Private Project

The Climate Change Volumes: Spring

The Climate Change Volumes are a series of four short poetic films that follow the changing seasons of the Mountain West. A collaboration between filmmakers Hugo Sindelar and Andie Madsen, and poet Travis Truax, the films ponder the transformations we are seeing in the mountains and their surrounding ecosystems as our climate warms. This film, Climate Change Volumes: Spring, laments the changes in our spring season as glaciers recede and snow – our summer water source – melts faster than it ever has before.

  • Hugo Sindelar
    Director
  • Travis Truax
    Writer
  • Andie Madsen
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Poetic, Abstract
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 15, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.90:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Hugo Sindelar

Hugo Sindelar is an Assistant Professor in Film at Montana State University. As someone who has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering Sciences, his films focus on how a shifting climate is affecting both humans and their environment. He is also currently working on a project about the devastating 2022 floods that affected Yellowstone National Park. His previous films have covered a diverse array of topics including western wildfires, thermophiles in Yellowstone, elk, soil carbon research, and an Arctic climate monitoring expedition. These films have been featured on PBS, the Yellowstone National Park website, and in numerous film festivals.

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Director Statement

The Climate Change Volumes: Spring is the first in a series of four poetic films that explore how our relationship with wild places is shifting as our climate changes. As someone who has made more “standard” documentaries about climate change and related topics, I chose to create these films with the hope that audiences will think more abstractly about climate change, and perhaps, this small change in perspective will allow them to understand and connect with the changes we are seeing in our natural world. Instead of a bombarding the viewer with facts and doom and gloom, this piece aims to promote contemplation and thoughtfulness. The film does not aim to ask questions nor provide answers, rather it laments what we are losing and through the vein of nostalgia hopes that viewers will recognize that loss and perhaps take action through additional reading and research after watching the film.