At the intersection of art and science, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch takes viewers inside a critical moment in geological history.
The movie, which examines humanity’s massive re-engineering of the planet, will be screened by the Brock University Film Society on Thursday, Nov. 29 at the Film House in downtown St. Catharines.
Swedish actress Alicia Vikander narrates this feature documentary from the award-winning team of Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky. Using state-of-the-art camera techniques, the filmmakers document the evidence and experience of human planetary domination.
Anthropocene is the third documentary in a trilogy that includes Manufactured Landscapes (2006) and Watermark (2013). The documentary is a companion piece to exhibitions of the same name currently showing at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery in Ottawa.
The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group, who argue the Holocene epoch gave way to the Anthropocene epoch in the mid-20th century, because of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth.
The Globe and Mail calls Anthropocene “both shocking and beautiful. … We have entered an epoch in which human activity is shaping the planet more than any natural force.”
Adds the Toronto Star: “To say that there are no easy answers to planetary woes is to state the obvious. But the film seeks to reveal rather than lecture, in the hope that our eyes will convince our brains to act before it’s too late.”
Tickets for all BUFS shows are available at the Film House in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) on the evening of screenings. General admission is $9 or $7 for members, plus tax. Memberships are available through the Film House website.
Visit the BUFS web page for a full list of this season’s selections. A calendar of films coming to the PAC over the next few months is posted on the Film House website. Look for the red B that indicates a BUFS-hosted screening.
For more than 40 years, the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film has hosted the film society (previously known as a series) to bring some of the best in independent, international and Canadian cinema to St. Catharines.
