30/04/2025
"Green Films: From Art to Impact" - A COP28 Side Event
United Arab Emirates - Dubai / COP28
"MicroMedia for Artistic Production and Media - Green Films Project" organized a side event today, Friday, December 8th, in partnership with the "Humanitarian Journalism Foundation (HJF)," the "Ministry of Water and Environment - Yemen," the "Global Youth Council," and the "Arab Youth Network for Sustainable Development."
The event, titled "Green Films: From Art to Impact," is part of the side activities accompanying the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which continues until December 12th, 2023.
Speakers at the event included Jamal Muawada, film director and head of MicroMedia; Bassam Al-Qadhi, head of the Humanitarian Journalism Foundation (HJF) and a science journalist specializing in covering climate, environment, and health issues; Ghadeer Turaif, an independent journalist and impact producer; and Abeer Bayazidi, a filmmaker and impact producer from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The side event featured short films from the Green Films initiative in Yemen. The first, "The Lost Home," addressed the illegal hunting of sea turtles in the Al-Azizi Reserve. The second, "Silent Death," highlighted the dilapidated ships threatening to sink off the southern coast of Aden, posing as ticking time bombs. The third, "The Bird Keeper," depicted the migration of birds from the Al-Haswa Reserve in Aden due to climate change, encroachments, and development on the reserve.
Jamal Muawada announced the launch of the Green Films initiative as an Arab step towards impact documentaries that help these films drive change in environmental and climate issues, in partnership with civil society organizations, the primary partner in change.
Ghadeer Turaif, a journalist and impact producer, emphasized the role of civil society organizations in partnership with filmmakers to pressure the government and private sector to make decisions that address environmental and climate problems.
For his part, the head of the Humanitarian Journalism Foundation (HJF), Bassam Al-Qadhi, a science journalist and impact producer specializing in covering climate and environmental issues, stated that Yemen is facing significant environmental challenges. He added that there are environmental disasters threatening Yemen that require broader cooperation and partnership to address the climate and environmental crisis the country is witnessing.
He added: "The Foundation has worked on producing a series of data-driven scientific journalistic investigations on dilapidated ships threatening to sink off the coasts of Aden, Lahj, Hadramout, and Socotra, as well as the illegal hunting of sea turtles in the aforementioned four governorates," pointing out the importance of green films in raising awareness and promoting a climate culture within society and addressing environmental issues.
In addition, Abeer Bayazidi, a filmmaker and impact producer from Jordan, praised the Green Films initiative, reviewing successful experiences of impact films around the world, and affirmed that the Green Films initiative is a step in the right direction towards unifying joint Arab action for impact films.
It is worth noting that the event was organized as part of the side activities that coincided with the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), hosted by the United Arab Emirates from November 30th to December 12th, 2023.
