Coinciding with the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York, the Academy, in partnership with the Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival, presents the acclaimed documentary “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
A stunning sensory experience and cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” is a years-in-the-making feature documentary from the award-winning team behind “Manufactured Landscapes” (2006) and “Watermark” (2013) and narrated by Alicia Vikander. It will be shown for one night only at the Academy.
The event starts at 7 p.m. Following the screening, at about 8:30 p.m., Maiken Scott, host of WHYY-FM’s The Pulse, will moderate a discussion with experts from the Academy and Drexel University and audience questions and answers. The scientists in the discussion are Scott Knowles, PhD, head of Drexel’s History Department, and Stephanie Kroll, PhD, Academy watershed ecologist.
The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group, who, after nearly 10 years of research, argue that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-20th century as a result of profound and lasting changes to the Earth caused by people.
“The beautifully stark and revealing cinematography of this film forces us to think about our relationship with our planet,” said Academy President and CEO Scott Cooper. “It serves as a disturbing call to action in this day and age of rainforest fires, extreme weather and species extinction.”
“We are thrilled to present local audiences with this exclusive viewing experience of ‘Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,’ said Debra Wolf Goldstein, executive director of the Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival. “This year, we’ve seen some of the greatest climate alterations in human history, and we think it’s imperative to bring environmentally focused features to Philadelphia, and in doing so, keeping the environment at the forefront of society’s consciousness.”
To purchase tickets, click here to go to the Academy’s web page.
Caption for lead image: Elephant Tusk Burn, Nairobi National Park, Kenya. Photo courtesy of Anthropocene Films Inc. © 2018