MADISON, Wis. -- Economic struggles were just one of the many subjects filmmakers shed some light on over the weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

The Tales From Planet Earth Film Festival showcased 50 eco-friendly films from around the world aimed to inspire viewers to take action in their communities.

"It's much less about ego than about content, and getting people to respond to that content," said participant George Stoney.

One of the local non-profit organizations benefitting from the film festival was Porchlight Industries. Porchlight helps Madison's homeless develop work skills creating food products to be sold to wholesale and retail companies.

"With this film screening, we're getting a lot of exposure and marketing that we just wouldn't have been able to afford so it's been a really great opportunity," said Porchlight Products' Jennifer Hall.

"One of the things that we wanted to do was how do you take that energy and enthusiasm and inspiration that people get from watching these great stories and how can we use it in a way that will help in a very small way benefit the community and bring those stories to home," said Gregg Mitman with Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies.

Some of the festival's films will be shown around Wisconsin in the coming year.