The 6 Movies You Must See at EarthX — Saving the Planet on the Big Screen

The 3rd edition of EarthX Film Festival runs through Monday, April 28. EarthX is an environmental organization that aims to educate, inform and inspire people to take action for a more sustainable future for the world.

The film festival is one of three parts of the annual event, which also includes an expo and conference, which brings high-profile speakers, including Rick Perry this year. The film fest showcases environmentally focused movies, including 16 feature films and 40 short films that shine light on important conservation efforts in the world.

The film festival began last Friday, but we’ve rounded up six of the best films to see this Thursday through Sunday.

The River and The Wall

Perot Museum: Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 pm

Hall of State: Saturday, April 27 at 2 pm

This year’s Spotlight Screening, the Gala Presentation will take place at the Perot Museum. Director Ben Masters follows five friends on an immersive adventure through the unknown wilds of the Texas borderlands as they travel 1,200 miles from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico on horses, mountain bikes and canoes.

Inspired by the threat of new border wall construction that looms ahead, and what he saw as the urgency of documenting the last remaining wilderness in Texas, Masters recruited a team to join him on a two and a half month journey down the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cooked: Survival By Zip Code

African American Museum: Friday, April 26 at 6:15 pm and Saturday April 27 at 7 pm

Directed by Judith A. Helfand, this film unpacks the topic of the best way to prepare for a disaster. Inspired by Eric Kinenberg’s book HEAT WAVE: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, Helfand takes viewers on a journey from the deadly 1996 Chicago heat disaster to the extreme weather, extreme disparity and the politics of disaster that define today’s modern era, posing the question: What if a zip code was just a number, and not a life-or-death sentence?

Tigerland

Women’s Museum: Saturday, April 27 at 7 pm

Hall of State: Sunday, April 28 at 12:15 pm

This feature film weaves together two stories of tiger conservation. The first took place half a century ago in the jungles of India, where a young officer rallied the world to save the animals from extinction. The second is unfolding today in Russia’s Far East, where guardians of the last Siberian tigers risk everything to save the species. Directed by Ross Kauffman, the film is an elegiac homage to the animals.

Kifaru

African American Museum: Sunday, April 28 at 3 pm

Directed by Emmy-nominated David Hambridge, this film follows the rangers at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy who devote their lives to caring for and protecting Sudan, the last male white rhino and his daughter and granddaughter. It follows the two young recruits over their first four years on the job as they experience the heartbreak and joy of caring for animals whose fate appears sealed.

Sea of Shadows

Hall of State: Sunday, April 28 at 2:45 pm

Executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Sea of Shadows explores the attack of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. It follows the story of resource exploitation and institutional corruption, where casualties go beyond sea creatures. Sea life is captured to sell within the Chinese black market, such as the totoaba and the earth’s smallest whale, the vaquita, a rare creature endemic to the Sea of Cortez. Despite government shutdowns of fishing and public awareness campaigns, market forces continue to drive the activity.

Bonus film: This short precedes The River and The Wall on Thursday and Saturday, as well as is included in Under the Water Family Friendly Shorts on Sunday

There’s Something in the Water

Perot Museum: Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 pm, preceding The River and The Wall

Hall of State: Saturday, April 27 at 2 pm

Film Box in Women’s Museum: Sunday, April 28 at 2:30 pm

Dallas’ own Shannon Wynne produced this short film about Caddo Lake. The only natural lake in Texas, Caddo’s future is threatened by the appearance of Giant Salvinia, an incredibly aggressive invasive plant from South America that is rapidly overwhelming the body of water. This animated short brings together the real people devoting their lives to the cause.

Purchase tickets for EarthX film screenings here.