The third edition of GREEN VISIONS POTSDAM will take place from May 28 to 31, 2026. The
festival will open on May 28 at the Filmmuseum Potsdam with the German festival premiere “Beat
the Heat – Climate Seniors vs Switzerland”. Benjamin Weiss’s independently financed documentary
portrays a group of senior citizens who take their case to the European Court of Human Rights –
and sue Switzerland. Their reason: the country is violating the rights of older people, especially
women, by not doing everything necessary to combat global warming.

The festival program for 2026 also sets the tone with another highlight, “Nuisance Bear.” In the
film, filmmakers Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman take viewers to the Canadian Arctic,
where the habits of polar bears collide with modern life. The Canadian-US-UK co-production
recently won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the renowned 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

„Many people today are fighting back and successfully asserting their rights when governments do
not do enough to combat the climate crisis. Several of this year’s films impressively demonstrate this
idea“ says festival director Dieter Kosslick.

About “Beat the Heat – Climate Seniors vs. Switzerland”: The documentary tells the story of the
legal proceedings brought against their own country by an association of older women from all
parts of the country. Instead of retiring, the Climate Seniors, on the initiative of Greenpeace
Switzerland, are teaming up with creative lawyers to do something about the increasingly frequent
heat waves. They argue that Switzerland is not doing enough to protect their health and doing too
little for climate protection in general. The Climate Seniors took their case to the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) against their own government…

About „Nuisance Bear“: For thousands of years, polar bears have migrated along the coast of
Hudson Bay in northern Canada. Today, this ancient ritual collides with a world dominated by
tourism, surveillance, and control. “Nuisance Bear” lets viewers experience the life of a
“problematic” polar bear who has to navigate between tourists, gamekeepers, and hunters as
climate change delays the onset of winter and drives the bears closer to human settlements. And
when a predator is branded a “nuisance,” its habitat is threatened.