New festival’s success making Vancouver a hub for environmental film

Is Vancouver about to be known for hosting the Cannes of environmental film festivals?

“The energy that’s developed this year has kind of taken me by surprise” says Duane Sharman, Chairman of the Elements Film Festival which just completed its second year, screening 58 conservation themed films from 11 countries.

WATCH: Environmental impacts on wildlife take centre stage at Elements Film Festival

5:57 Environmental impacts on wildlife take centre stage at Elements Film Festival

The festival took place April 8 to 14 at Science World.

As Sharman and his team are discovering, Vancouver seems to be a unique and natural fit for an environmental film festival, combining a deep tradition of conservation that goes back to the founding of Greenpeace with what is now the world’s second largest film and TV production hub after Hollywood.

“It’s that intersection of the environmental world and film is what we’re about here, Vancouver is a hot spot for both these issues,” explained Sharman.

While some of the films like Last of the Big Tuskers are a visually stunning and heartbreaking look at threatened species, others like Metamorphosis of a Bottlecap and Seed to Seed offer hopeful visions of sustainability and solutions.

“When you see what other people are doing, you think yeah, you know I can actually do something, there’s a piece that I can contribute to make the planet a better place for us all,” says Sharman.