About
Ben Kalina is an award-winning documentary producer and director whose work explores the colliding forces of human nature and environmental change. His first feature documentary, Shored Up, explored sea level rise and the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy as it ran headlong into unchecked coastal development. Shored Up won the 2014 Sundance Institute’s Lightstay Sustainability Award and was broadcast on DirecTV. He produced and directed the 2020 NOVA film Can We Cool the Planet?, which journeyed around the world to reveal technologies and nature-based solutions with the potential to counteract climate change. His in-progress feature doc Plan C for Civilization follows the scientist at the center of the controversial field of solar geoengineering, a technology designed to quickly cool a warming world. His other work-in-progress, The Refugees of Eastwick, tells the story of climate adaptation and environmental justice in Philadelphia, where generations of residents have struggled to chart their own destiny in the neighborhoods, parks and communities across the city.
Other projects include: Home: A Rockumentary, following a year in the life of a public middle school rock band in South Philadelphia, A River Reborn, chronicling the revival of a river in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania poisoned by chemicals from abandoned coal mines, and COP27 was a Rehearsal from the 2022 UN climate conference in Egypt.
In addition to his independent documentaries Ben produces a range of short films and videos through his company Mangrove Media, based in Philadelphia. Mangrove partners with organizations including The Nature Conservancy, PennEnvironment, and the National Wildlife Federation.