Over the weekend of October 17 to 19, six emerging Saint Lucian creative talents gathered at the scenic Balenbouche Estate for a specialized filmmaking residency designed to reframe regional climate conversations through intimate, community-rooted narratives. Dubbed Listwa Latè-a — a Kwéyòl phrase translating directly to “Earth Stories” — the program was organized by local creative collective the Listwa Collective, with financial backing from the Caribbean Culture Fund, and led by award-winning Dominican documentary filmmaker Michael Lees. Unlike mainstream climate discourse that often centers on dense statistical datasets, formal scientific jargon, and impersonal policy reports, the residency was intentionally structured to center the overlooked human experiences, intergenerational histories, and community ties that underpin widespread regional environmental injustice. Listwa Collective Founder and Creative Director Amanie Mathurin explained that the core mission of the program was to push emerging creators past abstract climate data, to dig into the lived realities of Caribbean communities that face unique, disproportionate climate vulnerabilities rarely centered in global environmental conversations. “A persistent gap in most public climate dialogues is that they strip away the human element, severing connections between ecological challenges and the people whose daily lives and ancestral histories are inextricably tied to these landscapes,” Mathurin noted. “Our goal is to reorient these narratives to prioritize community, personal story, and local historical context, rather than relying solely on detached technical language.” During the three-day immersive retreat, the six participants split into small pairs to develop original short film projects focused on local environmental stories, with ongoing mentorship from Lees, who guided them to explore unconventional, creative frameworks for environmental storytelling that go beyond standard documentary formats. All projects are currently in post-production, with plans for a public virtual screening series to be hosted in the coming months. For many of the early-career creatives, the residency marked a pivotal turning point in their professional trajectories: filmmaker Joel Paul shared that he departed Balenbouche with dramatically boosted confidence in his technical and creative skills, and a clearer vision for the community-focused stories he hopes to center in his future work. Fellow participant Elon Sonny noted the program pushed him to adopt a far more intentional, purpose-driven approach to his creative practice, while Jeremie Louis shared that the experience sparked a new, deep-seated passion for long-form documentary production focused on local issues. The impact of the residency extended far beyond the boundaries of the Balenbouche Estate, as the organizing team led a series of public and educational outreach events across the island. Lead facilitator Michael Lees hosted public screenings of his acclaimed documentary *Uncivilised* at the Vieux Fort Arts and Entertainment Centre and the University of the West Indies Global Campus, followed by targeted visits to two local educational institutions: Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, and the A-Level department of Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School. During these school visits, students viewed curated clips from Lees’ work and joined interactive Q&A sessions to discuss the power of storytelling as a tool for environmental advocacy. The full slate of programming positions local creative practitioners as key stakeholders in advancing accessible, culturally rooted climate action across the Caribbean region.