This Changes Everything is a 2015 documentary film directed by Avi Lewis. It is based on the book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by his wife, Naomi Klein.[2]
| This Changes Everything | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Avi Lewis |
| Based on | This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein |
| Produced by | Joslyn Barnes Avi Lewis Alfonso Cuarón (executive) |
| Narrated by | Naomi Klein |
| Cinematography | Mark Ellam |
| Edited by | Nick Hector Mary Lampson |
| Music by | David Wall Adam B. White |
Production companies | Klein Lewis Productions Louverture Films |
| Distributed by | Abramorama |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Countries | Canada United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $16,692[1] |
The film is a Canada-United States coproduction.[3]
At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, the film was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Documentaries.[4]
Synopsis
editThe film surveys a number of environmental activists around the world:
- Alberta, Canada— Crystal, a young indigenous Beaver Lake Cree Nation leader in Athabasca oil sands country, fights for access to a restricted military base.
- Powder River Basin, Montana— Mike and Alexis, a goat ranching couple impacted by oil from a broken pipeline. They organize against fossil fuel extraction and form an alliance with the Northern Cheyenne tribe to bring solar power to the nearby reservation.
- Halkidiki, Greece— Melachrini, a housewife opposed to mining and drilling projects by Canadian corporation Eldorado Gold; against the backdrop of Greece in crisis.[5]
- Andhra Pradesh, India— Jyothi, a matriarch fighting a proposed coal-fired power plant that will destroy a wetland.
- China— Smog-choked Beijing.[6]
Reception
editBox office
editThe domestic box office total as of 2020 is $16,692.[1]
Reviews
editThe film received a mixed reaction from film critics. It garnered a 56% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 reviews.[7] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a mixed or average score of 59, based on seven reviews.[8]
Writing for the Los Angeles Times, critic Michael Rechtshaffen wrote: "They may not do enough to alter the climate change film landscape, but Klein and those impassioned protesters provide something that has been in short supply in the predecessors — namely, a modicum of hope for the future."[9]
Writing for The Guardian, reviewer Henry Barnes stated that the "implication [of the film's opening confession from the author that she's 'always kind of hated films about climate change'] is that This Changes Everything is going to excite and inspire in a way that climate change documentaries have failed to before. It really doesn’t. It gives those of us in the affluent parts of the world more reason to feel bad and only a suggestion of what to do with that feeling."[5]
References
edit- ^ a b "This Changes Everything (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Scott Macaulay (13 September 2015). "TIFF 2015: Director Avi Lewis on Climate Change Doc, This Changes Everything". Filmmaker. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ Steve Gravestock. "This Changes Everything (programme note)". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ "Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2015 Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). Toronto International Film Festival. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ a b Barnes, Henry (17 September 2015). "This Changes Everything review - Naomi Klein's documentary on climate change doesn't". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "About". This Changes Everything official website. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "This Changes Everything: Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (16 October 2015). "Review: This Changes Everything puts a human face on global warming". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
External links
edit- Official website
- This Changes Everything at IMDb
- Official Facebook
- Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis on their documentary This Changes Everything, an interview on Day 6 (CBC Radio; 18 September 2015)
- This Changes Everything: Naomi Klein & Avi Lewis Film Re-imagines Vast Challenge of Climate Change (Pt. 1) and (Pt. 2), an interview on Democracy Now! (2 October 2015)
- Excerpt from the film, on YouTube
