Sustainable Stories

Annual programs · 2021–2026

Films, places, and screening schedules.

Choose a year to explore where the work screened and how each edition was organized.

Sixth edition

2026

Featured topic: Water and Water Usage

The sixth edition examines water’s cultural meaning, ecological fragility, and the ways collective use shapes local and global futures. Alvin College presents the complete juried program from October 12 through November 6. A collaboration with the Arts at William & Mary extends the conversation to Williamsburg, where Underwater Projects screens on October 29.

Alvin College

October 12–November 6

Four screening environments present all 74 selected films during gallery hours: Main Projection, Hallway Screen 2 · Animation, Hallway Screen 3 · Video Art, and Hallway Screen 1.

William & Mary

October 29

A special Williamsburg screening of Underwater Projects only. The rest of the 2026 program screens exclusively in Alvin.

View all 74 films and artworks

Fifth edition

2025

Featured topic: Indigenous Sustainability

The fifth edition connected Alvin College and the University of Houston–Clear Lake through gallery installations, theatrical screenings, animation, video art, black-box projection, and VR/XR. More than 50 films from local and international submissions were presented alongside more than 100 physical artworks from the Houston–Galveston region.

Gallery loops

Alvin: Oct. 15–Nov. 7 · UHCL: Oct. 27–Nov. 21

Animation and video-art loops ran during gallery hours. Black-box programs were presented at both campuses; VR/XR screened in the UHCL Library.

Theater screenings

Alvin · Oct. 30 at noon
UHCL Bayou Theater · Nov. 7 at noon

Animation · Alvin and UHCL galleries · 5 films
  • Chirp Talker (4:17) · directed by: Audrey He-Qing Cheng · Taiwan
  • Yahima (1:56) · directed by: Rodolfo Enrique Lopez · United States
  • HensFluenzers (3:20) · directed by: Nathalie Erika Langner · Mexico
  • I Am Water (6:20) · directed by: Roser Cusó · Spain
  • What Rhymes with Toxic (5:00) · directed by: Lynn Smith · Canada
Video Art · Alvin and UHCL galleries · 10 films
  • Terra’s Tomb (6:19) · directed by: Mikey Peterson · United States
  • Viridis Veritas (5:00) · directed by: Sherry Erskine & Bonnie Sue Stein · Norway & United States
  • Williambabe (10:29) · directed by: Tianjiao Wang · United States
  • Lost Tapes of Antigua (6:42) · directed by: Odessa Whitlock · United States
  • Uranium Agenda (6:07) · directed by: Stephanie Turley · United Kingdom
  • Climate Crisis (4:11) · directed by: Peter Cameron-Inglis · Canada
  • Forever Chemicals (7:21) · directed by: Pamela Falkenberg & Jack Cochran · United States
  • Drops and Stardust (1:30) · directed by: Atobe Hiroshi · Japan
  • Is Every Republic Constructed on Flat Earth? (2:59) · directed by: Clint Sleeper · United States
  • The Treasure (5:00) · directed by: Thierry Albert · France
Alvin Black Box · 11 films
  • Le Aspirazioni di Aria(nna) (6:21) · directed by: Fabrizio Marcheselli · Italy
  • Composting Revolution (2:36) · directed by: Jade Arnold · United States
  • Contrary Currents (43:11) · directed by: Cedric Michel · France
  • Everything is Fine (10:10) · directed by: Gift Sukez Sukali · United States
  • For the Future (7:44) · directed by: Charles Irvin · United States
  • Invisible Impacts of Wildfires (5:32) · directed by: Chris Logan Harley · United States
  • Is Being Sustainable Sustainable? (15:26) · directed by: Nur Farah Yasmin Binti Yassin · Malaysia
  • Sonder (8:46) · directed by: Lancey Quan · United States
  • Mighty Rock (2:45) · directed by: Matthew David Kaplan · United States
  • Our Blue Guardian (1:00) · directed by: Matthew David Kaplan · United States
  • The Indigenous Fortress of Ciptagelar (10:00) · directed by: Sandi Erlan Rismaya · Indonesia
UHCL Black Box · 26 films
  • Le Aspirazioni di Aria(nna) (6:21) · directed by: Fabrizio Marcheselli · Italy
  • Composting Revolution (2:36) · directed by: Jade Arnold · United States
  • Contrary Currents (43:11) · directed by: Cedric Michel · France
  • Everything is Fine (10:10) · directed by: Gift Sukez Sukali · United States
  • For the Future (7:44) · directed by: Charles Irvin · United States
  • Invisible Impacts of Wildfires (5:32) · directed by: Chris Logan Harley · United States
  • Is Being Sustainable Sustainable? (15:26) · directed by: Nur Farah Yasmin Binti Yassin · Malaysia
  • Sonder (8:46) · directed by: Lancey Quan · United States
  • Maji (1:32) · directed by: Jim Hall · France & United States
  • Twisted Braid (5:29) · directed by: Ricky-Thomas Serikawa · United States
  • Mighty Rock (2:45) · directed by: Matthew David Kaplan · United States
  • Our Blue Guardian (1:00) · directed by: Matthew David Kaplan · United States
  • The Indigenous Fortress of Ciptagelar (10:00) · directed by: Sandi Erlan Rismaya · Indonesia
  • Ars Animalis for Troubled Times (3:44) · directed by: Anne Ciecko · United States
  • The Singing Tree (6:00) · directed by: Rachel Meyrick · United Kingdom
  • Vegan for Life (4:58) · directed by: Alysa Brennan · United States
  • Journey Beyond the Grid: The Hawai'i Off-Grid Story (13:05) · directed by: Stephan Boeker · United States
  • Tomorrow Begins Here (5:34) · directed by: John Goheen · United States
  • The Inga Tree Model 2025 (10:00) · directed by: Adam Wakeling · Honduras
  • Digital Storytelling (1:02) · directed by: Ryan Vinklarek · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • The Lesson of Asking for Help (0:58) · directed by: Benjamin Wright · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • Challenges (1:01) · directed by: Leyna Pasemko · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • Bowling for Others (0:52) · directed by: Abigail Heddles · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • The Berry Pickers (0:59) · directed by: Ethan Lee · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • Basketball Injury (0:48) · directed by: Michael Allen Morrison · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
  • Bound (1:12) · directed by: Jessi Guzman · United States · UHCL Common Reader Program
VR / XR · UHCL Library · 1 film
  • Descending Manoomin (4:39) · directed by: Jericho Peter Zornes · United States
Alvin Theater · Oct. 30 at noon · 10 films
  • What Rhymes with Toxic (5:00) · directed by: Lynn Smith · Canada
  • Paz (4:10) · directed by: Christian Gonzalez Arnold · United States
  • Composting Revolution (2:36) · directed by: Jade Arnold · United States
  • Everything is Fine (10:10) · directed by: Gift Sukez Sukali · United States
  • For the Future (7:44) · directed by: Charles Irvin · United States
  • Twisted Braid (5:29) · directed by: Ricky-Thomas Serikawa · United States
  • Yahima (1:56) · directed by: Rodolfo Enrique Lopez · United States
  • The Singing Tree (6:00) · directed by: Rachel Meyrick · United Kingdom
  • Sonder (8:46) · directed by: Lancey Quan · United States
  • Chirp Talker (4:17) · directed by: Audrey He-Qing Cheng · Taiwan
  • I Am Water (6:20) · directed by: Roser Cusó · Spain
UHCL Bayou Theater · Nov. 7 at noon · 14 films
  • What Rhymes with Toxic (5:00) · directed by: Lynn Smith · Canada
  • Paz (4:10) · directed by: Christian Gonzalez Arnold · United States
  • Composting Revolution (2:36) · directed by: Jade Arnold · United States
  • Everything is Fine (10:10) · directed by: Gift Sukez Sukali · United States
  • For the Future (7:44) · directed by: Charles Irvin · United States
  • Tomorrow Begins Here (5:34) · directed by: John Goheen · United States
  • Twisted Braid (5:29) · directed by: Ricky-Thomas Serikawa · United States
  • Yahima (1:56) · directed by: Rodolfo Enrique Lopez · United States
  • The Berry Pickers (0:59) · directed by: Ethan Lee · United States
  • Digital Storytelling (1:02) · directed by: Ryan Vinklarek · United States
  • Bowling for Others (0:52) · directed by: Abigail Heddles · United States
  • Invisible Impacts of Wildfires (5:32) · directed by: Chris Logan Harley · United States
  • I Am Water (6:20) · directed by: Roser Cusó · Spain
  • Chirp Talker (4:17) · directed by: Audrey He-Qing Cheng · Taiwan

Fourth edition

2024

Featured topic: Community Sustainability

The fourth edition expanded into a two-campus collaboration between Alvin College and UHCL, bringing documentary and narrative film, animation, experimental work, video art, still images, sculpture, and painting into galleries and theaters at both institutions.

Alvin College

Gallery opening · Oct. 3, 5–7 PM
Theater screening · Oct. 25, 7 PM

UHCL

Bayou Theater · Nov. 13, 4 PM
Gallery opening · Nov. 13, 5:30 PM

UHCL Bayou Theater · 24 films
  • A Friend in Need
  • Behind Closed Doors
  • Bewilderness
  • Cloud Line
  • Community
  • Community Sustainability
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Digital Storytelling Project
  • Dry Hand
  • Food for Education
  • From and to Nature We Return
  • Leave No Trace
  • Lights Out
  • Love Don’t Bully
  • My Story
  • Proposition Amanecer
  • Psychology Project Video
  • Save Kids Hope Future
  • Simplest Telling
  • Siren
  • Sobadehna
  • The Lost White
  • Where Are You From?

The original 2024 page also presents separate gallery lists for animation, video art, main projection, still images, and physical art.

Third edition

2023

Featured topic: Disability Visibility

Presented with the UHCL First Year Experience and Common Reader Program, the third edition connected the Bayou Theater, UHCL Art Gallery, and Neumann Library XR Lab through film, physical art, video art, and virtual-reality work.

Ongoing programs

Nov. 6–Dec. 8

General and Disability Visibility films looped in the gallery’s Black Box; video art screened in the gallery and VR work in the XR Lab.

Bayou Theater · Nov. 10

1 PM Disability Visibility + judges’ conversation
6 PM selected general submissions
7:30 PM The Artist & the Astronaut + filmmaker talkback

Featured presentation

The Artist & the Astronaut, directed by Bill Muench, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.

The original 2023 program records additional selections as program-board images; those boards are preserved in the archive while their searchable transcription is completed.

Second edition

2022

Featured topic: Environmental Advocacy

The second edition opened with two days of screenings, panel conversations, live music by the Free Radicals, and a gallery reception. The month-long exhibition expanded the program through a Black Box cinema, synchronized gallery screens, physical art, student work, and virtual reality.

Curated by Mary Magsamen.

Thursday · Nov. 10

5–7 PM Gallery opening & vendor expo
7:30 PM The Free Radicals concert

Friday · Nov. 11

1 PM General sustainability shorts
3 PM Environmental advocacy shorts
4:15 PM Filmmaker conversation
6 PM General shorts
7:30 PM The Condor and the Eagle + conversation

Bayou Theater · Nov. 11, 1 PM
  • The Unfulfilled Closet
  • Free to Swim
  • Once a Green Planet
  • A Day in the Life of a Plastic Bottle
  • Been Through It
  • How to Be Sustainable
  • World and Me
  • The Music of the Wiwa People
  • The Great Atchafalaya Basin
  • Hatchets & Hope
  • Tangled Up
  • Dipsas Speaks
  • Little Stream Big Magic
  • Legends
  • Closed System
  • The Birdcarver
Bayou Theater · Nov. 11, 3 PM
  • Mosquito Fish
  • EDF: Klein High School
  • EDF: George Bush High School
  • EDF “Cars 4”
  • Climate Haikus
  • Gasping for Air
  • When Worlds Collide
  • Plastic Soul
  • Uncovering the Permian Climate Bomb
  • COP26: Global Day of Action March
  • Generation on Fire
  • Been Through It
  • World and Me
  • Boom
Bayou Theater · Nov. 11, 6 PM & 7:30 PM

6 PM: Plastic Pollution PSA, Extinction, Plastic Soul, Dolls Smile, RIP 9-5, Carecrow, Yellowstone 88, The Mushroom Forager, Gaïa, Mixi, and This Mortal Plastik.

7:30 PM: The Condor and the Eagle, followed by a filmmaker conversation.

Gallery loops · Nov. 7–Dec. 9

The 2-TV Cube screened Gulf Coast Love Story. The 4-TV Cube featured 20 short works including Renewable Energy, Let’s Reduce Food Waste, Plántula, Hope, Life of Zucchini, The Boy and the Mountain, One-Shot Life, Wild Bumblebees, and I Want to Breathe Sweet Air. The video-art screen featured Messages from the Marsh, No Water, Cows, Spring Odyssey, Can’t Wait, Nature Dreams, and No Queda de Otra.

Scheduled Black Box screenings · Nov. 28–Dec. 9

Nov. 28 · 10:30 AM
When the Swallows Fly Away; This Mortal Plastik; The Great Atchafalaya Basin; Extinction; Without Water; More Than a Route

Nov. 28 · 3 PM
Heroes of the Sea; The Boy and the Mountain; When Worlds Collide

Nov. 29 · 10:30 AM
Infinite; Watching the Wilds; I Want to Breathe Sweet Air; World and Me; Cycle; Dominion; Fat Kathy; Living Roots

Nov. 29 · 3 PM
Living in a Postcard; The Unfulfilled Closet; One-Shot Life; Pukem

Nov. 30 · 10:30 AM
Uncovering the Permian Climate Bomb; Common Thread; Gasping for Air; The Birdcarver; Unplastify: End of the World; Stolen Fish

Nov. 30 · 3 PM
Dreams, Effort and Pandemic; Life on Wheels; The Trees with Orange Rings

Dec. 1 · 10:30 AM
The Crossing Project; Ngen; Closed System; The Music of the Wiwa People; Infinite; Legends; R.E.M Burn

Dec. 1 · 3 PM
Mamody, the Last Baobab Digger; Mixi; The Man of the Trees; Ukwati the Wedding

Dec. 2 · 10:30 AM
Life in the Land: Amskapi’Piikani; Among the Corals; Uncharted Waters

Dec. 5 · 10:30 AM
Generation on Fire; Cardboard Scavengers; Forgotten Fountains; Gasping for Air; Uncovering the Permian Climate Bomb; The Trees with Orange Rings; Galveston Bay Park Project

Dec. 5 · 3 PM
The Ghana Youth Film Project; Stolen Fish

Dec. 6 · 10:30 AM
Gasping for Air; The Condor and the Eagle; The Great Atchafalaya Basin

Dec. 6 · 3 PM
Outlaw Gardeners; Plastic Pollution PSA; We Speak for the Marsh: At Porcher Creek

Dec. 7 · 10:30 AM
Life on Wheels; This Mortal Plastik; Common Thread

Dec. 7 · 3 PM
Water We Doing; Yellowstone 88; How to Be Sustainable; Gaïa; Life of Zucchini; The Mushroom Forager; Hatchets & Hope

Dec. 8 · 10:30 AM
Stop Pebble Mine; Carecrow; The Condor and the Eagle

Dec. 8 · 3 PM
Living with the Bears; Klein High School; George Bush High School; Cars; Tangled Up; Ukwati the Wedding; Dipsas Speaks

Dec. 9 · 10:30 AM
The Condor and the Eagle; Little Stream Big Magic; Mixi

The gallery remained open November 7–December 9. The closing reception and artist talks were held December 8, 5–7 PM.

First edition

2021

Featured topic: Local and Global Sustainability

The inaugural festival combined two live Bayou Theater programs with a sustained gallery exhibition of local and international shorts. A large Black Box cinema, a synchronized four-screen animation cube, video art, and student and community work established the festival’s multi-format approach.

Bayou Theater

Two live programs in the 500-seat theater: international films followed by local films.

Gallery exhibition

Nov. 4–Dec. 10

Two Black Box loops, an animation cube, video art, and the Mark Kramer Korner screening area.

Bayou Theater · International films
  • Painting by Numbers
  • Watch the Feet
  • Dancing With Rainbow
  • The Earth is No Spaceship
  • Wildlife in Our Backyard
  • Bad Bugs
  • The Sol Collector
  • Adventure of a Plastic Bottle
  • High Tide
  • Reborn
  • Green Nettle
  • Let’s Talk About It
  • Remove the Trash
Bayou Theater · Local films
  • Again Together: The Cumulative Impacts of Environmental Racism
  • Pleasantville: #Data Drives
  • Air Pollution
  • Inhaling Hope
  • Air Pollution is All Around Us
  • Beautiful Houston
  • Glass Crushing at Stella Roberts Recycling Center
  • Water Down the Drain
  • Mother Nature
  • Dealing With My Baggage
  • Texas Diamondback Terrapin
  • Plant It Forward
Black Box, animation, and video art

Black Box selections included Tiger Is Strolling Around, Yollotl (Heart), The Traditional Brazilian Family KATU, A Place at the Kauri Table, Rise Up: Lahari’s Story, Regeneration, Alone Beneath the Northern Lights, The Holy Grail, Under the Sun, and The Power of Water. Gallery loops included Fountain of Planet, Ebb and Flow, Plastic Ecosystem, Scream for Ice, Yesterday, Lifeline, The Delight of Mountains, and I Am Water.