STORY TO ACTION is a six month program that includes training and mentorship to support five Canadian documentary filmmaking teams to create strategies, build partnerships and organize screenings designed to educate and expand audience understanding of the social and environmental issues featured in their films.
PRODUCED BY
CLAUDIO: Hi everyone, I’m Cláudio Cruz, one of the directors of What About Our Future?
JAIME: And I’m Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos, also a director for What About Our Future?
JEN: And I’m Jen Muranetz, producer of the film.
CLAUDIO: Jaime and I have been feeling worried about the climate crisis for a long time and it was getting overwhelming to the point we were questioning if we should bring a child into this collapsing world.
At the same time, youth inspired climate strikes were igniting the world and we decided to take part in one of the first ones here in Vancouver.
It was on this day that we witnessed Rebecca and the Sustainabiliteens organizing. Immediately we understood there was much more about these teenagers than their shallow depiction by mainstream media.
The spark was lit that created this film.
We would like to share a few scenes from the film now.
JAIME: Youth climate strikes are making a massive impact all around the globe. Worldwide, more than 6 million people participated in the climate strike that you saw in that scene. Vancouver saw 150,000 people demonstrating with a passion and determination never before seen in this city. All of this was inspired by young people including the Sustainabiliteens.
CLAUDIO: Today’s young climate activists are often condescended to and silenced. It’s troubling when youth are stereotyped as being unmotivated, lazy, and attached to their phones. Our experience shows another reality. In creating this film, we witnessed young people with bold visions calling out the systemic failures causing the climate emergency. At the very least, we owe them respect, support and solidarity to help create a livable future.
JEN: This film’s impact goals are to amplify and activate youth voices, and to acknowledge the wisdom they carry.
We want ‘What About Our Future?’ to reach every single high school and junior high school student in Canada, to be a part of the standard curriculum not just as a screening tool, but a point of discussion and education. This includes, where possible, bringing the characters featured in the film to these screenings to share their experiences as young leaders and spark thoughtful panel conversations.
We already have a discussion guide. We have screened the film in a number of classrooms to enthusiastic audiences. But we need your help to reach even more 9-19 year-olds across the country. From schools, to youth groups, climate events, and community screenings. We are asking for sponsorship and in-kind support to make both in-person and digital screenings happen, and funding for youth activists featured in the film to attend screenings and participate in Q+A’s.
We also need funds and technical support to create a website. A place where the audience can connect directly with the youth climate movement, finding tools and existing climate groups to direct their activism and take action after watching the film.
JAIME: Everyone has had that one teacher or mentor who has inspired or nudged them onto the path they are on. We want to give teachers the support they need to be that inspiration to their students. Teachers and adults have an opportunity to cultivate and hold space for the potential of so many.
The latest IPCC report made it very clear that our actions now will determine whether our climate is one we can adapt to or whether it will render the planet uninhabitable. Youth are the ones inheriting this world in crisis. And they are articulate, passionate and smart with out-of the box ideas to contribute to solutions. They deserve to have agency and a say in their future. They deserve to be listened to. When youth have to leave school to demand leaders to step up we need to see this as a strong message from the future, looking out for itself and those to come. We believe intergenerational respect and support is our duty. Let’s help these young people ignite their visions to collaborate with the intersecting movements of race, gender, Indigenous sovereignty, food security and more to answer the question that Rebecca leaves us at the end of our film: “What is it that we are building on the other side of this catastrophe?” Thank you.
NAIA & REBECCA: I’m Naia, and I’m Rebecca, and we are climate organizers and two of the subjects of the film. We’re so grateful to be here with you all today!
Many of the events in the film happened two years ago already. For us, those months were the first time we watched everyone around us rise up to call for climate justice, shattering through the cognitive dissonance of climate inaction in our lives. Of course, so much has happened since then, but the community created through that organizing was transformative for us. Over the last 6 months, we’ve been part of a team reflecting on where the youth climate movement is currently at, and designing where we go next.
The climate strikes -- and the devastating natural disasters we’ve lived through since -- have cemented our culture’s collective understanding that we, obviously, are in a state of climate emergency. We all know that our government needs to take “bold and urgent” action, now. But what does that actually mean? When we watch our government declare a climate emergency one day, and then turn around and approve a pipeline the next, we don’t know who to believe. Most people in Canada can’t even name a single climate solution. Because of this, half say they are aware human-caused climate change is happening, but don’t believe we can do anything about it. 60% of youth think that humanity is doomed because of the crisis.
In a moment where the inequities of our systems have been exposed, we’ve realized that highlighting the problem isn’t enough -- we need to build political power to win transformative solutions that will materially improve peoples’ lives.
And so, inspired by the Sunrise movement in the US, we are developing a strategy to build a mass, multi-racial movement of young people who understand how to take collective action, and who will use that to institutionalize real solutions.
What About Our Future brings people into the realities of organizing and taking collective action, which we need everyone to access, because we are at a turning point. Reports coming out of COP26 show that the people tasked to lead us are more concerned with holding tightly to a status quo from which they profit, than making the responsible choices we need for a just future. Grassroots organizing is the only way we have of convincing thousands of young people to feel hopeful again, and to force our leaders to act.
We need to bring everyone the sense of community, purpose, and material change that we felt in Sustainabiliteens -- and to do this, we’re going to need support and partnership from everyone.
WHO ATTENDED?
Alexander Mendes - Scouts Canada
Will meet with the film team to discuss the possibility of bringing the film to Scouts Canada. Interested in connecting more with the other youth organizers at the summit.
Brittny Anderson - Special Advisor to the Premier on Youth
Offered to make a connection between the filmmakers and students to Minister Whiteside and her staff.
Cherry Tam - FBC Youth Program
Will use the film as a discussion point for their youth leadership and mentorship cohorts.
Christine Boyle - Councillor Christine Boyle's Office
Will send the film to school board trustees to disseminate to schools, and send it to community centers and facilitate introductions to climate orgs.
Cindy Heitman - Prince George School District
Will continue to hold space for student led activism and empowering the youth in the school district to become leaders. Will hold conversations with her students about how they can best use the information they learned at the summit
Don Schafer - the conversation lab
Will provide a 30 to 60 minute interview at The Conversation Lab, a weekly radio program and podcast that supports the work of not for profit organizations, community groups and change makers about the work they do.
Elaina Buenaventura - Ban the Bottle SFU
Will host a screening at SFU around world water day and will promote screenings on social media.
Emily Keller - Environmental Youth Alliance (EYA)
Will share information about a screening on EYA's (Environmental Youth Alliance's) social media when requested.
Erica Forman & sara bauman - King David High School
Will bring the film to their grade 12 social justice class and other classes and students at their school if possible and look to lead discussions with their peers about the climate crisis.
Esther Chetner
Personal donation of $600 to support the Impact Campaign costs.
Jamie McCarthy - Burnaby Public Library
Offered to host space (barring COVID rules) in Feb/March for campaign events.
Judy Fainstein - YesBC
Will offer collaboration, connections and support to the movement in the form of mentorship and amplifying their work through her networks.
Laurie Wood - SFU Faculty of Environment
Will host a screening of the film and will look into bringing the film to local high schools through their Envirnomentors program. A donation of $100.
Mariah Mund - Change SFU
Will share the film and share screenings on social media and will bring the film to the climate coalition at SFU, and if the coalition wants to will look to partner with other SFU orgs in having a screening
Mike cotter - Jericho Sailing Centre
Will host a screening and share on social media.
Naomi Krogman - sFU Faculty of Environment
Will use the film as a learning tool for SFU students. will also commit to hosting a screening and using social media to elevate the use of the film. A donation of $150.
Nathaniel Glickman - Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Will work with the youth of his foundation to organize screenings in their communities.
Sarah Abdillahi - Toronto Councillor Mike Layton's Office, University-Rosedale
Wants to connect with other youth at the summit to discuss how best they can organize and shape governments work regarding the environment. Will also look to share the film with the councilor's office and with Toronto student's unions
Stephanie - Sunshine Coast School District
Pledged to send film to schools in their school district.
Victoria Schinkel - Student Advisory Council, School District 57
Interested in having a conversation with the film team about how she can be involved, and will continue her work of student led activism.
