On Friday, the School of Cinematic Arts played host to the Eco Film + Media Arts Festival, an annual festival dedicated to showcasing art about the environment. The event was co-sponsored by a variety of USC organizations, including Arts in Action, the Fisher Museum of Art, the Annenberg Innovation Lab and Assignment: Earth. Two additional co-sponsors also acted as the presenters for the night, taking center stage in the festival: the Arts & Climate Collective and the Media Arts + Practice division.

The event was originally created by the Arts & Climate Collective in 2022 by Natasha Nutkiewicz, a USC alum from the School of Dramatic Arts. The festival has been passed down over the years to different members of the Arts & Climate Collective, this year ending up in the hands of Arian Tomar, a junior majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production who also doubled as a filmmaker in the festival.

The evening kicked off with the first round of short films, starting with “New Animals,” by Ellie Schmidt, a doctoral student studying media arts and practice, which related humanity to a variety of aquatic animals. “Fueling the Future,” a film by Liam Hoole, a senior majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production, discussed kelp as a potential biofuel, and “Anguilla Anguilla” by Ari Williams, a senior also majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production, showcased a beautiful true story about an eel, with puppets.

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“The Black Sphere” by Miao Hao, a master’s student studying cinema and media studies, was a VFX masterclass, showing how everyday actions can help or hinder carbon emissions. Honor Dodd of Pitzer College brought “The Jurupa Oak,” which told the story of California’s oldest living trees, and Ankur Shah’s  “From Soil to Soul: Food Justice in LA” documented how everyday people in Compton work together to create viable and healthy food sources.

In addition to the screenings, a variety of art installations were present in the lobby: “I accidentally stepped on a flower” by Eneos Carka, a doctoral student studying cinema and media studies; triptych “Treeptych” by Jake Nicastro, master’s student studying cinematic arts, film and television production; and “my FLESH is on FIRE but At Least I Can Grill My Bacon!” by Cameron Knauf, a sophomore majoring in theatre with an acting emphasis. There were two multimedia pieces included in the lineup: the interactive poem “May the water find the roots,” by Morandi Wu, a junior majoring in art as well as media arts and practice, related the fluid nature of human relationship to the environment, and Siena Jarrin’s painting “Microscope” sensitively detailed the smaller organisms in our ecosystem.

Knauf talked about the importance of engaging with sustainability as a USC student. “I want to depict what I saw throughout my daily life, of how my friends and family overconsume, how I see  people walking around USC just casually throwing stuff away into the trash where it can easily be compostable or recyclable,” Knauf said.

The second block of screenings began with “Under the Overpass,” a triptych piece mixing poetry with academia and photography by James DeLisio of UC San Diego. Bird tagging in Alaska was the focus of “Not Their First Rodeo” by Benjamin Fischer, a senior majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production.  

“Hear Her” by Tomar and Joshua Jacobs, a master’s student studying green technologies, was the only film to discuss artificial intelligence, doing so in a unique way, incorporating the usefulness of some applications with the underlying knowledge that false digital relationships do nothing compared to engaging with the real world. 

Dale McCallum’s “Phosphenes” was a trippy adventure through the serenity of nature and chaos of humanity, and “Palmas” by Aric Lopez, a master’s student studying cinematic arts, film and television production, closed out the festival, detailing the history of palm trees and the indigenous populations of Los Angeles.

One attendee, Jack Brecheisen, a USC alum, noted how themes of adaptation and community were present throughout the festival, particularly in “Palmas” and “Soil to Soul,” and reflect society’s current needs.

“Community connects to come together and make their own options because the government’s not always going to be able to step up and take that into action,” Brecheisen said in reference to “Soil to Soul.”

One form of adaptation in the festival as a whole was the inclusion of many different schools. 

“We were all really interested in finding ways to increase participation,” Tomar said. “We see it as a way to extend the platform that the School of Cinematic Arts has to other folks who could stand to benefit from our collaboration.”

According to Michael Bodie, an associate professor of the practice of cinematic arts, the festival has created a community that has grown since its creation. Bodie said all 14 reviewers of the festival this year were previous participants in the festival. 

“Once you’ve formed this community, we all become ambassadors of the community,” Bodie said. “It’s up to us to go out there and share our experiences here, and share our understanding of what it means to explore these stories.”

The Arts & Climate Collective’s next festival will be in April as a part of Earth Month events regarding sustainability. If it is anything like this festival, it will definitely be something to keep an eye out for.

Disclaimer: Jack Brecheisen was a Daily Trojan artist from Spring 2023 to Fall 2023. He is no longer involved in the paper.