A new Salem film festival focused on the impacts of climate change kicks off Friday, July 12, at First Congregational Church.
The Summer Heatwave Climate Film Festival, organized by the Environmental Faith Network, will show a climate film every Friday until August 9. Screenings are free, open to the public and start at 7 p.m.
Climate Film Festival schedule
All screenings are at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 700 Marion St. N.E. Free.
July 12: Cooked: Survival by Zip Code
July 19: How to Blow Up a Pipeline
July 26: Burning
August 2: Kiss the Ground
August 9: 2040
The Environmental Faith Network’s founder Pattie Schatz-Sloan says the festival and the network are ways for anyone of any faith to connect community and concern for environmental issues.
The first film, “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code,” looks at how natural disasters affect some people more than others.
Following every film the festival will host a Climate Cafe in the church, which allows people to discuss the film’s content afterward. Salem 350 and Citizens’ Climate Lobby, two environmental grassroots organizations, will have representatives present at the weekly Climate Cafes.
Schatz-Sloan said the cafe is meant to create a sense of community instead of people leaving the screening depressed.
“We don’t want to talk about it or offend people,” Schatz-Sloan said, referencing how people avoid facing environmental issues. With Salem’s recent triple-digit heat wave, Schatz-Sloan believes it is even more important to talk about the climate.
“We’re looking at one of our hottest summers again,” Schatz-Sloan said. “These heat bombs should almost be a wake-up call, like, ‘Hey, we can change.’”
Four years ago, Schatz-Sloan felt overwhelmed by the environmental and health issues she learned about.
“I was burning myself out by myself,” Schatz-Sloan said, remembering how exhausted she felt on her own. “‘There’s gotta be people like me out there.’”
Environmental Faith Network, currently a group of six local churches, is dedicated to promoting environmental justice using faith and community effort.
Before committing her retirement to environmental activism, Schatz-Sloan taught at a public high school in Barstow, California. Just east of Hinkley, Barstow faced some of the same health issues brought to light by environmental whistleblower Erin Brockovich’s lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company. In 1993, Brockovich filed a lawsuit against PG&E for contaminating Hinkley’s drinking water with a toxic chemical, leading the company to settle in 1996 for $333 million.
“I had kids who told me they would get cancer,” Schatz-Sloan said. She recalled a conversation with a former student who received a truck as part of a settlement with PG&E after experiencing health issues that rendered them unable to have children.
The former English teacher’s time in Barstow developed her passion for providing and protecting people’s quality of life.
Through the Environmental Faith Network, Schatz-Sloan found others whose beliefs, from whatever religious background, aligned with hers on how to connect faith and environmental activism.
Eventually, she found Susan Smith, a law professor at Willamette University. Schatz-Sloan wanted to show a climate film, but Smith turned one film into the Climate Film Festival.
Running the Environmental Faith Network is Schatz-Sloan’s way of circulating wake-up calls throughout her community. The network establishes green teams at churches in the area, which hold the church to a “green” standard by implementing things like an Earth Day program and eco-friendly lessons during the Christmas season.
The Climate Film Festival is the Environmental Faith Network’s first festival. Schatz-Sloan hopes the weekly films provide knowledge to counter potential misinformation people consume about environmental issues. The festival, she said, is meant to encourage people to become involved, however that looks for them.
“We need to be willing to say, ‘I’m willing to learn more, I’m willing to change,’” Schatz-Sloan said.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
