Cinema Club: COP28

Step into a series of immersive cinematic journeys that delve into the heart of Agriculture and Agroforestry regeneration! Join us for an inspiring Cinema Club event series throughout COP where films, conversations, and connections converge to elevate our understanding and support for diverse agricultural practices.

Everyday of COP28 from 16.30-18.00 we transformed the Future Economy Forum pavilion (TA2-125), next to the Food Systems Pavilion, into a vibrant cinema club, blending films with in-person dialogues among our esteemed audience, directors, producers, and the incredible individuals featured in these stories.

Our participants were transported into the heart of farmers' fields and communities, exploring the pivotal role they play in regenerating people and nature. The Cinema Club’s curated film series was dedicated to amplifying vital aspects: from boosting farmers' incomes and community health to fostering local economic development, soil health, biodiversity, and environmental benefits.

Together, through film and dialogue, we explore the interconnectedness of productivity, food and water security, and the critical impact of carbon sequestration for climate resilience. Join the Cinema Club sessions to be part of a transformative conversation shaping the future of agriculture and the communities it touches.

Sponsored by: Future Economy Forum, Food Systems Pavilion, Food 4 Climate Pavilion, #ActiononFood

See Master Blue Zone Schedule for dates.

The Biggest Little Farm (December 1)
The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature's conflicts, the Chester’s unlock and uncover a biodiverse design for living that exists far beyond their farm, its seasons, and our wildest imagination.

Featuring breathtaking cinematography, captivating animals, and an urgent message to heed Mother Nature’s call, The Biggest Little Farm provides us all a vital blueprint for better living and a healthier planet.

https://www.apricotlanefarms.com/biggest-little-farm/

How Regenerative Farming can become the Future Mainstream of Agriculture: Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) (December 4)
We will have joining us at COP Mr. Vijay Kumar, leader of Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming and Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, that works already with 850k, mostly women farmers in India transition from chemical to much more productive Regen Ag.

The Future Economy Forum is committed to helping to scale this approach in India and into other countries.

Featuring Short films by:

APCNF & Rythu Sadhikara Samstha
"The Guardians of the Soil" world premiere,
a film by Elisabetta Illy, Jaqueline Illy & Federico Gariboldi

Listening to Nature ‘Sustainablizes’ Big Agriculture: INTERVIEW WITH LEONTINO BALBO of Native who farms ⅓ of the world’s organic cane sugar (December 5)
Leontino Balbo of Native, developed an amazing regenerative farming approach that is ROC certified and produces 1/3 of the world’s organic cane sugar on 50k hectares of land in the state of Sao Paolo in a way that is significantly more productive, pest and water resilient than the most sophisticated chemical / GMO competitors. Due to his particular method, his monocrop fields have higher biodiversity than the surrounding forests. He has also found regenerative farming solutions for many other crops and advises even larger farmers on how to implement them. At the same time he also markets the products of 800 small farmers under his Native bio-food brand, supporting them with a successful marketing approach and income premiums.

Interview with Marina Silva, Brazil’s minister of environment (December 5)
Meet Marina Silva, Brasil's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil. A multiple-time presidential candidate in Brazil, Mrs Silva has an amazing background, growing up in deep poverty in a rubber tapper family. Illiterate until 16, she then became a union activist, senator, presidential candidate who won 20% with a deep green agenda. As ministry of the environment she managed to reduce deforestation by 80% in her first mandate and now again by 46% in less than a year. She will be the host of COP30 and is an amazing women leader who speaks not only from modern science and politics but from a deep indigenous wisdom of the forest and the land.

Circular Design for Food: Six Short Stories (December 8)
The food we eat shapes the landscapes around us and significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Today we bend our natural ecosystems to produce food, but we can design food differently. We can design food for nature to thrive. This collection of six short stories will take you on a regenerative production journey from Africa and Latin America to the United Kingdom and India and will explore how, by applying circular design strategies, we can have a food system that builds biodiversity and soil health, that delivers clean air and water and positively contributes to tackling climate change.

Join Miranda Schnitger, Climate Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Merijn Dols, NOW Partners Managing Director and Ellen MacArthur Foundation Food Advisory Board Member, for an inspiring conversation on designing food for nature to thrive, inspired by six short stories.

Six Inches of Soil (December 9)
Six Inches of Soil is a story of courage, vision and hope.
Our film, Six Inches of Soil, tells the story of remarkable farmers, communities, small businesses, chefs and entrepreneurs who are leading the way to transform how our food is produced and consumed.

Agroecology is an approach to farming that includes ‘regenerative’ farming techniques that work in harmony with, rather than against nature. It focuses on local food systems and shorter supply chains. The advantages are numerous: we get to know who is growing our food and how, farmers get paid a fair price and have the satisfaction of producing healthy food in a healthy environment. Agroecology may also be our best chance in the face of climate change: it keeps carbon in the ground and creates resilient systems in the face of climate uncertainty.

Six Inches of Soil tells the inspiring story of young British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, our health and provide for local communities.
https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/

Abundance (December 11)
During the largest food crisis in a century, a group of college students step up to help those facing hunger.

Their small local effort inspires hope nationally and motivates 600+ students to drop everything to feed millions of families. Within months, the project scales larger than anyone could have imagined and the students find themselves on the front lines of fighting hunger. As food bank lines grow across the country and college finals approach, do the students have what it takes to create a long term solution?
https://www.farmlinkproject.org/abundance