GreenScreen - sustainability-related films

GreenScreen is a film event held six times a year at the Brotfabrik cinema (located in an old bread baking factory), organized by the University of Bonn Team N (N for “Nachhaltigkeit” or “sustainability”) in partnership with Bonner Kinemathek and the Brotfabrik Bonn cultural center.

A picture is worth a thousand words they say,

so moving pictures with sound can say a whole lot more!

Movies are aptly named because they move our emotions—through scenes that leave an impression and lead us to insights. GreenScreen is about promoting dialogue on issues typically discussed in university lecture halls through the medium of artistic film.

Team N invites researchers whose work concerns aspects of sustainability. The films selected will reflect the broad diversity that characterizes sustainability research itself, ranging from retro arthouse to pop culture classics and the latest blockbusters—anything goes.

Engaging in dialogue with the audience is a highly important aspect. The evenings start with a research-relevant introduction. Then, after watching the film together, everyone is invited to stay on in the cinema and join the exchange.

There are two things you stand to gain from attending: a new perspective on a classic film (or two), and insights into current sustainability research!

Next film: Moon

Introduction: Prof. Dr. Hendrik Hakene

MOON is a 2009 British science fiction drama and the directorial debut of Duncan Jones. The story begins in an unspecified future. About 70% of Earth’s energy needs are now met by helium-3, which is extracted on the "dark side" (the side facing away from Earth) of the Moon by several harvesters. The setting, strongly reminiscent of classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), captivates with its calm, almost stage-like narrative style, rich in suspense yet intimate, which explores some of the profound questions of sustainability as well as humanity itself.

Prof. Dr. Hendrik Hakenes is a professor of economics at the Institute for Financial Market Economics & Statistics at the University of Bonn. His research focuses on green finance, corporate finance, and financial theory. In this context, he examines aspects of sustainability in purchasing, consumption, and financial decisions. When you buy a kilogram of potatoes, a car, or a flight to Cuba, it has consequences for global CO₂ emissions, however small. But what about buying a movie ticket? Should we consider a film’s CO₂ budget? MOON has a very small CO₂ budget: you're in the clear.