Each year, the ReFrame Film Festival groups its films into thematic collections. The festival’s commitment to environmental justice takes centre stage this year in its “Flora & Fauna” collection, which comprises seven powerful films exploring the human connection to, and impact on, the planet.
This article spotlights each film in the Flora & Fauna collection.
The festival opens at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, January 30 at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough with the breathtaking Ocean Seen From the Heart, which follows scientists, explorers, and activists into the depths of the ocean, led by renowned astrophysicist Hubert Reeves. The documentary invites the viewer to reconsider the ocean not as an infinite resource, but as a living, regenerative system under threat.
Both poetic and urgent, Ocean Seen From the Heart sets a profound tone for the festival weekend. The film is also available during the virtual program from February 3 to 8.
Also on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., two selections from the Flora & Fauna collection will screen simultaneously at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre and Showplace and are also available during the virtual program. Hybrid passholders can choose which film to see in theatre and which to watch online.
Tuktuit : Caribou at Market Hall is an experimental short film by Lindsay McIntyre that traces the relationship between Inuit, caribou, land, and habitat disruption in Nunavut. The film was created using handmade emulsions derived from lichen and caribou gelatin. Tuktuit : Caribou is followed by the animated feature Endless Cookie, a one-of-a-kind film showing in-person only.
VIDEO: “Yanuni” trailer
VIDEO: “Fairy Creek” trailer
Richard Ladkani’s Yanuni at Showplace follows Chief Juma Xipaia of the Xipaya people as she rises to the political frontlines of climate justice in Brazil. Vibrantly shot and profoundly intimate, the film traces Xipaia’s defence of the Amazon while she navigates political leadership, personal risk, and impending motherhood. Yanuni is preceded by the short audio-visual whirlwind Pidikwe by Canadian director Caroline Monnet.
On Saturday, January 31, ReFrame presents back-to-back screenings from the Flora & Fauna collection at Showplace. These films depict starkly different approaches to environmental action.
Jen Muranetz’s gripping documentary Fairy Creek at 10 a.m. at Showplace (also available virtually) chronicles the historic protests against old-growth logging in the unceded Ada’itsx (Fairy Creek) valley on Vancouver Island. Through immersive frontline footage, the film brings audiences inside the tensions and breakthroughs inherent to direct defence of a land under threat.
After a short interval, the doors reopen for Future Council at 12:30 p.m. at Showplace (not available virtually). In this spirited film, director Damen Gameau invites young people from across Europe to challenge major corporations in their own boardrooms.
The Flora & Fauna collection concludes on Sunday, February 1 at 7:30 p.m., as Market Hall hosts a pairing of two films centred on farming, food systems, and inter-generational knowledge.
With Maya Bastian’s 22-minute Shropshire Sheep Scandal, audiences are taken into the story of Ontario farmer Montana Jones’ fight to protect her sheep from government seizure and culling. Tense and deeply personal, the film is followed by the heart-warming feature Woolly by Rebekka Nystabakk.
VIDEO: “Shropshire Sheep Scandal” trailer
VIDEO: “Woolly” trailer
The film (also available virtually) offers a thoughtful portrait of life on a small sheep farm in Arctic Norway, where a daughter and her wife inherit a way of living that tests their resilience. Offering fresh views on sustainability and what it means to farm for the future, Woolly is an uplifting close to ReFrame 2026.
GreenUP is proud to sponsor ReFrame’s Flora & Fauna film collection this year. The social and environmental justice documentary festival runs with in-person screenings at Showplace and Market Hall in downtown Nogojiwanong/Peterborough from January 30 to February 1, followed by the virtual program available across Canada from February 3 to 8.
For more information and to purchase passes and individual tickets, visit reframefilmfestival.ca.
