Founded in 2016 with the goal of generating awareness around man-made environmental issues, our year-round Air, Land + Sea program presents films that take filmgoers on a journey of environmental appreciation and awareness, fostering a deeper appreciation for our planet and allowing filmmakers and experts to share information and discuss solutions to the global problems we face. This screening series runs all year long, creating citizen scientists who address the issues we face on the East End every day.
Browse the HIFF32 Lineup
In line with our mission, HIFF often partners with organizations aligned with our Air, Land & Sea credo.
At HIFF 2024, we are raising awareness for a unique local nonprofit that has been producing incredible results up and down the coast. We encourage you to check out their important work.
South Fork Sea Farmers (SF²) works collaboratively with the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery to expand and broaden educational programs and encourage other residents to be stewards of their marine environment. SF² is on a mission to educate and raise awareness of the importance of sustainable marine aquaculture and to inspire constructive action programs. Our goal is to promote and encourage more public oyster gardening which keeps our waters clean, provide habitat for marine life and improves our overall ecosystem. South Fork Sea Farmers is a 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more.
Past Festival Highlights
COMMON GROUND (HIFF 2023)
In an investigation into agricultural solutions to climate change, Josh Tickell and Rebecca Tickell offer a comprehensive profile of an uplifting food sustainability movement. COMMON GROUND follows white, Black, and Indigenous farmers using alternative regenerative agriculture that demonstrates potential to balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy—before it’s too late. Narrated by an all-star cast, including Jason Momoa, Laura Dern, and Ian Somerhalder, this crucial film fuses journalistic exposé with deeply personal stories to both unveil a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system and offer radical, hopeful solutions for our planet’s future.
BECOMING COUSTEAU (HIFF 2021)
Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice—and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.
I AM GRETA (HIFF 2020)
Showcasing candid, never-before-seen footage, Nathan Grossman’s documentary tracks climate change activist Greta Thunberg‘s meteoric rise to prominence from a shy student to a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and the indelible impact she has had on a new generation of climate change activists.
FLINT (HIFF 2019)
Looking at the enduring issues of partisan politics and environmental resources on which it continues to shed light, FLINT is an illuminating look at a modern American tragedy, revealing how the city’s life-threatening water crisis has gradually evolved into a crisis of accountability and trust in authorities, a battle between science and pseudoscience, and an institutionalized failure in local infrastructure.
THE HOTTEST AUGUST (HIFF 2019)
NYC. August 2017. A city oppressed by unrelenting heat and the tensions that have been simmering ever since the election. A city that is trying to grapple with growing anxiety over economic insecurity, rising rents, marching white nationalists and ever-present news of natural catastrophes across the country. A complex and nuanced portrait of a city and its inhabitants in the age of climate change.
FIRE IN PARADISE (HIFF 2019)
On the morning of November 8, 2018, over the course of a few short hours, the Camp Fire near Paradise, CA grew into the country’s deadliest wildfire in over a century, killing 85 people. Through firsthand footage of the disaster and personal interviews with survivors and emergency responders, this film vividly retells the terrifying survival stories from that day.
GRIT (HIFF 2018)
After an unstoppable toxic mudflow in Indonesia in 2006, 16-year-old survivor Dian is routinely ignored by her government, despite the unforgiving sludge continuing to engulf her home for over a decade, turning her into an outspoken advocate for her community. GRIT is a timely showcase of the urgent need for political activism, the duty to hold those in power accountable, and the perseverance of the human spirit amidst social and environmental strife.
THE SERENGETI RULES (HIFF 2018)
Beginning in the 1960s, a small band of young scientists headed out into the wilderness, driven by an insatiable curiosity about how nature works. Now in the twilight of their eminent careers, these five unsung heroes of modern ecology share the stories of their adventures, reveal how their pioneering work flipped our view of nature on its head, and give us a chance to reimagine the world as it could and should be.
EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY (HIFF 2017)
Narrated by Robert Redford, EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY takes us on a breathtakingly immersive voyage across the continents—revealing our planet’s natural wonders and unique animal behavior, and reminding us of its increasing vulnerability.
FROM THE ASHES (HIFF 2017)
Reflecting on the United States’ long and often fraught relationship to the coal and mining industry, and pondering its uncertain future, FROM THE ASHES balances the conflicting perspectives of those most closely affected, through a series of compelling stories that speak to what is at stake for our economy, health, and climate.
BEFORE THE FLOOD (HIFF 2016)
Academy Award® winner Leonardo DiCaprio’s passionate crusade to combat the increasingly harmful effects of climate change is at the heart of this thought-provoking film, which delivers a powerful call to action to prevent the demise and destruction of our beautiful Earth.
Thank you to Nicole Delma for proposing the Air, Land + Sea program and championing the idea. To get involved, please contact Amy Levin.
Other Films to Explore
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD
“A fascinating, skillfully assembled chronicle of the rise and inevitable fallout surrounding the granddaddy of the environmental activism movement.” — Los Angeles Times
KISS THE GROUND
A revolutionary group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of “Regenerative Agriculture” that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The solution is right under our feet.
CONSCIENCE POINT (HIFF 2019)
Shinnecock activist Becky Hill-Genia, the film’s heroine, is fighting to preserve Shinnecock sacred land and push forward legislation to protect ancestral grave sites. The film unearths a deep clash of values between the Shinnecock Indian Nation and their Hamptons neighbors.
• WINNER: HIFF27 Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice
SEA OF SHADOWS
A looming disaster in one of the most spectacular environments on Earth sparks a rescue mission unlike any other in SEA OF SHADOWS, a riveting new documentary with the intensity of a Hollywood thriller.
FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF
After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born. This film immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas.
2016
Before the Flood, dir. Fisher Stevens
Sonic Sea, dirs. Michelle Dougherty, Daniel Hinerfeld
The Bloop, dir. Cara Cusumano
2017
Earth: One Amazing Day, dirs. Richard Dale, Lixin Fan, Peter Webber
From the Ashes, dir. Michael Bonfiglio
2018
Above And Beyond: Nasa’s Journey to Tomorrow, dir. Rory Kennedy
Grit, dirs. Cynthia Wade, Sasha Friedlander
The Serengeti Rules, dir. Nicolas Brown
2019
Earth “Erde”, dir. Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Flint, dir. Anthony Baxter
The Hottest August, dir. Brett Story
Scenes From a Dry City, dirs. Simon Wood, Francois Verster
Fire In Paradise, dirs. Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari
2020
I Am Greta, dir. Nathan Grossman
2021
Becoming Cousteau, dir. Liz Garbus
2022
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, dir. Francisca Alegría
The Forest Maker, dir. Volker Schlöndorf
Into The Weeds: Dewayne “Lee” Johnson vs. Monsanto Company, dir. Jennifer Baichwal
2023
Common Ground, dirs. Josh Tickell, Rebecca Tickell
Silent Fallout: Baby Teeth Speak, dir. Hideaki Ito
Trees and Other Entanglements, dir. Irene Taylor
2024
Nocturnes, dirs. Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan