Film Screening: Plan Z and #ClimateScam

Plan Z

Are scientists doing enough to sound the alarm about climate breakdown? Plan Z traces the motivations of British researchers who’ve turned to civil disobedience to warn the public directly, risking arrest, a criminal record and their professional reputations.

When the UK government pledges to ‘max out’ oil and gas extraction, the lives of psychology professor Colin, microbiologist Abi and ecologist Aaron collide outside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), where they and six others are arrested for causing alleged criminal damage. But who are the real climate criminals? As restrictions on protest tighten, will scientists retreat to their laboratories or will more stand up than ever before?

A window into the world of reluctant activism, Plan Z explores the moral power of protest when established routes of influence fail.

About the filmmakers:

Louisa Jones and Vladimir Morozov are two creatives who became friends through three years of documenting climate protest in the UK. They coordinated the multi-camera livestreaming team that broadcast some of Extinction Rebellion UK’s biggest moments and worked on pop-up indie media channel, COP26.tv, throughout the 2021 Glasgow climate conference. Their boots-on-the-ground footage has been featured by news channels from the BBC to Al Jazeera Arabic. This is their first documentary film.

#CLIMATESCAM?

Despite all the evidence of rising global temperatures and climate-related disasters – and almost 100% consensus among the world’s climate scientists about what is causing this – there are still a surprising number of people who do not believe we are facing a climate emergency. Climate conspiracies, whipped up by social media algorithms that push the most extreme viewpoints to the fore, have resulted in death threats being made against people like city councillors trying to introduce traffic reduction schemes and weather forecasters trying to keep people safe from hurricanes. Join our young presenter Jaz as she sets out to discover why these conspiracy theories are so popular, whether any of them actually hold a grain of truth - or whether they are threatening our ability to deal with the greatest challenge humans have ever faced.