Framing the Future: A Cinematographer’s Call to Action on Climate Change

In filmmaking, every frame holds meaning. Every cut, every close-up, every lingering shot tells a story. But today, the most urgent story unfolding isn’t fiction — it’s the lived reality of our planet under siege.

From melting glaciers to garbage-strewn coastlines, the camera lens doesn’t lie. It captures the raw and rising truth of a climate in crisis.

As a young cinematographer, I’ve trained my eye on these realities. I’ve stood on shores where plastic outnumbers shells, and filmed streets where waste overwhelms nature. It’s not abstract — it’s painfully present.

In the course of my work, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Cedric Dzelu on a powerful documentary that shed light on the environmental cost of plastic pollution. (Watch here: https://youtu.be/yHkGQInTBZc?si=zNzmgoYUfPmOvHPV). But the story isn’t finished. I want to tell it again — deeper, louder, and more urgently — because the stakes are even higher now.

One visual symbol has stood out to me with poetic clarity: paper bags. Biodegradable, recyclable, and beautifully ordinary, they contrast sharply with their plastic counterparts. In the frame, they flutter, not pollute. They decompose, not defile. Where plastic suffocates, paper breathes.

This is more than aesthetics — it’s advocacy.

I call on fellow filmmakers, creators, and visual storytellers: let your art reflect your ethics. Choose paper over plastic in the stories you tell and the props you use. Show your audiences that sustainability isn’t just a policy or a protest — it’s a personal choice, visible in every scene.

If we want a future worth filming, we must film for a future worth having.

Our cameras can expose the truth. Our craft can inspire change. And our choices — on set and off — can shift the narrative from despair to hope.

Let us write a new ending. One where the planet heals, and we’re proud to have played a role — not just as witnesses, but as changemakers.

By Manasseh Okoe Addo

Volunteer – Frontline for Climate Action