When the law silences those trying to save the planet, who are the real criminals?
Climate Criminals? is a short documentary by director Sophie Austin, created in collaboration with Change Festival, that puts the mic back in the hands of the people the media told us to fear. Shot over three days at Sheepdrove Organic Farm in the UK, the film captures front-line climate activists reclaiming their stories in their own words — their motivations, sacrifices, and the urgent truth driving them to act.
At a time when the legal system is silencing activists' words and incarcerating them, this 15-minute film is both a portrait and a provocation. It asks us to sit with uncomfortable questions: why do ordinary people take actions that can have dire consequences on their own lives? And what does it mean when those trying to sound the alarm are the ones put on trial?
Selected for the Human Impact Institute's Creative Climate Awards 2026, Climate Criminals? arrives in New York as a conversation starter — weaving art, activism, and collective power into an invitation to look, listen, and reconsider.
Throughout the year we will be hosting similar events which will weave together in-person stories about activism with screenings of the film and other artistic responses whilst holding space for discussion and reflection. Get in touch if you're interested in having one of these events within your community.
Screenings & Festivals
The Roundhouse, 2025
Right Here, Right Now Climate Conference, Oxford University, 2025
Human Impact Institute Creative Climate Awards 2026, screening in New York from 16th April - 16th May 2026
Credits
Directed & Edited by SOPHIE AUSTIN
Produced by BECKY BURCHELL
Executive Producer JONATHON PORRITT
Original Poetry by ANNA HOLLAND
Music & Sound Design by MARK SMULIAN
Director of Photography NICK FLINTOFF
Stills Photography by SIMON LAMB
Additional Photography by RICH FELGATE @finitedoc and JSO
Post Production Edit & Colour Grade by NICK FLINTOFF
FEATURING: HANAN AMEUR, FIONA ATKINSON, OLIVE BURNETT, MEL CARRINGTON, MARK COLEMAN, ANNA HOLLAND, ALEX DE KONING, RAJAN NAIDU, SUE PARFITT JACOB PINES, OLLIE SAWDER, AVERY SIMARD, EDDIE WHITTINGAM