Film festival season continues with the San Francisco Green Film Festival, returning to the silver screen in Japantown March 1-7.

The Island President

Aside from entertaining audiences with audacious, experimental and exciting films, the San Francisco Green Film Festival sets out to bring awareness and action toward living a greener and more sustainable lifestyle. It highlights environmental changes in our culture from a political, social and cultural standpoint and highlights where we’ve come from, where we are and where we can go in the future. In addition to a full schedule of films, showing at the San Francisco Film Society  Cinema in Japantown, the festival also offers a several panels on environmental issues and sustainability.

Some highlights include opening film The Island President, directed by Bay Area filmmaker Jon Shenk, who spent a year with President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives as he saw his country devastated by climate change and sought to revive and keep it alive. A heartbreaking yet uplifting story about perseverance, it deals directly with how modern environmental changes have wreaked havoc in some nations. Following the film will be the opening night party at the Superfrog Gallery, where attendees can mingle with filmmakers and special guests and enjoy local, sustainable treats.

The City Dark finds filmmaker Ian Cheney, a new resident of New York City inundated with artificial light. Cheney will be in attendance for the Centerpiece showing of his film which explores the affects artificial light and light pollution has on humans and the environment.

Closing out the festival is the U.S. premier of Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-Day Outlaws, a film by Emily James. James followed a group of environmental activists and documented their successes and failures for the film. James will be in attendance for the screening and a closing night party will follow for all attendees and filmmakers.

Panels include The Future of Film Funding, featuring  experts who will talk about the future of documentary film funding and how there are many more avenues to explore. Storytelling for Change finds the distinguished panel discussing how environmentally friendly business and nonprofits have used and can use the visual medium to have their voices heard and inspire change.

For more information visit the San Francisco Film Festival’s official website.

• Tag: an Francisco Green Film Festival, film festival