A hopeful look At ClimAte ChAnge
Most environmental movies are in crisis mode.
Their message is clear: We are going to hell in a plastic grocery bag.
Despite alarm bells ringing louder than tsunami warning sirens, a pair of Vancouver filmmakers felt that maybe there was another story — a positive story — in the cinematic climate change cannon.
Before you go getting your organic, hemp shorts in a knot, producers/directors Velcrow Ripper and Nova Ami are not climate change deniers. Their new film Metamorphosis is still very much a cautionary tale, but it’s one that suggests interesting and transformative ways to help us all cool off a bit when it comes to this red-hot issue.
The film, which has been well received and reviewed on the festival circuit, lands in Calgary for a June 20-28 run at the Globe Cinema.
“The fact of the matter is we are at a real turning point in human history and we have to make radical changes. But we choose to do everything we can to make that a possibility of a future — to work toward that possibility,” said Ripper.
The movie starts with the understanding that anyone who goes to watch a climate change film understands what climate change is. There is no “surprise” — plastic is choking the oceans.
So, this is a film about change — change that is inspiring and necessary if, say, future generations might like to eat some tuna.
The change here comes in the form of innovative ideas from people who are taking a half-empty glass, and by adding a few drops they are actually moving the line toward half-full.
The efforts are unique and interesting, and in the hands of these two veteran filmmakers, the film is visually arresting.
“We wanted people to fall in love with the planet. To have images where we can appreciate the beauty of it. Our cinematic approach was really intentional,” said Ripper. “We are trying to create something theatrical and cinematic, kind of like a poem. Something you want to go to on a Friday night and see. It could even be a climate change date movie.”
He’s right, because a good date movie provides some topics to talk about during the post-theatre drink or dinner. And Metamorphosis comes loaded with conversation potential.
The idea for the film came four years ago after Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Super Typhoon Yolanda, slammed into the Philippines, leaving a death toll of over 6,000.
“I had spent a lot of time in the Philippines, so it really made me stop and reflect, and it got us talking about how something like that could change a person,” said Ami. “It got us talking more about change and how we are impacted by change. How we resist change and how we move through change in a time of climate crisis. So that really started things off.”
They shot in 10 locations around the globe, highlighting people who are doing things differently and making a difference.
Highlighted good works include greened highrises; the transformation of old concrete swimming pools into vibrant, aquaponic greenhouses; the building of selfsustaining earth houses; and a nonprofit group that hires women and minorities to install solar panels at no cost for low-income homes.
“We wanted to have a really diverse group of stories we were following,” said Ami. “A lot of the solution scenes in the film. We don’t say these are things you have to do, but they are more offered for ideas of design principles that we can apply to different projects, different ideas for future things.”
While food-producing gardens in old kidney-shaped swimming pools is inspired, the scene stealer in the movie has to be the watery work of artist Jason deCaires Taylor. The British sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer has created marine sculpture parks around the globe. National Geographic has listed his works in Grenada among the Top 25 Wonders of the World.
The submersed sculptures, made from stable and environmentally responsive materials, are not just beautiful, but are functional as well. Firstly, they keep tourists away from the fragile coral reefs. Then the sculptures become hosts to marine life and algae, which in turn helps protect the coral from bleaching, a consequence of warming waters.
“We wanted to include artists in our film,” said Ripper when asked about deCaires Taylor. “The work itself is quite remarkable, but we felt also it would be really great visuals in terms of representing some of the ideas we talk about in the film, such as the psychological and emotional aspects of climate change.”
Ripper and Ami are a couple in real life and they have a threeyear-old son named Phoenix. The couple jokes that making a movie and having a kid was like having twins.
“Nova and I are partners, too, and we have a child that was conceived around the same time the film was conceived and came on the whole journey with us,” said Ripper, adding: “There was this one moment in the monarch butterfly sanctuary where Nova was holding Phoenix, who was just over a year old. He was sound asleep and covered in butterflies, and she was covered in butterflies too. Then a butterfly landed on his nose and he opened his eyes and just had this look of wonder, and he didn’t really speak, but he knew how to say butterfly in his own language. He said ‘bubba’ — that’s butterfly. The look on both of their faces was one of true wonder.”
It is also a continuing form of inspiration.
“Having a child gives us an extra impetus to try and do what we can to allow him to have a future,” said Ripper.
The future is the rub here — it’s hard not to have feelings of futurelessness when you see images of the Texas-sized ocean garbage vortex bobbing along, or consider that there are only 60 years of topsoil left on the globe. Our climate anxiety is real, so it is nice to have a conversation that allows a little light to break through the pollution.
“The film leaves you in the possibility phase and intends on inspiring you with the idea that the metamorphosis we could experience could be one to a healthier society,” said Ripper. “A society where we re-green our cities, where we eliminate pollution, where we make our lives better.”
Or even where we just learn a little more about the Earth without being left completely paralyzed by the big climate questions.