What’s the best film to get people inspired, informed and proactive about sustainability?
A friend of mine recently came to me and said she was playing the Age of Stupid film to her colleagues and needed some guidance to facilitate a discussion afterwards. I was stumped. I’m meant to know all about facilitation but I still feel wary about how we should talk about big topics such as climate change. What I’m sure of is this: we have been getting it wrong because action is taking such a long time.
So what is the best video to show? The answer depends on what result and reaction you want to get. The downfall of many climate change videos is that they dedicate a large majority of time explaining the climate change problem but don’t offer many solutions or a portrait of what a sustainable future looks like. Recent research from Futerra and the Green Alliance tells us that this vision is what sells and wins people over. Futerra call it ‘the sizzle’.
If you don’t offer some sort of solution or vision of where we want to get to, people can be left confused and helpless. Thinking about this, I’ve listed some of the documentaries and short films I have watched over the last year. I’ve enjoyed all of these, and they all have their good points and bad points in their approach. Perhaps you have some too which you can recommend?
Age of Stupid (89 minutes)
The Age of Stupid was written by Frannie Armstrong and takes an imaginative and provocative approach to the topic by mixing a plot with real life documentary. It covers six real stories that illustrate the consequences of, and different ways in which we contribute to climate change. It provides for good discussion afterwards and can inspire action for certain people, but doesn’t really go into details of what practical action looks like. It also doesn’t paint a positive vision, only a stark alternative if we don’t sort ourselves out.
Wake Up, Freak Out (12 minutes)
A short and wonderfully animated explanation about climate change and the tipping points of the planet. For some, this will inspire and invigorate. For others it might have the danger of making them freak out and switch off. Again, this doesn’t leave you knowing what to do. http://wakeupfreakout.org/film/tipping.html
An Inconvenient Truth (94 minutes)
An Inconvenient Truth was an award winning documentary in 2006 that raised international public awareness of climate change and reenergised the environmental movement. It consists of a comprehensive slide show given by Al Gore. Its popularity is perhaps due to Al Gore’s authority and intelligence, making it a good documentary for more serious folk. Its length means that it does paint a vision of how things can change however it doesn’t go as far as it perhaps could. His recent book ‘Our Choice’ however does an excellent job at describing the practical solutions we need.
Recent talks by Al Gore
Although the Inconvenient Truth is still relevant, science moves fast and so it is worth watching Al Gore’s subsequent talks on TED. These give an update on the climate crisis and are more bite size in length.
