A FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle For a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement.
A FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle For a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement — grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. From halting dams in the Grand Canyon to battling 20,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal; from Greenpeace saving the whales to Chico Mendes and the rubbertappers saving the Amazon; from climate change to the promise of transforming our civilization, the film tells vivid stories about people fighting — and succeeding — against enormous odds.
The film is divided into five "acts".
Act 1 focuses on the conservation movement of the `60s, David Brower and the Sierra Club's battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon. Narrated by Robert Redford.
Act 2 looks at the new environmental movement of the `70s with its emphasis on pollution, focusing on the battle led by Lois Gibbs over Love Canal. Narrated by Ashley Judd.
Act 3 is about alternative ecology strands and the main story is Greenpeace's campaign to save the whales. Narrated by Van Jones.
Act 4 explores global resource issues and crises of the `80s, focusing on the struggle to save the Amazon led by Chico Mendes and the rubber tappers. Narrated by Isabel Allende.
Act 5 concerns climate change. Narrated by Meryl Streep.
101 minutes
A film by Mark Kitchell
Cinematographer: Vicente Franco
Editor: Ken Schneider, Veronica Selver, Jonathan Beckhardt
Based on the book "A Fierce Green Fire" by Philip Shabecoff
"Brilliant. Should be assigned viewing for all of us, especially those political leaders currently manning the helm of spaceship earth."
Jay Meehan, Park Record
"Inspiring. Stirring."
Mina Hochberg, Outside Magazine "Best of Sundance 2012"
“Rarely do environmental-themed films come with the ambitious scope of ‘A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet’ … which aims at nothing less than the history of environmentalism itself.”
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
“A Fierce Green Fire is a sweeping history of environmental activism in the past half-century.”
Jascha Hoffman, Nature
“Historically significant.”
Naomi Wolf, The Guardian