Created by Ferdi Rizkiyanto
Questions for Planning a Screening
1.How is it to be promoted? Posters, cards, internet?
2. Who will look after printing? Who will pay printing costs?
3. Who will poster? Where?
4. Are we having refreshments? What? Who?
2. Who will greet?
3. Who will people tables (petition/letter writing/door campaign)?
4. Who will introduce the film and housekeeping issues (washroom, length of film, cell phones off, appreciations?
5. Who will lead the discussion post film? What do you think of handing out a sticky note prior to the film for people to write one suggestion that they will follow through on to mitigate impacts of climate change, peak oil, population growth. These could be posted and shared with whole group by the post discussor?
Suggestions for Screenings
With all of these movies, it's important to create a bit of an event, rather than just a screening. This isn't too hard - here's the recipe:
1. Introduce the film personally by putting it into the context of your overall hopes for your community.
2. Have everyone turn to someone they don't know and, in turns, introduce themselves and explain what brought them to the event that night.
3. Show the film.
4. Have everyone pair up (preferably with someone they don't know) and do an active talking/listening exercise about their impressions of the movie (i.e. one person talks for 3 minutes while the other listens, then they switch over). You can give direction with something like "Say what gives you cause for concern and then what gives you cause for hope about the movie".
5. Run a Q&A on Peak Oil and/or Climate Change – whichever is relevant to the movie. Make sure you have someone there who knows what he/she is talking about – though it's no shame to say "I don't know, but I can find out and get back to you".
6. Watch out for the "I'm alone in the depths of my fear" type questions – they're typically a cry out for counselling or connection and can paralyse a room. What can work in that situation is to acknowledge the person's fear and then to ask in the room "if there's anyone here who has a part of themselves that is full of fear around this, please put up your hand". Put yours up first... and hope! Unless you're sitting in a room full of denial, you'll see a lot of hands shoot up. You can then explain that the Transition Model has a place where people can move through their fears and into a place of action (usually handled by the "Heart and Soul" group, once it's formed).
Suggested Films
Climate Change
Climate Change - Does Anyone Care if Bangladesh Drowns?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj0iZiivYJc
Sisters on the Planet
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/campaigns/climate-change/sisters-on-the-planet
The Story of Cap & Trade
2009 39 Minutes US
http://storyofstuff.com/capandtrade/
An Inconvenient Truth
2006 100 mins US
what is so powerful about this film is that it makes the whole subject comprehensible to the lay person. Such a thing could be dry and dull, yet it is completely engrossing. It is well edited and paced, I have to say I was on the edge of my seat. As a film designed to shock the world into action, it is very powerful and, hopefully, effective.
He ignores Peak Oil (something he has since spoken widely on), which would profoundly affect many of his proposed solutions. He doesn’t really take on the role that global capitalism has played in creating the mess that is Climate Change. His solutions imply that low energy bulbs alone will save the planet, and that biodiesel can run all our cars, in other words that business-as-usual is still viable with light green trimmings.
Gore sets out the case clearly, tugging at the heart strings, and concludes by telling people that there is still time to avert the worst scenarios. All of these he does brilliantly.
11th Hour (produced by Leonardo DiCapricio)
2007 Full length USA
It's not just about global warming and climate change, it picks up on much wider sustainability issues. It is surprisingly bold in its criticism of corporates and the US government and questions the idea of unending economic growth quite well. Managed to get quite philosophical and deep about the role of humans on the earth etc, whilst still being easy to follow. It finishes positively. The first two thirds of the film were deeply depressing, then the final third turned it around and it ended up quite invigorating.
some weaknesses are:
very american centric (I don't think this is necessarily a problem though)
the 'what you can do personally' was maybe a little weak.
http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/
The Great Warming
2006 Full length Canada
Pros:
refers to feedback mechanisms such as water vapour - this area is often underemphasised
lots of inspiring people rather than a high profile politician driving/flying/presenting wide-ranging on impacts, looking around the world at agriculture, sea levels, droughts, even the Thames Barrier – a rather terrifying section if you happen to work on the ground floor of the Houses of Parliament
Not very North American centric
Cons:
too much emphasis on technological solutions such as "hydrogen economy" and manmade "trees" that harvest carbon from the atmosphere not enough emphasis on changing our underlying relationship with the planet
What A Way To Go: life at the end of the empire
2007 123 minutes
Pros:
hardcore, hard-hitting personal journey into the ecological nightmare of civilisation. If you've never read Derrick Jensen or Ran Prieur or seen "End of Suburbia" this might be a tough watch. On the other hand, if you have, this one is essential viewing.
covers plenty of ground – discusses the confluence of Peak Oil, Climate Change, natural resource depletion and population
www.whatawaytogomovie.com
small scale public single showing license is $50
10 pack DVD is $210
institutional lending license is $197
Cons:
short on solutions
almost devoid of hope, presupposing that civilisation must collapse before we reach a more sustainable way of living – not much "transition" thought
www.whatawaytogomovie.com/trailers/
Peak Oil
End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion & The Collapse of the American Dream
2004 78 mins Canada
What I love about EOS is that it leaves no convenient back door to sidle out of, really it boils down to no oil, no transportation infrastructure; no transportation infrastructure, no globalised economy; no globalised economy, no nothing, apart from localisation. It is obvious isn’t it? Or is it just me? I think the film puts it so clearly. I have often seen how screenings of EOS in towns act, in hindsight, as a catalyst for all sorts of things that follow.
Peak Oil: Imposed by Nature
2005 30 mins Norway
Generally speaking, this DVD is hard to watch - not because it's boring, but because the viewer comes to the realisation that lifestyles are going t change. Along with global warming, our consumerist ways will be the stuff of legend in another 50 years.
It makes many concrete arguments that are difficult to rebut. Simply put, if Peak Oil is in fact true, then our current way of life - from driving our cars t buying fruit from the supermarket - will never again be the way are. Unless you are filthy rich, you will have to make massive sacrifices.
This DVD interviews highly respected scientists from around the world, but mainly from Europe.
Power of Community – how Cuba survived Peak Oil
2006 53 mins USA
From the film website: "All public screenings must be non-commercial, though you may collect a small fee to cover expenses or to raise money for a nonprofit organization."
It is a wonderful and inspirational film and is one not to be missed.
film has been premiered in the US and in Ireland to rapturous reviews
Crude Impact
2006 97 mins USA
clearly and passionately presents the argument that we are at or near the peak, which will be a transition of historic importance.
possibly suffers from being too long. It runs for over 90 minutes, and despite my being avidly keen to watch it, I did catch my eyelids drooping occasionally.
Little is discussed in terms of what our lives might look like without it, but that is not the film’s purpose. Crude Impact focuses our minds not only on our dependence on oil, but also on all that has been done in order to sustain our habit. As such it is a very powerful tool in our attempts to break our collective addiction.
For non-profits and other organizations who wish to screen the film to a small group of 50 people or less, where there is no admission fee, we ask for a screening fee of $115 plus the cost of the DVD, which you can purchase online. Otherwise contact screenings@vistaclarafilms.com
A Crude Awakening: the oil crash
2006 85 mins Switzerland
very impressed, the best exposition of the Peak Oil argument yet committed to film
Crude Awakening keeps its gaze purely on Peak Oil, and presents a well argued, well-paced, and well-edited summary of what Peak Oil is and what it will mean for us all
It is a film which avoids over sensationalising the material, allowing the facts to speak for themselves. It isn’t overly explicit about what the impacts of Peak Oil might be, allowing the viewer to follow those trains of thought in his or her own head.
www.oilcrashmovie.com/dvd.html
Escape from Suburbia: beyond the American dream
2007
The END of SUBURBIA explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet enters the age of Peak Oil.
Screening permission is granted to non profit environmental and peak oil organizations to show it freely at their meetings, to members.
Several reviewers from the UK found the personal stories to be less than engaging and its emphasis on "escape from" rather than "transform where you are" to be unrealistic – there simply aren't enough places to "escape to"!
Energy Crossroads: a burning need to change course
2007 54 mins
Although the film focuses on the US situation, it still has relevance elsewhere and takes a positive view on where we are and what can be done.
From the film website:
As our global population and its appetite for energy rise drastically, resource depletion and global warming have become the most pressing issues facing humanity today.
Most experts agree that global Peak Oil production, when demand exceeds supply, will occur within the next 15 years and will drastically change the very fabric of our industrialized world.
www.energyxroads.com/buydvd.html
Public performance policy:
Buying this public performance rights version of the DVD ($59.95) gives you and your organization the right to show the film publicly in a non-theatrical setting as many times as you want, as long as n admission is charged. This educational DVD has an extra hour of bonus materials, which includes a 25 minutes documentary produced in 1974 soon after
the 1973 oil embargo, extended interviews and more.
It is clear that in order for us to survive our modern self-destructive societies, we will have to change course drastically and as fast as possible. Scientists and experts agree that the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power, coupled with higher efficiency and conservation, will be key factors in preserving our quality of life and paving the way to a sustainable world for our children.
www.energyxroads.com/trailer.html
Environment
The Story of Stuff
20 mins US
Message in the Waves
2007 48:47 minutes BBC NaturalWorld
A beautifully filmed, inspiring yet heart-rending look at what plastic and rubbish is doing to our ocean and marine life, looking particularly at Hawai'i.
http://www.messageinthewaves.com/
I've managed to download the DVD and can make it available upon request (Patricia)
Manufactured Landscapes
2007 90 minutes Canada
http://www.mongrelmedia.com/films/ManufacturedLandscapes.html
"This film made me gasp, in shock at the sheer magnitude and scale shown by the images. It's like nothing I have ever seen. It begins with a glimpse into ... industrialised China. The film shows another reality, one which exists simultaneously with our own, and one we are not separate from, but are part of and contribute to.
No group showing license available yet
The narration by Edward Burtynsky is brief and intermittent - just enough to connect some of the dots. And it talks about Peak Oil."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67j7JlEZzpQ
The Economy
Money As Debt
2006 47 mins
From www.themoneymasters.com
This excellent, entertaining and animated feature by graphic artist and videographer, Paul Grignon, explains – in careful detail - today’s magically perverse debt money system.
Reviewer Ben Brangwyn of Transition Network
Essential viewing for everyone. Explains, simply and clearly, the rise and rise of banking from its earliest origins into the dominant form it is today. Basically, without money reform and a removal of the debt/interest basis of
our economy, all attempts at sustainability are doomed to failure.