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A purple sea star glides across the ocean floor in the beautiful documentary Ocean Seen From the Heart. Guided by astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, the film invites audiences to rediscover the ocean as a living, fragile system; rich with life, capable of regeneration, and urgently in need of protection. (Still from Ocean Seen From the Heart, 2023, courtesy of the production.)
By ReFrame Film Festival staff
ReFrame Film Festival’s commitment to environmental justice takes centre stage in its “Flora & Fauna” collection this year. Each festival year, ReFrame groups its films into thematic collections. This year’s Flora & Fauna collection comprises seven powerful films exploring the human connection to, and impact on, the planet. This article spotlights each film in the collection.
The festival opens with the breathtaking Ocean Seen From the Heart (Showplace, Friday Jan. 30, 4:45 p.m.; also available virtually Feb. 3–8). which follows scientists, explorers, and activists into the depths of the ocean, led by renowned astrophysicist Hubert Reeves.
The documentary invites the viewer to reconsider the ocean not as an infinite resource, but as a living, regenerative system under threat. Both poetic and urgent, Ocean Seen From the Heart sets a profound tone for the festival weekend.
On Friday evening, two selections from the Flora & Fauna collection will screen simultaneously at Showplace and Market Hall. Hybrid passholders can choose which film to see in theatre and which to watch online during the Virtual Program (Feb 3–8).
Tuktuit : Caribou (Market Hall, Friday Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.; also available virtually) is an experimental short film by Lindsay McIntyre that traces the relationship between Inuit, caribou, land, and habitat disruption in Nunavut. The film was created using handmade emulsions derived from lichen and caribou gelatin. Tuktuit is followed by the animated feature Endless Cookie, a one-of-a-kind film showing in-person only.
Richard Ladkani’s Yanuni (Showplace, Friday Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.; also available virtually) follows Chief Juma Xipaia of the Xipaya people as she rises to the political frontlines of climate justice in Brazil. Vibrantly shot and profoundly intimate, the film traces Xipaia’s defence of the Amazon while she navigates political leadership, personal risk, and impending motherhood. Yanuni is preceded by the short audio-visual whirlwind Pidikwe by Canadian director Caroline Monnet.
Chief Juma Xipaia stands at the water’s edge at sunset. Richard Ladkani’s Yanuni follows her defence of the Amazon and her people as she rises to the political frontlines of climate justice, balancing leadership, personal risk, and impending motherhood. (Still from Yanuni, 2024, courtesy of the production.)
On Saturday, Jan. 31, ReFrame presents back-to-back screenings from the Flora & Fauna collection at Showplace. These films depict starkly different approaches to environmental action. Jen Muranetz’s gripping documentary Fairy Creek (Showplace, Saturday Jan. 31, 10:00 a.m.; also available virtually), chronicles the historic protests against old-growth logging in the unceded Ada’itsx (Fairy Creek) valley on Vancouver Island. Through immersive frontline footage, the film brings audiences inside the tensions and breakthroughs inherent to direct defence of a land under threat.
Rain-soaked activists occupy logging machinery at the Fairy Creek blockade on Pacheedaht First Nation territory. Jen Muranetz’s Fairy Creek captures the solidarity and sacrifice of an historic environmental resistance movement confronting state and corporate power on the frontlines of climate justice. (Still from Fairy Creek, 2024, courtesy of the production.)
After a short interval the doors reopen for Future Council (Showplace, Saturday Jan. 31, 12:30 p.m.). In this spirited film, director Damen Gameau invites young people from across Europe to challenge major corporations in their own boardrooms.
Rakel, a fourth-generation shepherd, carries a lamb on her family’s small sheep farm in Arctic Norway. Rebekka Nystabakk’s Woolly offers a warm, grounded portrait of sustainable farming, and inherited knowledge across generations. (Still from Woolly, 2024, courtesy of the production.)
The Flora & Fauna collection concludes on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m., as Market Hall hosts a pairing of two films centred on farming, food systems, and inter-generational knowledge. Beginning with Maya Bastian’s 22-minute The Shropshire Sheep Scandal, audiences are taken into the story of Ontario farmer Montana Jones’ fight to protect her sheep from government seizure and culling. Tense and deeply personal, the film is followed by the heart-warming feature Woolly (Market Hall, 7:30 p.m.; also available virtually) by Rebekka Nystabakk. The film offers a thoughtful portrait of life on a small sheep farm in Arctic Norway, where a daughter and her wife inherit a way of living that tests their resilience. Offering fresh views on sustainability and what it means to farm for the future, Woolly is an uplifting close to ReFrame 2026.
GreenUP is proud to sponsor ReFrame’s Flora & Fauna film collection this year. The social and environmental justice documentary festival opens in two locations in downtown Nogojiwanong / Peterborough with in-person screenings from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, followed by the virtual program available Feb. 3 to 8.
For more information visit https://reframefilmfestival.ca/