Thought provoking documentary focusing on one woman’s attempt to confront her eco-anxiety by starting a kelp farm off the coast of Vancouver. However, to coax a crop from the wild Pacific, she’ll need help from scientists, wild harvesters, and entrepreneurs who know the challenges and astonishing potential of this miraculous organism.

In the woods at the end of the road, Robin and her friends, the “Hoods”, have no limits to their imagination. But when an unscrupulous developer wants to cut down the forest and redevelop the area, the children must do whatever it takes to save “the kingdom”.

Director Phil Hawkins: “The power of our young protagonists imaginations bring an epic scale to this heartwarming story. And it’s an important one to tell. ROBIN AND THE HOODS, at its core, is about conservation. Both of the environment and our responsibility have as a society to do something about it… but also about the preservation of ‘innocence’ in a day and age where kids are seemingly getting older at a much younger age.

I’m a new parent. I have five year old twins and both these aspects scare me. I’m truly frightened about what world our kids are going to be left with on top of the ‘digital’ pressures of growing up way too soon. ROBIN is important because it’s a reminder of the power of imagination and innocence. The time in our lives where everything feels simple where we can take on the World because what we’re passionate about is right under our noses uncorrupted by politics or corporations. An innocence that’s infectious for all concerned that can change things. Our young characters in the movie care deeply about conserving a very small patch of land that is their entire world. It’s a microcosm of our global struggle to save the environment told in a way that’s inspiring (and exciting!) that can and will spark conversation. It’s a movie I can’t wait to show my kids.”

A Connecticut elementary school teacher discovered a new family of barred owls near his home. For the next 100 days he films the day to day activities of these fledglings as they learn what they must to survive in the wild. Danger, comedy, and suspense (as well as many mouse parts) all come into play in this head turning documentary.

FILMMAKER WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE!

This stunning documentary explores lighthouses across New England (including in Rhode Island) and the sadly decaying condition of many of them. Many abandoned lighthouses haven’t been tended to in decades or since they were replaced by updated tools of navigation. Director Rob Apse captures the beauty of these American sentinels that once defined a nation’s coastline. The Last Lightkeepers highlights stories of individuals currently fighting to preserve these structures while capturing their folklore before the lights go dim forever.

PCFF Winner Audience Choice Award Best Documentary 2020

Microplastic Madness is an inspirational and optimistic take on the local and global plastic pollution crisis as told through an urban youth point of view with a powerful take action message.

Fifth graders from PS 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn -a community on the frontline of climate change that was severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy- spent 2 years investigating plastic pollution. Taking on the roles of citizen scientists, community leaders, and advocates, these 10-11-year-olds collect local data, lead community outreach, and use their impressive data to inform policy, testifying and rallying at City Hall. They take a deep dive into the root causes of plastic pollution, bridging the connection between plastic, climate change, and environmental justice before turning their focus back to school. There they take action to rid their cafeteria of all single-use plastic, driving forward city-wide action and a scalable, youth-led plastic-free movement.

With stop-motion animation, heartfelt kid commentary, and interviews of experts and renowned scientists who are engaged in the most cutting edge research on the harmful effects of microplastics, this alarming, yet charming narrative, conveys an urgent message in user-friendly terms with a take action message to spark youth-led plastic-free action in schools everywhere.

PCFF WINNER 2021 Audience Choice Award: Best Feature Documentary

When filmmaker Suzanne Crocker suggests that her family spend a year eating only locally sourced food, her husband and three teenagers are skeptical. What complicates this experiment is that the family lives in a remote Yukon town, less than 300 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle—not exactly an easy place to access fresh-grown food all year round. First We Eat follows Suzanne and her family as they hunt, forage, fish, grow and raise their own food, struggling along the way to create a meal plan with variety and flavor. In perhaps the most bizarre effort to inject some seasoning into her cooking, Suzanne even dries human blood to use as salt. Filmed primarily by the director herself, this challenging look at food security and sustainability is also an intimate study of a family in the midst of a tough but rewarding experiment.