A film by John Liu. Theatrical screening at COP15 - the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Summit - "..the most important meeting in human history.." http://www.350.org/
Airing globally on BBC World November 27, 2009.
Directed by Jeremy Bristow, Produced by Louise Heren, Music composed by Al Lethbridge.
Please take a look at www.hopeinachangingclimate.org on Monday 30th Nov, where the film of the same name will begin screening, or if you get BBC World or will be attending Copenhagen in early December, then see below.
"Hope in a Changing Climate" will be aired globally by BBC World on November 27, 2009, and screened at the COP 15 climate change summit in Copenhagen from December 7 - 18.
This documentary demonstrates that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations, and to sequester carbon naturally. This approach has been dramatically proven on the Loess Plateau in China, the highland area spanning some 640,000 square km in north central China. It is the birthplace of the Han Chinese, headwaters of The Yellow River and home to a new environmental and economic paradigm; a degraded ecosystem of more than 35,000 square km of land now teems with life and supports the sustainable economic, social, and agricultural activities of its people.
"Hope in a Changing Climate" is the latest documentary produced by the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP), an organization dedicated to placing ecosystem restoration at the center of the global discussions on climate change, poverty, and sustainable agriculture. Shot in stunning HD on location in China, Ethiopia and Rwanda, the film features a diverse collection of interviews, from world leaders such as president of Rwanda HE Paul Kagame, to local people telling their own stories. "Hope in a Changing Climate" is directed by Jeremy Bristow, producer of the award-winning BBC documentaries featuring Sir David Attenborough, "Are We Changing Planet Earth?" and "Can We Save Planet Earth?"
The film is presented by John D. Liu, an environmental filmmaker and ecological field researcher who has produced and directed documentaries for CBS, National Geographic and the BBC. Financial support for the film is provided by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-The Netherlands, Open University, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and The World Bank.
Nalaka Gunawardene writes again about the importance of filmmakers putting planet before profit at SciDevNet:
Films and television programmes about climate change should be made freely available beyond their initial broadcast.
Films and television programmes about climate change should be designated a 'copyright free zone'.
This was the call made by broadcasters and independent film-makers at an Asian media workshop held in Tokyo last month (October).
For years, broadcasters have dutifully reported on evolving scientific and political aspects of climate change. They have also made or carried excellent documentaries analysing causes of, and solutions to, the problem. But these are often not widely available, because of tight copyright restrictions.
Limited distribution
Most media companies hang on to their products for years, sometimes long after they have recovered their full investment.
Even when film-makers or producers themselves want their creations to circulate beyond broadcasts, company policies get in the way. In large broadcast or film production companies, lawyers and accountants — not journalists or producers — decide how and where content is distributed.
It isn't just climate-related films that are locked up with copyright restrictions. Every year, hundreds of television programmes or video films — many supported by public, corporate or philanthropic funds — are made on a variety of development and conservation topics.
These are typically aired once, twice or at best a few times and then relegated to a shelf somewhere. A few may be released on DVD or adapted for online use. But the majority goes into archival 'black holes', from where they might never emerge again.
Yet most of these films have a long shelf life and could serve multiple secondary uses outside the broadcast industry.
Beyond broadcast
Communicating the need for social change is a slow, incremental process. Broadcasts can flag important issues, but real engagement happens in classrooms, training centres and other small groups where screenings stir up deeper discussions. Combining broadcast and 'narrowcast' outreach vastly increases the chances of changing people's attitudes and, ultimately, their behaviour.
But if moving images are to play a decisive role in the climate debate, television programmes and video films on the subject need to be more freely available, accessible and useable, as argued at the Tokyo workshop.
Read the entire article at SciDevNet here. Many thanks to Nalaka Gunawardene for bringing this issue to the public eye.
"It's very heartening this year to see so many films with a strong environmental focus – it seems at last the environment is going mainstream, and is on everyone's agenda," said Joanna Lumley, the host of this year's Oscars of the wildlife film industry.
The Gala Panda Awards in Bristol took place last month amidst a week of seminars, debates and discussion at Wildscreen, the leading wildlife film festival. It attracts delegates from around the globe who work in film, television and the press, as well as those actively involved in working to conserve the environment. Over 420 films were entered.
A definite buzz filled the air at this year's Festival and the big 'C' word was on the lips of most producers, commissioners, cameramen and NGOs. A swear word on the tongue of some and the planet's only hope in the voice of others, the big 'C' in the wildlife film industry stands for Conservation.
Every film-maker wants the audience to care passionately about their story to the extent that they feel moved to take action and make a difference, but from Sir David Attenborough and James Lovelock to the Director of Google Earth, it seems everyone is perplexed as to why environmental films with strong conservation messages are not making it to the light of day. Sadly, those that do are destined for the ghost slots, late nights on channel Z while prime time TV is sandwiched with big teeth, blood and fear.
One character that almost always comes worse off in these adrenaline documentaries is the shark. A never-ending series of natural history films (perhaps natural history entertainment is a more apt description) portray sharks as man-eaters. By perpetuating the 'Jaws' myth these films do nothing to promote shark conservation and the cruel fact that man is killing 100 million of them each year, pushing sharks toward their final cut – extinction.
In one giant step towards promoting natural history films that tell the whole story and engage viewers with the big 'C', the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) took home the most prestigious award in natural history filmmaking – the Panda Award – for its campaign film 'Rethink the Shark'.
Image: Chris Clarke, Executive Director of SOSF, accepting Wildscreen's Panda Award for our Rethink the Shark campaign
A great campaign film considers the audience, provides a key message in a compelling way, and hopefully challenges preconceptions. According to the judges SOSF's 'Rethink the Shark' did this with "a sharp eye for detail, extreme wit and good humour."
SOSF, in partnership with Saatchi and Saatchi's Cape Town division of the global advertising agency, created a film that ends the stereotypical view of 'Jaws'- with an ironic twist. Drawing from its scientists around the world SOSF's HD films are based on cutting edge research and designed to educate, delight and inspire the audience to take action and conserve our marine environment.
'A summer's day on a crowded beach: shrieks of delight and joy sound the air as children splash and play in the ocean. The happy, family scene turns sour as a woman screams and panic ensues. People swim frantically for the shore, there is a stampede on the beach and a baby, almost trampled in the chaos, cries.'
An ominous shape appears – a toaster floats towards the panicked spectators, its triangular edge bobbing above the surface, and the audience gasps as reality hits the screen: "Last year 791 people were killed by faulty toasters. Only 4 by sharks. Rethink the Shark".
The film, part of an awareness campaign driven by the SOSF, urges people to 'Rethink the Shark'. It challenges the media-driven public perception of sharks as man-eaters to looking at these key ocean predators in their real light.
SOSF is a non-profit research and education organization that is dedicated to raising awareness about the state of our oceans and highlighting the negative consequences of removing sharks and rays from the marine ecosystem.
Cape Town, where the scene was filmed, is home to the Save Our Seas Shark Centre, which promotes the protection and conservation of sharks worldwide by developing scientific research projects and global education and awareness projects that target the general public, fishers and children. So, next time you crisp your bread spare a thought for the sharks out there that are rapidly becoming toast due to over-fishing and finning.
For more information or to download 'Rethink the Shark' visit: www.saveourseas.com
