Brookline Resident, BU Professor Releases 2 Films On Climate Change

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline filmmaker and Boston University Professor Emeritus Sam Kauffmann has released two short films that deal with environmental issues.

Kauffmann, who was named a Guggenheim Fellow in Creative Arts in 2009, said he made the films to educate people on how climate change is affecting the planet.

"I’m quite concerned about climate change and the environment, so I'm trying to use my talents to spark concern in both adults and children with these very short, easy to digest films,” he wrote in an email.

The first film, We Trees, was completed in August 2021 and is about what trees think about humans now that we have created a planet-endangering climate crisis. The film received a shoutout from environmentalist Bill McKibben on Twitter.

"Who speaks for the trees? In this short and elegant video, the trees themselves,” McKibben wrote.

We Trees recently received an Award of Merit at the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival and was an official selection of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival. It’s less than three minutes in length and was shot in Brookline and Boston.

Kauffmann said he just finished the second film, The Hungry Heron, and posted it to YouTube on Earth Day. It is less than two minutes long and aimed at children and their parents

"I hope it will spark their interest in the environment and the need to care for creatures big and small,” Kauffmann said

Kauffmann's films have been screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The White House, at over 100 film festivals all over the world, and aired on network television, PBS, and local stations throughout America. His documentary film Massacre at Murambi was aired on the PBS series P.O.V. and has been viewed on YouTube over 1 million times.

In addition, Kauffman has twice received Fulbright Awards, first to work at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and second at the National University of Rwanda. He has taught at BU for 33 years.

For more information, visit www.samkauffmann.com.