“The virtue, material prosperity, has turned into the mother of all vices.
This is the greatest morality tale of all time.”
It is in times of crisis that we find out what really matters to us, that we get to discover who we really are, as individuals and as a society.
“The Troublemaker provides a blueprint for people who are sick and tired of the futility of civil discourse in combating the climate catastrophe. We hope this film inspires people to embrace radical tactics and actions that bring about real change. Our very existence depends on it.”
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“Wonderful and rousing and deep and reflective and terrifying and truthful.”
— Juliet Lamont
“If you watch only one more documentary, watch this.”
— Frank Gresslin
“A beautiful evening, full of pathos. This film is a political weapon.”
— Gaetano Capizzi, Festival Director, CineAmbiente, Turin.
AUDIENCE
“Horribly watchable, brilliantly emotive, heartrending and hopeful.”
— Shelley Saunders
“This film touched my heart. It communicates a deep meaning, a deep connection to oneself and all of life, that is so rare in everyday society.”
— Marie Carlsson
“The Troublemaker perfectly captures our moment between one age, of humanity’s ignorance of its own existential peril, and a new age of ameliorative and restorative action.”
— Andres Kabel
“This movie is super classic for human freedom!’ — Bepi Daniel Ogunsola
“This film is about what it means to be who you are. It's about resistance. Your own personal resistance to change, even when you know it's necessary, and the joy of resistance. How it enables personal transformation and, when justified, is the path towards being a truly coherent person. It shows how everyday people doing extraordinary things can change, and maybe even save, the world.”
— Nick Rice
SYNOPSIS
‘The Troublemaker’ delves deep into the ideas and emotions behind the international wave of civil-protest, born in the face of the unfolding climate crisis.
The film scratches the niggling itch that is lurking in many of our brains about the extinction of planetary systems that seems to be going on all around us, and the dawning realisation that something has to be done.
It was filmed and edited at a time when, for most of us, ‘global crisis’ was an abstract concept. Now we know better.
With one foot in the past and one in the future, the film casts the reality of global crisis as an opportunity to live life without lies, a life that offers both resilience and joy through the power of collective action.
The film follows the personal awakening of two people as they learn to accept the reality of climate breakdown and decide to do something about it.
ROGER HALLAM
One of them is Roger Hallam, key strategist and co-founder of ‘Extinction Rebellion’.
Roger is a former organic farmer and academic expert in the spread of radical protest movements. Beginning in the U.K. in November 2018, his ideas and strategic thinking have helped to inspire thousands of ordinary people to non-violent civil disobedience and mass arrest.
“The essence of what is human is the ability to make a decision, a conscious decision, about what is right in life.”
SYLVIA DELL
Sylvia Dell is a retired IT worker and mother of 4 from Totnes in South Devon.
She is not a ‘climate activist’ just an ‘ordinary’, sensible, peace loving citizen, doing what she thinks is right.
“Well I get involved with the parent teacher association but I don’t do anything like this.”
Facing up to crisis, transforming yourself by overcoming a seemingly insurmountable threat, this is THE archetypal story of human civilisation.
But this time the threat is global and may prove fatal.
Now that we understand more about what a ‘global crisis’ feels like, it can no longer be ignored.
This is our opportunity to find a radical way to kill off our old selves and to live anew.
THE META STORY IN 12 CHAPTERS
TEAM
BACKGROUND
I spent the years between 2007-2015 making a film about an environmental visionary who suffered for his ideas. But I never had the opportunity to meet him. Grant Hadwin had apparently drowned in mysterious circumstances while kayaking to his own trial. He has been officially recorded as missing since 1997.
Then in 2018, almost on a whim of curiosity, I approached Roger Hallam, co-founder of the then nascent environmental protest movement ‘Extinction Rebellion’. And so, I found myself sitting face-to-face with another man with visionary ideas and plans to match. Only this time he was alive and well, and available for comment.
‘The Troublemaker’ aspires to stir the audience from a passive resistance based around ‘consumer choices’ and ‘voting intentions’ to a life affirming defence of our future, invigorated by direct action and collective participation.
PASSION PICTURES
With three Oscars, three BAFTAs, and numerous Emmy awards, Passion Pictures is a global production company with a worldwide reputation for its feature documentaries, landmark television productions, animation and commercials.
Notable titles include: Academy Award-winning One Day in September | Academy Award-nominated Restrepo | BAFTA-winning The Imposter | Academy Award and BAFTA-winning Searching For Sugar Man | and the Netflix original and Academy Award-nominated Winter On Fire.
David Allen masterminds the Passion Planet department focusing on natural history, science and specialist factual output across both landmark television and theatrical release documentaries. With five Emmys and seven Wildscreen Pandas to his name, David is recognised as one of the leading independent producer/directors in the field.
COMPOSER
Adem Ilhan is an award winning composer and musical polymath. Over the twenty or so years he has been scoring, he has collaborated at an international level with world-class practitioners.
SOUND DESIGN + MIX
We Are Audio is a creative audio production company who provide sonic loveliness for sound to picture post production.
Co-founders Ben Mason and Ruth Rainey combine 20 years experience in music production and audio post production, but behind this small (but perfectly formed) pair stands a super-customisable, cloud based audio team.
FALKORA
This film was made with the generous support and strategic advice of Falkora, a U.S. non-profit dedicated to planetary well-being.