2:10pm Tuesday 17th March 2009
By Andy Carswell
A FILM on climate change released in cinemas this week is “one hundred times better” than previous productions, south Bucks environmentalists have said.
'The Age of Stupid' set a new world record on Sunday for the largest simultaneous première when it was shown in 65 different locations across Britain.
Featuring Hollywood star Pete Postlethwaite, 'The Age of Stupid' looks at the effects of climate change and hands out a stark warning on what could happen if action is not taken.
Mark Brown, chairman of Transition Towns High Wycombe, and Marlow 'carbon coach' Dave Hampton both said the film would have more of an impact than Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'.
Mr Hampton – who helped get the film to première at the Maidenhead Odeon cinema – said: “I think it's 100 times better than 'An Inconvenient Truth', and I thought that was good.
“I don't think it's so much an eye-opener, it's more something we close our eyes to and need to be aware of.”
Speaking of the event at Maidenhead, he added: “I was very pleased with the show of hands at the end of people who would invite their friends to come along.
“It's fantastic we are talking about climate change to each other. We need to do it as a society and community and as individuals.
“If we can put a man on the moon, we can have a zero carbon society, no problem. We haven't got an alternative.”
Mr Brown of Transition Towns - a group that looks to tackle climate change in the High Wycombe area – said he thought the film was “extremely powerful” after watching the first showing at Maidenhead on Sunday.
He said: “It was very thought-provoking and quite an emotional film. It's a film that's quite frank in its discussion of the risk of climate change and it covers a vast number of topics.”
And he added: “We would love to have had a première in High Wycombe. Hopefully we will have the film here.”
The main première of the film was held in London's Leicester Square – and used just one per cent of the carbon emissions a normal Hollywood event does.
· 'The Age of Stupid' opens nationwide on Friday.
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