A Fierce Green Fire is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement. Written, directed and produced by Academy Award-nominee Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties), A Fierce Green Fire spans fifty years of grassroots and global environmental activism from the 1960s-2009, connecting the movement’s major causes, from conservation to climate change.Inspired by the book of the same name by environmental journalist and film interviewee Philip Shabecoff, and informed by advisors like conservation biologist E.O. Wilson, the film unfolds in five acts, each with a central story and character, featuring vivid archival footage and new interviews that shed light on the battle for a living planet. The first four acts of the film vividly tell the stories of people who fought – and succeeded – against enormous odds, and the fifth concludes with climate change.
Some of these battles included the halting of dams in the Grand Canyon, battling 20,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal, Greenpeace saving the whales, and Chico Mendes and the rubbertappers saving the Amazon. A Fierce Green Fire explores the dire consequences of climate change, yet also speaks of transforming our civilization through environmental action. Narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Ashley Judd, Van Jones and Isabel Allende, the film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and has won worldwide acclaim.
Watch the official trailer below:
Presented as part of the monthly Environmental Film Series, which is made free to the public through the ongoing partnership of the Havre de Grace Green Team and the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum. All film screenings are held inside the Maritime Museum’s main gallery, and will be immediately followed by a discussion.
