Telling Stories to Save the World: Climate Change in Narrative Film

by Judith Sebesta, Ph.D.

Telling Stories to Save the World: Climate Change in Narrative Film explores – through text, images, and video – the history and impact of the “Cli-Fi Film,” or Climate Fiction Film, a subgenre of narrative cinema that depicts, on some level, the effects of climate change on the Earth and its inhabitants. This openly-licensed resource covers the following topics:
*Overview of climate change.
*Rationale for the focus on narrative, or feature, film
*Definition and context of the “Cli-Fi Film”
*History and impact of major narrative films focused on climate change, from Soylent Green (1973) to Don’t Look Up (2021)
The resource concludes with a consideration of the future direction of Cli-Fi Films. Along the way, learners read about the author and some effects of climate change on her own life, inspiring her to create this resource and hopefully inciting those who use it to action.

Telling Stories to Save the World is available via Pressbooks at https://pressbooks.pub/climatechangeandfilm.

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