HHMI TANGLED BANK STUDIOS’ LATEST FILM, PLANT LIFE FEATURED AT THE EXPLORERS CLUB DURING NEW YORK CITY CLIMATE WEEK
CHEVY CHASE, Md., September 10, 2026 – HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is proud to bring its latest short film Plant Life to The Explorers Club for a special New York City Climate Week screening event, in partnership with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. On Tuesday, September 22, audiences will be treated to a viewing of the award-winning film Plant Life, followed by a presentation from the Salk Institute on the Harnessing Plants Initiative and the scientific breakthroughs achieved by Dr. Joanne Chory and her team. After the presentation, there will be a Q&A with the film’s directors Josh Izenberg and Brett Marty, along with Salk Institute scientists Wolfgang Busch and Lena Mueller, who will update the audience on research that has taken place since the film was completed.
Plant Life is an intimate portrait of Dr. Joanne Chory, a Salk Institute scientist and HHMI Investigator who rewrote the rules of plant biology before turning her attention to “one last big experiment”: harnessing plants to fight climate change. Plant Life is a Speculative Films and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios production.
In the 1980s, Dr. Chory pursued a question bordering on scientific heresy: what if plants didn't need light to grow? By inducing genetic mutations and planting seeds in total darkness, she uncovered something that should not have existed — seedlings thriving without sunlight. This surprising result demonstrated that individual plant traits could be altered at the genetic level and revolutionized the field of plant biology.
Just as her career was at its peak, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Facing her own mortality and accelerating physical decline, she turned her attention to the most urgent problem facing the planet: climate change. She and her team of world-class plant scientists set out to apply her breakthrough genetic research to engineer crop plants with deeper, carbon-rich roots capable of locking away CO₂ for centuries. Dr. Chory passed away in 2024.
“We are proud to shine a light on Dr. Chory’s groundbreaking research and extraordinary life,” said Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Jared Lipworth. “We hope audiences will leave this film feeling optimistic about the solutions science can offer for some of the world’s most challenging problems.”
Since its film festival premiere in early 2026, Plant Life’s hopeful message has captured audience attention at festivals across the country and earned nominations for a Jackson Wild Media Award and a Wildscreen Panda Award. The film won an Impact Documentary Award and has screened at prominent film festivals including AmDocs, DC/DOX, Wild and Scenic, Mountain Film Festival, and Heartland’s Indy Shorts Festival. This fall, it will screen at the Camden International Film Festival, The Climate Film Festival, Hamptons Film Festival, Coronado Island Film Festival, Twin Cities Film Festival, and many more.
To learn more about the film visit: https://www.tangledbankstudios.org/our-films/plant-life
ABOUT HHMI TANGLED BANK STUDIOS
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is a mission-driven production company that seeks to shine a light on some of the most significant scientific challenges and breakthroughs of our time. Recent films include Battle to Breathe, The Birds, Giving Back Breath, SciShow Field Trips, The Calling, Turtle Walker, Ending HIV in America, Blue Carbon, Every Little Thing, Wild Hope, Wilding, Blue Whales: Return of the Giants, and Oscar-nominated All That Breathes, the only film to win best documentary at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Other notable films include Emmy Award-winners Hunt for the Oldest DNA, The Serengeti Rules and The Farthest – Voyager In Space; Emmy-nominated My Garden of a Thousand Bees, Battle to Beat Malaria, and Nature’s Fear Factor; and Peabody Award winner Inventing Tomorrow. To extend the reach and impact of each film, the studio undertakes educational and public outreach efforts in partnership with purpose-focused organizations. For more information, please visit WWW.TANGLEDBANKSTUDIOS.ORG.