Hampshire Alum Elizabeth Green 16F on Filmmaking and Environmental Justice

Green is currently pursuing her graduate degree in environmental filmmaking at American University. We spoke with her about her latest projects, advice for prospective students, and how Hampshire’s interdisciplinary approach encouraged her to look for diversity in her work.

What did you study at Hampshire? What was your Div III?

During my time at Hampshire, I studied film theory and production, and also completed the Five College Film Studies Certificate. 

My DIV III was a short documentary titled Dreamstate: What are movies really selling? It examined the intersection of hyper-consumerism under capitalism and heteronormativity in American blockbuster romantic comedies. 

What are you doing now? How did your experience here influence your current work?

I’m an M.F.A. candidate at American University in Washington, D.C. My area of concentration is environmental documentary filmmaking, and I’m currently putting together a documentary on local food systems and community farms. 

I didn’t expect to go to grad school, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to attend. Hampshire helped prepare me for the individual, specified work of creating thesis projects by completing my Div III and doing independent studies.

The way Hampshire integrates multiple disciplines helped orient me to seek out diversity in my work. It built a greater appreciation for how cross-pollination between topics sparks new ideas and understandings.

The way Hampshire integrates multiple disciplines helped orient me to seek out diversity in my work. It built a greater appreciation for how cross-pollination between topics sparks new ideas and understandings.Elizabeth Green 16F

Are there specific achievements you’d like to mention?

Recently, I co-produced a documentary about the Anacostia River, in Washington, D.C. It centers on the Anacostia’s history and the fight community activists and riverkeepers are taking up to clean one of the most polluted rivers in the nation. Reviving the Forgotten River was selected for the Trees & Seas Film Festival 2024. 

I also worked with the National Park Service to create a series of short videos that span a variety of topics, such as transects and lichen, respectively titled Transects & Trail-cameras and Looking for Lichen. For those projects, I worked directly with park rangers and subject-matter experts to create short, impactful videos that would inspire scientific curiosity.

What advice would you give a current or prospective student?

I’d say Hampshire is an opportunity to grow, change, discover, and then keep discovering. For me, the small classes and creating my own Div III thesis from the ground up worked really well. I felt engaged because I was passionate about what I was working on and had support from those around me. And I spent a lot of time on the Farm; it always helped bring me some peace of mind and some delicious veggies.

>>> Check out Green’s work.

Image in the header is a still from the production of Reviving the Forgotten River.