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: CHOCOLAT

Introduction: Prof. Dr. Denise Fischer-Kreer

The movie CHOCOLAT takes viewers out to the French countryside in the year 1959, where Vivianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) and her daughter Anouk open a chocolate shop right at the start of Lent, causing a considerable uproar. In the course of the film we get to know the bigoted mayor Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), strong-willed hot chocolate lover Armande Voizin (Judi Dench) and river-rat Roux (Johnny Depp), whose life is even more unconventional than Vivianne’s. CHOCOLAT is a captivating, heart-warming story garnished with humor and bits of wisdom, replete with sumptuous images of chocolate in all of its forms.

Professor Denise Fischer-Kreer has held the Professorship for Entrepreneurial Behavior at the University of Bonn Faculty of Agriculture since 2023. Her research focuses on mechanisms that enable entrepreneurs and managers to uphold social and environmental values while creating economic value for their company shareholders. She finds it a fascinating endeavor to study how entrepreneurs can develop sustainable business models and drive forward innovation in a way that helps us meet the tremendous challenges of our time.

The chocolate industry thus provides a suitable backdrop for discussion of the focus topic for the evening. Chocolate sales have been trending higher for years in Germany, where in 2023 per capita chocolate consumption amounted to 7.89 kg. However, some aspects of chocolate production and distribution are highly questionable from an ethical standpoint. Issues include climate adaptability of the cocoa plant, environmental protection of cultivation areas and fair working conditions and wages in the chocolate trade. Some of the most pertinent questions around the future of chocolate consumption include: How can the cocoa bean trade become more sustainable? Are there any viable cocoa-free alternatives? What are the most important things about chocolate to you?