Filmmaker Emmanuel Cappellin contacted me back in 2015 and explained a project he had in mind. It was ambitious and profound. He’d worked with famed French documentarian Yann Arthus-Bertrand, so I assumed he knew what he was up to, but it seemed that he wanted a substantial chunk of my time. Emmanuel asked deep and probing questions. He captured interview footage of me in California and Greece; he also interviewed other environmental writers and activists—Jean-Marc Jancovici, Saleemul Huq, and Susi Moser. The result, after years of editing, is “Once You Know,” a visually stunning and emotionally grounded examination of the personal and psychological impacts of our global overshoot crisis. Once you know that humanity’s climate-biodiversity-pollution-population-inequality dilemmas will not be painlessly solved, how will you continue to live your life? Can you still make a difference? There are no easy answers; therefore, few of us tend to talk honestly about the situation with our families and friends. Instead, most of us simply live in denial a lot of the time. This film is a denial buster and conversation starter.
On Earth Day (Friday, 22 April, 2022), Emmanuel, I, and the other cast members will participate in a special global screening event and online discussion. It will take place at 7 PM Central European Time, 1 PM Eastern Standard Time, and 10 AM Pacific Time Zone. Please join us for what promises to be a milestone in the ongoing discussion about our planetary future.
Book a screening of award-winning film Once You Know before April 22nd 2022 and meet the film protagonists at our Earth Day LIVE online event.
Teaser photo credit: Film still from the movie.