Last year, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University introduced the Confluence Film Festival—a multi-week event focused on showcasing environmentally conscious features. In 2025, the occasion will return and take over Earth Month (April) with the theme of “Regeneration.”
“Confluence Film Festival was launched in 2024 during Earth Month in collaboration with dynamic local film organizations that are deeply embedded in communities,” says festival organizer and Senior Director of Creative Development at the Academy, Ryan Strand Greenberg.
“The featured films and their corresponding conversations showcase community-driven stewardship of ecosystems and approaches to the climate crisis. Together with BlackStar Projects, cinéSPEAK, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, we have created a place to convene filmmakers, advocacy groups, and the public every Thursday evening in April.”
As Greenberg noted, this Festival is formed from a collaboration with many local creative institutions. Confluence will take place each week from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Each installment of the film festival costs $10 and includes a meet up in Dinosaur Hall, a series of feature-length, short and documentary films, and opportunities to hear from filmmakers, community-based organizations and advocates to learn how you can support the next generation of climate resilience.
It all kicks off on April 3. From 5 to 8:30 p.m. on that night, an Opening Night Gathering with music, food, drinks and organizational partners will be in full swing in Dinosaur Hall followed by a screening and then a Q&A (6:30 to 8:30 p.m.) Both opening night films (presented by cinéSPEAK) happen to be Philadelphia premieres.
‘Soft In the Shell’ is an experimental short by director Ingrid Raphaël. The meditative film will then be followed by ‘Holding Back the Tide’, a documentary feature film by director Emily Packer.
The next few Thursday nights of the Festival will follow suit with showings, including the documentary film ‘Family Tree’ by director Jennifer MacArthur (April 10, presented by BlackStar Projects), a short by director Jess X Snow titled ‘Afterearth’ (April 17, presented by PAAFF), a documentary from director Shasha Li titled ‘Heaven Rain Flows Sweetly’, (April 17), and then two closing night showings (April 24) which include a short film by director Llaima Sanfiorenzo titled ‘Todavia La Semilla (and still the seed)’, and a documentary film by directors Noam Osband and Sebastián Diaz, titled ‘A Thousand Pines’ (both presented by PHLAFF.)
“Our partners have curated a selection of powerful documentaries that offer insights into environmental impacts: On our waterways with ‘Holding Back The Tide’ charting the unlikely presence of oysters in NYC, the scourge of pollution, and triumphant revitalization efforts; and within our forestry and lumber industries with ‘Family Tree’ exploring sustainable forestry in North Carolina through the stories of two Black families fighting to preserve their land and legacy, and with ‘A Thousand Pines’ following Mexican workers over the course of a season planting trees throughout the United States,” says Molly Gross, festival organizer and Public Programs Manager at the Academy.
“And on April 17, in ‘Heaven Rain Flows Sweetly’, director Shasha Li is forced to leave her home in Oregon due to wildfires. She takes us on [a] poetic and contemplative trip reconnecting with her family and her ancestors’ history, in Himalayan China.”
With Confluence, each film is meant to illuminate how communities have been imagining and enacting alternatives to the climate crisis and stewarding ecosystems for future generations.
“We hope audiences leave Confluence feeling informed and empowered by filmmakers, community-based organizations and advocates who share tools and approaches to supporting the next generation of climate resilience,” says Greenberg.
“And each of our amazing partners, BlackStar Projects, cinéSPEAK, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, have their own film festivals throughout the year,” added Gross. “Get to know them at the Confluence Film Festival in April and then experience their full festival here in Philadelphia too.”
To find out more information on the Confluence Film Festival at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy), visit ansp.org
