Oscar-winning documentarian Charles Ferguson turns his camera to the climate crisis with "Time To Choose"; Stephanie Allain, Director of the L.A. Film Festival is on a mission to showcase filmmakers who Hollywood typically ignores; The rock duo The Kills are back with a new album, and they reveal why they don't have a drummer.
Charles Ferguson finds climate peril and possible hope in 'Time to Choose'
No one can blame Charles Ferguson for being pessimistic.
The documentary filmmaker has analyzed the military-industrial complex in "No End in Sight" and looked behind the curtain of economic collapse in "Inside Job." But even after completing his newest film, "Time to Choose," which took him to five continents to study the causes and effects of climate change, he still sees room for hope.
"There has been an enormous amount of progress in our understanding of both the problem, and the things we can do to solve it," Ferguson said. "So if we care enough, and if we get our collective act together, we can address climate change — solve it, stop it and, in fact, the world would be better for it."
The Frame's host John Horn sat down with Ferguson at the Telluride Film Festival to discuss the film, what he learned about climate change, and where he sees progress.
Interview Highlights
It’s probably a little facile to describe this as a documentary about climate change, because it’s really not. That’s kind of the organizing theme, but it’s also about agriculture, it’s about transportation, it’s about education, it’s about access to electricity. As you were starting to work on the film, did those ideas present themselves? In other words, did the scope of the film grow as you started your research into unexpected directions?
It did grow. It grew enormously to an extent that was at first quite scary. And then afterwards, it turned out to be quite revealing. I had not understood — before I undertook to do the research for, and then make, this film — how deeply connected the forces were that are causing climate change to many other problems that plague us in the world. And I came to realize that, in fact, the same things that are causing climate change are also deeply connected to economic inequality, political corruption, to our health, our personal health through our diet and, of course, to many environmental problems, including, but not limited to, air pollution.
It’s clearly very important to you that this film look good. There’s a lot of footage shot from airplanes, I suspect some footage shot from drones. How important as a filmmaker was it to present this film in as beautiful a way and also as horrifying a way as possible, visually?
It was very important to me. When I was making this film, I found myself quite awed by the magnitude of the subject, by the magnitude of the stakes, and by how beautiful the world [is]. And not just the natural world, but also the world that we have constructed. I find cities beautiful, and architecture, and many of the best things that we have created as the human race will disappear if we don’t deal with this problem. And I felt that it was very important to convey the beauty of the world and how much we would lose if we don’t deal with this.
There’s a lot of evidence in the film about how governments treat people and the environment, usually not favorably. There’s a lot of corruption, a lot of lack of attention for how their behaviors are affecting the climate. Did you get any interference from countries or corporations as you were making this film that interfered with your journalism?
We did get some, and we avoided a lot by filming covertly. All of our filming in Indonesia was covert and illegal. Indonesia is not a nice country, at least its government is not a nice government. A foreigner filming in Indonesia without a journalism visa is committing a crime punishable by five years in prison. And when I was filming in Indonesia, two French journalists were on trial for this crime and were convicted. In addition, aerial filming in Indonesia requires military escorts, and it requires permission of the people that own the land that you’re flying over, and needless to say ...
I don't think you had that permission, did you?
We did not have that permission.
Tell me about that plane trip.
That plane trip was extraordinary. First of all, we couldn’t get in for four days, because the smoke caused by burning season was so severe, it closed all of the airports in the region. The smoke was so severe it caused severe air pollution all over Singapore and Malaysia, hundreds of miles away. And when we were able to fly in and land, it was in conditions that, I guarantee you, would never, never be permitted in the United States or Europe. Not only would you never fly a plane in those conditions, but the National Guard would be out. It was unbelievable. I had never seen anything like it, and I hope never to again. So we were able to fly because of connections to somebody who owned an airline — I’m not going to say more — and we were able to fly using false flight plans that we filed, and, you know, we gamed the system.
We were able to fly and we rigged this plane with cameras, and I was in the plane. And people had told me about palm oil and deforestation, and told me that it’s quite scary and vast and shocking. But I had never really seen it before. And when I took that airplane flight, my mind was blown. For hundreds of miles, you just see devastation. Hundreds of miles. And then you see these palm oil plantations, and then you see the fires, and then you see the smoke, and then you see the logging.
You visited a lot of countries in researching this film. There are some that are doing incredible work about renewable energy. Who, in your mind, is at the top of that list?
Well, if the state of California were a nation, then it would be California. I am enormously, deeply impressed with Governor Brown and with Mary Nichols, who’s also in the film, who is in charge of implementing these policies and with the other people who are doing this in California. The other region is Northern Europe. Northern Europe is tremendously impressive. Germany has a political problem with a very powerful coal industry but, even so, is moving rapidly towards renewable energy in its electrical grid. All of Scandinavia — Holland, Denmark — very, very impressive places.
The film is very specific about steps that governments and huge multi-national corporations can take to improve their climate behavior. But on an individual level, are there things you learned that changed the way you live your life and the kind of things that you do on a daily basis that for people who watch the movie are actually attainable?
There are. For example, I live in Northern California, and about a year ago I purchased an electric car. And when I go back to California in about a year or two, I plan to get solar power on the roof of my house.
If I don’t have the means to buy an electric car, or I don’t own a house in which I could put solar cells, what can I do as somebody who might live in an apartment, who’s working-class? Should I stop eating food that has palm oil in it?
Well, yes, try not to use palm oil, and you’ll find that a surprising number of things use palm oil. Depending on what your situation is, talk to your landlord about getting solar power on the roof of your apartment building. This is actually a large problem, the issue of the people who rent but don’t own, and the owner doesn’t care, and the owner doesn’t pay the electric bill, and so on. But there are laws that are starting to address this. If you can’t afford an electric car yet, then maybe get a hybrid, maybe try to live in a place where you can bike or walk to work, or you don’t have to drive as much. Try to eat organic food when you can and, of course, where you stand depends on where you sit. There are people who will watch this film that own businesses and can put solar power on the top of their factory. There will be people who watch this film who will be mayors of cities. There will be many different things you can do depending on where you live.
Stephanie Allain on directing the most diverse Los Angeles Film Festival yet
The 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival opened June 1 with "Lowriders," a film by Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil, about car culture among Mexican-Americans in L.A. It's just one of the many films in this year's lineup made by women or directors of color, challenging the film industry's lack of diversity in its own backyard.
Film producer Stephanie Allain is director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, part of the non-profit Film Independent. She spoke with The Frame's John Horn about how this year's festival is bringing minority filmmakers into the mainstream.
Interview Highlights
What is your programming philosophy?
We direct the programmers to look for films. Half the films are directed by people of color and/or women, so what that means is, it’s not a diverse festival, it’s an equal festival. You know what I’m saying? That’s exactly how it should be, and so that’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for those women who are making films, because we know they are. We’re looking for those filmmakers of color who are out there making films. And guess what? Most of those films have a unique point of view.
If you could highlight a couple of films, what would you highlight from women filmmakers?
Amber Tamblyn’s first movie, "Painted Black," will make its world premiere at the festival. It’s gorgeous, really interesting, really beautiful. We have an Olympic athlete who has written, directed and stars in her first film. It’s called "Track Town." Her name is Alexi Pappas. I met her at the retreat — we take all the filmmakers on a retreat the day before the festival — and, wow, what a star. You just know she’s a star. She plays an athlete in the movie, and it’s different than an actor training for a couple of weeks to be a runner. This woman does inhuman things to her body, it’s just startling. The other film that I love, love, love was co-directed by a woman and a man, it’s called "Political Animals." It’s about the four openly gay congresswomen who, over the course of 15 years, incrementally passed change that ended up in the Marriage Equality Act.
I’m wondering if you could give us some examples of films that you’re really excited about, made by people of color, that will be in this year’s festival?
There’s so many. The world premiere of Qasim Basir’s second movie, called "Destined," starring Corey Hardrict in a double role as an architect and as a criminal. There is a really great movie about gentrification in Brixton, London. There’s a beautiful film called “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice.” This is a documentary by Deborah Riley Draper about the 1932 Olympics, and the African-American athletes who participated in it. Oh my god, there’s so many!
How do you find those movies? Do you and your programming staff travel the globe? Do the films come to you? What’s your process like?
There’s a dual process and basically we get about five-to-six thousand submissions, that’s features and shorts. We have an incredible, diverse staff that first looks at film screeners, and then we have another amazing diverse staff of associate programmers. But the real kudos goes to Roya Rastegar and Jennifer Cochis who head up a team, in-house, and they do outreach. They call universities, they call the Film Fatales [groups] around the country, they troll Facebook, they really make a concerted effort to reach out. What we’re really looking for is discovery.
Are you speaking as the director of the festival, or as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Because in some ways, what you’re doing, especially for a festival set in Hollywood, are one and the same. You are highlighting films that aren’t on the radar of studio executives and producers who really need to broaden their view of the world.
I think it’s all of that. Whenever I make movies, or act as a director, or act as a member of the Academy, I am always seeking out that new voice. And I think that’s what makes going to movies and watching movies so exciting, because you’re constantly expanding your boundaries. And I think that after a long time of waiting and looking and hoping for diversity, we can all be the answer.
We can all focus on newer filmmakers, we can focus on women directors, we can focus on directors of color and LGBT people who are not traditionally in the mainstream, and bring them into the mainstream. What’s really exciting is that last year we sold over 25 films out of the festival that went to Showtime and HBO and Netflix. That’s what’s really exciting because the filmmakers are not only getting a chance to be in the spotlight of the industry, but they’re being connected to the industry. That’s going to lead to another job, and that’s going to lead to another job. And, as we all know, practice makes perfect. So when you get in the business and you continue to work, you can achieve mastery, and that will eventually lead to the Academy Awards.
The Los Angeles Film Festival takes place through June 9.
The Kills celebrate 15 years as a duo with new release, 'Ash & Ice'
Five years have passed since the last album from the indie rock band known as The Kills. But singer Alison Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince are back with a new record and a new sound.
The new album is called "Ash & Ice" and features, in addition to Hince's edgy guitar riffs and Mosshart's snarling vocals, a backdrop of angular beats played by a third, unofficial band member: a drum machine.
When they spoke with The Frame's host, John Horn, recently, Hince and Mosshart discussed the influences of their upcoming release and what has made their partnership work for the better part of 15 years.
Interview Highlights:
Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like starting out. Did you know it was going to last this long?
Mosshart: I remember so much that very first tour we ever took. We were driving around in a two-door car with amps in our lap trying to make it to the next show, which was probably in a house for five people. It was the most exciting thing in the world. So to be able to have come that far is incredible, but it was already a huge accomplishment then.
Hince: That's why I used to take so many photographs on the road and film things and write stuff and collect all the different beer mats and napkins — all this memorabilia. 'Cause we thought that it was going to run out, we didn't think we were going to be doing this. We didn't see that in five years we were going to be here. We just thought the magic was going to run out and we'd be back to living in a squat in Gipsy Hill.
There's a particular instrument that you use, and it's not totally common for a rock band. It's a drum machine. The drummers' union is probably unhappy about that.
Hince: What do they know? They're not even musicians, they're drummers (laughs).
Tell us why you decided to use it.
Hince: When we started The Kills, I was absolutely determined not to have a drummer. The reason is that I wanted to start off in this position of being like a wild animal that is able to survive and be able to adapt to the environment and change and be able to keep on your toes and grow. I felt like drummers held you back. I wanted to use programming and samples so that I could take the music anywhere. It's so liberating because it's difficult when you've got [drums]. We can just walk down to rehearsals — we rehearse in a soundproof cupboard. We can walk down there with two guitars and just start playing. If you've got a drummer, you've got to have all those drums.
And it takes an hour to set up.
Hince: Yeah, and all of those cases. Then you've either got to have a car or have a mum with a car. It's just so cumbersome and you want to be prepared to run to the next place.
Alison, you both clearly have strong ideas creatively, yet you've been able to collaborate and make things work beautifully for 15 years now. What do you both get out of this collaboration and how has it worked so long and so well?
Mosshart: There's a couple of things. Obviously, being creative, making songs and writing records is always super challenging. We never go in there and say, Oh, this is easy now. We know what we're doing. It's always a huge journey when you're pushing yourself places that are uncomfortable. So it's exciting and inspiring to me in that way. And the live show, for me, is like nothing else. There's an energy or whatever that is between Jamie and I onstage or when we're working. It's kind of impossible to describe, but it's really exciting to me.
Hince: You have to want to get along and be in it forever. We kind of made a street gang pact that we were going to do that — that we were going to be in it to the bitter end. We just complement each other. My weak points are her strong points. Generally, my life is absolute chaos, but when I'm writing songs, it's very thought out and regimented. Alison's life is really regimented and disciplined and she's chaos when she's writing songs. That's the general backdrop of our relationship. It just works beautifully.