#583: New Climate Change film

Michael Sheen has narrated a new film on climate change.

A cross posting from my Passed the Point of No Return blog.

This story came through via the BBC News Norfolk page.

It's about a film which was filmed on the West Acre estate, a few miles from where I live.

It was written in collaboration with young farmers and it questions why discussions about the weather are so common, in contrast to discussions about climate change.

Environmental campaign group the Climate Majority Project hopes the five-minute film will help pupils and teachers speak "honestly and sensitively" about the issue.

It was written by King's Lynn-born playwright Emma-Louise Howell, who spent time speaking to young farmers in the county about their experience of climate change.

She said: "They really were engaged in it and they were almost shouting into a void saying 'we have got a bit of an answer, working with nature'.

"You can't control the weather, but they are having to adjust every single day to the shift in climate.

"It's not conceptual to them."

The Climate Majority project provides more details about their work.

The film is narrated by Michael Sheen, who lends his distinctive voice to the film.

More details on the Substack here.

In the past 6 hours, 94% of Brits have spoken about the weather.

In the past 5 years, 7000 Brits have been arrested for speaking out about the climate crisis.

Now we’re asking: how can we change small-talk into a conversation for meaningful change?

Watch the film here:

#305: The Laboratory with Leaves

A documentary on Fenland - part of a series of films.

#247: Fungi: Entangled Life

Merlin Sheldrake's book is an important one, and I will be exploring it for the reading list. 

I will write a full review in due course and add it to the library as well once I get the chance to finish listening to it - which I will do during March.

I have an Audible copy of the book to explore and potentially use with students. The introduction to the book is an excellent start and nice introduction to the value of fungi in our lives. There is also plenty on how humans have used fungi for a range of applications from industrial to medical to recreational.

One of my favourite sequences from the upcoming IMAX movie, Fungi: Web of Life. Björk explains how a fungal spore becomes a mycelial network. The astonishing footage is by Wim van Egmond. I'll post a series of clips from the film in the coming days. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/TnAjjqFfQK

— Merlin Sheldrake (@MerlinSheldrake) October 23, 2023

“Entangled Life is a dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing book. Sentence after sentence stopped me short. I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world and the earth-shaking, hierarchy-breaking implications of Sheldrake's argument. This is a remarkable work by a remarkable writer, which succeeds in springing life into strangeness again.” — Robert Macfarlane

A film has been made suitable for IMAX, so I will look out for a screening of that as well.

#215: Six Inches of Soil

Six Inches of Soil is a new film, which explores the value of this material, which many people undervalue - not understanding its critical importance. I studied pedology (soil science) in the final year of my undergraduate degree, spending quite a lot of time carrying out experiments and fieldwork, and know very well how important it is to look after it.

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
*Drum roll*
We’re extremely proud to present our new #filmtrailer. Huge thanks to award-winning creative agency @Chinagraph_L for producing it for us. We hope you love it as much as we do. Feel free to leave comments on our YouTube https://t.co/kXFW6ag15M pic.twitter.com/gRAHmDrpGA

— Six Inches of Soil (@sixinchessoil) November 16, 2023

Here's the original quote which inspired the title of the film:

“Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains.”

Paul Harvey (1978) U.S. radio broadcaster

The trailer for the film can be viewed here:

#170: Representations of the natural world: cave paintings

Humans have represented the natural world in many different ways over the centuries, dating back to cave paintings through a whole range of other art forms: literature, poetry, art, pottery, gardening etc.

The original ideas in the consultation on the specification included a reference to cave paintings. This may form part of a topic called 'Life in the Early World' or more likely 'Representations of the Natural World'.

There are some famous locations where cave paintings have been discovered, which represent the flora and fauna of the time. The drawings capture creatures which are no longer native to the countries where the images are found. The paintings were also made with dyes / paints made from natural sources as well.

A few key locations which would be worth referencing:

1. Lascaux Caves

Source:https://www.flickr.com/photos/centredessciencesdemontreal/13763665525/sizes/l/

This is perhaps one of the best known locations.

The problem with the caves is that visitors change the atmosphere within the caves, due to their respiration adding heat and moisture to the otherwise cool and relatively dry interior of the caves (which was why people lived there).

There is also a good story starter for a mystery which links with Robot the Dog, who disappeared down a hole and helped to discover the cave system.

Visitors are now directed to a replica of the cave which was recreated following 3D scanning of the original spaces to ensure that they are not damaged further.

2. Chauvet Cave

The Chauvet cave, in the Ardeche region of southern France, contains some of the oldest and most remarkable cave drawings ever found - yet it has been sealed shut since its discovery to preserve this precious art.

The cave is the subject of an early film by Werner Herzog.

It is called 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams'.

In this BBC Sounds broadcast he describes the moment. He describes it as being transported to a separate reality.

What other examples of cave paintings could be added to this list of locations?

This article suggests 7 key locations.