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The Age of Stupid

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The Age of Stupid
A red timeline leads from the past into a ruined city scape. The film title "The Age of Stupid" is shown on the upper right in block capital blue writing
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFranny Armstrong
Written byFranny Armstrong
Produced byLizzie Gillett
StarringPete Postlethwaite
Jehangir Wadia
Layefa Malin
Al Duvernay
Fernand Pareau
Jamila and Adnan Bayyoud
Piers Guy
Mark Lynas
Mohamed Nasheed
David King
George Monbiot
Richard Heinberg
Ed Miliband
Narrated byPete Postlethwaite
CinematographyFranny Armstrong
Edited byDavid G Hill
Music byChris Brierley
Production
company
Distributed byDogwoof Pictures (UK)[1]
Release dates
  • 6 February 2009 (2009-02-06) (European Film Market)
  • 20 March 2009 (2009-03-20) (United Kingdom)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£450,000[1]

The Age of Stupid is a 2009 British film by Franny Armstrong, director of McLibel and Drowned Out, and founder of 10:10, and first-time producer Lizzie Gillett. The Executive Producer is John Battsek, producer of One Day in September.

The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid which stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching archive footage from the mid-to-late 2000s and asking "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

The makers of The Age of Stupid were the first to use the crowdfunding model and pioneered a new distribution system, Indie Screenings, which allows anyone, anywhere, to hold a screening of the film and keep the profits for themselves.[2][better source needed]

Plot

The film begins in the year 2055 in a world ravaged by catastrophic climate change; London is flooded, Sydney is burning, Las Vegas has been swallowed up by desert, the Amazon rainforest has burnt up, snow has vanished from the Alps and nuclear war has laid waste to India. An unnamed archivist (Pete Postlethwaite) is entrusted with the safekeeping of humanity's surviving store of art and knowledge. Alone in his vast repository off the coast of the largely ice-free Arctic, he reviews archive footage from back "when we could have saved ourselves", trying to discern where it all went wrong. Amid news reports of the gathering effects of climate change and global civilisation teetering towards destruction, he alights on six stories of individuals whose lives in the early years of the 21st century seem to illustrate aspects of the impending catastrophe. These six stories take the form of interweaving documentary segments that report on the lives of real people in the present, and switch the film's narrative form from fiction to fact. The people who feature are:

  • Al Duvernay, a resident of New Orleans who stayed behind and helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He reflects on what it feels like to have had all his possessions washed away in the flood, and also on his job in the oil industry and how valuable resources are being wasted.
  • Jehangir Wadia, an Indian businessman who talks about his low cost airline GoAir startup company and his democratic vision of a world in which all people, rich and poor, are able to afford air travel.
  • Jamila and Adnan, two Iraqi children who fled with their family to Jordan during the Iraq War, who tell the story of their father's death and of their desire to be reunited with the older brother they left behind.
  • Fernand Pareau, an 82-year-old man who works as a guide on the Mont Blanc glacier in France - he takes an English family on a tour of the glacier and explains how he has seen the ice recede massively in his lifetime. The guide is also shown taking action against expanding road infrastructure in his area.
  • Piers Guy, a wind-farm developer who talks about his efforts to bring sustainable energy to an English village, and how he is being blocked by people who profess a commitment to fighting global warming but do not want wind turbines destroying their views. His family takes action in reducing their carbon footprint and contemplate the effects of air travel.
  • Layefa Malemi, a Nigerian woman who struggles with poverty despite the wealth of oil in her country. She talks about her ambition to study medicine and the everyday impact of the exploitation of oil by Shell Nigeria on health, security and the environment in Nigeria.

Release

Promotional image for the film showing Pete Postlethwaite at his archival computer.

The film's UK premiere was on 15 March 2009 in London's Leicester Square.[3] The screening was held in a solar-powered ‘cinema tent’ and conducted without use of mains electricity. An independent audit conducted by Carbon Accounting Systems found the event's carbon emissions to be 1% of those produced by a normal blockbuster premiere.[4] Linked by satellite to 62 cinemas around the UK, the premiere received a Guinness World Record for being the largest film premiere ever, based on number of screens.[5]

During the post show discussion, President Mohamed Nasheed received a standing ovation for announcing that the Maldives would be the world's first carbon neutral country.[6] Star of the film Pete Postlethwaite threatened to return his OBE if the government gave the go-ahead to the controversial Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent.[7] A month later the Government announced a change to its policy on coal - no new coal-fired power station will get government consent unless it can capture and bury 25% of the emissions it produces immediately - and 100% of emissions by 2025. This, a source told the Guardian, represented “a complete rewrite of UK energy policy”.[8]

The UK premiere received the accolades of ‘Best Green Event’ from Event Awards and best Live Brand Experience in the PR Week Awards.[9]

In the UK, The Age of Stupid was released in 62 cinemas in its opening week and hit the top of the Box Office charts (by screen average).[10] The total run was 13 consecutive weeks, playing in 263 cinemas in all, with the longest single run being four weeks at London's Odeon Panton Street.[11]

The Age of Stupid was launched in Australia and New Zealand on 19 August 2009 with simultaneous green carpet premieres in Auckland and Sydney, linked by satellite to 32 cinemas in Australia and 13 in New Zealand.[12] The film was then released in all 13 cinemas in New Zealand and many of the 32 in Australia.[11]

The film was released internationally on 21 September and 22 September 2009 at the "Global Premiere". A green carpet cinema tent in downtown New York, powered by locally sourced biodiesel, was linked by satellite to 442 cinemas across the USA and to more than 200 cinemas in more than 30 other countries, as well as another 33 countries which hosted independent screenings with no satellite link. Popular musicians Moby and Thom Yorke from Radiohead performed live. Special guests at the New York premier included Kofi Annan, Ed Miliband, Mohamed Nasheed, Rajendra Pachauri, Heather Graham, and Gillian Anderson. Pranksters, The Yes Men, walked up the green carpet in their “survivaballs”.[13] Many guests arrived by low-carbon transport, including sailboat, rowing boat, electric car, bicycle, bicycle rickshaw and rollerblades.

In Germany, the film was premiered in Berlin and Hamburg on 1 June 2010, followed by a limited cinema release in twelve cities: Berlin, Hamburg, München, Nürnberg, Bonn, Frankfurt, Potsdam, Gütersloh, Freiberg, Göttingen, Bremen, Hannover and Köln.[11]

The film had limited theatrical releases via distributors Mongrel Media in Canada and via Arts Alliance[which?] in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Palestinian Territories, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.[11]

The film continues to be shown in local venues worldwide through Indie Screenings - a web-based form of film distribution, pioneered by Franny Armstrong, Age of Stupid’s Director, which allows anyone to buy a license to hold a screening of the film, keeping the profits for themselves.[14]

Reception

Writing for The Guardian, environmental activist George Monbiot said that the film's "message, never stated but constantly emerging, is that we all have our self-justifying myths. We tell ourselves a story of our lives in which we almost always appear as the heroes. These myths prevent us from engaging with climate change.".[15] The Financial Times critic described the film as intelligent and provoking, giving “The wisdom of hindsight, today”.[16] Time Out London's film editor, Dave Calhoun, said, "Armstrong's prognosis is apocalyptic, but her journalism is solid, instructive and pleasingly thoughtful," and described the film as "entertaining and provocative".[17] The Times called the film "the most imaginative and dramatic assault on the institutional complacency shrouding the issue", saying, "The power of this shameless campaigning film is that it gives dates and deadlines. It explores options and ideas. It names culprits..."[18] The Telegraph's reviewer, Sukhdev Sandhu, said, "Bold, supremely provocative, and hugely important, [Armstrong's] film is a cry from the heart as much as a roar for necessary change."[19] Based on only 12 reviews Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 83%.[20] The New York Times described the film as a "much sterner and more alarming polemic than An Inconvenient Truth". The review noted the "gallows humor" throughout the film, although the review was critical of the crude animated sequences.[6] The Sydney Morning Herald described the film as "a wake-up call with an elegiac tone — not quite hectoring but pressing. This is about human nature, greed and personal responsibility. It aims to scare and galvanize — and it's pretty good at both."[21] In a double-page spread under the headline “Oblivious to oblivion” The Sun's environment editor said "reality has caught up with the apocalyptic images."[22]

William Nicholson, writer of Shadowlands and Gladiator, said “I hate this film. I felt as if I was watching all my own excuses for not doing anything about climate change being stripped away from me.”[23]

Awards

Background

Shot in seven countries over a period of three years, the film features six separate documentary stories, archive footage and lots of animation from, amongst others, Passion Pictures, creators of the Gorillaz animations. The original rough cut did not include the archivist which was added later to frame the story and better tie together the six parts.[21]

Crowd funding

Franny Armstrong pioneered a new model to fund the production of The Age of Stupid. Now popular with independent film makers, crowdfunding involves the pooling of money and other resources to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. The film was "crowd-funded", with the £450,000 budget being raised by selling "shares" to 223 individuals and groups who donated between £500 and £35,000. These groups range from a hockey team to a health centre. This was mostly to give it the best chance of reaching a mainstream multiplex audience, but also to retain complete editorial control. These investors all own a percentage of the film and have received a pro-rata share in the profits, alongside the 105 crew who worked for survival wages.[1]

In the Huffington Post, Jon Reiss described Armstrong’s approach as trailblazing: “the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing”.[25]

Production

In a 55 minute documentary, The Making of The Age of Stupid[26] 'Team Stupid' reveal the lengths to which they went to make the film.

Carbon footprint

The producers calculated the carbon footprint of the film's production to be around 95 tonnes of CO2, and its promotion around 57 tonnes.[27]

Distribution

On 22 May 2009, The Age of Stupid team launched their Indie Screenings model, a new form of film distribution which allows anyone, anywhere to buy a license to hold a screening of the film - with the price set according to the screener's means - and then, crucially, to charge for tickets and keep any profits for themselves. The launch on 22 May was held at The RSA, following which there was a webcast panel discussion[28][unreliable source?] with director Franny Armstrong, journalist George Monbiot, economist Nicholas Stern, and the Met Office head of climate impacts Richard Betts. The panel discussion was around the country watched at 71 local screenings which had been organised through the Indie Screenings system.

The Indie Screenings model immediately proved extremely popular, with 682 screenings booked in the first four months, generating more than £55,000. After the cost of writing the software[clarification needed] was paid off, 100% of the proceeds goes to pay back the crowd-funding investors. There were no wholesalers or resellers.

Music

The soundtrack includes songs from Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Dragnerve and The Band of Holy Joy, as well as an original orchestral score written by Chris Brierley.

The Stupid Show

To help demystify the geo-political intricacies surrounding climate change, The Age of Stupid team staged a guerrilla production from the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference (7 December to 18 December 2009), called The Stupid Show. Franny Armstrong hosted the run of eight 40-60 minute shows which were broadcast live on the web daily from Friday 11 December until the final day of the conference, Saturday 19 December. Armstrong has described The Stupid Show as 'a budget version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart but much sillier and more interactive'.[29][unreliable source?]

The Stupid Show aimed to make the Copenhagen talks comprehensible to ordinary people using a mix of humour, stunts, video clips, graphic illustrations and interviews with delegates, climate change experts and activists billeted in the Danish capital Copenhagen for the summit. Highlights from the run included punditry from Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, an interview with author Naomi Klein, an interview with Ed Miliband conducted by Franny Armstrong whilst standing on her head, and a live link-up to an underwater camera in Belize which showed how climate change is devastating coral reefs. The production team consisted of nine people, all of whom worked with Armstrong on The Age of Stupid. Key members of The Stupid Show crew include producer Lizzie Gillett, writer Mark Lynas and editor Justin Badger.[29][unreliable source?]

10:10

Main article: 10:10

An offshoot of The Age of Stupid project is 10:10, a UK-wide campaign encouraging everyone in the United Kingdom to reduce their carbon emissions by at least 10% in twelve months. Franny Armstrong conceived the 10:10 campaign to complement the ongoing promotion of her film: while The Age of Stupid is primarily aimed at raising awareness of climate change as a pending global humanitarian crisis, 10:10 is presented as a strategy for people to take positive action in the face of such an urgent and daunting problem.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Dell, Kristina (4 September 2008). "Time Magazine article on Crowd Funding the 'Age of Stupid'". Time.com. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  2. ^ Indie Screenings http://www.indiescreenings.net/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Solar-powered premier for film". The Press (Agence France-Presse). 17 March 2009. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ Robinson, Karen (16 March 2009). "Age of Stupid premiere: the green carpet treatment". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Dedication's what you need". Spanner Films. 14 March 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  6. ^ a b Schmidle, Nicholas (8 May 2009). "Wanted: a new home for my country". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2009. Cite error: The named reference "nytimes" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Guardian.co.uk
  8. ^ "Ed Miliband promises new era of clean coal - but who will pay?". The Guardian. London. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e Spanner Films (27 July 2008). "Awards". Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  10. ^ "UK box office – H1 2009" (PDF). UK Film Council. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d "Stupid Worldwide Cinema Releases – H1 2009". Spanner Films. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  12. ^ "Australia & New Zealand Premiere: Part 1". Spanner Films. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  13. ^ "Halliburton Solves Global Warming". The Yes Men. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  14. ^ Indie Screenings http://www.indiescreenings.net/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ George Monbiot (Monday 21 July 2008). "Channel 4 is deceiving itself about global warming". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Nigel Andrews (18 March 2009). "The wisdom of hindsight, today". The Financial Times. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  17. ^ Dave Calhoun (19 March 2009). "The Age of Stupid - Time Out Film review". Time Out (company). Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  18. ^ James Christopher (19 March 2009). "The Age of Stupid - Times Online review". The Times Online. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  19. ^ Sukhdev Sandhu (19 March 2009). "The Age of Stupid - Telegraph film review". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  20. ^ The Age of Stupid at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  21. ^ a b Paul Byrnes (19, 12 August:15PM). "The Age of Stupid - movie review". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-09-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Ben Jackson (18 February 2009). "Predictions from extinction movie The Age Of Stupid already happening in real life". The Sun. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  23. ^ Spanner Films. = Spanner Films "Famous people quotes". Retrieved 10 January 2010. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  24. ^ a b Sunny Side of the Doc (27 July 2008). "The 19th edition of SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC. Results" (PDF). Sunny Side of the Doc. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  25. ^ Reiss, Jon (21 September 2009). "'The Age of Stupid Is the Future of Film'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  26. ^ Hosted exclusively by The Guardian
  27. ^ "Carbon Footprint - The Age of Stupid". Spanner Films. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  28. ^ "Indie Screenings Launch Event". The Age of Stupid. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  29. ^ a b "The Stupid Show description". The Age of Stupid. Retrieved 7 December 2009. Cite error: The named reference "StupidShow" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
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