Award-winning film showcases environmental advocacy

A new film highlighting the work of a Sayville-based group of student environmental activists got two enthusiastic thumbs-up from the audience at a screening Thursday night at the Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center in Patchogue.

“Rising Tides, Rising Voices” is directed and produced by Brightwaters-based filmmaker Peter Judge. It tells the story of how Students for Climate Action pulled off an unlikely legislative trifecta in Albany.

The advocacy of their members, which grew to include students from several Long Island high schools including Sayville, Patchogue-Medford and William Floyd, convinced the New York State Senate to pass—not once, but three times in 2021, 2022 and 2023—the Students for Solar Act.

The legislation would increase to 25 years, up from the current 18 years, the time school districts have to recoup their costs for clean-energy projects, making projects like adding solar panels or energy-efficient lighting more feasible economically.

The legislation never made it out of committee in the Assembly on either of the three tries, however. Organizers say they plan to try again next session.

But lack of passage so far hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of Students for Climate Action alumni like CJ Cannetti and Serena Buono, both of whom graduated from Sayville High School in 2023.

Each said that being part of the effort influenced what they chose to study in college and what they plan to do for a career.

Cannetti studies agricultural business and sustainable farming systems at the University of Delaware. Buono is at the University of Vermont and plans to pursue a career in environmental policy.

As high school students, both got a close-up view of how difficult it can be to get a bill through the state legislature.

“I totally understand the statement ‘easier said than done,’” Buono said during a post-film Q&A. “I didn’t understand why changing two numbers could be so difficult.”

Harrison Bench was one of the first members of the organization when it first started at Sayville High School in 2017 as Suffolk Student Climate Action Committee.

Bench, who also appears in the documentary, was part of one of the organization’s first efforts, which was to convince the Town of Islip to transition to renewable energy. He’s now Students for Climate Action’s deputy director and a second-year student at Pace University Law School, where he studies environmental law.

As for “Rising Tides, Rising Voices,” which was made with financial support from the Long Island Community Foundation, the film has received a warm reception. The Seattle Film Festival named it Best Environmental Short Film. It will also be screened at the London Global Film Festival in August.

Judge, the director and producer, and Students for Climate Action executive director Melissa Parrott are waiting to hear from the Hamptons International Film Festival as to whether the film has been accepted for this year’s competition in October.

“I just looked around and said, ‘this has to be filmed,’” said Parrott, a longtime environmental educator.

More than 100 students have participated in Students for Climate Action and its predecessor organization. Many have gone on to pursue college studies focused on the environment, Parrott said.