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Optimistic?
Why Make The 11th Hour? | Choosing The Experts | What Can
We All Do Now? | The Need For Regulation | Optimistic? |
Biogs | Discuss
After doing all the research, meeting with economists, scientists, architects and designers, are you optimistic?
NADIA: I went into the process of making this film already very pessimistic about the state of the world but after each interview I would become more and more optimistic. Sometimes it wasn't what was being said – in fact, an interview could be with someone describing the collapse of our ecosystems but I was truly inspired by the passion and depth of these people we spoke to. They have been out there on the front lines fighting for years and they are filled with hope and belief. Their hope along with their bravery and strength is contagious. I came out of this process grateful to have been born into this time – that in fact as an individual I can be a part of something truly epic – nothing short of changing the world.LEILA: I like Paul Hawken's statement from our interview with him in which he says, when asked the same question, 'when you look at the data, you get depressed; but if you look at the human heart, you have hope.' I am very much of the same mind as Paul on this; the data is very scary, things are getting worse faster than expected and human civilization has not yet shown any sign of slowing our consumption of the earth’s resources, so the outcome looks pretty dire.
However, I do believe that since we do know how to address the challenges that we face, that it's a matter of passing a tipping point of awareness. Once people understand the dire state that the biosphere is in, and what they need to do to live sustainably; and once they know all of life is at stake, I do believe there will be a shift. And a fast one at that.
The only question in my mind is when are we going to pass that tipping point? I hope our film will be part of that, that it will help fuel the cultural shift that we so desperately need on a global level. So I am optimistic, for now.
If there was one point that you'd want people to take home with them after seeing the film, what would it be?
LEILA: We can solve the climate change problem, the pollution problem, the problem of deforestation and overfishing, we can solve the problem of the collapse of ecosystems; we can solve all our problems with what we know today. All that is at issue is that it is a matter of will, of priorities, and changing our behavior.NADIA: Everything and everyone is connected, and that this is an exciting time to live in.
