The Age of Stupid
Age of Stupid – Warum tun wir nichts?
Franny Armstrong
»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
Franny Armstrong
Franny Armstrongs erster Dokumentarfilm McLibel erzählte die Geschichte der Verleumdungsklage von McDonald‘s und wurde nach der ersten Aufführung 1997 gestoppt. Nachdem sie 2005 mit einer zweiten Fassung die britische Regierung vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte besiegt hatte, wurde McLibel Two schließlich auf BBC 2 ausgestrahlt und bekam fantastische Kritiken. In A Racist Force thematisierte sie 2000 den Vorwurf des Rassismus innerhalb der britischen Polizei. Für Baked Alaska (2001) erhielt sie zahlreiche Auszeichnungen. 2002 folgte Armstrong in Drowned Out einer indischen Familie, die lieber zu Hause ertrinken wollte, als einem Staudammbau zu weichen. Für Age of Stupid arbeitete Franny Armstrong 2004 mit dem renommierten britischen Produzenten John Battsek zusammen.
Filme von Franny Armstrong
McLibel Two 2005 | The Damned 2003 | Drowned Out 2002 | Baked Alaska 2001 | A Racist Force 2000 | McLibel 1997
