2040
****
Director: Damon Gameau
Screenwriter: Damon Gameau
Principal cast:
Damon Gameau
Eva Lazzaro
Zoë Gameau
Velvet Gameau
Davini Malcolm
Tony Seba
Country: Australia
Classification: G
Runtime: 92 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2019
Previewed at: Sony Pictures theatrette, Sydney, on 7 May 2019.
In 2014, the Australian actor Damon Gameau directed That Sugar Film, his first feature documentary. It examined the public health issues surrounding the excessive consumption of sugar-laden foods and it went on to be highly successful both in Australia and abroad. Now he’s back, with another film about an equally contentious issue, climate change, and he’s approached it in a similarly optimistic fashion. His approach in 2040 is not to wag his finger and say, “Isn’t it terrible”, but to take a positive stance and say, “We can do something about this problem, now”. He calls it “an exercise in fact-based dreaming”.
2040, set up as a visual letter to Gameau’s four-year-old daughter Velvet, has one ground rule: that the technologies behind any solutions examined must exist in today’s world, so that the film isn’t a hypothetical exercise using possible future advances in science but a realistic project utilising current-day capabilities. To this end, the director approaches experts in a wide array of scientific endeavours in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Tanzania, the UK and the USA. They include: author and educator Tony Seba, whose work on ‘technology disruption’ has changed the global conversation about the future of energy; Dr. Kate Raworth, an economist whose theories about so-called ‘Doughnut Economics’ have been presented to the U. N. General Assembly; Colin Seis, an Australian farmer who has developed a new approach to farming called ‘pasture cropping’; and Dr. Brian von Herzen, an expert in ‘marine permaculture’ and carbon sequestration.
If this sounds terribly dry and worthy, don’t be put off. Gameau’s clever use of animation, visual effects and dramatic representations keep the eye happily occupied while the information is supplied. These techniques illustrate the ideas and facts introduced and render them easily accessible to the common man and woman. He has also interviewed 100 or so children aged between six and eleven from countries around the globe, asking them what they would like to see in 2040 and their answers are enough to give you hope - they are inspiring. “The children’s voices in the film remind us that we are born with an innate care for our surroundings and that our current culture slowly erodes it”, says Gameau. Making all this material even more user-friendly is award-winning composer Bryony Marks’ music, which is used to great effect.
Regrettably for Velvet, by the time she’s in her mid-20s the dire effects of climate change will likely be a lot worse than they are today. With its abundance of coal, Australia is traditionally governed by conservative governments that are supported by mining and big business and backed up by a press that largely denies the existence of man-made climate change. It appears inclined to do the bare minimum to ameliorate global warming, ocean acidification and the like. Damon Gameau explains that, “The scientific revolution gave us many wonderful things, but it also taught us that our role is to conquer nature, to control and dominate it for our means. Filming 2040 has taught me that if we are to survive we must reclaim the metaphors of our distant ancestors who saw themselves as ‘reverent guests’ or ‘custodians of the land’”. It’s hard to imagine, however, any of the terrific concepts on display in 2040 being adopted by our current set of rulers. Poor Velvet.
Screenwriter: Damon Gameau
Principal cast:
Damon Gameau
Eva Lazzaro
Zoë Gameau
Velvet Gameau
Davini Malcolm
Tony Seba
Country: Australia
Classification: G
Runtime: 92 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2019
Previewed at: Sony Pictures theatrette, Sydney, on 7 May 2019.
In 2014, the Australian actor Damon Gameau directed That Sugar Film, his first feature documentary. It examined the public health issues surrounding the excessive consumption of sugar-laden foods and it went on to be highly successful both in Australia and abroad. Now he’s back, with another film about an equally contentious issue, climate change, and he’s approached it in a similarly optimistic fashion. His approach in 2040 is not to wag his finger and say, “Isn’t it terrible”, but to take a positive stance and say, “We can do something about this problem, now”. He calls it “an exercise in fact-based dreaming”.
2040, set up as a visual letter to Gameau’s four-year-old daughter Velvet, has one ground rule: that the technologies behind any solutions examined must exist in today’s world, so that the film isn’t a hypothetical exercise using possible future advances in science but a realistic project utilising current-day capabilities. To this end, the director approaches experts in a wide array of scientific endeavours in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Tanzania, the UK and the USA. They include: author and educator Tony Seba, whose work on ‘technology disruption’ has changed the global conversation about the future of energy; Dr. Kate Raworth, an economist whose theories about so-called ‘Doughnut Economics’ have been presented to the U. N. General Assembly; Colin Seis, an Australian farmer who has developed a new approach to farming called ‘pasture cropping’; and Dr. Brian von Herzen, an expert in ‘marine permaculture’ and carbon sequestration.
If this sounds terribly dry and worthy, don’t be put off. Gameau’s clever use of animation, visual effects and dramatic representations keep the eye happily occupied while the information is supplied. These techniques illustrate the ideas and facts introduced and render them easily accessible to the common man and woman. He has also interviewed 100 or so children aged between six and eleven from countries around the globe, asking them what they would like to see in 2040 and their answers are enough to give you hope - they are inspiring. “The children’s voices in the film remind us that we are born with an innate care for our surroundings and that our current culture slowly erodes it”, says Gameau. Making all this material even more user-friendly is award-winning composer Bryony Marks’ music, which is used to great effect.
Regrettably for Velvet, by the time she’s in her mid-20s the dire effects of climate change will likely be a lot worse than they are today. With its abundance of coal, Australia is traditionally governed by conservative governments that are supported by mining and big business and backed up by a press that largely denies the existence of man-made climate change. It appears inclined to do the bare minimum to ameliorate global warming, ocean acidification and the like. Damon Gameau explains that, “The scientific revolution gave us many wonderful things, but it also taught us that our role is to conquer nature, to control and dominate it for our means. Filming 2040 has taught me that if we are to survive we must reclaim the metaphors of our distant ancestors who saw themselves as ‘reverent guests’ or ‘custodians of the land’”. It’s hard to imagine, however, any of the terrific concepts on display in 2040 being adopted by our current set of rulers. Poor Velvet.