After watching this powerful documentary, I’m still hearing the almost human screams of harpooned whales. The Love Canal children, with their genetic defects and altered chromosomes due to 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals in their backyards, are imprinted in my memory. Climate change issues are illustrated through personal, human stories, which you are not likely to forget.
Inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff, A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet chronicles the largest environmental movements of the 20th century and the fight to save our planet and our lives. It is a battle of man versus nature—and it’s reaching a fever pitch.
A FIERCE GREEN FIRE explores grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years, from conservation to climate change. Written and directed by Mark Kitchell, the film is narrated by an all-star cast including Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Ashley Judd. It is divided into five acts, each with a central story and character: 1) David Brower and the Sierra Club’s battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon; 2) Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal residents’ struggle against toxic chemicals; 3) Paul Watson and Greenpeace’s campaigns to save whales and baby harp seals; 4) Chico Mendes and Brazilian rubbertappers’ fight to save the Amazon rainforest; 5) Bill McKibben and the 25-year effort to address climate change.
Interviews with experts bring the stories into perspective, and contextualize their impact on our future and the future of our planet. If you haven’t kept up with the environmental movements of the past few decades, vivid archival film brings it all back in a collection of Greatest Hits. The struggle to save our world is palpable, but the film gives us hope—successful movements that have inspired change paved the way for new initiatives and galvanized a new generation of fighters committed to halting climate change.
A FIERCE GREEN FIRE premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and has won acclaim at dozens of festivals around the world. First Run Features’ theatrical release was on March 1st, 2013 at the Cinema Village in New York. It will open on March 15th at the Nuart in Los Angeles and Landmark theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area. Openings in select locations across the country will continue through June.