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A Fierce Green Planet

The argument that we’re living in a new golden age of documentaries will be significantly furthered tomorrow with the release of A Fierce Green Fire, the first major cinematic exploration of the modern environmental movement.

Peter Rothberg

February 28, 2013

The argument that we’re living in a new golden age of documentaries will be significantly furthered tomorrow with the release of A Fierce Green Fire, the first major cinematic exploration of the modern environmental movement.

Directed and written by Mark Kitchell, the Academy Award–nominated director of Berkeley in the Sixties, and co-narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep, the film premiered at the recent Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim and begins theatrical release on March 1, as well as educational distribution and activist outreach.

Inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff, the film aims to elucidate the major elements of the environmental movement and connect them to the fights for our future that are taking place today. Featuring commentary from Bill McKibben, Carl Pope, Bob Bullard and Lois Gibbs, among many other other outraged activist voices, and including archival footage of eco-heros like Chico Mendes, Wangari Matthai and David Brower, the film focuses on grassroots resistance: people fighting to save their homes, their lives and the future.

In this audio clip from WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show, the film’s executive producer Mark Weiss and Lois Gibbs, who led the protests at Love Canal, started the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, and is featured in the doc, talk about the stakes of environmental degradation.

Watch and share this trailer, check out the national screening schedule, petition your local theaters to show the film and join the global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.


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