We are excited to announce the Our Shared Futures: Climate & Migration Community Film Festival 2025, curated by Counterpoints Arts in partnership with Earth Refuge, CMJ (Climate & Migrant Justice Organising Group), and City of Sanctuary.

Taking place 21-30 November 2025, to coincide with COP30 and Climate & Migrant Justice Day (22 Nov), this free, new community-powered film festival shares powerful stories at the intersection of climate and migration.

The festival features a curated selection of feature-length and short films from around the world. These films explore themes of climate crisis, displacement, colonialism, conflict, resilience, and hope – creating accessible entry points into urgent conversations that affect us all.

How it works

Anyone in the UK can take part by hosting a screening—whether in a community centre, library, cinema, school, workplace, outdoors, or even at home.

• Films are available free of charge via UK online streaming during the festival dates (21–30 November).

• You don’t need to worry about rights or licensing – we’ve arranged these for everyone.

• We have created resources and discussion prompts to help spark reflection, dialogue, and action – strengthening solidarity across communities and movements. (See below under “Free Resources”)

So all you need to do is pick a film, invite people, and press play.

The Films

FEATURE FILMS

Utama (2022) dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Hv7HFDIOc
Run time: 1hr 27 mins
Where available to screen: UK
Age Certification: 12A (PG)

Synopsis: An elderly Quechua couple in Bolivia confronts a devastating drought that threatens their traditional way of life. The film reckons with the grief that individual families contend with in the face of climate change, as well as intergenerational reactions to climate change. How do the younger and older generations respond to climate change and the need to move?

Thank You For The Rain (2017) dir. Julia Dahr

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO1-Z7kEyzo
Where available to screen: UK
Category: Feature documentary
Age Guidance: 12A (PG)
Run time: 1hr 27 mins

Synopsis: This powerful documentary follows Kisilu Musya, a Kenyan farmer who begins filming his daily life to show the real impacts of climate change on his community. Over five years, his story evolves from local struggle to global activism as he journeys to the UN climate talks in Paris. The film captures the personal toll of changing weather patterns while exposing the deep inequalities that shape who is heard (and who is not) in global climate debates.

SHORT FILMS

And Still, It Remains (2023) dir. Arwa Aburawa & Turab Shah

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EEgh08ch1I
Where available to screen: UK
Category: Short documentary
Age Guidance: 12A (PG)
Run time: 28 mins 

Synopsis: A poetic and unsettling reflection on the long shadows cast by French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara. Combining archival footage, testimony, and striking imagery, the film explores how radioactive contamination and environmental damage continue to affect local communities decades after colonial powers left. It asks what justice means when the land itself remembers violence.

Dead As A Dodo (2022) dir. Leena Habiballa

Trailer: no trailer available
Where available to screen: UK
Category: Short experimental
Run time: 5 mins 9 seconds

Synopsis: An experimental short film that reimagines the extinction of the dodo to examine how colonialism, science, and ecological loss intertwine. Through sound and image collage, it questions how stories of extinction are told, and who gets to tell them; exposing how ideas of dominance over nature are rooted in colonial histories. This work is inspired by and is in conversation with a book of poems titled A Theory of Birds by the Palestinian-American poet Zaina Alsous.

Until The Last Drop (2020) dir. Tim Webster & Ernesto Cabellos

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQpIsQAnOU
Where available to screen: UK
Category: Short documentary
Run time: 20 mins 20 seconds

Synopsis: Set in the occupied West Bank, this documentary portrays the lives of two farmers struggling under an unequal, apartheid system of water access. Their story reveals how control over natural resources becomes a tool of oppression, linking environmental injustice with political conflict. The film makes visible the intimate, everyday impacts of global debates about rights, scarcity, and survival.

Interested in Watching or Hosting a Screening?

Register here.

• Individuals: Watch at home, by yourself or with friends and family.

• Organisers: Host a community screening in your chosen venue.

• Cost: Free. All rights and licenses have been secured.

Register to receive access to the films and resources ahead of the festival.

Free Resources & Packs

Access the film guide here (covers how to organise a screening and helpful top tips e.g. staying safe, ideas for venues, equipments etc!)

Access our education pack here (lots of great information on language, discussion prompts related to the films and more!)

You are welcome to use materials from the public marketing folder (photos, posters, social media assets, holding slide etc.)

FAQs

How do I take part?

1. Just complete this short google form here. Everyone is welcome to take part!
2. Optional: watch this 30min recording of Information Sharing and Q&A

Do I need to pay for rights or licensing?
No. All rights and licenses have been paid & secured by Counterpoints Arts and partners. There is no charge to you to screen any of the films.

Can I charge tickets to my events?
No, you cannot charge for tickets, but optional donations are fine (you can collect donations for any cause/ charity/ venue/ project of your choice)

Can I host in a cinema, community venue, or outdoors etc?
Yes! Screenings can take place in cinemas, community centres, schools, libraries, churches, faith spaces, pubs, outdoor spaces etc. Absolutely everywhere and anywhere! Private or public screenings is fine.

Can I download the films?
No. The films are only available via a secure online streaming platform during the festival dates only.

Can I watch the films in advance?
We apologise the films are not available to watch beforehand, only during 21-30th November 2025. Check the film synopsis and age range for their suitability to your audience. Some of the films are available to hire on different streaming platforms if you need to watch in advance.

When will I receive the link to the films?
All registered organisers will receive a link the week before the festival. TBC 13th November.

How do I promote my event?
You are welcome to use materials from the public marketing folder (photos, posters, social media assets, holding slide etc.) You are welcome to promote your event in any platform e.g. eventbrite, your website, social media etc. Registered organisers will also be contacted if they want to promote their screenings on our website.

How do I access the free resources & discussion prompts?
Access the film guide here (covers how to organise a screening and helpful top tips e.g. staying safe, ideas for venues, equipments, how to have good post-screening conversations etc!). Access our education pack here (lots of great information on climate & migration language, discussion prompts related to the films and more!). Plus, you are welcome to use materials from the public marketing folder

Are there subtitles?
Where provided by the filmmakers, English subtitles will be available.

I’m not based in the UK, can I take part?
No, this year the films are only available in the UK.

I’m not available 21-30 Nov, can I watch the films before or after?
No, we only have rights & licenses for the films 21st-30th November 2025.

Is there a selection process?
No, everyone is welcome to organise a screening. No selection process.

I am a filmmaker, can you add my film to the programme?
Unfortunately the programme is finalised but please do introduce your work to us for future opportunities.

Any other questions please email hello@counterpoints.org.uk