Thomas Klein was born in Idar-Oberstein in 1967. He is a film and media scholar, lecturer at several universities, certified green consultant for film and TV, and film critic. Since 2020, he has been the spokesperson for the media partner network in the National Action Plan for Education for Sustainable Development (BNE).
As a lecturer and speaker on ESD, he has been conducting workshops and courses on future storytelling and sustainability narratives in various educational fields for more than 10 years. He has a particular interest in serial storytelling, having contributed to several audiovisual formats.
He is also the author of several journalistic texts on “green storytelling” and the author of the book “Artificial Intelligence in Film and Series,” which will be published in August 2025 by the State Agency for Political Education in Thuringia. He lives in Berlin.
I am involved with Climate Fiction Writers Europe because I want to help develop stories that are not dystopian.
»(…) This trend continued in the 2010s and underwent a differentiation that allows us to speak of a genre of sustainability documentary films. This article will focus on precisely this genre. Using representative examples, particularly from German-language cinema, the thematic focus of this group of films will be presented and discussed. To what extent are issues such as intergenerational justice and globalization addressed? Furthermore, differences between artistic, investigative, and activist films will be identified. This will be accompanied by an examination of the essential dramaturgical strategies and aesthetics of these films.«
How to report appropriately on climate change in journalism has been the subject of heated debate for years. There is still frequent talk of the failure of the media. Or it is said that journalism needs to change fundamentally. This is only partially true.
Since 2023, films must be produced in a more environmentally friendly manner. Is it also possible to tell stories in a greener way?
The climate crisis affects us all, including the film industry. Since summer 2023, anyone who wants to receive film funding in Germany must comply with ecological standards. But how “green” is the content that films convey to us? Apart from dystopian apocalyptic fantasies and a few committed documentaries, the situation looks rather bleak: there is not only a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis, but also a crisis in storytelling about it. Initiatives for “green storytelling” are trying to change that.
Can tv series offer more than just dystopia? A panel at this year’s re:publica addressed this topic and sought positive alternatives.
The largest festival for the digital society in Europe, re:publica, has been cooperating with the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg for a long time. This year (May 26-28), the special program ON SCREEN was launched. One panel was titled “F..k the Dystopia – Reimagining the Future Through Serial Storytelling.” How future narratives should be structured so that not only dystopias but also positive future perspectives appear on screens has been discussed for many years in the film and media industry, as well as in sustainability communication and educational contexts. What is the current status and how should it be evaluated?