Letters

Social justice without borders fundraising kick off

June 23, 2016

On Thursday, June 30, Social Justice Without Borders kicks off its fundraising efforts for sponsoring a Syrian refugee family and providing much needed funds to North Hastings Community Trust with the showing of This Changes Everything.
This game changing documentary film by Avi Lewis is based on the critically acclaimed non-fiction best-seller by award winning journalist and author, Naomi Klein. Shot in nine countries over the course of four years, This Changes Everything had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
This Changes Everything presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines of both fossil fuel extraction and the climate crisis it is driving, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. The film builds to its most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.
Klein says, “Travelling around the world with the book in the last year, I’m finding audiences hungry for bold, visionary responses, far beyond the caution policy tweaks offered by political leaders. The real leadership is coming from the streets, from communities: we’re honoured to tell these stories and bring these voices to a wider audience.”
“The urgency is palpable,” said director/producer Avi Lewis. “I’m beginning to think ‘climate fatigue’ is a condition that just afflicts journalists! We’re delighted to have assembled a team of industry veterans who are ready to break all the rules and answer the call of this historic moment with an inspiring and hopeful message. Are we just preaching to the choir? Sure, if by ‘choir’ you mean the whole human race.”
This film is exciting as, unlike many documentaries about climate change, it offers a much needed note of optimism with change coming from the grassroots.
This Changes Everything is being shown on Thursday, June 30, at the Village Playhouse at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a discussion about the film. Admission is by donation.