ECOISLAS
ECOISLAS was born as a section dedicated to films that aims to reflect on environmental sustainability in the island territories of the planet. This section is born from the exchange with a festival related to activism and environmental awareness from the island: Isla Verde Festival. This film competition that we invite to our Festival aspires to become a benchmark for the region in terms of transformation from sustainable development, and for the creation of a successful ecological model that can be replicated in other communities in the various island states of the Caribbean and the world.
ECOISLAS is the result of the exchange between our festivals, twinned by insularity and cinema.
El Hierro: sustainable island
El Hierro is the youngest, smallest and also the southernmost island of the Canary archipelago, of volcanic origin and crossed by the trade winds. These natural features make it become an example of sustainability and energy self-sufficiency for the world, being declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000.
El Hierro uses wind energy and combined hydraulic energy in the Gorona del Viento hydropower plant with the capacity to produce all the energy the island needs. Even with peaks of days, weeks and even months, where all the supply comes from renewable energies. A milestone that has made El Hierro the first entirely sustainable island in the world.
But it’s not the only thing. Through the Sustainable Development Plan, policies are also carried out in El Hierro that aim to continue transforming the future of the people of El Hierro towards sustainable mobility, agriculture and tourism. With the aim of reducing the island’s ecological footprint towards a 100% renewable island.
Isla Verde. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
OF FILM AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE CARIBBEAN
The International Caribbean Film and Environment Festival, Isla Verde, was born as a creative space to promote the region’s common actions in environmental matters; and provide a critical perspective on the serious environmental challenges facing the Caribbean today. From the Isle of Youth, in Cuba, it has developed two successful editions, linking cinema, environmental activism and educational actions. The cinematographic proposals included in their official selection include the main audiovisuals that circulate internationally with an environmentalist perspective. As part of the program of activities, conferences and workshops are included, given by prestigious professionals and related to topics such as sustainable tourism, agroecology, sustainable business models and new economies.
