Cheesy science-fiction flicks such as Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012 probably don’t catch the attention of any expert in global climate change.
The Age of Stupid, a 2009 film from the UK, probably explains the horrid scenario of our fate a little more realistically. The film, screening in Iowa City Public Library Meeting Room A, 123 S. Linn St., at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid set in the year 2055.
The Age of Stupid follows the life of the last man on Earth, living in Antarctica, watching archive footage from 2008, questioning why humans did not reverse global climate change.
Local nonprofit groups ECO-Iowa City and the Iowa City Environmental Film Festival are putting on the event. The festival was established in September 2008 by two groups — the Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E. College St., and the environmental education nonprofit Backyard Abundance. The organizations screen eco-conscious films every month except in December and June.
According to the Internet Movie Database, The Age of Stupid was shot in seven countries over a three-year span and features six separate stories linked by the consequences of globalization and politics.
The film’s U.S. début was last month in New York City. That event was then simulcast to 400 different locations in the country. The only local showing was at Sycamore Mall, 1660 Sycamore St.
Today, however, only two cinemas in the country are playing the production, the nearest one being in Menomonie, Wis.
“We are really hoping that the college kids go online and look for it,” said Dawn Suter, a cofounder of the Iowa City Environmental Film Festival, who ordered the movie online.
This is the first collaboration between her organization and ECO-Iowa City, both of which share opinions on sustainability, protection, and awareness, she said.
“We’re taking the good things that [the film festival is] doing and just expanding with that,” said ECO-Iowa City recycling coordinator Jen Jordan. “The more people know about it, the more sustainable choices they will make.”
The festival, a community-based event, was started by a grant from Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit corporation in Johnson County. It was formed to promote creative solutions to environmental problems, acting as incubators for other nonprofits.
The group had its first show in October 2008 with a screening of America’s Last Landscape: The Tall Grass Prairie at the Iowa City Public Library. So far, all screenings have been held at the library and are free, staying true to the film festival’s goals of not only increasing awareness but promoting activism in the populace as well.
“It starts to raise [the audience’s] awareness, and it’s you questioning about what kind of world you want to live in,” Suter said.