Within the last twenty years, commercially successful films with an environmentalism theme have been released theatrically and made by the major Hollywood studios. The Annual Environmental Media Awards have been presented by the Environmental Media Association (EMA) since 1991 to the best television episode or film with an environmental message.[1]
A non-fiction film is a film whose author(s), at the time of its production, believed its information to be true.
| Title |
Theme(s) and subtheme(s) |
Author(s) |
Year(s) |
| The 11th Hour (film) |
Various themes |
Nadia Conners, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Leila Conners Petersen |
2007 |
| Ashes to Honey |
Nuclear power: radiation |
|
2011 |
| Baraka |
Various themes |
Constantine Nicholas and Genevieve Nicholas |
1992 |
| Biùtiful cauntri |
Pollution: toxic waste dumping in Southern Italy |
|
2007 |
| Blue Vinyl |
Pollution: production and disposal of polyvinyl chloride |
Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand |
2002 |
| Burning the Future: Coal in America |
Mining: mountaintop removal mining |
David Novack and Richard Hankin |
2008 |
| Butterfly |
Environmentalism: resisting clearcutting |
|
2000 |
| Cane Toads: An Unnatural History |
Introduced species: cane toad |
Mark Lewis |
1988 |
| The Chances of the World Changing |
Endangered species: turtles |
|
2007 |
| Chernobyl Heart |
Chernobyl disaster: acute radiation syndrome |
|
2003 |
| Children of the Tsunami: No More Tears |
Natural disasters: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami |
|
2005 |
| Clouds of Smoke |
Global warming |
|
2007 |
| The Cove (film) |
Hunting: dolphin drive hunting |
Mark Monroe |
2009 |
| Crude (2007) |
Petroleum industry: peak oil and climate change |
Richard Smith |
2007 |
| Crude (2009) |
Petroleum industry: pollution and class action |
Joe Berlinger |
2009 |
| Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash |
Peak oil |
|
2006 |
| Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster |
Petroleum industry: Exxon Valdez oil spill |
|
1992 |
| Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment |
Energy: nuclear weapons |
|
1991 |
| A Delicate Balance - The Truth |
Diet: effects on health and the natural environment |
Adrianna Scheibner and Aaron Scheibner |
2008 |
| Dreamland |
Dams: Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in Iceland |
|
2009 |
| Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11 |
Air pollution: from September 11 attacks |
|
2006 |
| Earth |
Environmental change: effects on three particular species |
Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield, and Leslie Megahey |
2007 |
| Earth Days |
Environmentalism: environmental movement in the United States |
Robert Stone |
2009 |
| Elemental |
Water pollution: Ganges River |
|
2012 |
| Flow: For Love of Water |
Water privatization: big business and the natural environment |
|
2008 |
| Food, Inc. |
Agriculture: corporate farming |
|
2009 |
| Forests for the 21st Century |
Forests: reforestation |
|
2009 |
| The Fourth Revolution: Energy |
Energy: renewable energy |
Carl-A. Fechner |
2010 |
| The Future of Food |
Agriculture: genetically modified food |
Deborah Koons Garcia |
2004 |
| Global Warming: The Signs and The Science |
Global warming |
|
2005 |
| The Great Global Warming Swindle |
Global warming: climate change denial |
|
2007 |
| The Great Warming |
Global warming: politics of global warming |
|
2006 |
| Hinterland Who's Who |
Wildlife |
Environment Canada Wildlife Service and the National Film Board of Canada |
1960s, 1970s, 2000s |
| The Idiot Cycle |
Chemical industry: genetically modified organisms |
Emmanuelle Schick Garcia |
2010 |
| If You Love This Planet |
Energy: nuclear weapons |
|
1982 |
| An Inconvenient Truth |
Global warming |
Al Gore |
2006 |
| An Inconvenient Truth...Or Convenient Fiction? |
Global warming |
Steven F. Hayward |
2007 |
| Koyaanisqatsi |
Various themes |
|
1982 |
| The Last Paradises: On the Track of Rare Animals |
Endangered species |
Eugen Schuhmacher |
1967 |
| Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World (series of videos) |
Various themes |
|
1992 |
| Minamata: The Victims and Their World |
Water pollution: mercury poisoning |
Noriaki Tsuchimoto |
1971 |
| Mountain Top Removal |
Mining: mountaintop removal mining |
|
2007 |
| No Impact Man |
Sustainability: sustainable living |
|
2009 |
| Oil on Ice |
Petroleum industry: Arctic Refuge drilling controversy |
Stephen Most |
2004 |
| Polluting Paradise |
Waste management: in Turkey |
|
2012 |
| The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil |
Peak oil: anti-consumerism |
|
2006 |
| Renewal |
Environmentalism: environmental movement in the United States |
|
2008 |
| The Return of Navajo Boy |
Uranium mining in the United States |
|
2000 |
| Revenge of the Electric Car |
Sustainable design: electric cars |
Chris Paine and P.G. Morgan |
2011 |
| Revolution |
Various themes |
Rob Stewart |
2012 |
| Rokkasho Rhapsody |
Nuclear power: radiation |
|
2006 |
| Semper Fi: Always Faithful |
Water pollution: Camp Lejeune water contamination |
|
2011 |
| Sharkwater |
Endangered species: sharks |
Rob Stewart |
2007 |
| Silent Storm |
Nuclear weapons testing: radioactive contamination |
Peter Butt |
2003 |
| Spoiled the Movie |
Energy: environmental impact of the energy industry, problems with alternative energy, etc. |
Kevin Miller |
2011 |
| The Story of Stuff |
Product lifecycle management: anti-consumerism |
Annie Leonard |
2007 |
| The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: A Looming Disaster |
Air pollution: from September 11 attacks |
|
2006 |
| Toxic Legacy |
Air pollution: from September 11 attacks |
|
2006 |
| Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage |
Waste management: landfills |
|
2010 |
| Ultimate Tornado |
Tornadoes in the United States |
|
2006 |
| Vanishing of the Bees |
Honey bees: colony collapse disorder |
Maryam Henein, George Langworthy, and James Erskine |
2009 |
| What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire |
Various themes: peak oil, climate change, overpopulation, and species extinction |
Timothy S. Bennett |
2007 |
| What Is the Electric Car? |
Sustainable design: electric cars |
|
2010 |
| White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki |
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: acute radiation syndrome |
Steven Okazaki |
2007 |
| Who Killed the Electric Car? |
Sustainable design: electric cars and roles of industries and governments |
Chris Paine |
2006 |
| Wind Over Water: The Cape Wind Story |
Energy: Cape Wind |
Ole Tangen Jr. |
2003 |
| Windfall |
Wind power: environmental impact of wind power |
|
2010 |
| The World According to Monsanto |
Agriculture: Monsanto |
Marie-Monique Robin |
2008 |
Some fiction films are based on true events.
