A1 Journal article (refereed)
Reflections of Hope and Anxiety in Audience Responses to Three Environmental Films (2023)

Hiltunen, K., & Rainio, M. (2023). Reflections of Hope and Anxiety in Audience Responses to Three Environmental Films. Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 19(2), 45-75. https://www.participations.org/19-02-04-hiltunen.pdf

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Hiltunen, Kaisa; Rainio, Minna

Journal or series: Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies

eISSN: 1749-8716

Publication year: 2023

Volume: 19

Issue number: 2

Pages range: 45-75

Publisher: Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: https://www.participations.org/19-02-04-hiltunen.pdf

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/86699

Abstract

This article discusses the results of a reception study of three environmental films with a focus on emotional reactions and the films’ influence on the respondents’ environmental awareness. The short experimental film Valtakunnat/Realms (Finland, 2018) envisions post-human life, and the potential destruction that the planet is being driven towards. To Teach a Bird to Fly (Finland, 2020), a short documentary fiction film about a woman raising critically endangered birds, imagines a future where the effects of climate change have been reversed. The documentary film The Biggest Little Farm (USA, 2018) follows a couple who buy a barren farm with the aim of restoring its biodiversity. Through thematic analysis two interconnected responses – hope and anxiety – were identified. The article discusses the connection between viewers’ emotional responses, the films’ different styles, their utopian and dystopian elements, and the impact of the films on viewers’ environmental awareness. The article concludes that both gloomy and hopeful films can help viewers reflect on their own relationship to nature and consider their role in preventing an environmental catastrophe.

Keywords: films; ecological catastrophes; environmental issues; environmental awareness; utopias; dystopias; reception (comprehension); emotions; hope; anxiety; ecocriticism

Free keywords: reception study; empirical ecocriticism; environmental film; Realms; To Teach a Bird to Fly; The Biggest Little Farm

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 1