“RAISING ANIYA”: A still from one of the 23 feature and short films that will be screened at the 2026 Princeton Environmental Film Festival, running March 27 through April 3 at several locations.
By Wendy Greenberg
Environmentally-themed films are the stars of the 2026 Princeton Environmental Film Festival, running from March 27 through April 3 at several locations. But some accompanying events — like a “Trashion and Upcycling” workshop, Princeton’s Hidden Waterways walking tour, and a Princeton University Art Museum tour focusing on the environment — will complement the selected films during the expansive festival this year.
A signature Princeton Public Library event, the Princeton Environmental Film Festival (PEFF), founded in 2007, offers a selection of “exceptional documentary films to engage the community in exploring environmental sustainability from a wide range of perspectives” as its mission. Films will be screened both in person at the library, 65 Witherspoon Street, and virtually via the Eventive platform. Other films will be available to stream online only. Off-site screenings will be held at the Princeton Garden Theatre and Princeton University.
“There is something unique and special about the shared experience of watching a film,” said PEFF Director Kim Dorman, community engagement coordinator at the library. “It’s a much different experience watching it with other people.
“People are concerned about the environment. To have that experience together is really helpful. One can see things in a different way.”
The 23 feature and short films are the result of more than 2,000 submissions, she said. These include films from local filmmakers Jared Flesher, whose entry is Good Grain (screened Saturday, March 28, at 3 p.m.); Princeton High School student Stephanie Liao, who made the documentary Herrontown Woods: The People’s Park of Princeton (screened Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m.); and the Rutgers film program students who made RETREAT: Marine Field Station (also screened Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m.).
Some highlights of the festival include:
The Keeper, shown on Friday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m., in Briger Hall, Princeton University. The film features John Lipscomb reflecting on 25 years of patrolling the Hudson River, considered the birthplace of the American environmental movement. Registration is required.
A complementary event, a tour of Princeton’s hidden waterways, is planned Saturday, March 28, at 9 a.m., meeting at Hinds Plaza. Jim Waltman, executive director of The Watershed Institute, will lead the interactive walking tour.
The film Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong will be shown on Saturday, March 28, at 11 a.m., in the library’s Community Room. Winner of the Audience award at the 2025 Camden Film Festival, the film is a buddy comedy about American safeguards and the thankless pursuit of making a better world.
Flesher’s Good Grain will be in the library’s Community Room. The film is described as “the comeback story of the local grain movement in New Jersey, exploring the opportunity that the local grain economy brings.” Registration is requested.
The Shepherd and the Bear will be shown on Sunday, March 29, at 10:30 a.m., in the Community Room. An aging shepherd struggles to find a successor as bears prey on his flock, while a teenage boy becomes obsessed with tracking the bears. It is presented in partnership with the Princeton French Film Festival. The film will be followed by a post screening Q&A with Isla Duporge, post-doctorate researcher in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University.
Raising Aniya, shown on Sunday, March 29, at 1:15 p.m., in the Community Room, follows a young dance artist in Houston, Texas, embarking on a journey to heal her spirit and find her voice after being displaced by a hurricane. A film reflection follows.
Our Land will be shown on Sunday, March 29, at 4 p.m., at the Princeton Garden Theatre, 160 Nassau Street. Free tickets are required, and can be obtained at princetongardentheatre.org/films/our-land. It is described as “an invigorating examination of the growing movement for the right to roam in the U.K. and beyond.”
Plan C for Civilization on Monday, March 30, at 6 p.m. in the library Community Room, is part thriller, part wake-up call, and “reveals the hidden world of climate tech and asks whether we can afford to ignore one of the most controversial ideas on Earth.”
Films and events for youth include:
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, on Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m., in the Community Room; My Neighbor Totoro, on Monday, March 30, at 1 p.m., in the Newsroom, registration is required; and Spirited Away, on Monday, March 30, at 3 p.m. in the Newsroom, registration is required.
Some of the special events require registration at princetonlibrary.org/peff. Some precede the official film festival. The world premiere of Overburden, about the fragile recovery of a community and wildlife in the Nimba Mountains facing a new threat from a global steel company, takes place on Friday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton University, Robertson Bowl 016. This screening will be followed by a post screening Q&A with filmmaker Gregg Mitman and conservationist Shadrach Kerwillain.
A workshop on “trashion” and upcycling takes place on Saturday, March 21, at 11 a.m. in the library Conference Room, where participants can create original designs from items that would otherwise be discarded or recycled.
The Friends of Princeton Open Space Book Group meets on Friday, March 27, at 10:30 a.m. at the Mountain Lakes House for a discussion of Thoreau’s Walden and plant pressings study.
A presentation by Mercer County Wildlife and Friends is on Tuesday, March 31, at 4 p.m. in the Community Room, with live animals.
A tour of the Princeton University Art Museum is on Thursday, April 2, at 5:30 p.m. (register for meeting place), with Karl Kusserow, the John Wilmerding Senior Curator of American Art, who gives a tour of the new museum focusing on the environment and American art. Registration is required.
“We are trying to make ways for people to connect with the films,” said Dorman.
The full lineup of PEFF films and events, including the screening schedule, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and instructions for using the Eventive platform to stream films, can be found at princetonlibrary.org/peff.
The Princeton Environmental Film Festival is co-sponsored by Church & Dwight, The Whole Earth Center of Princeton, and High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University.