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 Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power," premieres at
the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday a day ahead of Donald
Trump's inauguration as U.S. President.
The directors, Jon Shenk and Bonnie Cohen, said that while the
film presents an urgency to address climate change, it is not
all doom and gloom as environmentalists believe there is hope in
adopting clean, renewable energy.
"I think the film will be surprisingly hopeful for people who
have been bowled over by Trump's denial," Shenk said in an
interview ahead of the United States’ largest independent film
festival held in Park City, Utah each year.
The Gore film is the centerpiece of Sundance's first-ever 'New
Climate' segment showcasing films and hosting discussions about
issues ranging from water to coral reefs.
Trump has dismissed man-made climate change as a hoax and said
during his campaign that he would pull the United States out of
the 2015 Paris climate agreement. However in November, he said
he now had an "open mind" on the 200-nation accord.
"An Inconvenient Sequel" follows Gore ten years after his
Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," as he
educates children on climate change, visits scientists to
collect data to present at forums and attends the Paris climate
summit.
Shenk said the film includes Trump's victory and its potential
impact on the issue.
"The climate community of environmental activists and people who
are concerned about the climate are deeply concerned - of
course, how can they not be?," Shenk said.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
On-demand streaming services have brought documentaries to a
wider audience in recent years, fostering a growing appetite for
a genre once regarded as the poor cousin of the entertainment
industry.
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At Sundance, more than ten documentaries and virtual reality
experiences will explore climate change through different
perspectives, from Gore's personal mission to farmers in Montana
working to protect their natural resources in "Rancher, Farmer,
Fisherman."
"All these films were done and banked before election day and
they've arrived at the same time, so we're at the right place at the
right time," Sundance festival director John Cooper said.
"Water & Power: A California Heist" looks at water wars in
California, centering on towns where residents are unable to access
clean drinking water but local private farms are able to tap into
the state's groundwater bank.
"There's something about a film. The topic comes alive in a way and
people react more to it. You can get lost in the technicalities of
water, but this is a thriller and an expose," said "Water & Power"
director Marina Zenovich.
In "Chasing Coral," director Jeff Orlowski captures an emotional
race against time as environmentalists try, fail and then succeed in
documenting coral reef deaths last year.
"How do you take climate change and make it emotional?," Orlowski
said.
"How do we make science the hero, make it accessible to people who
don't understand this stuff? There's such a compelling story buried
within the numbers."
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Andrew Hay)
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