Environmental Film Series by Kateryna Sazonova

Join us for a compelling afternoon of film and conversation with Ukrainian filmmaker, environmentalist, and Brushwood Center Videographer-in-Residence, Kateryna Sazonova.

This program features a screening of Sazonova’s environmental film series—three interconnected short films that examine the urgent realities of climate change and humanity’s impact on the planet through both documentary and speculative storytelling. Currently based in Chicago, Sazonova is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she earned her MFA in Film and TV Directing in 2023. Her work has received international recognition, including a 2025 Emmy Award for her contributions to public television with WTTW / PBS Chicago.

Plastic (2018) is a documentary with experimental elements that traces the rise of plastic from its invention in the early 20th century to its overwhelming presence today. The film imagines a future where plastic has overtaken the natural world, offering a stark warning about the consequences of inaction.

200 Years Before 2389, a prequel to her latest work, is a short fiction film set in a post-environmental apocalypse. It follows a lone survivor navigating a world shaped by ecological collapse, providing an intimate glimpse into a possible future shaped by today’s choices.

2389: Coming Home continues this narrative in a sci-fi context, as two figures from a Martian colony—a scientist and a soldier—return to a devastated Earth to assess its habitability. As they confront the realities of a planet altered by climate change and resource wars, they face a moral dilemma that challenges the future of humanity itself.

Following the screening, Sazonova will lead a lecture and discussion on environmental storytelling and sustainability in the film industry. Drawing from her own creative practice, she will explore how filmmakers can reduce environmental impact and how audiences can translate these ideas into everyday life.

This event invites viewers to reflect on the power of cinema not only to tell stories, but to inspire meaningful change.