India focus in Al Gore’s climate crisis sequel

Cannes, May 26 (UNI) A year after Paris hosted the historic climate change conference, the Cannes film festival maintained the momentum on saving the environment by screening the sequel to former US Vice-president Al Gore’s path-breaking documentary film on the subject. Gore called for more public and political awareness on global warming as he presented ‘An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power’ at the 70th Cannes film festival this week. The documentary film comes eleven years after the release of his Oscar-winning film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, which made a significant contribution to raising the awareness on climate change in the last decade.
“Film is a premium way to deliver a message with integrity that the world wants to have,” Gore said after the screening of the film at the Cannes festival. Directed by American filmmakers Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, ‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ focuses on the former American vice-president’s efforts to influence public and political thinking on climate crisis.
“He (Gore) is a very fascinating film character,” said Mr Shenk.
“There is an inherent drama in following a man with so much passion,” he added. The film puts the spotlight on India by highlighting the country’s desire to shift from coal to renewable energy. As much as 20 minutes of the 100-minute film is on India, a country the filmmakers decided as a location for shooting the sequel.
“We shot the film in New Delhi before the Paris climate conference in November 2015,” said Cohen. “Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is doing a commendable job in moving India away from coal to solar and wind to fuel its energy needs in the future,” Gore said at a press conference in Cannes on the occasion of the screening of the film. Gore also expressed his shock at the passing of Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave a week ago. “I am very sorry to hear about the death of Minister Dave,” he said. In the sequel, Gore continues where he left in 2006 with his Oscar-winning documentary. He, however, addresses this time the urgency needed to combat the crisis.
The Paris conference in November 2015 is a key element of the film, which shows the flexing of muscles by India in favour of developing countries and the subsequent decisions of the country to become a leader of the fight against climate change. The film uses archival footage to show the devastating floods that submerged Chennai in December 2015. Gore’s training sessions with young people around the world to influence global opinion are shown intermittently in the film, which captures the intense negotiations that preceded the Paris agreement. In the film, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Gore are shown engaged in a discussion in New Delhi ahead of the Paris conference in 2015.
“I am only asking for the carbon space that the US used in the last 150 years,” Goyal tells Gore, explaining why India needs coal to boost development in the future just as America used it in the past century-and-half.
“I don’t see the blue sky in Delhi.
When is the sun coming out today?” Gore retorts implying the massive air pollution in the capital. Gore is also shown playing a major role in convincing American corporations to help India with credit and foreign exchange in investing in solar energy as he goes back and forth with CEOs in the US and Indian Government. Along with the other obstacles, the film, which was mostly shot before Donald Trump became the US president, deals with the new political climate surrounding the campaign against global warming. “After four months, we know no one person, not even the (US) President, can stop the climate movement,” Gore said, adding American businesses are making commitments to adopt 100 per cent renewable energy.
“I think there is a chance that President Trump will surprise everybody by keep the US in the Paris agreement. ” An Inconvenient Sequel, which will release in US theatres on July 28, is aiming for theatrical release in India later. “We will release the film in India,” said Cohen. UNI XC SDR SNU 1143

Source:UNI