Eco-Anxiety

4 Films on Screen

Inspired by the exhibition Anastasia Samoylova: FloodZone, on view at the museum through December 18, the Dryden offers four films that examine the anxieties we feel over a changing planet. Featuring both documentary and narrative films, the series is co-curated by Carter Soles, assistant professor at SUNY Brockport, who teaches, writes, and presents on ecological issues in cinema. 

Not surprisingly, films about ecology and climate change often take the forms of horror or dystopian visions. Take Shelter focuses on one individual, a man who has apocalyptic visions of a coming catastrophe and goes to extremes to make sure that he and his family are safe from it. Both Snowpiercer and Beasts of the Southern Wild take place in a near future that has been devastated by ecological changes. In Snowpiercer’s world of never-ending winter, a single train traversing the globe holds the last of humanity, and each person’s place in society depends on how close you are to the engine. In the future of Beasts of the Southern Wild, families scavenge to survive on the risen waters of New Orleans. The series starts, however, with some facts, given to us by ecological advocate Al Gore in the follow-up to his Academy Award–winning documentary. In An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Gore continues to fight for policy changes in governments around the world and visits some of the sites most affected by climate change. Whether you visit the exhibition before or after, these films provide a dramatic view of where we may be heading.

September 15: An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, 2017)
September 29: Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
October 6: Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)
October 13: MEMBER MOVIE NIGHT - Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)