In a world where disasters seem to be all around us, all the time, it is normal to become desensitized and fatigued. Given the frequency of wars and climate disasters, it is hard to be shocked anymore.
Susan Sontag once said, “The vast photographic catalogue of misery and injustice throughout the world has given everyone a certain familiarity with atrocity, making the horrible seem more ordinary- making it appear familiar, remote (“it’s only a photograph”), inevitable.”
However hard it may be, it’s important to remain educated and engaged with the world around us because change begins with each and every one of us. These documentaries have shaped some of my views on climate action and compelled me to get involved.
How to Let Go of the World and Love All The Things That Climate Can’t Change
Academy Award-nominated Documentarian and activist Josh Fox brought us one of the most riveting documentaries I’ve ever watched. In this film, he travelled to the communities on the forefront of the fight against climate change.
What truly makes this documentary great is when Fox shows the resiliency of those fighting against nature’s wrath and the hope that comes from winning those victories, however small they may be. As the Pacific Climate Warriors chanted “We are not drowning. We are fighting!”
FREIGHTENED: The Real Price of Shipping
This hugely important film shines a light on the obscure world of cargo shipping and its consequences. The largest shipping companies did not want to be interviewed for this film.
Although there is a shipping accident every 3 days, oil spills are just 2.5% of the total pollution caused by shipping. 90 per cent of the goods we consume in the West are brought to us by ship. It is calculated that the 20 largest vessels pump more sulphur into the atmosphere than all the billions of cars on the planet.
The shady practice of ‘flags of convenience’ make it possible for big companies to employ seamen that work in slave-like labour conditions. Unfortunately neither the Kyoto Protocol nor the COP 21 climate agreement – signed by nearly 200 nations – mention “shipping” in any way or form.
To some degree, it is up to us as consumers to educate ourselves on the origins of our purchases and the impact they have on the environment. But a larger question is the sustainability of our current rate of consumption.
Gasland
Winner of the Jury Prize at 2010 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011, this documentary was pivotal for the anti-fracking movement.
Josh Fox who was personally offered $100,000 to lease his family’s land in Pennsylvania for fracking, set out to see how others in the West had already been affected by the gas drilling mania. Those scenes of tap water being lit on fire by residents while they discuss their chronic health issues due to contamination will forever be seared in my memory.
For those communities that had not yet experienced fracking and its consequences, this documentary became a testament to all that could be destroyed if they allowed natural gas companies to drill in their backyards.
7 years after this documentary the fight against fracking is ongoing but more and more countries are banning this dangerous extraction method- France, Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, and most recently, Ireland and Scotland have all banned fracking.
This Changes Everything
“What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world?” Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller This Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond.
In this documentary, she connects the dots between the perils of capitalism and inaction on climate change. She argues that due to the interconnected nature of the issues we face- from inequality to racism, to unemployment- we have a unique opportunity to solve the climate crisis while also dealing with our systemic problems.
Before the Flood
Before the Flood follows Academy Award-winning actor, environmental activist and U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio as he travels to five continents and the Arctic speaking to scientists, world leaders, activists and local residents to bear witness to the dramatic changes facing communities and discuss solutions to the most pressing challenge of our time.
“We need everyone to demand bold action from their political leaders and to elect representatives who have their best interests at heart, not the interests of corporations to perpetuate a cycle of greed and destruction,” says DiCaprio. “But it doesn’t stop with electing leaders. It is up to everyone to begin to take seriously the role we all play in changing the course of history. This documentary shows how interconnected the fate of all humanity is — but also the power we all possess as individuals to build a better future for our planet.”
This documentary is currently being streamed for free by National Geographic Africa on YouTube
An Inconvenient Truth
Winner of two Academy Awards, An Inconvenient Truth was groundbreaking in raising global awareness about the challenges we face with a changing climate and revitalizing the environmental movement.
When this documentary came out in 2006, Al Gore’s warnings about the catastrophes we faced if we did not heed scientists’ alarming projections may have seemed farfetched and laughable by some but we are now seeing some of these destructive patterns.
Catching the Sun
This must-watch documentary by Shalini Kantayya which is now streaming on Netflix focuses on the powerful growth of the solar power industry. Featuring diverse personalities from the US to China and their communities’ transition to solar power, it portrays workers and entrepreneurs finding solutions to unemployment and climate change.
Kantayya succeeds in showing some of the ideological obstacles that have prevented the US from leading the way on clean energy. It’s striking that the White House solar panels that President Carter installed and President Reagan then removed on his first day in office are in a solar panel museum in China. There is hope though with California proving that economic growth and ambitious climate change policy are possible together. California had the highest rate of solar power jobs per capita last year.
Not Without Us
This movie follows seven global activists to COP21 or the 21st UN Climate Talks in Paris as they attempt to represent their communities and fight for meaningful change. Not Without Us is a must-see portrayal of the importance that grassroots movements have in achieving the systemic change we need.
Years of Living Dangerously
This Emmy-winning climate change series features some of Hollywood’s most influential stars and leading journalists, revealing emotional stories of climate change from across the globe.
The humanized storytelling in this series strikes a chord with viewers as it relies on our emotions as humans instead of depending on our logical absorption of scientific facts. I would highly recommend both seasons as essential watching.
Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock
Indigenous communities have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change for decades now and have always been the greatest protectors of our only home, our mother earth.
Through their peaceful resistance against an armed force sent to protect the Dakota Access Pipeline project, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe captured our attention all around the world.
This film not only shows the lengths to which fossil fuel companies will go to build pipelines we don’t need but also the resilience of people fighting to save their water, their livelihoods and their communities. “We are warriors of peace. We won’t surrender.” This documentary is also streaming on Netflix.
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