Los Angeles, CA – February 2, 2026

Mankind’s Folly, directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, received two major awards at LAGFF-doc, the new autonomous documentary section of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, which was held for the first time from January 30 to February 1 in Los Angeles.

The film was honored with the Greek Cinema Award for Social Justice, presented with the support of Loyola Marymount University (LMU), in recognition of its strong social and political perspective. It also received the Audience Orpheus Award, confirming its powerful resonance with festival audiences. 

This double distinction places Mankind’s Folly among the most outstanding films of this year’s LAGFF-doc edition, highlighting both the strength of its subject matter and its emotional impact on viewers.

The film follows two people on opposite sides of the Bering Strait — Martha in Alaska and Nikita in Siberia — documenting the dramatic consequences of the climate crisis at the “top of the world”: permafrost thaw, ecosystem collapse, and the rapid expansion of the fossil fuel industry. Through their personal stories, Mankind’s Folly unfolds as a deeply human and political documentary, raising the question of whether humanity has already crossed a critical point of no return. 

“These distinctions help amplify the film’s message and bring back to the center of public debate the most critical issue of our time — the climate crisis,” said Yorgos Avgeropoulos while accepting the awards, which he dedicated to younger generations, emphasizing that “they deserve to live on a sustainable planet and will be called upon to fight their own battles for it.”

Mankind’s Folly has already received a Special Commendation from the Juryat Prix Europa 2025 in Berlin, and has been screening in Greek cinemas since January 15, now entering its fourth week of theatrical release.

With the launch of LAGFF-doc, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival — celebrating 20 years of continuous presence and having showcased more than 800 films and 700 filmmakers — inaugurates a new, dynamic platform for documentary cinema from Greece and Cyprus, strengthening its international visibility and contributing to the global dialogue on the most pressing issues of our time.

🎬 Mankind’s Folly — 83’ (Greece, France, 2026)
The new film by Yorgos Avgeropoulos 

🏆 Greek Cinema Award for Social Justice – LAGFF-doc 2026, Los Angeles

🏆 Audience Orpheus Award – LAGFF-doc 2026, Los Angeles

🏆 Special Commendation of the Jury – Prix Europa 2025, Berlin

Yorgos Avgeropoulos in an interview with Panos Haritos on Press Point about ‘Mankind’s Folly’, the climate, the planet, people, energy, and the behind-the-scenes story.

Watch the full interview in the link that follows: Press Point

“The well-known journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker Giorgos Avgeropoulos spoke today on Radio 98.4 about his new documentary “Mankind’s Folly”, describing it as a deeply revealing investigative journey, as he puts it, from Siberia to Alaska, across the entire Arctic Circle.

With Greenland currently at the center of global geopolitical attention, what he describes is striking. His new work focuses on the climate crisis in the Arctic, with particular emphasis on the melting of permafrost (permanently frozen ground) in Alaska and Siberia, and the serious consequences this has for local populations and for the planet as a whole.

Powerful images document the lives of people who are witnessing their environment change in devastating ways, including the collapse of infrastructure, the loss of homes, and profound social and health-related impacts.”

Listen to the full interview in the link: neakriti

Hector-Xavier Delastik writes in Infowar about Mankind’s Folly:

“Why should permafrost concern us down here as well?

The first point, which is extremely important, is that we tend to think of the ground as… a given. If something lies underground, it will more or less stay there unless some massive natural phenomenon or our own human activity brings it to the surface. Permafrost does not follow this rule.

A better way to think about it is as layers of ice and snow mixed with soil. These layers accumulate on top of one another for hundreds of thousands of years, reaching depths of up to 1.5 kilometers, compacted so tightly that they form extremely solid ground.

Ground, however, whose structural material is ice. Which means that as temperatures rise, this ice gradually melts, turning soil tens of meters deep into a muddy, unstable mass. Ground that quite literally disappears beneath our feet due to human activity, as these regions are seeing temperatures rise many times faster than the rest of the planet.

This erosion poses a massive problem for the companies involved, one that is addressed with the logic: ‘We take significant measures to protect our facilities and prevent fuel leaks. For anything beyond the facilities, let the earth burn.’

Starting from this point, why it concerns every single person personally, regardless of distance… you will find out on screen.”

Read the full article in the following link: Infowar