Kendal Mountain Festival: The Film Edit – Nature & Environment Collection

Join us for this selection of excellent films. Use the BOOK HERE button below to reserve your seat. 

Plastic Peak (15 mins)

Plastic Peak captures the resilience and fragility of the landscape, told through the voices of those who have dedicated themselves to preserving it. Spanning generations and backgrounds, our subjects share a common purpose: to confront the growing environmental threat to this iconic peak. More than anything, this film is an invitation—to reflect, to act, and to recognise our shared role in shaping a better future. This film is boldly urgent, uniquely Welsh, and universally understood.

Abetsi Living Water (6 mins)

Follow athlete and entrepreneur Yvette Tetteh as she aims to swim the length of the Volta river in Ghana, whilst conducting vital research on plastic pollution along the way.

The TrashMob (13 mins)

The TrashMob is the story of the first people to be a part of Trash Free Trails’ first education programme—The TrashMob Academy—a youth engagement project that seeks to develop self-esteem, confidence, and overall wellbeing in young people that might just need it the most. A story of connection and contribution, Billy, Logan and Jack from a Wakefield Pupil Referral Unit were violent and aggressive in class, often absconding and disengaged. Thanks to their incredible teacher Jo Shwe, they developed their knowledge of the world around them and fostered an unrealised connection to nature through the wonderfully simple act of removing single-use pollution from a place they had come to know and love.

The Farm Under the City (10 mins)

Luke Ellis is a builder-turned-farmer who has set up an innovative new business in the heart of Sheffield’s industrial quarter. Leaf + Shoot is an underground vertical bioponic farm built in a disused spring factory. His closed-loop system takes the food waste from local restaurants, cafes, and businesses in his community and uses organic cycling methods including worm farms and hot composting to grow micro-herbs and vegetables beneath the streets of Sheffield. We follow Luke on his inspirational journey to revolutionise the way we all think about urban farming.

Rods, Rolls and Reality on the Soca (5 mins)

Swapping paddles for rods, this crew of kayakers attempt to put the hook in the right spot. Under the emerald waters of Slovenia’s Soča River hides an endemic trout, creating both a classroom and a playground for misadventure.

The Ghost Rainforest (10 mins)

Told from the perspective of indigenous activist Narubia Werreria, The Ghost Rainforest follows a group of five indigenous leaders and activists from the Amazon, making an emotionally charged and once-in-a-lifetime journey to a little-known and desperately rare temperate rainforest habitat on the West Coast of Scotland. The visit is set amidst the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, a moment in history the world needed to listen to them as guardians of the forests, but instead left them feeling ignored and sidelined. They bring their ancestral wisdom to Scotland’s Rainforest to carry out a spiritual blessing, connect distant communities, and share a message of resilience and hope. The film focuses on the importance of indigenous wisdom to reconnect to these habitats before it’s too late.

Fire Poppy (11 mins)

The Fire Poppy is a portrait of MYSTERY RANCH ambassador Sasha Berleman. This short film explores her enduring relationship with fire and delves into her evolving perspective—from seeing fire as a threat to developing a deep interest in it, and eventually recognizing it as a valuable tool. As a steward of the land, Sasha has gained valuable insights into how fire can be harnessed to promote land health, and she has come to understand its importance for certain plants like the Fire Poppy, which depend on it for growth.

No Lost Shoes (12 mins)

Our shoes go lots of places, across vast distances, and over many miles. But eventually, no matter how much we care for them, our shoes break down and usually get thrown away. Max Romey wanted to find out what happens to his old shoes, and in his film No Lost Shoes, highlights the full scale of the problem.

An Eye for Plants (4 mins)

Plant blindness is our tendency to overlook and undervalue the plants around us. Dr Margaret Bradshaw champions doing the opposite. If anyone can encourage us to overcome plant blindness, it’s Margaret. A passionate botanist, Margaret has studied and campaigned for the protection of the rare flora of Teesdale, in England’s County Durham, for over seven decades. And at 97, she has no plans of stopping. In this short film she urges us to take a closer look at what’s beneath our feet and treasure the often unnoticed flora around us.

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