Age of Stupid – Warum tun wir nichts?

The Age of Stupid

Age of Stupid – Warum tun wir nichts?

Franny Armstrong

UK
2008
Documentary
90’
Film Education

»We calculated the film‘s carbon footprint (…). Overall, it added up to 94 tonnes of CO2 – equal to the power consumption of 185 patio heaters in a month. I definitely think our film is worth 185 patio heaters.«
– Franny Armstrong.

It is 2055 and Planet Earth has almost been destroyed. Somewhere in the Arctic, which has melted away, an old man sits and ponders why we didn‘t prevent climate change when it was still possible. Six true stories from the year 1950 to 2008 appear on his screen, stories that illustrate how we are ruining the very fundamentals of life. The villagers in Cornwall, England, who think that the wind turbines disfigure the landscape. Jeh Wadia from India who sets up a low-cost airline and bathes in applause for bringing prosperity to his country. Mountain guide Fernand Pareau who campaigns in the Alps against the lorries that transport milk from Switzerland to Italy in order to re-import it as yoghurt.
Through The Age of Stupid, then, Franny Armstrong questions the moral and psychological culture in which an individual today has to take decisions affecting the climate. Pete Postlethwaite can be seen here in one of his last roles, in a film that caused an international sensation on account of the way it was financed – i.e. via crowd-funding. For the makers of the film, climate protection is a matter of real concern: they organised a solar cinema tent for the London première. And the related CO2 Initiative 10:10 (www.1010global.org) is notching up successes across the world.


Awards for ›The Age of Stupid‹ (Auswahl)
Best Investigation of Environmental Issues, Sun Child Festival 2009 | Green Award, Grierson Award 2008 | Best Feature, HIFF 2006

Film Programme The Age of Stupid

Director / Script

Franny Armstrong

Cinematography

Lawrence Gardner, Franny Armstrong

Editing

David G. Hill

Sound

Lizzy Gillet (Doc), Ron Bailey (Drama)

Cast

Lizzy Gillet (Doc), Ron Bailey (Drama) | Darsteller_innen Pete Postlethwaite

Production

John Battsek

Contact

TAO Cinemathek

Franny Armstrong

Franny Armstrong‘s first documentary, McLibel, told the inside story of the libel trial by McDonald‘s Restaurants. After its première in 1997, it was initially stopped by lawyers. But when, in 2005, Ms Armstrong – on the basis of a second version of the film – defeated the British government at the European Court of Human Rights, McLibel Two was finally broadcast on BBC 2 to fantastic reviews. In A Racist Force (2000), she tackled the subject of racism within the British police force. For Baked Alaska (2001), she picked up many awards. In 2002, in another feature documentary, Drowned Out, Ms Armstrong followed a family in India who chose to stay at home and drown rather than make way for the Narmada Dam. For The Age of Stupid in 2004, Franny Armstrong worked with renowned British producer John Battsek.


Films by Franny Armstrong
McLibel Two 2005 | The Damned 2003 | Drowned Out 2002 | Baked Alaska 2001 | A Racist Force 2000 | McLibel 1997