NZ Climate Change Documentary To Screen in Auckland Schools   16 Sep 2015

Award-winning New Zealand Climate Change Documentary To Screen in Seven Auckland Schools This Month

“… the most scientifically informative documentary ever made about climate change.”
– Producer David Sington

Award-winning New Zealand climate change documentary Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science will be screened in seven Auckland schools this month.

The Thin Ice Documentary Roadshow follows a sold-out Auckland premiere at Academy Cinemas earlier this month.

Waitakere College, Michael Park School, Kings College, Long Bay College, Kaipara College, Baradene College and Botany Downs Secondary College will host screenings of the director’s broadcast cut fromSeptember 17 to 24. These six schools will act as community hubs for their local districts beyond their school audiences to ensure neighbouring schools can also participate.

Each screening will be followed by a panel discussion to broaden the knowledge of the issues raised in the documentary. Panellists include the film’s director Dr Simon Lamb and executive producer Peter Barrett, together with Phoenix Organics founder Roger Harris, Sam Dyson from Generation Zero, Bridget Glasgow from Enviroschools plus a student representative. The panel will share solutions including conservation activities, signing a petition, making others aware of ‘green’ consumption practices, and changing transport habits.

The film seeks to enlighten these school pupils to engage in being passionate about assisting with solving global climate change, to have the difficult scientific messages communicated in a way that can be understood and to highlight the scale and urgency of the problem.

The film, made by Victoria University of Wellington and Oxford University, has been screened internationally and is a finalist at the prestigious Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival 2015.

Produced and directed by leading documentary maker David Sington and Victoria University’s School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences associate professor Dr Simon Lamb, the Thin Ice project began in 2006 in response to climate sceptics. It follows a personal journey of discovery by Dr Lamb for more than three years as he meets and interviews 40 scientists working at the front line of climate change research in the Arctic, Antarctic, Southern Ocean, New Zealand, Europe and the United States.

The scientists talk about their work, their hopes and fears with a rare candour and directness and the result is an intimate portrait of the global community of researchers racing to understand our planet's changing climate.

Producer David Sington (who worked with Ron Howard on the highly acclaimed documentary about the first moon landing - In the Shadow of The Moon) said Thin Ice had been “a fascinating and unusual project to be involved with. Most of the material in the film was shot by Simon over a three-year period without any involvement from me”.

“When Simon asked me if I would be willing to put all this material together, I was at first a little skeptical, but I soon realised that he had managed to capture something unique. Perhaps because they were talking to a fellow scientist, all the contributors spoke with a relaxed confidence and candour that meant that not only did their science come across with rare clarity, but their personalities and engagement with their work did as well.

“So I gathered the top-flight team that has worked with me on many of my most successful films, especially the brilliant film editor David Fairhead and equally brilliant composer Philip Sheppard. We quickly realised that Simon’s own journey had to be part of the story (not something that had been in his mind when he filmed!). I think the final result is probably the most scientifically informative documentary ever made about climate change. I hope it also has a subtle emotional undertow which makes it an enjoyable and ultimately rather moving film to watch."

The global launch of Thin Ice took place on Earth Day (April 22) 2012 with screenings in more than 200 locations on all seven continents of the world. Since then a DVD with subtitles in six languages, representing half of the world’s population, has been released. Since July this year, a shorter version for American public television has already been broadcast to more than 150 stations in the United States. The film has also screened at a number of highly regarded film festivals, picking up numerous awards.

The documentary has been distributed internationally by Green Planet Films and chief executive and founder Suzanne Harle said the film is “like a one-to-one chat with the scientists. You find out what they do, how they do it and even what makes them interested. They do come to an ‘alarming' conclusion: that the rise in CO2 is the main cause of modern climate change, but at least you can see why, and what has to be done to deal with it”.

Victoria University of Wellington presents the ‘Documentary Roadshow’ for the school screenings ofThin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science in Auckland from September 17 to 24 at Waitakere College, Kings College, Long Bay College, Kaipara College, Baradene College and Botany Downs College.

For more information and to view a trailer of the film visit www.thiniceclimate.org

ENDS

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