27th November
We had a chance to see the documentary, the 11th Hour, narrated and produced by Leonardo diCaprio. One of the guest speakers at the Festival was Kenny Ausubel, founder of Bioneers www.bioneers.org, and advisor to Leonardo in the making of the movie. Kenny’s philosophy is essentially in that we can avert the path of environmental and therefore self destruction by changing our ways. We can restore the earth’s health by practical environmental solutions and social change.
The movie is an amalgamation of many interviews of a wide range of people – from scientists including Steven Hawking, politicians including Gorbachev, to architects, engineers including William Mcdonough and Bruce Mau.
The first part of the movie focuses, very much like “The Inconvenient Truth” on what we already know – mankind is destroying the planet and that global warming could be the end of us and many other species. The second part of the movie focuses on what we can do to redress the damage.
It is inspirational as it encourages everyone to be empowered and to take action and that it is not too late to make a difference. One of the messages is that environmental degradation is a reflection of the social malaise at hand. The drive to consume, consume, consume, motivating people to work long hours, suffer long commutes – only to get even more estranged from what is really important in life. The solution provided is look to nature for solutions for energy and urban design to provide for sustainable living. The message is also to go back to basics and to the simple pleasures in life. Not the average Warner Brothers production but one that will definately make an impact on viewer’s value systems. Bravo Leonardo!
