TIEMPO a bulletin on global warming and the Third World issue 7 January 1993 published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (London, UK) and the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) with support from the Swedish International Development Authority in association with the Stockholm Environment Institute editorial office: TIEMPO, c/o Mick Kelly, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK (email gn:crunorwich) ******************************************************* MOVING PICTURES Television increasingly provides an accessible and effective means of communication and education for much of the world's population. In response to a number of requests for information on documentaries and other educational resources covering global warming and related issues, the following pages contain a selected listing of recent films and their distributors. The listing is largely drawn from a database of environment and development documentaries maintained by the Television Trust for the Environment as part of their Moving Pictures project. The Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) is a non-profit organization established in 1984 by the United Nations Environment Programme and Central Television in order to promote environment and development issues around the world through broadcast television and radio. It has co-produced over 100 films, assists Third World filmmakers to make their own films on regional environmental issues and acts as a distributor for many more documentaries. A number of these programmes are available free of charge to NGOs and broadcasters in developing countries. Moving Pictures Bulletin, a quarterly publication from TVE, contains a listing of recent documentaries and updates on new productions, as well as educational articles on featured topics. The magazine is available in English, Italian (Tam Tam Video News) and French (Les Cahiers du Futur). See page 25 for contact addresses. AFTER THE WARMING 1990 The documentary is set in the year 2050, from whence a virtual reality generator is used to track the history of humanity's response to climate change including an account of the impact of global warming over the period 1990-2050 and society's reaction to the threat. The film uses a science fiction framework to convey, in a graphic and accessible fashion, the issues behind climate change. A teacher's pack is available. Language: English; Length: 2*60'; Origin: UK; Production Company: Principal Film Company in association with Maryland Public Television, Wiseman, Film Australia and Electric Image; Producer: Richard Sattin; Director: Mike Slee; Distributor: Film Australia, Eton Rd, Lindfield, NSW 2070, Australia. CAN POLAR BEARS TREAD WATER? 1989 Uses striking state-of-the-art visuals and computer graphics to present a sophisticated account of global warming in a form guaranteed to keep an audience watching, alternating a traditional documentary approach with a wise-cracking, at times irreverent, tone. Covers the causes of climate change, potential effects, response options and the reaction of the international community, including North-South issues. A shorter version for schools is also available. Language: English; Length: 52'; Origin: UK; Production Company: Central TV with Better World Society and TVE; Producer/Director: Lawrence Moore; Associate Producer: Robbie Stamp; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. CLIMATE AND MAN 1989 This series of films examines the interaction of climate and human development throughout history and the possibility that humanity may now be altering global climate. Considers the mechanics of the climate system and climate history, the influence of weather and climate on events such as the French Revolution and surveys the past impact of humanity on the environment. Language: English; Length: 3*50'; Origin: UK; Production Company: Vision Group for London Weekend Television (LWT); Executive Producer: Jerome Kuehl; Producer/Director: Mark Redhead; Distributor: LWT, South Bank Television Centre, London SE1, UK. CLIMATE CHANGE: NATURE'S REVENGE Examines the cost to the planet of the vicious North-South cycle of debt and unsustainable development. Nature is now taking its revenge but there are examples of how sustainable development might be achieved by greater cooperation between North and South. Language: English; Length: 12'; Produced for: UNEP; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. CLIMATE CONTROL: CAN WE DO IT? 1991 Spells out the causes and effects of climate change and looks at what can be done to control the problem, covering energy efficiency, the automobile, renewable energy, deforestation and the need for export subsidies to assist the transfer of fuel-saving devices to the Third World. Language: English; Length: 52'; Origin: USA; Production Company: Monitor Television and Taurus Film; Producer/Director: Tom Cheatham; Distributor: Monitor Channel, 1660 Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA 02135, USA. GLOBAL WARMING 1990 Overall scientific costs and impacts of the greenhouse effect are explained through graphic sequences shot in vulnerable locations. Environmentally benign technologies such as biogas technology, wind farms and solar ponds are highlighted. Views of leading scientists and thinkers are also included. Language: English; Length: 21'; Origin: India; Production Company: Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI); Producer/ Director: Sagari Chabra; Distributor: TERI, 9 Jor Bagh, New Delhi 110 003, India. IN OVER OUR HEADS 1990 Describes attempts to suppress findings on climate change in order to reduce pressure for emission control and argues that, far from costing billions, emission control would actually save money. Language: English; Length: 30'; Origin: USA; Production Company: Hardy Jones and Julia Whitty; Producers/Directors: Hardy Jones and Julia Whitty; Distributor: Devillier Donegan Enterprises, 1608 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009, USA. LAST EXIT TO RIO 1992 Based on UNEP's State of the Environment reports, the film assesses environment and development worldwide over the period 1972-1988 using the car as a metaphor for unsustainable development. Asks whether or not the debate on sustainable development has taken a wrong turning. Language: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish; Length: 45'; Origin: Germany; Production Company: NDR; Producers/ Directors: Ekkehard Launer and Nicola von Hollander; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. LIVING WITH DROUGHT Describes how rural communities in Niger and Kenya are responding to the severe changes wrought in their environment by climate change, poverty and population pressures. Examples include soil and water conservation projects such as stone terracing and tree breaks. Language: English; Length: 50'; Origin: UK; Production Company: BBC/Open University; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. RIVERS OF SAND 1991 Shows why there are no quick solutions to the creeping desert in the drought-hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa, considering the experience of aid projects battling with environmental deterioration in northern Mali including a plan to bring water back to Lake Fagubine, once the biggest lake in west Africa but now a dried-out desert plain. Language: English, French; Length: 52'; Origin: UK; Production Company: Central TV; Producer/Director: Bruno Sorrentino; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. THE BIG HEAT 1990 Discusses international responses to the 1990 findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, focusing on the fossil fuel lobby in the United States and their influence on national policy and the dilemma faced by India's politicians in reconciling the apparent conflict between cheap energy and the need to curb carbon emissions. Language: English; Length: 40'; Origin: UK; Production Company: BBC; Producer: Charles Furneaux; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. THE CLOUDS ARE SPEAKING 1989 Uses dramatic time-lapse photography to illustrate severe weather events and shows how new technologies can be used to predict climate change and other effects of atmospheric pollution and to calculate how much damage has been done. Language: English; Length: 30'; Origin: Canada; Production Company: Breakthrough Films; Producers: Peter Williamson and Ira Levy; Director: Peter Williamson; Distributor: Breakthrough Films, Ant TV Inc, 67 Mowat Ave, Suite 331, Toronto, Ontario M6K 3E3, Canada. THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT Describes the causes, effects and some of the measures needed to halt global warming. Language: English; Length: 20'; Origin: UK; Producer: BBC/ International Broadcasting Trust; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. THE HEAT IS ON 1991 Discusses the certainties and uncertainties in the science of global warming and the justification for the conclusion that precautionary action to curb greenhouse gas emissions is necessary. Language: English; Length: 24'; Origin: UK; Producer: BBC/Open University; Producer/Director: Eleanor Morris; Distributor: Open University Educational Enterprises, Attn Diana Rualt, 12 Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes MK11 1BY, UK. TOP GUNS AND TOXIC WHALES 1991 Argues that, over the coming 50 years, governments must redefine their security interests in environmental terms or else international diplomacy will become locked into the chaotic consequences of mass environmental degradation. Considers toxic waste, air pollution, environmental and economic refugees and water resource conflicts. Language: English; Length: 52'; Origin: UK; Production Company: Central TV; Producers: Lawrence Moore and Robbie Stamp; Director: Robbie Stamp; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. WOMEN IN PARADISE 1990 Conveys the contradictions and complexities inherent in the global warming debate, focusing on the fate of the low-lying Maldives. The film considers the dilemma facing the developing world if it is not to exacerbate the problem caused by the greenhouse gas emissions of the industrialized nations. Language: Norwegian, English; Length: 60'; Origin: Norway; Production Company: Ying-Yang Productions; Producers/ Directors: Petter Nome and Torbjorn Morvik; Distributor: TVE Distribution and Training Centre, Postbus 7, 3700 AA Zeist, The Netherlands. Further information: Most of the films distributed by TVE are available for broadcast or use by NGOs free of charge in developing nations. Check with distributor in other cases. ****************************************************** SEX, LEMURS AND HOLES IN THE SKY TVE has recently published a special issue of Moving Pictures Bulletin on population. Containing an excellent educational supplement as well as details of relevant documentaries, the issue marks the release of the latest TVE/Central TV co-production, Sex, Lemurs and Holes in the Sky. Produced and directed by Lawrence Moore and Robbie Stamp, the documentary is a serious exploration of the linked issues of population, consumption, poverty and the environment. We are, the film claims, facing a crisis - not just about numbers, which are meaningless in isolation, but about the impact we as humans have on our environment. The film's thesis is that we use the environment both as a source for food, shelter and raw materials and as a sink to dispose of our wastes. The impact on the environment derives from a combination of three factors: how much each of us consumes, the technology we use to extract and process resources as well as getting rid of the waste, and the numbers of us who have this impact, day in, day out. The film contrasts the lifestyles of two families on two very different islands, Madagascar and Manhattan, and shows how individuals' personal and political priorities can make a difference. There are some stark choices. America's annual soft-drinks bill - at US$33 million - could pay for a three-year programme to provide drinking water for all the people who don't have it at the moment. The 500 million the British spent on video games in 1992 could cover the cost of literacy classes for half the women in the developing world. Options such as these, the film suggests, could mean the difference between a world population of 8 billion or 12 billion in 60 years' time. In the end, it's up to us. ******************************************************* -- p [D