Sustainability

Position of the festival

In response to the ongoing destruction of the planet caused by the man-made climate crisis, the 54th edition of Sehsüchte is focussing on ecological sustainability. Sustainability was already established as an independent festival department in the 52nd edition of the international student film festival. Even before this focus was officially established, sustainable decisions and considerations were integrated into the festival’s structures: for example, we have
had our festival merchandise produced under sustainable conditions for years.

In order to continue and develop these endeavours, the structures of the Sehsüchte Festival were fundamentally reviewed for the first time in the 52nd festival edition with the help of the Sustainability Office and modified in many areas in the interests of environmental protection. Such revisions affected our transport concept, food supply, the printing of advertising materials and our
use of materials, among other things.

However, we do not want to stop at this structural adjustment of the festival. We are continuing to modify our workflows and festival production processes. In addition, sustainability topics will also be explicitly integrated into the festival programme in terms of content and theme in this year’s
edition:
You can learn a lot about green producing and sustainable storytelling in exciting panels and workshops. All hands-on, practical and with experts from the industry.
Green storytelling and eco-consciousness are also taken into account in films: For example, there was an extended block on the aforementioned topics for our programme team in the curation workshop so that they could think about them when programming and curating. This should find particular resonance in this year’s ‘Committed Film’ programme.

All in all, Sehsüchte should not only become more sustainable, but also encourage dialogue about environmental protection and climate justice. Our aim is to position ecological sustainability in the long term, both in the festival programme and at the heart of festival production.

If you have any questions about the sustainability of the film festival, this year’s sustainability manager will be happy to answer them at any time: