us have never met in person. This opportunity to get to know each other, spend time together, talk frankly about our
challenges and aspirations, and put in some hard work into planning the future of the Green Film Network has an immense value for each and every one of us, for the environmental filmmaking and the promotion of environmental awareness worldwide. We are all deeply grateful to CineEco, Seia, Portugal  and its director Mário Branquinho for organizing and sponsoring the Forum and we certainly hope there will
soon be another opportunity to meet and work together in person.”, commented Natasha Despotovic, the DREFF director.

More information: CineEco | Green Film Network