At CPH:DOX25 we invited filmmakers and industry professionals to boldly imagine a future film industry. Together, we explored how the film industry can play a key role in tackling the climate crisis through innovative storytelling and collaborative action.
The Climate Bar
A pop-up space at CPH:Forum and Charlottenborg Kunsthall where industry professionals shared insights on climate storytelling and climate action.
From March 24-27, this conversation hub welcomed participants to engage in focused discussions on evolving approaches to climate storytelling, connect with other professionals working in the field, influence industry dialogue on climate narratives.
We asked questions like:
- What was the last great climate story you've seen?
- How can the film industry show up in a real way to support these stories?
- What would a film industry fit for our times look like?
- What courageous step can you take toward this future?
Many great ideas start as sketches on napkins. We invited participants to stamp questions on napkins and write their responses, capturing spontaneous insights from across the festival.
Participatory Conference Session
Our culminating session on March 28th brought together threads from throughout the festival week. The interactive format allowed participants to contribute directly to the future of climate storytelling in Nordic media. You can watch here the full session.
Climate Story Lab Nordic at CPH:DOX25 ConferenceUsing a World Café format with table rotations, we explored:
- Spoken and unspoken rules hindering diverse climate storytelling
- Unfit myths and beliefs that need shifting
- Resource flows that need reconfiguration
The session built on insights gathered at the Climate Bar, integrating perspectives from funders, distributors, filmmakers, and industry leaders to explore creative and practical pathways for impact.
Photos Adam Černich
Panel Discussions: New Frontiers in Climate Storytelling
Following our participatory session, we hosted two powerful panel discussions moderated by Megha Sood Agrawal (Doc Society) and Diego Galafassi (Climate Story Lab Nordic).
The panels explored innovative approaches that push the boundaries of climate narratives:
Panel 1: New Climate Narratives
This conversation examined how emergent narrative forms can mobilize communities and create new avenues for climate engagement across diverse audiences.
Speakers:
- Maisha Maene (Director, "Spaceman in Kongo")
- Anupama Srinivasan (Director, "Nocturnes")
Key themes included the intersection of climate justice with cultural innovation, Afrofuturism as a framework for reimagining climate futures, and strategies for engaging audiences beyond the echo chamber.
Panel 2: Frontier of Climate Storytelling
This panel explored innovative formats and perspectives that move beyond conventional climate narratives.
Speakers:
- Michele Kranot (Director, "The Garden")
- Violeta Ayala (Director, "Jaguaress")
- Peter Middleton (Director, "Landfall")
The discussion examined Indigenous approaches to decolonizing climate narratives, sensory and embodied storytelling techniques, and ways of representing more-than-human perspectives.
Key Takeaways
From our discussions, five clear priorities emerged:
- Climate Storytelling is thriving. Despite current challenges for climate storytellers, creators are finding diverse, intersectional, nuanced ways of grappling with climate stories and a world in transition.
- The most effective climate stories recognize that climate change isn't just about temperature or weather but intersects with politics, culture, spirituality, justice, and daily life. Films that address climate through these intersectional lenses reach broader audiences.
- There are audiences and climate projects are making real impact in organising and policy.
- Double down on climate stories now. Many voters deeply care about climate and environment, hence the state of democracy and climate questions are deeply interwoven.
- Democratizing climate storytelling. There is a need to think about resources, decision-making authority, and narrative control distribution to creators from underrepresented regions facing climate impacts firsthand.
What's Next?
Register your climate project in the Climate Story Lab catalogue
If you are a filmmaker and creator working on a climate-related story, here you can register your project in the Climate Story Lab catalogue. We are building a catalogue of finished and in-development climate stories. We will be sending regularly information about support, resources and opportunities and you will be helping us understand the climate storytelling landscape.
Assessing the current state of financing and distribution
If you are a financier, or work with distribution in the Nordics, please consider completing the Nordic Climate Film Landscape Survey 2025. We're assessing the current state of climate-related film financing and distribution across Nordic countries.
[COMING SOON]
Stay connected
As we continue building a platform that supports filmmakers and industry professionals in developing impactful climate narratives.
Thanks to Our Sponsors
Climate Story Lab Nordic is designed and facilitated by Hum Studio Interactive in collaboration with Doc Society and CPH:DOX. It is funded by Nordic Culture Fund.