DOK.art/fair: festival work and sustainability – how can you combine the two?

As a film festival we are dependent on information and communication technology. According to a study by the Instituts für Zukunftsstudien und Technologiebewertung this technology is responsible for over 5% of the CO2 emissions in Germany.

Sustainability means, first and foremost, rethinking things on a small scale and for each individual. With this in mind, we have initiated DOK.art/fair – the name we have given to our voluntary self-monitoring.

Alongside the obvious things in the office – waste separation, energy efficient lamps and electrics –we have been printing our programme magazine and all other printed media on CO2 neutral paper at BluePrint AG since 2016. We have really grown to love its matt, rough visual appearance. Who wants high gloss when we’re dealing with real life?

The festival bags from mapbagrag in Graz are regionally manufactured from environmentally certified recycling paper and, thanks to a special manufacturing process, are washable! Our FFP2 masks from FreshAid + are also washable and are produced and certified in the EU. Our caterer for receptions and events, Conviva, follows an inclusive plan and our drinks suppliers, Acqua Monaco and Kaffeerösterei Fausto show concern for sustainable elements such as biological and regional provenance, fair production conditions and social engagement.

As the initiator and founder of Verbands Bayerischer Filmfestivals we champion fair and sustainable conditions in the fields of employment, conservation of resources and mobility as well as the political transparency in festival work. In addition, we support Initiative Festivalarbeit, which campaigns for equitable and fair pay.

With our return to the cinema in 2022, we are on the move again: from distributing our print materials to shuttling our guests and employees between the different venues. To minimize our impact on the climate, we are using eco-friendly means of transport such as cargo bikes as well as electric cars and scooters rented from bluemove Mobility.

All this is, of course, not our last word on the subject. We are constantly working to develop new ideas and solutions and are open to exchanging ideas, suggestions and improvements.
Because sustainability also means thinking further!