AN exploration of Scotland’s complex relationship with the worldwide climate crisis will open a leading environmental film festival next month.
Living Proof: A Climate Story is directed by Emily Munro and uses archive footage to explore the roots of the climate crisis in a portrayal of a country shaped by demands for energy and economic growth.
Featuring corporate voices, news reporters, protesters and the general public, the footage spans the geography of Scotland, taking in the central belt, the rural south, the Highlands and the North Sea, and looks at the most treasured, most contested and most exploited parts of the country.
Living Proof is part found-footage mash-up and part archive collage, with the soundtrack comprising contemporary Scottish artists Louise Connell, Brownbear and Post Coal Prom Queen along with composers Ian Whyte, Frank Spedding, John Maxwell Geddes and David McNiven.
It will tour Scottish cinemas following its Take One Action world premiere and is one of more than 20 international, UK and Scottish film premieres, complemented by discussions and exclusive digital content in Glasgow, Edinburgh and online from September 22-26.
In-person festival editions will take place in Aberdeen and Inverness in late October.
Other festival highlights include the Scottish premiere of Writing With Fire, the story of India’s only news agency run by Dalit women, surviving and thriving in a media landscape run exclusively by men and redefining what it means to be powerful.
Take One Action 2021 will close with the Scottish premiere of The New Corporation. Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott’s “unfortunately necessary” sequel to their seminal 2003 documentary The Corporation investigates how the corporate takeover of society is being justified by the sly rebranding of corporations as socially conscious entities.
From gatherings of corporate elites in Davos to climate change, spiralling inequality, the rise of ultra-right leaders, Covid-19 and racial injustice, the film looks at corporations’ devastating power. Countering this is a groundswell of resistance worldwide as people take to the streets in pursuit of justice and the planet’s future.
Tamara Van Strijthem, executive director of Take One Action, pointed out that the festival was taking place as Scotland prepares for the UN climate conference COP26.
“COP26 in November represents such a crucial moment for our planet’s future, and our programme offers a much-needed opportunity to pause and reflect and to question just how we’ve arrived at the topsy-turvy reality we call our own,” she said.
“To truly build back better, we need to both engage with and dream up different realities. Our excitingly diverse selection of documentaries, and the audience conversations we nurture, can inspire our way into a new story – one that centres on care, community, equity, accountability and sustainability.”
The festival is supported by Screen Scotland.
Sambrooke Scott, head of audience development, said: “We’re very excited to support the return of Take One Action as it showcases powerful cinema from Scotland and around the world, exploring the issues that are shaping our world.
“By pairing great films with positive action that enables the audience to explore – and begin to address – key challenges facing our collective future, Take One Action offers a unique festival experience.
“By kicking off with Living Proof: A Climate Story, a timely and necessary portrait created by Dr Emily Munro for the National Library of Scotland, against a backdrop of Scotland hosting COP26, Take One Action once again proves to be a vital, engaging and empowering festival.”
All films are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, whether in person or online, across all venues. All films are available to watch online (excluding Living Proof). Tickets to all screenings are on sale now at www.takeoneaction.org.uk
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