7. BNP Paribas Green Film Festival

The BNP Paribas Green Film Festival is an international environmental film festival held in Krakow since 2018. It is the only environmental film festival in Poland, and one of the largest in the world. Each year, during the seven-day festival, approximately 50 films entered in the competition, and dozens of other films, are shown.

The festival is a grand celebration of those who care what happens to our planet. Beside the films, there are meetings with filmmakers, experts and local climate activists. There are also ecological workshops, awareness-raising meetings, exhibitions, lectures and artistic activities aspiring to improve the culture of living in line with green values. The festival is organized with respect for the planet's natural resources.

The idea of Green City, the inspiration drawn from global ideas, and analysis of Polish solutions provided the factual content driving the opening of the 7th BNP Paribas Green Film Festival! Festival director Grzegorz Dukielski pointed out that a significant element of the event is examining complex issues. “The message is that we should leave this festival wiser,” he explained. “We feel first-hand what climate change is. The Krakow Climate Academy also explains, educates and shows how to counteract climate change in a way that deeply reaches people” said Lukasz Sęk, Deputy Mayor of Krakow and a host of the festival.

The film screening began with a feature that inspired the title of the first day of the festival. “In Search of Green Cities,” directed by Manon Turina and François Marques, is a journey across the globe to find out how to make our urban spaces greener. This theme was pursued further by the experts on the “Healthy Cities” panel. Guests had a chance to ponder over changes in the legal system, which particularly affect companies, during a panel discussion on the deposit-refund system.

The first festival day featured an abundance of Polish and world film productions. First there were screenings of features from the Educational Film Studio (Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych), and then of Arte.tv. documentaries. The City of Krakow helped to produce an animation screening of “Ainbo – Guardian of the Amazon” for children. In addition, children and parents could learn how to take care of the Earth at home, school and in their immediate community.