Please come on Sunday 19 July at 2.00 to see the film AGE OF STUPID and/or for the discussion at 3.45 (see below). This is at the Phoenix cinema, 3 minutes walk from East Finchley tube.  The film stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man in 2055 living alone in the world devastated by climate change, looking back at "archive" footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? The film also features documentary sections featuring four people with their own unique experience of climate change or oil exploitation. I expect you know that climate change is by far the most serious and urgent threat to humanity. The recent Global Humanitarian Forum report found that every year climate change causes 300,000 deaths, and losses/damage worth £78 billion. If emissions are not reduced sufficiently, by 2030 climate change will cause the deaths of an estimated half a million people per year, about 75 million will become refugees, and damage will escalate irreversibly: http://www.ghf-geneva.org/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=157 Yet the investment needed to reduce the problem is fairly modest, and much less than the devastation we would face otherwise.

We will also be asking the audience as they leave to complete our cards calling on their local council to cut Carbon Dioxide emissions. This is a campaign being run throughout Britain by Friends of the Earth. At our 2 recent events about 250 people completed cards. Please tell me if you can help with this for a short while after the discussion. 

If you have anywhere suitable, please display the attached poster.

Thank you.

Tim Root

0208 340 7764

http://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/news/press/

Special screening: The Age of Stupid followed by a discussion

19 July at 2pm

The Phoenix is proud to host a special screening of The Age of Stupid on Sunday 19th July, 2pm, followed by a discussion with Tim Root from Friends of the Earth and Dave Morris from Sustainable Haringey.
The Age of Stupid (12A) 1h 32. UK 2009. Directed by Franny Armstrong. With Pete Postlethwaite, Piers Guy, Jamila Bayyoud.

 
The Age Of Stupid is the documentary-drama-animation hybrid from Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel, Drowned Out) and Oscar-winning Producer John Battsek (One Day In September, Live Forever, In the Shadow of The Moon). Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, The Usual Suspects) stars as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055. He watches 'archive' footage from 2008 and asks: Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance? Runaway climate change has ravaged the planet by 2055. Pete plays the founder of The Global Archive, a storage facility located in the (now melted) Arctic, preserving all of humanity's achievements in the hope that the planet might one day be habitable again. Or that intelligent life may arrive and make use of all that we ve achieved. He pulls together clips of archive news and documentary from 1950-2008 to build a message showing what went wrong and why.

 

The first successful dramatisation of climate change to hit the big screen (The Guardian)

 

" The Age of Stupid manages to blend the factual with the emotional without ever feeling too earnest or didactic." (Little White Lies)
Friends of the Earth is one of the UK 's most influential environmental campaigning organisations, with a network of almost 1 million supporters across five continents and more than 70 national organisations worldwide, as well as campaigning local groups working in over 200 communities throughout England , Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tim Root has taken part in many campaigns, including those for environmental protection, and for a fair electoral system. He works as a Senior Practitioner in Social Services and is a member of the Muswell Hill and Hornsey Friends of the Earth group.

Sustainable Haringey is an independent umbrella organisation for groups and individuals who want to contribute to making Haringey a more sustainable place to be.

Dave Morris is one of the original McLibel 2 who famously took McDonalds to court in the mid 1990 s, against what they saw as the fast food chain s immoral operating practices. The case inspired McLibel (2005), a documentary directed by Franny Armstrong (who went on to direct The Age of Stupid). Dave is part of the Sustainable Haringey communications group.

 

Tickets £9 (£6 concessions); Box office 020 8444 6789 or www.phoenixcinema.co.uk

Note to journalists:
The Phoenix is the oldest purpose-built cinema in constant operation in the country.  We show a range of great films from around the world, as well as holding events with directors, producers, writers and actors.  We also have a busy education programme for all ages. 

 

For more information on the Phoenix please contact Paul Homer

paul@... 020 8442 0442

 

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