To celebrate World Environment Day 2017, Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter curates his top 5 films on DocPlay.
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent direct action to expose global environmental problems and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace’s early years are chronicled in Jerry Rothwell’s 2015 documentary HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, check it out on DocPlay now!
Chasing Ice
So, here it is: the glaciers collapsing before our very eyes. Chasing Ice offers an extraordinary depiction of the raw physical consequences of global warming. The interviews explain what you are seeing, but it is the power of the imagery - time lapse images of glaciers coming apart executed with remarkable technical precision - that stays with you. And remember, Australian coal is making a big contribution to driving that destruction...
How to Change the World
I watched this film for the first time with some trepidation, in case it was merely a hagiography, but I was happily surprised at the film's depth and candour. How to Change the World is terrific, showing the genesis of Greenpeace in Vancouver in the early 1970s in all its glorious chaos and genius. The diary entries of Bob Hunter and the vast collection of archival footage make for a film that is confronting, subtle and illuminating, while still showcasing the raw determination, creativity and bold independence that still animates our movement today.
Fire in Babylon
Ok, so this is not an environmental film, but I first saw Fire in Babylon with some mates from Greenpeace in Islington, London and we agreed afterwards that it had been brilliant. The movie depicts the rise to greatness of the West Indian test cricket team of the 1970s and 80s. Ultimately a movie about shifting power and mindsets in the context of class, race and the complexities of a post-colonial world.
This Changes Everything
Honestly, I'd much rather you read the book, but if you are time poor then you can get some of the gist from Arvi Lewis' brave 2015 film adaptation of Naomi Klein's work This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate. Klein's analysis has been highly influential in the climate and environment movement and was a major factor in her being awarded the 2016 Sydney Peace Prize.
Not Quite Hollywood
It is hard to watch Not Quite Hollywood without literally cringing, as you are taken on a tour of the grossly exploitative genre of films known as 'Ozploitation' that were pumped out in Australia in the 1970s and early 80s to take advantage of a highly favorable tax regime. Expect to be genuinely appalled on multiple fronts, but if you are interested in society and social politics, and how culture and mindsets are made and can change, you will find this film fascinating. From an environmental perspective, you get real insights into how the Australian outback was cinematically constructed in this period - and it ain't positive.
