Pockets of Sun, 2025

Pockets of Sun: An Environmental Documentary is a feature-length film that investigates eleven perspectives on the climate crises. I interviewed different generations including The Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), Generation Z (1995-2012), and Generation Alpha (2013-2025). Each of these generations have expereinced a different up-bringing, awarness, and understanding of climate change and the environment. Through the interviews, I was interested in learning how climate change has affected different age groups. In doing this, I discovered the generational shift in how people care, interact, and think about nature.

The participants in this documentary include scholars, elementary school students, college students, a Buddhist nun, gardeners/stewards, parents, and creative thinkers. I had the opportunity to travel to Hawai’i, San Francisco, and around Portland to interview people in their local environments.

This documentary is complementary to my undergraduate thesis, titled: Pockets of Sun: Documenting Generational Relationships to the Environment which is about the research of my thesis, Environmental scholars, and experience of interviewing across three different generations. In the introduction, the origin story of Skywoman lays the foundation of interrelational connections between human and non-human lives through respect, reciprocity, and care. I weave together solastalgia and eco-anxiety through Warmth: A Coming of Age at the End of Our World and providing definitions from Daniel Sherrell, Glen Albrecht, and Paul Bogard. In Chapter 1, I write about Sharon Lockhart’s video work, the film Podwórka, and how she employs specific film techniques to show the connections between people and place. Following this chapter, I write about Henry David Thoreau’s transcendental writings in contrast to modern writings by Joanna Zylinksa who calls for a ‘Feminist Counter-Apocalypse.’ Her philosophy incorporates the breakdown of the complex relationships between human and non-human lives and how to begin reshaping and rethinking our conceptions of the environment. Chapter 3 outlines my interview process and details about the inter viewees of the documentary. They are organized in the order in which they were interviewed and include information about my relationship with each of them and what I learned from the interviews. I conclude the thesis by mapping outthe connections between each of the chapters and expressing the importance of acknowledging the climate crises.

If you are interested in reading the thesis or watching the documentary, please email me. You can find my contact information on the Contact page.

Pockets of Sun: An Environmental Documentary, 2025, film still, 00:30:44

Pockets of Sun: An Environmental Documentary, 2025, film still, 00:54:31

Pockets of Sun: An Environmental Documentary, 2025, film still, 01:11:23

Pockets of Sun: An Environmental Documentary, 2025, film still, 01:18:54

Katie Rose Caalaman