Ctrl.Alt.Shift @ The Age Of Stupid Premiere

Mark Sunday March 15th 2009 in your diary as the day climate change was fully, and unquestionably put into the public eye as celebrities, politicians and Joe Public all gathered together to witness history in the making... Climate change film The Age of Stupid had its premiere at London's Leicester Square, along with 65 venues around the country, in what was the world's largest and most environmentally friendly premiere in history.

The main venue was a huge solar-powered tent in the middle of Leicester Square, and all guests were specifically asked not to fly to the event; a rule that included the cast and the celebrities that were attending. Star of the film Pete Postlethwaite rolled across the green carpet by bicycle, along with some of the other guests, and all spectators were in awe of the world's first fully solar-powered car which slowly but surely traipsed it's way to the screening. It wasn't just the venue and the transport and the carpet that was green at this event, even popcorn would have had environmentalists wetting themselves as it was powered by a girl on a bike.

In addition, celebrities such as Ken Livingston, Will Young, Vivienne Westwood and Keeley Hazel were met at the entrance of the tent by Fairtrade beverages, Divine chocolate and a blanket - while the venue was solar-powered, there wasn't enough sun in the city to provide heating as well, so the blankets were a blessing.

The film itself is based around six present day documentaries that are all interconnected and are about different aspects of climate change affecting the world today, from footage of one man's heroics during Hurricane Katrina, to a documentary based in a French skiing resort which has recorded an alarming decrease of snow in recent years. The film also details the barriers that one man faced when trying to erect eco-friendly wind turbines on the British landscape. All six documentaries are selected by a lone archiver Postlethwaite, based in 2055 when the full effects of climate change have taken its toll on the earth and left it in tatters. Postlethwaite's character looks back at these six documentaries and begs the questions: Why did the world fail to see this coming? When the world could have been saved, why did no one act on it?

The film was made as a result of the situation in the world today, in which the effects of climate change are evident to all - whether it's the record floods that have been hitting this country, to the rising sea levels that are threatening the world's most vulnerable developing countries with extinction, yet very little is being done to combat the effects. We are in a time when the effects of climate change can be reversed, however if little is done by 2015 there will be no way back, our children and grandchildren will inherit a world in a terminal state as a result of us, the predecessors failing to act when we had the chance.

A thought provoking, powerful and consistent piece of edutainment, and one which could very well have huge implications on how seriously climate change will be taken in the future. This was compounded by the expression on Labour politician Ed Milliband's face when he was summoned up for questioning after the screening. If ever a politician needed a push to put an issue of public interest on high priority, it was at the moment when Postlethwaite threatened to hand back his OBE and never vote for the Labour Party again if they failed to act accordingly to the warnings in this film.

The true groundbreaker of the night however wasn't revealed until after the show, via video link as Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, a small nation south of India, and one of the most vulnerable to rising sea levels as a result of climate change, declared that his nation would become carbon neutral within the decade. This bold move should act as a blueprint for other countries, and is a commitment of intent from a nation that has so much to lose if richer, more influential countries fail to follow by the Maldives' example.

Ctrl.Alt.Shift highly recommends that you book your ticket to the general release of The Age of Stupid on Friday 20th March, and witness part of what will hopefully shape the attitudes of the public and governments alike towards climate change.

For more information on how you can do your bit by cutting your carbon footprint and for more info on the film check out www.ageofstupid.net [1]

Image: Flickr ageofstupid