NO FILM ON A DEAD PLANET
October 5, 2024
xrnyc_press@unitedrebellion.com
EXTINCTION REBELLION DISRUPTS NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL “OH CANADA” SCREENING TO WARN: “NO FILM ON A DEAD PLANET”
New York, NY - In a disruption far less severe than that of an extreme weather event, members of Extinction Rebellion interrupted the Saturday afternoon screening of “Oh Canada” at the New York Film Festival. Highlighting the growing difficulty of creating and distributing movies as climate disasters become increasingly common, dangerous, and hard to predict, the disrupters warned that there is “no film on a dead planet”.
WHY “NO FILM ON A DEAD PLANET”?
Climate catastrophe threatens everything we love on this planet, including film festivals. The unexpected and disastrous Hurricane Helene forced the Savannah Film Festival to cancel some of its events this year. Last year during premieres at the New York Film Festival the subways were flooding, preventing fans from reaching the event. The Appalachian Queer Film Festival was featuring the indie film "After the Flood" as Hurricane Helene itself bore down on Appalachia. The film industry has acknowledged the precarity and risk of the situation we are in: the Hollywood Climate Summit is a yearly event where filmmakers gather to communicate with the public about climate change and also make sure their own productions are as sustainable as possible.
With this action, Extinction Rebellion is NOT protesting any individual or organization. Rather, the protest highlights the worldwide danger of climate breakdown. The activists pointed out that the last 13 months were the hottest on record, with extreme weather events around the globe, and that natural disasters are already causing large-scale loss of human, animal, and plant life, as well as significant damage to infrastructure, property, and agriculture.
In "Oh Canada", Richard Gere plays a man who flees north to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. We cannot flee catastrophic climate change so easily. Canada is not safe from increasingly alarming weather conditions; no place is safe.
As the unexpected devastation of Hurricane Helene demonstrates yet again, we are in a period of climate catastrophe. Many of the rebels who disrupted the screening have family ties to Asheville and the other areas affected. Nature’s disruptions are steadily getting more unexpected, more deadly, and more damaging. Numerous sporting and cultural events, such as music festivals, have been affected or called off due to unexpected weather conditions. Now film festivals are joining the list. This protest action at the New York Film Festival and other, similar ones are the recourse of a movement that has tried all other approaches. Voting, marching, petitioning, and lobbying have all failed, and failed again. The science makes clear that the window of time remaining for drastic reductions in carbon emissions is rapidly closing, and that if we don’t significantly reduce emissions we’ll face catastrophes far greater even than what we’re seeing now. The sole option now remaining is to engage in unconventional forms of protest that bring attention to the severity of the climate emergency.
DEMANDS
The world’s top scientists have stated unanimously, unambiguously, and repeatedly that in this century, global temperatures will rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) above pre-industrial levels, surpassing internationally agreed targets. Many scientists also say that climate breakdown has plunged them into a state of despair, as have the long years of having their predictions ignored. Our political, economic, and social systems have proven incapable of addressing the challenges posed by modern civilization, in which profit, industry, and consumerism trump all other considerations.
A discussion of demands and solutions requires a collective understanding of the issues. Most climate solutions now being proposed, such as electric cars, carbon capture, and renewable energy, are inadequate responses to the climate catastrophe occurring before our very eyes.
Any discussion of real alternatives is impossible without agreed-upon baseline facts and without prioritizing the most vulnerable among us. The United Nations has warned that as a result of our fossil fuel addiction humanity faces a “code red” situation. Right now, millions of people are experiencing climate catastrophe, owing to the “developed” nations’ unsustainable standard of living. Recognizing that we must act now, Extinction Rebellion demands the establishment of Citizens’ Assemblies, where ordinary citizens can meet in a depoliticized setting to discuss, learn from experts, and make policy recommendations, to determine next steps.
See Twitter post here.
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QUOTES
“‘Oh Canada’ is about Richard Gere fleeing north to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. If his character lived in the American South right now, he would be trapped and unable to flee,”said Jeff M, one of the disrupters. “In my hometown of Clearwater, Florida, Hurricane Helene has caused major destruction to homes, businesses, and landmarks, and that wasn’t even a direct hit. This inconvenience is nothing compared to what the climate crisis has in store for us.”
"Insurance companies are raising premiums, cutting back coverage, and leaving entire states altogether. This is disastrous for the financial markets and homeowners. We’re disrupting this event to make it clear to everyone that, just as Travelers Insurance and the other insurers are doing, the government needs to take seriously the risks posed by the climate crisis," said Shayok Mukhopadhyay, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
“Just a short time ago, the actions we’re now engaging in would have been utterly unimaginable, even for us as nonviolent disruptive activists. Our actions and choices of targets are unprecedented. That’s because something is wrong, terribly wrong, and we must therefore act innovatively, creatively and provocatively,” said Lydia W, an Extinction Rebellion member.
“This is America, land of problem-solving and innovation. We’re capable of avoiding climate catastrophe. We don’t need to be beholden to the foreign oil companies that – with our complicity – are making our country and the world uninhabitable,” said Mun Chong, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
“We’re in the midst of the climate emergency that scientists have warned us about for decades. We can no longer live as we have lived and consume as we have consumed. Disrupting this event is in fact a rational response, given the crisis we all face,” said John Mark Rozendaal, an Extinction Rebellion member.