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Episode 146: Storytelling Our Way to Climate Resilience with guest, Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs

• Garry Schleifer

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What happens when the power of filmmaking meets urgent climate challenges? The answer lies at the intersection of storytelling and action, where narratives become catalysts for meaningful change in our warming world.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance Programs, takes us behind the scenes of a groundbreaking partnership between the Sundance Institute and FEMA's Resilient Nation Partnership Network. This collaboration emerged from their shared belief that storytelling can transform how we process complex environmental challenges, foster empathy across diverse communities, and ultimately inspire collective action where dry statistics and dire warnings often fail.

Through powerful documentary films like "New Talk," which follows a Yupik village in Alaska threatened by rising sea levels, and "Raising Liberty Square," centering community voices facing climate displacement, abstract threats become visceral experiences. "The emotional connection is really what inspires us to act," Molnar-Szakacs explains, highlighting how authentic representation from filmmakers within affected communities ensures stories are told from the inside out, amplifying perspectives of those most directly impacted.

For coaching professionals, these storytelling techniques offer valuable tools to help clients expand worldviews, shift mindsets, and transform negative perceptions into opportunities for growth. Just as environmental documentaries build solidarity between viewers and affected communities, coaches can use narrative approaches to create connections that illuminate alternative possibilities and pathways forward.

Ready to experience these powerful stories yourself? Watch recommended films like "New Talk," "Raising Liberty Square," "Hottest August," and "Stewards of the Land" – then consider how you might join these communities and raise your voice in partnership with them. Because when it comes to climate resilience, the stories we tell today may determine the world we inhabit tomorrow.

Watch the full interview by clicking here.

Find the full article here.

Learn more about Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs here.

Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/

Garry Schelifer:

Welcome to Beyond the Page, the official podcast of choice, the magazine of professional coaching, where we bring you amazing insights and in-depth features that you just won't find anywhere else. I'm your host, Garry Schleifer, and I'm excited to expand your learning as we dive into the latest articles, have a chat with the brilliant authors behind them, and uncover the learnings that are transforming the coaching world. When you get a chance, join our vibrant community of coaching professionals as we explore groundbreaking ideas, share expert tips and techniques and most importantly, make a real difference in our clients' lives.

Garry Schelifer:

Remember, this is your go-to resource for all things coaching. But for now, let's dive into today's call. In today's episode, I'm speaking with Director of Artists, Accelerator and Women at Sundance Program, Hajanl Molnar-Szakacs. How was that? Did I do well?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

That was amazing, Garry.

Garry Schelifer:

Said the man with the Schleifer. She's the author of an article in our latest issue Climate Consciousness and Coaching Making the Connection. Her article is entitled Harnessing the Power of Storytelling. A little bit about Hajnal. She's, as I said, the Director of Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance Programs at the Sundance Institute. She leads initiatives that foster opportunities for independent film and television artists, focusing on equity, sustainability and access. She supports nearly 100 artists annually through fellowships and grants, helping them build creative capital and cultural influence. A champion for transparency and artist funding, Hajnal has been instrumental in initiatives aimed at balancing power between funders and filmmakers. That must be a job in itself. Hajnal, thank you for joining me for this episode.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Thank you so much for having me, Garry. It's really exciting to be here.

Garry Schelifer:

Well, and thank you for contributing such a great article. It really took us a little bit out and back, like through storytelling and climate change at the same time. You talk about this partnership. I'd like to know more about how this partnership came about between the Sundance Institute and FEMA's Resilient Nation Partnership Network, which is a mouthful in itself.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Yeah. So I think you know the partnership really came about because of a shared belief in the power of storytelling. And you know, we all know that storytelling has the power to help people make sense of complex issues. It builds empathy and inspire meaningful action. And you know the Sundance Institute, we've been around for over 40 years and we see storytelling and storytellers as really foundational to how we are able to understand the world, how we grapple with the issues that we're faced with, and it also helps us imagine what could be possible in the future. And you know, we aim to support artists who are using their voices to inspire change, to shape culture.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

And when FEMA and their RNPN, Resilient Nation Partnership Network, approached us, it felt very natural to align and to partner on this forum. They had already been doing really essential work on natural hazard mitigation and resilience and they were also really interested and curious to learn more about how they could harness the power of storytelling for their audiences and how could they use narratives to deepen public engagement, to deepen the public's ability to grapple with kind of this existential problem that we're facing. And they've also, you know, have they've also done a lot of research, behavioral science, research that FEMA was looking at, RNPN was looking at, that has shown that stories can shift hearts and minds and, most importantly, behavior. So it was really about kind of how do we join our forces together? They have this incredible community of emergency management leaders. They're connected to local groups, they're connected to business leaders, nonprofits, and how do we bring storytellers into that conversation to really address one of these, the most urgent issues of our time.

Garry Schelifer:

Wow, well said, thank you, and that came out of that forum in 2024.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Exactly.

Garry Schelifer:

Yeah.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Exactly, and we were looking at how can we really wanted to center the artist and then build a conversation around that artist and the film that they had created or made.

Garry Schelifer:

Yeah, no, that's great. And you were walking your talk in the article by telling stories about some of the stories. I really love that. And you talked about resilience. I mean, it's one of the key letters in FEMA's work. How can storytelling specifically support resilience in communities facing climate change?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Like I shared just earlier, storytelling is about changing hearts and minds, and storytelling can really foster resilience by creating these emotional connections. And the emotional connection is really what inspires us to act. It's what inspires us to have a collective action to change something right. It's also what allows us to have a deeper understanding about what is going on and the personal narratives that were shared. You know, we had a film called New Talk that was directed by Michael Kirby.

Garry Schelifer:

Michael Kirby Smith, Andrew Burton and.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Andrew Burton.

Garry Schelifer:

Saved you on that one.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

He saved me on that one, Michael and Andrew. Andrew was actually on the panel, but we had this film and it immersed viewers in the lived experience of a Yupik village in Alaska that was threatened by rising sea levels. And you know, rising sea levels can be if we're not experiencing, it can be such an abstract or overwhelming concept, and actually seeing it and feeling it through this community makes it really tangible and relatable. So it kind of breaks down you know, in this instance it was climate migration or extreme weather into something that we can really kind of hold on to and feel within our bodies as well. And, um, you know, this emotional resonance is hopefully what can galvanize policymakers, partner organizations, local leaders and also incite a little bit of urgency, right, and as well as empathy.

Garry Schelifer:

Wow, you know you remind me of those times when I'm at events and they're for a cause or something and they show a film that's relatable to what it is that we're working on. I'm thinking of this thing I used to do. The bike rally, Friends for Life bike rally, which is like a AIDS ride but you can't say it because that's branding and whatever but that sort of thing where we rode our bicycles from Toronto to Montreal.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Oh, wow

Garry Schelifer:

t took six days doing that camping along the way.

Garry Schelifer:

So I did that for a dozen years or so. But the reason I'm mentioning is because there was a movie that related to this, that story, you know movie that related, uh connected and similar impact that we're trying to make in New York, that we're trying to make here in Toronto. I don't know that just really came to mind as an impactful and changing hearts and minds on into it. And I think you hit on a really key word is relatable, how storytelling, and and particularly through your process, really does change hearts and minds It and becomes very . relatable

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Yeah and it gives voice to kind of community experiences and it can also for those communities that are being centered. It also validates their lived realities but by extension it builds solidarity with the viewer and together it opens up the pie. So there's more people who are actively or proactively trying to solve for an issue.

Garry Schelifer:

Right, yeah, wow, well said. I was thinking of something else when you talked earlier about resilience. Sorry to take you back, but what's your definite resilience? Because when you're telling what you're telling, I also hear I guess the word is preparedness. So, acknowledging their lived experience, accessing resilience, but, as in you know, preparedness that this doesn't continue happening. Like the story is to resonate to say, hey guys, the water levels are rising. This isn't the only location in the world. You know here we are, you know we need to prepare so that this doesn't happen to others.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Yeah. I think I do take a pretty broad approach to our understanding of resilience, but really kind of looking at it from this idea of empowerment and an ability to overcome and so it's about again, it's about the resilience of a community to act on their own behalf, to be able to take power into their own hands and to make change, and to move towards a solution if they need to.

Garry Schelifer:

Right, exactly. Yeah, no, thank you.

Garry Schelifer:

That's why I said, as a good coach, what does resilience mean to you? I can't assume it's the same as what it means to me, but, yes, exactly that preparedness and looking to the future and all that sort of stuff. Now we've touched on it. We haven't really pointed a finger at it, but we're talking about storytelling as essential for climate resilience. How can we amplify those voices so that more impact can be made and things can be heard?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Well, you know, I think one of the you know, one of the key things is to ensure that these films get made you know, and it's to ensure that we're able to support these filmmakers.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

And often it's also really important to support filmmakers from within the community to empower those voices to tell the stories that their communities are grappling with and the ones that are really most affected by what's going on with our climate today. And what was really powerful in the forum were the stories that we were centering, and you know, one of the conversations was around Raising Liberty Square, which was directed by Katja Essen and then produced by Katja Essen, Anne Bennett, Corina Sager and Ronald Bayes, and Ronald was on our panel, as was Valencia Gunder, who was one of the participants in the film, and you know, I think that film about this community, they were at the top of the highest kind of sea level, sea levels rising and there's a, what is it called? A reinvigoration project that's about to happen.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

So, they realize that their land is being threatened, because that's where people are going to want to move. And you know, this story really centered the community and it really felt like it was from the inside out where we were able to really amplify the voices of those who are most impacted.

Garry Schelifer:

You know, it reminds me of that scientific saying for every action there's an equal reaction. Just because you fix a problem over here doesn't mean you're not making another problem over there, which then causes. You know, it's like equal and opposite, or equal yeah.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Wow, yeah, you know and you need to have these voices that are most impacted to really be able to respond to these emergencies in a thoughtful and, like you're saying, so you're not negatively impacting another community.

Garry Schelifer:

What can we, as coaches, do to support this effort?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

I think, as coaches one of the most important things that I was thinking about when I was writing this article was kind of how do you infuse storytelling into the work, just in terms of you know, the power of storytelling is incredible and I think also this idea that we are all storytellers is something that is quite powerful. And you know, one of the other elements of this partnership was we actually presented at the American Planning Association Conference and we did kind of a learning lab around how to infuse storytelling into your work, and it was just kind of walking people through this is how can craft a story. Inherently as humans, it's within us, right, and we just have to be open to sharing it and then also, you know we talked about when you're crafting a story, really look at your audience, because your audience might also impact how you tell that story.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

So I think, really, as coaches, it's about the using storytelling to expand somebody's worldview. It's using storytelling to expand somebody's ability to understand concepts. So I think those are kind of one of the biggest, I think, takeaways from this for me. I think one of the other things that came up too in the forum and I think can be relatable for coaches is about, you know, stories, and storytelling can help us reframe how we view the world. So you know, shifting negative perceptions.

Garry Schelifer:

Mindset shift, yeah.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Mindset shift exactly. So how do we, how do you use storytelling to kind of shift somebody, the way somebody perceives something, so that you can have forward action? Because you know, negative thoughts and behaviors can be very inhibiting.

Garry Schelifer:

So tell me if this is in line with what you're thinking. So when I'm coaching one of my, I'm thinking exactly of one of my coaching clients and I was giving telling a story of my experience and what I did in a particular circumstance or what happened as a leader of an organization and something I did, and the fun and and and uh, like really just just telling a story about what happened. Is that what you would consider a storytelling exercise for coaching?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

I think 100%. Yeah, you know, I think our daily lives are filled with stories and again, by telling that story, you were able to create a personal connection with your client that allowed them to maybe understand that what they're going through, they're not the only one that has ever gone through it.

Garry Schelifer:

In this case it was an alternative way to think about it, as another possibility, right, and I introduced it with saying do you mind if I share a story of my own experience? And then I had freedom to do it. So you know, because always being careful of the client's agenda versus yours. When it naturally seems like it fits in, then you go with it. It's pretty much the same as a powerful question, yeah.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

It's about kind of expanding perspective. It's about opening people up to new ideas. S ometimes a story is a much more accessible way of doing that.

Garry Schelifer:

Yeah, yeah, and more fun, and it's a good reminder too of my own history, and you know that here's somebody that I can help possibly with my story without any attachment to it. What would you like our audience to do as a result of the article in this conversation.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Well, I'd love for the audience to watch these films. I'd love for them to go out and watch New Talk, watch Raising Liberty Square. I would love them to watch Hottest August by Brett Story or Stewards of the Land. I think all of these films really highlighted different themes around resilience and climate resilience. W hether it's the tribal migration or extreme heat, or resilient agriculture, or climate equity, I think they're very important. I think also, it's what's really unique about these films is that even though they're all documentaries, they're quite different styles of documentary. So I encourage everyone to kind of immerse yourself into the world of documentary and, if you are so moved, take action, join these communities, raise your voices in partnership with them. Thank you.

Garry Schelifer:

Good points, great idea. That's what I'm getting out of doing this issue and these podcasts is a renewed sense of engagement in my own efforts towards climate consciousness and against climate change. What's the best way for people to reach you if they want to know more?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

My email address is probably the best way to reach me. I don't know if should I just spell it out.

Garry Schelifer:

You can spell it out and Nancy will put that in the comments as well.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

I have a fairly complex name.

Garry Schelifer:

And you had to hyphenate it, didn't you?

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

But it is H-A-J-N-A-L, just my first name. Underscore my last name M-O-L-N-A-R. Hyphen S-Z-A-K-A-C-S at Sundanceorg.

Garry Schelifer:

Awesome, thank you, and thank you so much for writing and for joining us for this Beyond the Page episode. It was a real treat to hear an on-the-ground story. You know in the real world. So thank you very much. We don't get enough of those stories.

Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs:

Thank you so much, Garry, it's been a pleasure.

Garry Schelifer:

That's it for this episode of Beyond the Page. For more episodes, subscribe to your favorite podcast app, most likely the one that got you here. While you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe on your favorite channels. If you're not a subscriber to choice magazine, you can sign up for your free digital issue by scanning the QR code in the top right corner of our screen and, if you're listening, you can go to choice-online. com and click the sign up now button. I'm Garry Schleifer. Enjoy the journey of mastery.