Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges wanted to avoid making a climate change documentary that only preached to the converted B次元官网网址� he wanted to reach and speak to people who didnB次元官网网址檛 already care about the issue.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 why B次元官网网址淟iving in the FutureB次元官网网址檚 Past,B次元官网网址� produced and narrated by Bridges, deliberately avoids heaping guilt upon viewers or hammering them with warnings of impending doom, the B次元官网网址淏ig LebowskiB次元官网网址� star said.
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B次元官网网址淚 think the fear makes you throw up your hands and feel like itB次元官网网址檚 too late, or think itB次元官网网址檚 going to trickle down from the government,B次元官网网址� Bridges, 69, said in an interview.
B次元官网网址淏ut I donB次元官网网址檛 think we can wait for the government to be enlightened with what our scientists are telling us. I think itB次元官网网址檚 got to trickle up, if itB次元官网网址檚 trickling anywhere. I think we all have to take action.B次元官网网址�
The film is part of a rising tide of documentaries that aim to wake up viewers to the realities of climate change. But as governments, companies and individuals remain reluctant to act, itB次元官网网址檚 fair to question how much of an impact movies can have.
Bridges wanted B次元官网网址淟iving in the FutureB次元官网网址檚 PastB次元官网网址� to take a fresh approach. When he first discussed collaborating with director Susan Kucera, he said he felt there were enough climate movies that pointed fingers and told audiences they were in dire straits.
The pair discovered they were interested in why humans as a species were responding the way they were to climate change. As a result, the film interrogates how evolution, history and psychology have shaped our reaction to the unfolding crisis.
Bridges likes to use a metaphor inspired by one of his heroes, Buckminster Fuller, who invented a small rudder called a trim tab that helps turn a larger rudder on a ship. The tab symbolizes how the individual is connected to society, he said.
B次元官网网址淲e all can make a huge difference, just like that little rudder on the big rudder,B次元官网网址� Bridges said. B次元官网网址淲e can all do it in different ways. IB次元官网网址檓 in the movie business, so I make movies.B次元官网网址�
The film showcases a wide range of prominent scientists and authors. Yet one of the most refreshing voices is former Republican congressman Bob Inglis, who argues caring about the environment is not at odds with a conservative or religious identity.
B次元官网网址淗e has this idea that if youB次元官网网址檙e going to go to a group of people who are self-identified in one way, who better to talk to that group than someone from that group?B次元官网网址� said Kucera. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e still kind of tribal that way, and so thatB次元官网网址檚 what he does.B次元官网网址�
The beautifully shot film will screen this week as part of Elements Film Festival at VancouverB次元官网网址檚 Telus World of Science. Also screening are local films including B次元官网网址淐oal ValleyB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淧lastic BeachB次元官网网址� and international features such as B次元官网网址淨ueen Without Land.B次元官网网址�
Carol Linnitt, who co-founded online news outlet The Narwhal and directed B次元官网网址淐oal Valley,B次元官网网址� said documentaries allow storytellers to delve deeper into an issue and often the outletB次元官网网址檚 films reach an audience far beyond its regular readership.
B次元官网网址淲e live in a fast-paced, attention-driven world these days. Often, the dry written word sitting static on a page may not be whatB次元官网网址檚 going to do it for a lot of people,B次元官网网址� she said.
Of course, it also matters who sees these films. Bridges said he was excited to be working on a curriculum that would allow his movie to be taught in schools, where it would encourage kids to take action and use their imaginations to solve the problem.
Keith Scholey, series producer of the lush Netflix nature documentary B次元官网网址淥ur Planet,B次元官网网址� said the filmmakers created a website, OurPlanet.com, to give viewers more details about solutions, and theyB次元官网网址檙e also screening the show for global decision makers.
B次元官网网址淪o far, we have been able to present B次元官网网址極ur PlanetB次元官网网址� to the World Economic Forum in Davos and next week will do the same to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. We think we have already started to bring about change,B次元官网网址� he said.
Still, humans are so notoriously apathetic about climate change that one environmental psychologist has catalogued all the reasons people donB次元官网网址檛 take action. Robert Gifford of the University of Victoria describes them as the B次元官网网址渄ragons of inaction.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he less polite word might be excuses or justifications,B次元官网网址� he deadpanned.
He said common B次元官网网址渄ragonsB次元官网网址� include: B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 only one person. Why should I do anything if my efforts donB次元官网网址檛 make a difference?B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the governmentB次元官网网址檚 job, not mine.B次元官网网址�
Environmental films are more likely to make a difference if they are quiet and serious, such as Al GoreB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淎n Inconvenient Truth,B次元官网网址� as opposed to over-the-top Hollywood fare that will just make viewers roll their eyes, Gifford said.
The most important factor in persuading people to care about climate change, however, is to demonstrate how it intersects with an issue they care about, such as their health, children or local community, he added.
B次元官网网址淭here is no magic message for everybody.B次元官网网址�
Laura Kane, The Canadian Press
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