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The age of stupid is upon us
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We are living in the 'age of stupid', the title of a new film suggests.
A film called 'The Age of Stupid' will be showing on 6 continents in almost 50 countries and over 700 movie theaters on September 21 and 22 only; the film's central screening in NYC comes on the eve of the UN General Assembly's climate session.
The sponsors for the film and events surrounding the screenings include the usual line-up of environmental organizations. Groups such as Friends of the Earth, 350.org, WWF, 1Sky, Greenpeace, MoveOn.org, and TckTckTck, and others are the leading partners for the event.
Pete Postlethwaite "stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?"
People who do not believe that a climate crisis exists, or, if they do, that humanity is not responsible for it, will not enjoy watching this film or attending the events surrounding the screening; but for people who are still waiting for humanity to mobilize in an effort to avert dramatic climate change by reforming global energy trends, this film may very well trumpet a kick-off off toward Copenhagen.
The film is directed by Franny Armstrong, a British documentary film director; she is also a climate change activist whose most recent project before 'The Age of Stupid' was 10:10 which aimed to achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010 through co-ordinated grassroots action.
The Guardian hosts an exclusive inside look at the making of the film. Dubbed 'Inside Stupid', it can be watched here. The behind-the-scenes peek at the film "shows how an animation of Sydney Opera House in flames was done by a team of 16 boys in their bedrooms, how the stories of the six main characters in the film were selected, how she (Armstrong) persuaded Pete Postlethwaite to take up the role of narrator and how it was financed using a crowd funding model". Read the Guardian article here.
Wired magazine describes 'The Age of Stupid' as a destabilizing experience. "By the time The Age of Stupid’s flashbacks are over and the viewer is stuck in a ravaged 2055, the urge to do something immediate is palpable and powerful." Read Wired Magazine's review of the film here.
The film premiered in the UK back in March, but this month's global screening "will launch in America on September 21, 2009 from a solar-powered cinema tent in New York LIVE to over 400 movie theatres across the country".
From the website: "VIPs will arrive in Manhattan by bike, rickshaw, electric car, and sailing boat, before braving the paparazzi on the green carpet (made from recycled soda bottles). Following the screening of 'The Age of Stupid' there will be a further 40-minute event featuring Kofi Annan, Gillian Anderson, Mary Robinson, Franny Armstrong, Pete Postlethwaite, and other leading thinkers, celebrities, and political figures from around the world. There will be live music from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and satellite links to scientists working in the Indonesian Rainforest and at the melting glaciers in the Himalayas. A group of children will speak from the very room in Copenhagen in which all our futures will be decided at the UN climate summit in December."
Find a 'Stupid' theater near you here. If there is not a theater near you showing the film, internet screening will also be available online.
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