The Festival was founded in Turin in 1998 to create an international  showcase for outstanding films and documentaries during the Festival itself and to hold events promoting cinema and environmental culture throughout the year.

Founded by Gaetano Capizzi, the Festival is organized jointly by the CinemAmbiente Association and the National Museum of Cinema, Turin. The Festival is a founding member of the Green Film Network, an association of major international film festivals.

The Festival has gone from strength to strength to become a key date on the international calendar of environmental film festivals.
Each year about 100 films are presented in various sections of the Festival program: International and National Competition, Special Events, and CinemAmbiente Junior addressed especially to young people.

The Festival’s vast program includes debates, meeting with the authors, exhibitions, book presentations, stage performances, concerts, and other events in Turin and beyond.

Tangent to the Festival are two long-running projects that promote environmental cinema in Italy:
– CinemAmbiente Tour is a non-commercial distribution channel for selected films presented at the Festival. The CinemAmbiente Association provides for the distribution in Italy of environmental films and documentaries.
– CinemAmbiente TV – Films for environmental education. This one-of-a-kind initiative provides for the distribution of environmental films to schools. Via a dedicated internet website, educators can access the film archives and select from among hundreds of films and documentaries categorized by subject and audience age.
CinemAmbiente is 100% eco-compatible. The Festival is a zero emission event: the CO2 produced is compensated by the Asja-CO2 protocol.
The Festival is also plastic free since only recycled, ecolabeled, and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified products are used.
Finally, the Festival supports the Agenda 21 objectives to purchase sustainable materials.