Film & TV Lunch Club: June 2023 - Climate Emergency
Film & TV Lunch Club: June 2023 - Climate Emergency
How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Frozen Planet II, Honeyland
It’s summer in the UK and we are experiencing a bout of sunny weather with the ‘hottest day of the year’ occurring over the bank holiday weekend just gone. Of course, moderate warmth can be glorious, but the more the country (and world) heats up, the more we are reminded of how the climate is becoming more unstable, and how extreme the impact of this could be - indeed, it already is for people around the world.
The relationship between people and planet has never been so critical, so to mark World Environment Day on 5th June, this month’s theme is ‘Climate Emergency’. We’re watching films which help us to visualise the drastic effects of climate change in a way that is much more immersive than an article or story rolling around on on the 24 hour news cycle. Not only can films document the existing, known experiences in our human history, but they can foresee and predict versions of the future - the plausiblity of them dependent on how we act now.
Below you will find the selection of titles to watch for the theme, as well as a long list which you can use as a watchlist - each film, documentary or television show on the short list has a method for watching but please note that these are correct as of today (for UK viewers) and are subject to change.
🎞 June Selection 🎞
How To Blow Up A Pipeline | Official Trailer | Dir. Daniel Goldhaber
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2021; Dir. Daniel Goldhaber)
Crime/drama/thriller: A crew of environmental activists plot a daring plan to disrupt an oil pipeline. Buy now on Apple TV, Amazon, Google or YouTube.Frozen Planet II (2022; Narrated by David Attenborough)
Documentary mini-series: Following life in the frozen regions of the planet, including polar bears, Siberian tigers, snow monkeys, and penguins. Stream on BBC iPlayer.Honeyland (2019, Dir. Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov)
Documentary: The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood. Stream on Now TV or rent from Amazon and other online retailers.
🎬 The Long List: Optional Extras 🎬
Other notable films/TV shows suggested for the theme:
Interstellar - When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.
Down to Earth with Zac Efron - In this travel show, actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in search of healthy, sustainable ways to live.
Leave No Trace - A father and his thirteen-year-old daughter are living an ideal existence in a vast urban park in Portland, Oregon when a small mistake derails their lives forever.
First Reformed - A minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.
Biggest Little Farm - Documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.
Embrace of the Serpent - The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of forty years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.
Okja - A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.
WALL-E - In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Chinatown - A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
A Flash of Green (1984) - Local reporter gets involved with corrupt county commissioner.
The Island President - After bringing democracy to his country, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, takes up the fight to keep his homeland from disappearing under the sea.
Local Hero (1983) - An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
Silent Running - In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft.
Don’t Look Up - Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn humankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.
Dark Waters - A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
Woman at War (2018) - Halla becomes a determined environmental activist, but this threatens a long-held hope of hers.
Rebellion/Beyond the Emergency - A group of ordinary people stop playing by the rules, embracing civil disobedience and sounding the alarm for climate breakdown. They are rebellious and they are flawed revealing the human drama at the heart of social change.
Kiss The Ground - A revolutionary group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.
I Am Greta - The documentary follows Greta Thunberg, a teenage climate activist from Sweden, on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world's environmental problems.
Bring Your Own Brigade - An investigation into our landscape's hidden fire stories and on-the-ground experiences of firefighters and residents struggling through deadly fires.
2040 - Practical solutions to environmental concerns are addressed with the hope that the filmmaker's daughter, 21 years old in the year 2040, will face a hopeful future.
Waterworld - In a future where the polar ice-caps have melted and Earth is almost entirely submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw "smokers," and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl try to find dry land.
Demain/Tomorrow - The world's climate is changing. Instead of showing the worst that can happen, this documentary focuses on the people suggesting solutions and their actions.
If you watch along this month, please comment with your thoughts on the selection! Similarly, if you have any other suggestions for the longlist, feel free to share your recommendations.
🔜 Next Month 🔜
The theme for July will be THINK PINK as a nod to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie which will be released on the 21st July in the UK.