Warren Underground Takes the Stage at the Climate Film Festival’s Narrative Change Summit

We're partnering with Who Let the Docs Out to present a panel on how documentaries shift culture — and how filmmakers actually get them funded, distributed, and seen.
  • Doctivist

Warren Underground is heading to New York

On Monday, September 21, at SVA Theatre, we’re partnering with Who Let the Docs Out to present a panel at the Climate Film Festival’s Narrative Change Summit, part of Climate Week NYC 2026. The panel will bring together members of Warren Underground’s coaltion of aritst members and storytellers for a conversation about what it actually takes to change a story that a whole industry depends on keeping unchanged.

Panelist include:
Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish, The Grab)
Louie Psihoyos (The Cove)

Documentaries can move public perception in ways that reports and press releases cannot. But a film only shifts culture if it gets made, funded, and seen. Our panel will cover both halves of that problem: how nonfiction storytelling awakens curiosity and critical thinking about the food system, and how filmmakers secure the money and distribution to put that work in front of an audience while there’s still time to reshape the system it documents.

We’ll also get into the tension that most people in this room live with daily — how to be an activist and a filmmaker at the same time, and what it costs when those two jobs pull in different directions.

Additional details on panelists, time, and tickets are coming soon. Follow us on Instagram for updates.

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About the Climate Film Festival

The Climate Film Festival is New York City’s first film festival dedicated to climate in all its forms, and the largest of its kind in the city. Founded in 2023 by a group of climate professionals, artists, and curators, CFF soft-launched that year with a sold-out “First Look” screening and panel during Climate Week NYC. It has since grown into an annual festival with year-round programming, educational resources, and the support of The Guardian.

CFF’s premise is one we share: mass media is essential to building the habits, policies, and futures we need. Films — narrative, documentary, experimental, archival — can reframe how people engage with the world around them and make collective action feel possible.

The 2026 festival runs September 19–21 in New York City.