On the one hand, the festival wants to expose students, faculty & staff of the university, as well as the larger Houston – Galveston community, to ideas, concepts and stories of sustainability. On the other hand, we want to empower filmmakers, both local, national and international, who are working on sustainability-related subjects & stories. All participating films & artwork have to be about an aspect of sustainability. This does not only include environmental sustainability, such as sustainable water usage, sustainable energy usage, sustainable city planning, sustainable agriculture & gardening, resilience, etc., but also social sustainability and social justice, economic sustainability and educational sustainability. Films about sustainable outdoor fun and recreation and sustainability-themed music videos are also invited to participate. Productions can be documentaries, narrative films, animations, VR / AR productions, experimental films, etc. The festival is divided into a 3-day short film festival, scheduled for November 9 – 11, 2022 and a separate ongoing bi-weekly screening series of long format films, starting in September 2022. The short film festival is accompanied by an equally themed art exhibit in the UHCL art gallery which is open to the public November 5 - December - December 15. The screenings are taking place at the University of Houston - Clear Lake’s state of the art 500-seat Bayou Theater and at the university’s art gallery. Participating films and other artwork are selected by professionals in both the areas of filmmaking / art and sustainability. The festival is also accompanied by several sustainability-themed panel discussions with local experts and a vendor expo featuring local sustainability-related organizations. This second edition of our festival builds on a successful inaugural edition in 2021, which screened over 80 films in altogether 7 screening locations and was attended by over 1000 people.

Awards & Prizes

1st, 2nd & 3rd prize in each of the categories listed. In-kind & cash prizes to be determined.

Rules & Terms

1) Every participating film or artwork has to be about an aspect of sustainability
2) For the short film competition: maximum length for each production is 7:00 minutes, medium length films should be between 7:00 - 45:00 minuets and long format films between 45:00 - 90:00 minutes.
3) By submitting to this festival, each filmmaker grants the festival the permission to use still frames & up to 30 seconds of each film for promotional purposes on the festivals website & associated social media accounts.
4) By submitting to this festival each filmmaker ensures that he / she has all necessary rights to do so.

14 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lauren Speeth

    An official selection from Sustainable Stories for The Power of Water was such an uplift for us – we’re so humbled and grateful. This was a great boost and uplift, especially as you can imagine to the team members based in Ukraine who are experiencing geopolitical strife at the moment. They’re just thrilled, as are we. Thank you also for continuing with your festival and rising above the challenging times to give filmmakers this important opportunity. Much appreciated !

    February 2022
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  • Julia Gaydina

    Wonderful experience! Thank you very much!

    February 2022
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  • William Freund

    A wonderful festival with great communications from the organizers. Proud to have participated and proud that our film WILDLIFE IN OUR BACKYARD won the "Best Sustainable Cities" award!

    November 2021
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  • Nick Lear

    Thank you SO much for the awards & we are really honoured to win Best of Fest.

    November 2021
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  • 南 巫

    thank you very much for chosing my extremely short film as second place in this category, it's my first selection on FilmFreeway, and it's the first time i win a laurel with my film works in my life :D .Environmental issues should be put to a more important place today,a festival like this is worth being supported.

    November 2021
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