‘Please, don’t take this planet for granted!’
Leonardo DiCaprio, at the Oscars
‘Every day, we receive alarming news on the environment, and situation does not do but to get worse, year after year. It is the moment to get rid of reticence, excuses, infinite searches. We represent the last hope for the Earth. It is our duty to protect her, or will the end for us and for all the living beings who populate it. I just want to know how far we’ve gone, how much damage we’ve done, and if there’s anything we can do to stop it!’
Leonardo DiCaprio, presenting the film
On October 30, 2016, National Geographic Channel will broadcast in 171 Countries and in 45 languages ‘Before the Flood’, Leonardo DiCaprio’s docufilm, directed by Fisher Stevens* and produced, among others, by Martin Scorsese; Italian title sounds ‘Punto di non ritorno’ and will be on air on the National Geographic Channel, at 8.55 PM, at the positions 403, 404, 452 of Sky, and on Tv8 at 11.30 PM. It will be also on Amazon Video, Hulu, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes apps, Google Play, and many other websites and platforms. (Release in American theatres was on October 21).
DiCaprio’s sensitivity toward global warming, environment and nature is well known. This is why he is so involved in such important issues and is commonly considered the most environmentalist star in Hollywood. He also is UN Peace Ambassador delegated to the weather.
What are the reasons of global warming? Are we able yet to turn it round? Leonardo did a three years travel from Greenland till Sumatra, from the overpopulated towns till to the coast of Florida, till the four coins of the globe, meeting activists like Sunita Narain in India and, overall, the leaders of the Earth (Barack Obama, John Kerry, Elon Musk, Ban Ki-moon, pope Francesco…), asking them for these questions. (Barack Obama also presented the film at the White House, together with DiCaprio; the film was presented as well at the Toronto, London and Rome Film Festivals). According to DiCaprio, economic interests and a capitalistic model make the change difficult. US have always take the lion part but some other countries, such as India and China, are now developing their industries, and that make thing go worse. Citizens too must do their job, e.g. by changing their habits with the food.
As for the Earth and the problems of environment, Leonardo DiCaprio will also produce:
1. together with Paramount, a screen adaptation of ‘Captain Planet’, a superhero who starred in a TV series of the ’90, able to save the world by fighting against the bad people who want to destroy it; Captain Planet is evoked by five guys, living in different Countries, who control natural elements using some magic rings. Leonardo will produce ‘Captain Planet’ with his ‘Appian Way’, in collaboration with Paramount and Jennifer Davisson Killoran, who already collaborated with him for ‘the Revenant’; screenplay will be made by ‘Scream Queens’ star Glen Powell (Chad Radwell) and by Jono Matt.
2. ‘Ivory hunting’, a docufilm on the poaching in Africa, where an elephant dies each 15 minutes, killed by some unscrupulous and violent people. Directed by Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson, it will be on Netflix since November, the 4th.
Not related to environment but important as well, ‘Truevine’, drawn from the most recent Beth Tracy best seller, in which it is told the story of two Afro-American albino brothers who were abducted and moved throughout the world as ‘freak show’, and the 28 years their mother’s fight for finding them; Appian Way and Paramount are currently working on the rights acquisition.
*of course, we remember Fisher Stevens as the director of ‘Cove’, the film dedicated to the dolphins hunting in Japan, Oscar awarded in 2010 as Best Documentary.
Sources: National Geographic.it, Mondofox.it, Cinematographe.it, Green.it, Ansa.it, Repubblica.it, Fanpage.it