Our Nature Connection Film Series Launches
Today, we’re proud to launch Our Nature Connection film series, created in partnership with REI Cooperative Action Fund, celebrating the many ways people find connection, meaning, and belonging in the natural world.
Our Nature Connection film series includes three short films spotlighting REI Cooperative Action Fund grantees whose work reinforces the belief that we are nature, inseparable and interdependent. Through these films, The Redford Center and REI Fund highlight communities deepening their connection to the natural world, revealing how time in nature restores health, well-being, and our sense of belonging on this planet.
Check out the first film in the series below!
Boyz N The Wood
Resilience in the Redwoods
Directed by Faith Briggs Rose, Boyz N The Wood: Resilience in the Redwoods follows a group of Black men stepping into the redwoods to reconnect with themselves, with each other, and with the healing power of the natural world.
While in nature, these men have the space to breathe, to be seen, and to show up fully without judgment. Through brotherhood, reflection, breathwork, and shared time outdoors, they are able to slow down, be present, and show up as they are. In the stillness of the forest, moments of joy, vulnerability, and connection unfold naturally.
Announcing the Winner of the 2026 Nature Connection Pitch
Last weekend, we partnered with DC/DOX to host the 2026 Nature Connection Pitch in Washington, D.C. From hundreds of applicants this year, five finalists were selected to receive mentorship, workshops, travel support, festival access, and the opportunity to present their projects to a panel of industry leaders, with the winner taking home a $50,000 grand prize.
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s grand prize winner is director Kristy Hyunsoo Choi and her film Sing Peak!
The mountain Sing Peak was named in 1899 after Tie Sing, a Chinese chef who cooked for the first mapmakers and founders of the National Park Service. Every year, a community of Asian Americans treks without a trail to Sing Peak. This film ponders why.
Kristy Hyunsoo Choi is a Korean American filmmaker interested in stories about desire, freedom, and belonging. We’re honored to support her vision and excited to see this important project continue its journey.
Learn more about the 2026 Nature Connection Pitch and this year’s participants.
The Redford Center at Sheffield DocFest
We were honored to join the filmmakers and subjects of 2024 Redford Center Grants grantee film Derek vs. Derek for its U.K. premiere at Sheffield DocFest! It was a joy to experience several sold-out screenings with audiences while celebrating the film’s continued festival run.
Our Program Manager, Celia Byrne, attended Sheffield Docfest representing The Redford Center as an Industry Representative in Sheffield’s MeetMarket, one of the world’s largest documentary markets. Celia met with dozens of filmmakers and was thrilled to celebrate the U.K. premiere of Derek Vs Derek.
Redford Center-Supported Films
Continue Festival Momentum
Harvest Premieres at Tribeca
Harvest celebrated its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival before heading to D.C. for a screening at DC/DOX.
The Nelson brothers are on a mission to become the largest farmers in the U.S., but after two years of poor harvests, the new year brings as much opportunity as uncertainty. This season, the brothers must work together as they farm more land than ever, facing the headwinds of climate change, equipment failures, and familial tension along the way.
Derek vs. Derek Makes Its U.K. Premiere
During its U.K. premiere at Sheffield DocFest, Derek vs. Derek enjoyed multiple sold-out screenings.
As climate change impacts Britain (with the wettest winter ever recorded), Derek vs Derek tells the gently comedic story of two visions of farming colliding in the Devon countryside. A maverick rewilder is set on creating a haven for nature while next door a dyed-in-the-wool intensive dairy farmer is hell bent on producing food on an industrial scale.
More Redford-Center Supported Films at DC/DOX
Plant Life
A short documentary about a plant geneticist’s mission to supercharge global agriculture — and cut climate change in half.
Daughters of the Forest
Deep in Mexico’s forests, this immersive sci-fi doc follows the unusual, fungi-driven paths of two indigenous mycologists as they seek to reconcile the past and present while reimagining the future for themselves and the changing world they inhabit.
hitoláayca: Going Upriver Premieres on YouTube
This month also marked the online premiere of hitoláayca: Going Upriver, now available to watch for free on YouTube.
Devin Reuben is training to be the first certified nimiipuu whitewater guide of his generation. The nimiipuu (Nez Perce) have a long history with river travel — in fact, they introduced the practice to settlers — but centuries of displacement and disconnection means Tribal members are now largely absent from their ancestral rivers. Reuben says: “It’s one big step for us: not just me, all of us. We’re slowly bringing our culture back.”
The Redford Center at Hollywood Climate Summit
The Redford Center team was excited to join storytellers, climate leaders, entertainment professionals, researchers, artists, and advocates at this year’s Hollywood Climate Summit in Los Angeles, which brought together people working across film, television, journalism, philanthropy, and climate action to explore how storytelling can move audiences from doom and despair toward possibility, agency, and action.
Among the highlights were sessions featuring Redford Center-supported filmmaker Josh Tickell (Groundswell) discussing the real-world impact of narrative change, as well as director Nadia Gill and subject Benji Backer sharing insights from their film The [Conserv]atives. The conversations reinforced something we believe deeply: stories have the power to help people imagine a healthier, more connected future and inspire action toward creating it.
Save the Date: Daughters of the Forest at True West Film Center
On July 24, The Redford Center will present two special screenings of Daughters of the Forest in partnership with True West Film Center on the James Redford Campus in Healdsburg, Calif.
Following each screening, audiences will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A featuring Otilia Portillo, director of Daughters of the Forest, and John Cooper, Artistic Director of True West Film Center and former Director of the Sundance Film Festival. A courtyard reception will take place between screenings.
Tickets will be open to the public. Stay tuned for additional information and ticket details!
About The Redford Center
Co-founded in 2005 by activists and filmmakers Robert Redford and James Redford, The Redford Center is a nonprofit that advances environmental solutions through the power of stories that move. As one of the only US-based nonprofits solely dedicated to environmental impact filmmaking, The Redford Center develops and invests in projects that foster action and strengthen the reach of the grassroots efforts powering the environmental movement. Over the years, The Redford Center has produced three award-winning feature documentaries and more than 40 short films, supported over 150 film and media projects with grants and other services, inspired the creation of 550 student films, and disbursed more than $20 million to environmental film projects, amplifying change-making environmental solutions to millions of people worldwide.
