Contrary to what Netflix and Adam McKay want you to think, Don’t Look Up is not the most important film ever made about climate change. It’s a flawed metaphor with all the lazy punchlines and tortured insight you might expect from a Saturday Night Live sketch that didn’t make it beyond dress rehearsal. While some A-list stars (incorrectly) fawn over how this film is the first to get the issue—a sign of their ignorance—environmentally minded filmmakers around the planet have toiled in relative obscurity for decades. The DC Environmental Film Festival (DCEFF) is a more thoughtful, holistic cinematic consideration of the natural world. Now in its 30th year, the festival tends to favor documentaries that take a sharp, often investigative look at how the environment has impacts on all aspects of our lives—our political and cultural lives in particular, but there are also animated films and narrative features to pique your interest. Like last year’s festival, this year’s is entirely virtual, which means it’s easier than ever to access DCEFF’s 2022 slate, and, more importantly, a virtual-only festival will lessen its final carbon footprint. March 17 to 27, virtual. $40–$50.
For more film recommendations check out our calendar.