Telling the climate refugee story with integrity, empathy and impact

What comes to mind when you think about climate refugee stories on screen? Are they powerful documentaries that give a voice to the unheard and advocate for change? Or would you consider a survival film like The End Where We Start From, or family adventure Paddington in Peru? Stories about refugees displaced because of climate change can come in many forms, but they all have the power to raise awareness and inspire audiences.

As part of BAFTA’s and BAFTA albert’s 2025 Green Light Season, filmmakers, climate content change-makers and activists took part in a special Refugee Week Q&A in partnership with Counterpoints Arts and Climate Spring. Hosted by Ade Adepitan, the conversation explored the responsibility of the screen industry to tell stories about climate refugees with dignity, authenticity, and agency in narratives that confront one of the most pressing issues of our time.

The way we think about climate can be transformed through stories in popular entertainment. Producer and change-maker Josh Cockcroft set up Climate Spring to fund stories that humanise climate change and represent it as part of everyday life. He says: “People respond differently to stories… [they] have a particular way of getting to you and narratively transporting you to be in the shoes of people you see on the screen, empathise and sympathise with them.”

BAFTA-nominated writer, director and actor Elham Ehsas benefited from this fund to produce his film There Will Come Soft Rains. While climate storytelling runs through his film, it’s also about “sisterhood, grief, mourning and dealing with each other as humans.” He says that it is possible to “change minds and opinions through a compelling piece of human drama” that walks “hand in hand with climate.”

It’s important for viewers to see themselves represented in the climate stories told on screen. Actor and climate change activist Fehinti Balogun filmed his performance art piece Can I Live? after arguing with his mother about climate change activism. He realised: “no one had ever spoken from my mum’s perspective on climate, from a Nigerian, immigrant single mother”, to whom climate change activism is as at one with her “defence mechanisms to survive.” Balogun was taken aback by the response to the film, especially because “people see their mums in my mum.” He hopes it opened up discussions across generations to discuss climate and learn from each other.

Filmmakers Arwa Aburawa and Leena Habiballa explore climate refugee stories through the connection between colonialism and the current climate state. Aburawa’s film And still, it remains uncovers the effects of toxic sands in the Algerian Sahara, a repercussion of French nuclear bomb testing in the 1960s still felt today. In the early stages of her research, she noticed that there is a: “deep connection between the kind of extraction that underpinned colonialism and the extraction that continues today through the climate crisis.” Habiballa echoes this, explaining that the exploitation of colonialism took place “in relation to the land”, “destabilising to whatever ecosystem that it exists in.” “It forcibly displaces people in violent ways, meaning that those systems of knowledge of caring for the land in ways that don’t destroy it… are completely erased.” However, native people are starting to fight back, even if they don’t perceive it as such. Nigerian immigrants like Balogun’s mother send money back home to rebuild homes and communities decimated by climate or flooding. He says: “if that isn’t activism, what is?”

Filmmakers telling the climate refugee story work in close collaboration with their subjects to ensure their lives are truthfully represented. Aburawa explains that the job of the documentary maker is to “show up and listen”, and that she felt a “huge responsibility” to the community her film was about. Alejandro Loayza Grisi says: “it was impossible not to feel that responsibility” when directing his drama Utama. He grappled with “how to show a disaster with beautiful images”, while Aburawa was challenged by the limits of the lush imagery of the Algerian Sahara to raise awareness of its destroyed climate. They both found sound equally important to visuals in telling these stories. Loayza Grisi used moments of silence to highlight desolation and neglect, whereas Aburawa amplified the sound of toxic sand moving in the wind to remind her viewers of its destructive force.

When creating There Will Come Soft Rains, making the production “as sustainable as possible” was as important to Ehsas as climate storytelling. As early as the writing process, he reworked night scenes to film in as much natural light as possible. Meanwhile, the production team sourced props second hand and located filming spots that were all within walking distance. Through making these sustainable choices, Ehsas realised his chance to make a difference to not only what stories are told but how they’re made, saying: “being a director on set but also in the writing room… there were a lot of things that I learned on the job and hopefully if I’m lucky enough to make more films I’ll definitely take that with me.”

Whether through documentary, drama or performance art, this group of filmmakers and climate storytelling advocates are sparking conversation about climate refugees, but there’s still a long way to go. Balogun describes changing people’s points of view as: “like turning a rock face into a beach… it takes constant time and conversation.” Cockcroft says that telling climate stories is about “getting people to understand that they’re not alone.” Where better to connect people and start conversations than cinema? Projects like Other Cinemas, set up by Aburawa and Turab Shah, present stories about climate refugees as part of free community screenings. She says: “we believe in the power of collective viewing and the power of cinema to bring people together and have these conversations.” Whether through comedy, drama or documentary, continuing to spotlight varied perspectives of climate refugees will keep these conversations alive and allow understandings to shift.

BAFTA is excited to be hosting the  Green Light Season, a series of discussions and screenings designed to inspire content makers to take our collective commitment to sustainability to new heights. Through this season of activity we’re asking for the industry’s help to explore how we can create TV and films that support an inclusive conversation about climate change where everyone feels part of the mission.

With thanks to our Official Partner – Universal Production Music