Southern Exposure
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE is a film fellowship program actively raising awareness about Alabama’s incredible natural resources and important environmental issues that impact all of us. This innovative summer fellowship brings emerging filmmakers from across the country to tell authentic, engaging stories through short documentary films about Alabama’s environment — and the people who cherish it — from the mountains to the coast. The program is hosted by Alabama Rivers Alliance each summer.
Made possible through the support and partnership with environmental and conservation groups across the state, Southern Exposure film fellows have the opportunity to create inspiring, captivating films that give viewers a sense of how much Alabama has to offer and the importance of protecting its resources.
As a result of these poignant stories depicting the triumphs and challenges facing the state, numerous films from past fellowship years have been selected for screening in juried film festivals around the country!
Created in six weeks during the summer, the 2024 Southern Exposure films celebrate special people and places in Alabama while exploring complex issues and solutions. In this collection, we uncover the hidden and costly dangers of ‘forever chemicals’ in our rivers and drinking water sources following Riverkeepers as they strive to protect communities—and themselves—from PFAS contamination. We dive underwater to discover a “whole ‘nother living world under there in the seagrass that nobody ever sees”, full of critters and life and we learn what must happen to protect this submerged aquatic vegetation vital to the health of Mobile Bay and the communities and industries that rely on it. We travel across Alabama rediscovering our native plants, meeting passionate plant people along the way who are making changes big and small in hopes of preserving the last vestiges of once vast ecosystems and Alabama’s unprecedented botanical biodiversity. Finally, we meet and celebrate three Alabama women who, out of necessity to protect the people and places they love, answered the call to advocate for their water, land and communities.
Made possible through partnerships with environmental and conservation groups across the state, the Southern Exposure films give viewers a sense of how much Alabama has to offer and the importance of protecting all of its resources.
