Climate change and a potential solution were the topics of conversation at Stillpoint on Thursday during a discussion between filmmakers Ben Kalina and Davis Guggenheim.
Mr. Kalina showed clips of his new documentary, Plan C for Civilization, which follows the emergence of the controversial field of solar geoengineering, a technology designed to cool a quickly warming world. The idea is to reflect sunlight back into space as a way of cooling the planet.
Mr. Kalina said he has been concerned about climate change since a young age. He grew up in Vermont, and as a boy realized the difference between a snowy and not non-snowy winter was just a few degrees. He said he wanted to make a change right from the start.
“At some point, I decided I needed to make films that deal with this, I can’t just ignore it. Maybe I could have some sort of impact,” he told the audience.
Mr. Guggenheim has also been actively involved in climate change as a filmmaker. He produced and directed the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which won an Academy Award in 2007.
“This documentary is provocative in the most productive and wonderful way of how should we be thinking about this,” said Mr. Guggenheim, referring to Plan C for Civilization. “Most importantly, I think it pulls together a cohesive story, and it asks a really uncomfortable question.”
The documentary did not shy away from digging into some of the moral implications of the proposed new technology. Communities in the global south are at the forefront of the effect of rising temperatures and climate extremes. Any new technology runs the risk of adversely affecting the entire planet, but perhaps more so on already at-risk areas.
Pablo Suarez, a humanitarian who died in 2024, is seen in the film voicing his worries.
“I have to ask the question, is someone going to take responsibility to help these people who suffer negative consequences?” Mr. Suarez said. “Nobody likes being a rat in somebody else’s laboratory.”
Mr. Guggenheim urged the audience to not simply accept human nature as it is, but to strive to do better for the planet.
“There is a feeling of hopelessness that surrounds climate change. This film is the antithesis of that,” he said. “I’m no geoengineering pro, but I’m cautious about it, but this film provoked in me a sense of maybe there is something here, or if it’s not here, what else is there?”
After a series of questions from the audience, Mr. Kalina ended the talk on a positive note.
“Don’t get distracted by the feeling that you can’t change the world because, I don’t know, maybe you can,” said Mr. Kalina.
The crowd erupted in loud applause.
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