Conceiving Our Future

CONCEIVING OUR FUTURE is a short documentary that explores the tension around young people deciding not to have children due to climate change. Isabella, a 32-year-old farmer, and Jem, a 36-year-old carpenter, always envisioned themselves raising kids. Their feelings have changed, however, as climate change has worsened. After a particularly catastrophic summer in their home state of Oregon, the couple decides against ever becoming parents. While they present a resolved front, their parents are distraught by the news. The family gathers around a fire-pit one January night in Ashland to air out their feelings about Jem and Isabella’s childless future, revealing a generational divide about the meaning of hope in a world on fire.