Film Selections and Honorable Mentions for 2025
Here are the film selections and honorable mentions from the 2025 Outer Banks Environmental Film Festival!
Documentary Short Film
America's Wolf
Dir. Joanne L Hershfield
Runtime: 06:51
The National Geographic Society Impact Story Lab is an award-winning creative unit that combines world-class storytelling with social and behavioral science in order to drive positive change for our Explorers. Our interdisciplinary team collaborates with National Geographic Explorers to produce film, video, audio, photography, VR/AR experiences, and other media to help accomplish the goals of their programs.

Documentary Short Film
Fear in the Water: A PFAS Story - Honeybird Farms
Dir. Jesse Bradley
Runtime: 14:00
Trailer Unavailable
Honeybird Farms is an organic farm along the lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina. When farmer Ty Jacobos discovered his well water was contaminated with PFAS chemicals he shut down his farm and contacted Cape Fear River Watch to find a solution to save his farm. The story follows Ty as he attempts to rebuild his farm and honor his commitment to provide healthy organic produce to the community despite no support from Chemours due to the terms of the Consent Order. This is a story of injustice, community and hope.

Documentary Short Film
Red Wolf in Time Out
Dir. Dave Russo and Calliope Mary
Runtime: 04:00
Trailer Unavailable
The Red Wolf got tattled on for something it didn't do and now it's in time-out. Child narrated, stepdad animated.
Documentary Short Film, Hidden Stories
Phillips: Lover of Horses
Dir. Kamal Browne
Runtime: 11:59
A resilient 75-year-old woman battles a debilitating disease to maintain her beloved farm, showcasing unwavering strength and determination.
Documentary Short Film, Indigenous Stories
Dream to Cure Water
Dir. Ciril Jazbec
Runtime: 20:00
Peru is home to 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers, but 40% of their surface area has disappeared in the last fifty years alone.
The glaciers are a crucial water source in Peru. People are forced to adapt as they disappear.
According to Peru's Natural Institute of Natural Resources, all of the country's 200 glaciers are under threat. It is feared that all of them will be gone soon.
In the Andes, due to glacier melt, rocks are exposed to the air for the first time in thousands of years. The glacial meltwater now carries acid-heavy metal minerals into the rivers. And from the rivers, to the crops and drinking water for livestock and for people.
This is the story of two remote mountain communities that depend on the water and are trying to fight back against the effects of climate change through innovative adaptation, combining ancestral tradition with state-of-the-art science.

Documentary Short Film
The Moon Had a Shadow
Dir. Phil Hart
Runtime: 06:07
Trailer Unavailable
Stunning, evocative and world-class footage of solar eclipses in Idaho/Wyoming and the Tetons, and Exmouth, Western Australia. With a soundtrack 'Shine' by Jason Mraz that was made for this.

Documentary Short Film
Frozen Waters
Dir. Anastasia Fetisov
Runtime: 25:00
Trailer Unavailable
Frozen Waters chronicles the awe-inspiring journey of endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh as he becomes the first person to swim beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. In this historic feat, Pugh swims 1 kilometre through subglacial rivers, navigating icy tunnels and freezing waters, all while advocating for the protection of the planet’s oceans. The documentary captures not only the physical challenge but also the urgent environmental message behind his swim, highlighting the delicate balance of Antarctica’s ecosystem and the global consequences of climate change. Through Frozen Waters, Pugh’s mission for marine conservation comes to life, urging world leaders to act before it’s too late. The film is a powerful call to action, showing the connection between human resilience and environmental preservation.
Documentary Short Film, Black Stories
Something in the Water
Dir. Nateya Taylor
Runtime: 12:11
Five water justice advocates discuss how Milwaukee’s Black communities are disproportionately being lead poisoned, and the debilitating effects it has on residents' health, with hopes to see equitable change that will heal the water and Black resident’s relationship with it.

Documentary Short Film
Keepers of the Coastline
Dir. Jeremy Charles
Runtime: 12:30
Trailer Unavailable
In 2023, the Tolowa Dee-ni' people alongside partnering tribes asserted sovereignty over the 700 square miles of their ancestral fisheries. Now in 2024, we see how marine science and resource management can be guided by community and culture.

Documentary Feature Film
Sargassum
Dir. Claude Barnes
Runtime: 01:30:00
Trailer Unavailable
In the vast Atlantic ocean, a mysterious and vital ecosystem floats and thrives, vital at sea but disastrous on shore—the Sargassum seaweed. Sargassum is a visually captivating 90 min documentary that uncovers the seaweed's ecological significance and the intricate relationships it holds with marine life and humanity. Experts shed light on the critical role Sargassum plays in marine biodiversity, acting as a nursery and a sanctuary in the open ocean. However, the documentary takes a poignant turn as it investigates the alarming proliferation of Sargassum, particularly in the Caribbean and southern US. Once a symbol of ecological balance, Sargassum has now become an environmental menace, overwhelming coastlines and disrupting local economies. Scientists and environmentalists discuss the factors contributing to this crisis, including climate change and nutrient pollution, which have exacerbated the growth of Sargassum. The documentary also explores innovative solutions and ongoing efforts to mitigate the problem, showcasing the resilience and ingenuity of affected communities in the Caribbean, Mexico.
Documentary Feature Film
The Last Dive
Dir. Cody Sheehy
Runtime: 01:31:00
Willy is a 22-foot-wide Giant Pacific Manta Ray, and Terry is an 80-year-old diver with a troubled past. For more than 19 years, Willy would slap a huge wing against the hull of Terry’s sailboat and Terry would gear up in SCUBA and climb onto Willy’s back. Together they would explore Willy's underwater world. It was a transformative experience for Terry. "I don’t know if I was seeking redemption," Terry reflects, "but Willy looked into my eyes and decided he wanted me as a friend." Now, nearing the end of his life, Terry embarks on one final expedition—to a remote island—in search of his old companion, hoping to say goodbye. In the spirit of Grizzly Man and My Octopus Teacher, The Last Dive explores the profound intelligence of manta rays and how they may be communicating with us in ways we are only just beginning to understand.

Documentary Feature Film
The American Southwest
Dir. Ben Masters
Runtime: 01:43:30
Trailer Unavailable
THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST is a wild and unforgettable journey down the mighty Colorado River. Narrated by Indigenous environmentalist Quannah Chasinghorse, the film beautifully showcases the region’s abundant wildlife, confronts the ecological impacts of dams and river depletion, and boldly advocates for increased water and wildlife conservation. The Fin and Fur Films production travels through legendary landscapes from the viewpoint of some of the Southwest’s most charming characters… such as wetland-building beavers, bugling bull elk, and desert-adapted rattlesnakes. Made in association with Natives Outdoors, THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST highlights the region’s deep cultural history and the crucial need to better manage the river for both wildlife and society to thrive.
Hidden Stories
The Invisible Mammal
Dir. Kristin Tieche
Runtime: 01:29:12
Against the backdrop of the sixth mass extinction, an all-woman team of biologists set out to save bats from a deadly fungal disease, but when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupts their work, they are sent down a path of discovery that illuminates the connections between bat conservation and the spread of infectious disease.

Narrative Feature Film
Pasárgada
Dir. Dira Paes
Runtime: 01:30:46
Trailer Unavailable
During her secret mission in the middle of the tropical forest, Irene (50), a lonely ornithologist, feels the effects that the full exuberance of this place provokes in her body and mind. When the true purpose of her mission is revealed, it brings to the surface the ambiguity between her desires and her duty in the face of the illegal trafficking of wild birds that threatens this paradise. She starts to question her new sanctuary, which may also be her own abyss.
Religion, Spirituality, Environment
The Snake and The Whale
Dir. John Carlos Frey
Runtime: 01:30:00
Over the past fifty years, four federal dams impounding the Lower Snake River in Washington State have been identified as the root cause for the demise of all of Idaho’s anadromous fish. "The Snake and the Whale" reveals the corrupt deals behind the dams' construction and the subsequent campaigns to hide their role in this ongoing ecological disaster. Additionally, the dams have profoundly impacted a group of Killer Whales off the coast of Washington, known as the Southern Resident Orca, which rely on Snake River salmon as a primary food supply. These majestic creatures are now atop the Endangered Species list.
Religion, Spirituality, Environment
SACREBLEU - Chapter 1
Dir. Clement Oberto
Runtime: 05:00
This 1st chapter introduces PB — an individual born from the ocean with his head wrapped in a plastic bag, a symbol of human blindness and disconnection. Adrift in a world that feels foreign, PB searches for meaning, belonging, and his place in a damaged environment.
This video is the opening part of a larger environmental musical feature film (led by Ilya Lagutenko's band MTRSS) and composed of nine chapters. A transformative journey blending reality and fantasy, exploring our fragile relationship with nature and the urgent need for environmental preservation.

Documentary Short Film
Discovering Bessie Coleman
Dir. Beth Powell
Runtime: 26:00
Trailer Unavailable
Discovering Bessie Coleman is an inspiring documentary that celebrates the impact of Bessie Coleman's legacy through the eyes of those she continues to inspire.

Honorable Mention
Intangible Zone
Dir. Greg Méndez López
Runtime: 14:36
Trailer Unavailable
In the Colombian Amazon, the Curare indigenous reservation survives and struggles to protect the Intangible Zone, a territory inhabited by isolated tribes in a natural, millenary state, extremely vulnerable to outside contact.

Honorable Mention
Songs of Healing
Dir. Adam Carlton Spencer
Runtime: 24:21
Trailer Unavailable
In the Bolivian Amazon, three healers share their wisdom from working with sacred plants. Follow these shaman as they listen to the plants sing to them, harvest and prepare Ayahuasca medicine, teach about the spirits of the plants, and recount their visions and aspirations in ceremony.
Honorable Mention
Grit, Heart, & History
Dir. Peter James Kulsziski
Runtime: 43:36
This documentary is more than just a story about Pilot Mountain State Park. It is history. It is a story of what it took for this mountain to be free of commercial and residential development—embracing history, grit, heart, community know-how, and persistence to preserve it for the public to enjoy. It is an untold story of people pulling together and envisioning a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, historic preservation, and going beyond boundaries to protect precious resources like water and a sanctuary for nature seekers and family getaways.

Honorable Mention
Hope
Dir. Clement Oberto
Runtime: 12:09
Trailer Unavailable
God made the world good and beautiful and gave it to people to cultivate and protect. The everyday life of the Lintula monastery is based on this idea, where all kinds of environmental burdens are avoided. "The lifestyle of the monasteries is an attempt to correct the mistakes that humanity has made. It's an attempt to live closer to nature and closer to God," says the head of the monastery, igumenia Ksenia.
The poetic short film "Hope" brings a gentle and ancient perspective to the climate discussion, which reminds us that in order for future generations to be able to experience the singing of birds and the sparkle of the sun on a summer lake, each of us must make corrective actions.
Filmed at the Lintula monastery in Heinävesi at the turn of August-September 2024. Our warmest thanks to the head of the monastery, igumenia Ksenia and to nun Nektaria. We thank the entire monastery for the good cooperation.
Honorable Mention
Warp Weft Water Weeds
Dir. John Rash
Runtime: 11:45
Elizabeth Bradford draws inspiration for her paintings from a profound connection to nature through direct observations while hiking or kayaking primarily in the Appalachian Mountains and foothills where she resides.