Ihe climate is changing at full speed. One million species are threatened with extinction. Hundreds of millions of human beings are condemned to extreme precariousness. The ecological crisis is rocking our democracies, our economies, our societies… But we, film professionals, carry on as if nothing had happened. Or almost.
Cinema is a polluting and extractive industry. An average shoot emits as much CO2 than thirty-seven round trips Paris-New York. All French cinemas emit as many in one year as the city of Nancy. We can, and must, do better. For the moment, we are content with marginal adjustments, sometimes carrying out carbon essments and thinking about reducing the emissions of our films without this disturbing our artistic ambitions too much.
But the situation requires a general mobilization and a common awareness. Everything is connected. We are all connected. We form the society of the spectacle. In these critical times for humanity, what are we really good for? How can we, artists and film professionals, do our part, rethink the meaning of our activities and help people adapt?
In reality, we have superpowers. And, therefore, super-responsibilities. Every day, our films reach millions of people. The rooms, the works create unique links between humans, bring them together around common stories, which influence the way they look, understand the world…
Just as Americans promoted and disseminated the “American way of life” around the world at the end of the Second World War using films, television, advertising, we can today construct new representations of the world , of the future. Everything must be redesigned, reinvented, rebuilt. But how can this new world be born if we are not able to imagine it first? Through films, we can inspire other ways of being in the world, of relating and facing the challenges ahead.
Ambitious and magnificent tasks
Today, we call on all those who want to take action to join the CUT manifesto! (Cinema united for the transition). We don’t have ready-made solutions and we will need everyone’s intelligence. For this, in support with the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image, we are opening three projects piloted by working groups to help all those who wish to work on:
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