RVA Environmental Film Festival kicks off Feb. 18

The 12th Annual RVA Environmental Film Festival will kick off Feb. 18 with some of the newest local and national films focusing on environmental issues and inspiring action. The festival will continue through March 4 with mostly virtual events, but includes six in-person events hosted by EFF partners.

All films during the festival are free to attend, but pre-registration is required.

On Feb. 26, Libbie Mill Library will host Motherload, a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring motherhood in this digital age of climate change. The film follows director and new mother Liz Canning on her quest to understand the increasing tension between modern life and our hunter-gatherer DNA, and how cargo bikes offer a solution. The film will be shown from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Another in-person showing will be held Feb. 28 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at University of Richmond Ukrop Auditorium. Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective portrays native communities that are restoring their ancient relationships with the land, using time-tested practices that are becoming increasingly essential as the climate crisis escalates. On March 2 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuckahoe Library will host The Guardians a cinematic meditation on life and death that parallels the lives of humans and the monarch.

Among the films set for virtual viewing is 8 Billion Angels, hosted by James River Association at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18. The film tells the truth about the conflict between the size of the global population and the sustainability of the planet, and takes the viewer on an immersive and emotional journey into the lives of farmers, fisherman and others as they witness an unfolding global crisis. Immediately after the film, a group discussion led by JRA director of community conservation Justin Doyle, will welcome Terry Spahr, the filmmaker and executive producer, and JRA Riverkeeper Jamie Brunkow.

Other virtual events include showings of The Sacrifice Zone, following a group of activists determined to break the cycle of poor communities of color serving as dumping grounds, and Mossville, When Great Trees Fall, which tells the story of a man who refuses to give up when his black community -- contaminated by petrochemical plants -- faces the loss of its ancestral home.

Narrated by Kate Winslet, Eating Our Way to Extinction takes viewers on a cinematic journey around the world to uncover hard truths about ecological collapse, while High Tide in Dorchester focuses on ground zero for sea level rise along the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay.

To register for films and to receive the latest updates, visit http://www.RVAEFF.org.