Why Make The 11th Hour?
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Biogs | Discuss
How did you become involved with this project? What was the catalyst that inspired you to take on this substantial project?
NADIA CONNERS: The three of us, Leo, Leila, and myself worked on two shorts about the environment before doing this documentary. We got used to working with each other and realized we had similar ideas on this subject. But long before the collaboration on this film I knew that no matter what I did with my life somehow I would be involved in the fight to protect our environment. I believe it is the most important issue of our generation. If I wasn't a filmmaker I would be getting involved in other ways. So this project is a unification of all of our interests in the subject as well as in making films.LEILA CONNERS PETERSEN: The film came out of a longer collaboration we have with Leonardo and his environmental work. We created two short films for distribution on his website, one on global warming (Global Warning, 2001) and one on fresh water (Water Planet, 2004). When there were requests to have the films play at film festivals, to be included in curriculum around the world, and when they started playing on television shows, we realized that there was a need for more information on the environment. So we set out to make a film that would be more comprehensive or definitive – something that we hoped would transcend what one would consider an environmental documentary to be; we wanted the film to contextualize the human experience on the planet and how humans interact with and impact the environment. We ourselves wanted to understand why humans were on a crash course with nature, and what we can do to change course.
Describe the process of putting together a film like this? How did you work together as a team?
LEILA::We interviewed about 71 people and from those interviews, we got over 150 hours of interview footage. We then selected the best statements from all those interviews and put them into a "script" that, when assembled and dubbed, ended up being 17 hours. From those 17 hours, we edited the film down to 91 minutes. The result is a single narrative that is told by 54 people. We integrated the shots of Leo with stock footage from around the world to create a mosaic of images that tells the story of life on earth and, specifically, the human experience on earth.
Leo, Nadia and I spent many, many months, days and hours in the edit room with Luis, our editor. Leonardo's on-camera segments, when he speaks to camera, was shot on 35 mm by mostly a volunteer crew headed by Andrew Rowlands. Leonardo’s shots in NYC and in LA were done on 16mm by Peter Youngblood Hills. Leonardo, Nadia and I wrote his narration together and we structured the film together in the edit room. Every shot ended up being discussed in depth by all of us.
Music was composed for free by Jean-Pascal Beintus and composed by Kent Nagano. Eric Avery also scored and performed his music. Once the score was created, Leo, Nadia and I approved the music as well. So we all had a very hands on commitment to the making of the film.
NADIA: As sisters it is very interesting to work together. We are very close and since we were kids we have always talked about global events and politics. We come from a family of curious and opinionated people – there have been a lot of lively political discussions in our home.
One of the first things we did together as sisters, at 8 and 10 years old, was petition the city of Los Angles to plant a tree in a cement square near our home in West LA. None of us are afraid of fighting for our ideas in the film. There were long hours of conversation about every aspect of this subject matter and how it would be portrayed.
