Films for change
Browse through our collection of thought-provoking films curated by Local Futures. In each category you will find films that expose destructive consequences of the growth- and consumerism-based economy, as well as those that showcase positive and transformative solutions.
If you know of a film or documentary that you feel should be included, please contact us.
Recent additions
Land for Life - A story of hope about small-scale farmers and the thread of large scale agriculture in Transylvania, Romania.
The Last Ice Age - As storyteller Andri Snær Magnason puts it, climate change is like a black hole: so big it’s larger than language.
Alter Nativas - Building Possible Futures - A documentary about transition initiatives and ecosocial regeneration.
Browse by category
Activist (2022)
A documentary series that follows the journey of 7 young people from the team Seeding for Future. During 2 months they met activists and initiatives committed to climate and social justice in Europe.
The Age of Stupid (2009)
An old man living in the devastated world of 2055 watches 'archive' footage from 2008 and asks: Why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?
The End of Suburbia (2004)
On the ‘peak oil’ phenomenon and all its implications for the survival of oil-dependent industrial ‘civilization’.
The Last Ice Age (2024)
As storyteller Andri Snær Magnason puts it, climate change is like a black hole: so big it’s larger than language.
Shifting Landscapes Film Series (2024)
A four-part documentary series directed by Emmy- and Peabody-nominated filmmakers Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, exploring the power of art and story to orient us amid the darkness of our time.
Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse (2017)
In this sequel to his groundbreaking, Advertising and the End of the World, media scholar Sut Jhally explores the devastating personal and environmental fallout from advertising, commercial culture, and rampant American consumerism.
Affluenza (2007)
On the ‘ailment’ of consumerism.
The Century of the Self (2002) and
The Power of Nightmares (2004) and
The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom? (2007)
A riveting series of films exposing, among many other things, the power of media and propaganda to manipulate.
Consumed (2011)
A compelling documentary about modern consumerist culture.
Food Mythbusters Movies (2012)
Myth 1: 'Hunger and Food Security: Do we really need industrial agriculture to feed the world?', and Myth 2: 'Marketing and Advertising: Myth of Choice: Is junk food what we really crave?'
The High Price of Materialism (2011)
A short animation by psychologist Tim Kasser on "how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being."
The Illusionists (2015)
This award winning documentary is about the globalization of beauty and the dark side of advertising.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
Unforgettable look at the information propaganda machine and its complicity in wars and other disasters.
Feeding Frenzy (2013)
Over the past three decades, obesity rates in the U.S. have more than doubled for children and tripled for adolescents. Feeding Frenzy trains its focus on the responsibility of the processed food industry and the outmoded government policies it benefits from.
Shop Till You Drop: The Crisis of Consumerism (2010)
This film provides a compelling look at all the issues engendered by overconsumption. It raises questions that need to be considered since the rest of the world is attempting to emulate the lifestyle that Americans have had for the last century.
The Story of Stuff (2007)
A simple and short – but powerful – animated explanation of the problems of globalization and consumerism, and a call for a radically different path.
Surplus (2003)
The emptiness of consumerism in the rich world juxtaposed with the suffering to create it in the poor.
Toxic Sludge is Good for You: The Public Relations Industry Unspun (2002)
What Would Jesus Buy? (2007)
Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping take on America's suicidal consumer binge during the Christmas holiday 'shopping season'.
After Winter, Spring (2012)
An intimate portrait of an ancestral way of life under threat in a world increasingly dominated by large-scale industrial agriculture.
Anachasho: Food of the Wilds (2015)
Celebrating the incredible abundance of uncultivated/wild foods used in tribal Orissa.
Ancient Futures (1993)
A documentary about indigenous livelihoods in Ladakh, India, by Helena Norberg-Hodge and John Page.
In the Forest Hangs a Bridge (1999)
A beautiful record of the dying art of bamboo bridge making in Arunachal Pradesh, India, and the tribal community that makes it possible.
Iskay Yachay: Two Kinds of Knowledge (2005) and Loving Teacher (2003) and
Being a Wawa in the Andes (2003)
Films by PRATEC (Andean Project of Peasant Technologies).
Mother Earth: A New Future for Small Farmers (2011)
Looks at the development of small-scale organic agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, one of the poorest regions in the south of India.
Tending Nature Series (2020)
This series shines a light on the environmental knowledge of Indigenous peoples across California by exploring how the state's Native peoples have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia.
All that is Solid Melts into Data (2015)
This film looks to the often-overlooked materiality that “The Cloud” is reliant upon, in order to elucidate its social, environmental, and economic impact, and call into question the structures of power that have developed out of the technologies of global computation.
Death by Design: The Dirty Secret of Our Digital Addiction (2016)
Filmmaker Sue Williams investigates the underbelly of the electronics industry and reveals how even the smallest devices have deadly environmental and health costs.
The Great Hack (2019)
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is examined through the roles of several affected persons.
Stare Into The Light My Pretties... (2017)
The average adult spends the majority of their waking hours in front of some sort of screen or device. How did we get here? Who benefits? What are the impacts on people, society and the environment?
A Social Dilemma (2020)
The documentary examines how social media's design nurtures addiction to maximize profit and its ability to manipulate people's views, emotions, and behavior.
The 11th Hour (2007)
Industrial capitalism has brought every life-support system on Earth to the brink of collapse. A far-ranging examination of this, the most pressing crisis of our times.
American Factory (2019)
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
The Bentley Effect (2016)
Filmed over five years, The Bentley Effect documents the highs and lows of the battle to keep a unique part of Australia gasfield-free.
Captialism: A Love Story (2009)
Michael Moore takes a piercing look at the ‘mother of all problems’.
The Corporation (2003)
An unflinching anatomy of the most powerful institution of our time; essential viewing.
Disaster Capitalism (2018)
This film takes the viewer inside three countries, Haiti, Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea, to reveal how the cause and effect of globalized development and aid
is shaping realities in these vulnerable nations.
The Economics of Happiness (2011)
Local Futures' documentary film about the worldwide movement for economic localization.
10 Films That Make It Easy to See How Our Economy Is Killing the Planet
Here are 10 films that make it painfully clear that our economic system is fundamentally unsustainable.
Flow: For the Love of Water (2008)
The film discusses the world water crisis. Nearly two million people die each year from water-borne diseases worldwide. The root causes of this crisis range from pesticide and chemical runoff, to simply not having access to clean water due to economic or political factors.
Four Horsemen (2012)
The Four Horseman is an independent cinematic feature documentary which lifts the lid on how the global economy really works.
The Fourth World War (2003)
A story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated by globalization.
Freightened - The Real Price of Shipping (2017)
Reveals the mechanics and perils of cargo shipping; an all-but-visible industry that relentlessly supplies 7 billion humans and holds the key to our economy, our environment and the very model of our civilization.
Gringo Trails (2013)
This film shows the unanticipated impact of tourism on cultures, economies, and the environment, tracing some stories over 30 years.
Growthbusters (2011)
"One man takes on City Hall, Wall Street and the Pope as he questions society's most fundamental beliefs about prosperity."
Global Wealth Inequality (2013)
A short film by The Rules.
Gold Fever (2013)
About the valiant resistance movement by indigenous communities in Guatemala against the social and environmental destruction wrought by multinational mining corporations.
The Illusionists (2015)
This award winning documentary is about the globalization of beauty and the dark side of advertising.
John and Jane (2005)
Unsettling look at the reality of call centers – and cultural imperialism – in India, and modernity’s profound loneliness and confusion.
Life After Growth: Economics for Everyone (2010)
Many have been pointing out that our current economic system is leading us to an environmental and social catastrophe. Life After Growth begins to point to the people and communities who are looking for ways out.
Let’s Make Money (2008)
Eerie truths about the casino called the international financial system.
Life and Debt (2001)
A story of some of the impacts on Jamaica of international financial institutions, structural adjustment and free trade policies, and mass tourism.
Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
A stunning look at the ‘monstrosity of globalized commerce,’ focusing on China.
The New Rulers of the World (2002)
Renowned journalist John Pilger explores the connection between oppressive regimes and corporate globalization in Indonesia.
The Story of Stuff (2007)
A simple and short – but powerful – animated explanation of the problems of globalization and consumerism, and a call for a radically different path.
The Take (2004)
Workers in Argentina dispossessed by the vicissitudes of 'structural adjustment' decide to take back their workplaces, minus bosses and hierarchy.
The True Cost (2015)
The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing?
The Yes Men (2003) and its sequel,
The Yes Men Fix the World (2009)
Hilarious yet serious pranksterism against corporate power run amok.
Anachasho: Food of the Wilds (2015)
Celebrating the incredible abundance of uncultivated/wild foods used in tribal Orissa.
Baranaja : Twelve Seeds of Sustainability (2015)
A short film on the traditional and sustainable practice of mixed farming known as Baranaja in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.
Big River (2009)
A 30-minute documentary about the ecological consequences of industrial agriculture, by the makers of King Corn.
Bridging the Gap (2025)
A new film by Sustain project Bridging the Gap shines a light on the work of 9 pilots across the UK that are demonstrating ways to make climate and nature friendly food accessible to everyone.
Conservation Generation (2017)
Conservation Generation is a new short film by the National Young Farmers Coalition that offers a look into the lives of four young farmers and ranchers in the arid West.
DIRT! The Movie (2009)
DIRT! The Movie–narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis–brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has.
Fed Up! (2004)
An entertaining and informative overview of our current food production system from the Green Revolution to the Biotech Revolution and what we can do about it.
Feeding Frenzy (2013)
Over the past three decades, obesity rates in the U.S. have more than doubled for children and tripled for adolescents. Feeding Frenzy trains its focus squarely on the responsibility of the processed food industry and the outmoded government policies it benefits from.
Food, Inc. (2009)
Exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers' rights. “You’ll never look at dinner the same way.”
Food Mythbusters Movies (2012)
Myth 1: 'Hunger and Food Security: Do we really need industrial agriculture to feed the world?', and
Myth 2: 'Marketing and Advertising: Myth of Choice: Is junk food what we really crave?'
Fowl Play (2009)
On the industrial egg industry and the suffering it entails; a parable of how society has become disconnected from what we eat.
The Future of Food (2004)
On the perils of the industrial food system generally, but especially about genetically modified foods.
GMO OMG (2013)
Director and concerned father Jeremy Seifert is in search of answers about GMO's.
Hands on the Land for Food Sovereignty (TNI) (2016)
This short film features communities and social movements around the world explain why we need to keep our hands on the land for food sovereignty and climate justice.
Harvest of Empire (2013)
This film "reveals the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and [today's] immigration crisis."
Inhabit (2015)
This film introduces permaculture: a design method that offers an ecological lens for solving issues related to agriculture, economics, governance, and on.
In Our Hands (2017)
This is a story of a new kind of farm, a new kind of food and a new kind of society and has been created as an open source tool in order to debunk the myth of the industrial food system, and be a resource for farmers and activists in building a better world.
King Corn (2007)
About two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives the U.S. fast-food nation. Raises troubling questions about how we eat – and how we farm.
Know Your Food (2017)
A short film series which introduces viewers to many terms and principles used when we talk about sustainable food.
The Land for our Food (2016)
The video takes us on the journey of Gavin Bridger, a grower from the Community Supported Agriculture project of Farnham Local Food in England, through various European countries in his quest of accessing land for agroecological farming.
Land for Life (2025)
A story of hope about small-scale farmers and the thread of large scale agriculture in Transylvania, Romania. The aim of the NGO ALPA is to secure land for a new generation of agro-ecological farmers and to enhance the biodiversity.
Llafur Ni: Our Grains (2020)
Produced by the Gaia Foundation, this video explores the significance of black oats and other welsh crops in a time of climate crisis and why reviving seeds is a crucial part of a wider movement.
Making Local Food Work series (2011)
Three short videos by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, featuring Manchester, OrganicLea and Food Chain Northeast.
Man in the Maze (2014)
This video takes us on a journey through the borderlands of USA-Mexico, where we see how people are coming up with innovative solutions to mend our broken food system.
Mother Earth: A New Future for Small Farmers (2011)
Looks at the development of small-scale organic agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, one of the poorest regions in the south of India.
Modern Day Problems Of Small Scale Farmers In India (2007)
The amazing work of P.V. Sateesh and the Deccan Development Society to revive traditional agro-ecological knowledge, seeds and practices in Andhra Pradesh.
Our Daily Bread (2005)
A montage of unforgettable, disturbing images of the inner workings of the industrial food system.
Our Land (2012)
Produced by Greenhorns, this 7 part series is about revolutionizing our relationship to food and land.
Pig Business (2009)
The true cost behind the factory-farmed pork in supermarkets, who’s behind it, and what you can do about it.
Real Food Media
Short films and big ideas about food, farming and sustainability.
Rich Appetites
A short film series on how big philanthropy is shaping the future of food in Africa.
Seeds of Freedom Trilogy (2012-2015)
Charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity-rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolize the global food system.
The Slow Poisoning of India (2004)
On the devastating health effects of pesticides in India.
Solutions Locales pour un Désordre Global 2010 (2010)
Think Global Act Rural - What are the common points between the millions of landless workers of the plains of Brazil, a couple of microbiologists in France, the world’s biggest organic plantation in Ukraine and Vandana Shina’s experimental farms in India?
Soyalism (2018)
How Western and Chinese agribusiness are taking over the world's grain and meat industry, while putting small farmers out of business and plundering the environment.
La Via Campesina in Movement - Food Sovereignty Now! (2011)
A 20 minutes video about The international peasant’s movement La Via Campesina and its struggle for peasant’s agriculture and food sovereignty all around the world.
We Feed the World (2005)
Traces the sources of some of the industrial food system in Europe, making the links to environmental destruction and injustice ‘somewhere else’ along the way.
The World According to Monsanto (2008)
Investigative exposé of the notorious chemical- biotech company.
Alter Nativas - Building Possible Futures (2023)
This documentary movie about transition initiatives and ecosocial regeneration.
Atamai Village (2012)
According to Helena Norberg-Hodge, this is "one of the most beautifully made inspirational films on eco-villages."
Closer to Home: Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis (2023)
This 35-minute film, produced by Local Futures and Cyrus Sutton, is a united call for a new economy, delivered by those who have committed their lives to working for systemic change.
The Economics of Happiness (2011)
Local Futures' documentary film about the worldwide movement for economic localization.
Enoughness (2015)
Restoring balance to the economy.
In Transition 2.0 (2013)
An inspirational immersion in the Transition movement, gathering stories from around the world of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Life After Growth: Economics for Everyone (2010)
This film points to the people and communities who are looking for ways out. These are the pioneers who are rethinking the role of economics in our lives, and are engaging in different types of economic activity.
Living the Change (2018)
Explores solutions to the global crises we face today – through inspiring stories of people pioneering change in their own lives and in their communities in order to live in a sustainable and regenerative way.
Localization: For People and the Earth (2014)
A Local Futures' short including international voices from our 2014 Economics of Happiness Conference in Bangalore, India.
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2016)
Minimalism examines the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life, families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and others.
No Impact Man (2009)
A New York City-based family resolves to live for a year with the minimum environmental impact.
Outgrow the System (2023)
A documentary about transitioning to a sustainable economic system. Change the system, not the climate" is a common demand in the climate movement. But what kind of system do we actually want?
Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution (2022)
This film, produced by Local Futures, gives voice to a growing number of people building a more beautiful world. Featuring grassroots activists from every continent alongside internationally known figures like Noam Chomsky, Gabor Maté, Naomi Klein, and Jane Goodall.
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006)
An inspiring and solutions-oriented film that’s especially good to watch after watching End of Suburbia.
The Power of Local: Community Solutions to our Global Crisis (2023)
This 42-minute film, produced by Local Futures, showcases 30+ community groups and businesses, organizations and networks on five continents working towards healthy and fair local economies, communities and food systems.
The Sequel (2019)
This film looks at the influential work of David Fleming, who dared to re-imagine a thriving civilization after the collapse of our current mainstream economies and inspired the Transition Towns movement.
Shift Change (2012)
A film about the growing worker-owned business movement and how it is creating "secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces."
Solutions Locales pour un Désordre Global (2010)
Think Global Act Rural - What are the common points between the millions of landless workers of the plains of Brazil, a couple of microbiologists in France, the world’s biggest organic plantation in Ukraine and Vandana Shina’s experimental farms in India?
Speed: In Search of Lost Time (2013)
It's a paradox: Never before in history have we worked more efficiently, and yet nearly all of us are feeling an increasing pressure of time. This film tries to track down the reasons for our shortage of time and the constant acceleration of our lives.
The Take (2004)
Workers in Argentina dispossessed by the vicissitudes of 'structural adjustment' decide to take back their workplaces, minus bosses and hierarchy.
Urban Roots (2011)
A film about urban farming in Detroit, Michigan, a city facing industrial collapse and depopulation.
Voices of Transition (2012)
This film presents paths towards a new model of human existence: one which is fair, environmentally sound and fulfilling, with soil and people supporting each other in a balanced and sustainable way.
What's the Economy For, Anyway? (2009)
“A humorous monologue about the American economy today, challenging the ways we measure economic success – especially the Gross Domestic Product.”
Baraka (1992)
Montage of unforgettable images; a collage of life in all its beauty and brutality.
Home (2009)
Spectacular aerial footage of the Earth shot in fifty countries by Yann Arthus-Bertrand; a clarion call for humanity to become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth and change its patterns of consumption.
A Quest For Meaning (2015)
The documentary project A Quest for Meaning stems from the growing realization, among citizens across the world, that Western society is trapped in a downward cycle leading us to destruction, injustice and frustration rather than harmony and well-being.
Samsara (2011)
By the makers for the film, Baraka, Samasar is a montage of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders.
We the Uncivilised (2016)
A deeply personal story of two Londoners on a journey to reconnect with the natural world, and reestablish a sense of belonging.
What a Way to Go (2007)
“A middle class white guy comes to grips with peak oil, climate change, mass extinction, population overshoot and the demise of the American lifestyle.”
Dirty Wars (2013)
An unflinching look "into the heart of America's covert wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond."
Nuclear Savage (2011)
A devastating exposé of the U.S. governments' nuclear weapons testing and secret human radiation experiments in the Marshall Islands.
The War on Democracy (2007)
John Pilger's look at the movements for genuine democracy in Latin America, and the imperial forces that oppose them.
Bag It (2010)
“Is your life too plastic?”
Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia (2002)
Find out the toxic reality of where your old electronics go after you take them for 'recycling' or throw them out.
Garbage: The Revolution Starts at Home (2007)
A typical Canadian family agrees to keep its garbage at home rather than export it 'out of sight, out of mind'. Shows the true hidden costs of the consumer class lifestyle.
Living Downstream (2010)
Based on the acclaimed book by ecologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber, about the fundamental links between politics, toxic pollution, and health.
The Slow Poisoning of India (2004)
On the devastating health effects of pesticides in India.
Synthetic Sea (2000)
On the health and environmental crisis of plastics, saturating the oceans, sea life, and ultimately us.
Trashed (2012)
A shocking, necessary exploration of the extent and horrible legacy of the global waste crisis.