The Manifesto | Why this film is important
Just Do It is a film pushing boundaries. It is an experiment in crowd-funding, group production and community-engaged documentary filmmaking.
It is a call to action in the face of catastrophic climate change, ineffective world leaders and greedy corporations.
It urges people not to wait for others to act on their behalf, but to intervene when they see injustice, to take action against all odds and ultimately Just Do It.
CLIMATE CHANGE
In the early twenty-first century, humanity is living in the shadow of impending climate chaos.
Yet, the energy efficient light bulbs produced by dirty coal companies like e.on are often effective at blinding us to the true extent of the threat looming over us. The greenwash, although only paper-thin in substance, tells us what we want to hear; keep calm and carry on.
After all, who would want to believe that our world faces apocalyptic changes because of human actions?
Of course, even when people do recognize the extent of the problem, a normal response might be a feeling of despair and powerlessness, leading to apathy and inaction. Post-Copenhagen, there are more and more questions about how to move forward from the international failure that was the conference of world ‘leaders’.
Just Do It hopes to provide some of the answers.
CALL TO ACTION
Just Do It shows ordinary people who have transformed powerlessness into agency by taking direct action against climate criminals, creating new models of participation, community and democracy in the process.
By telling their story, Just Do It hopes to show that inaction is no longer an option. The massive man-made injustice that is climate change makes it essential for us all to stand up and resist; and in resisting, a space is created for alternatives to be both envisaged and enacted.
We wish to inspire and yes, to incite people into reclaiming their power and taking action at this critical juncture in history; in doing so, they will become part of the solution instead of the problem.
TELLING A DIFFERENT STORY
Just Do It is not only a film about politics, but filmmaking as politics.
The stories that we are told by the mainstream media are often extremely limited in scope. Those about protest often focus on the violent disorder of protestors, rather than the rationale for action.
Just Do It hopes to redress the balance.
To do justice to the story and the spirit of the activists, this film needs to be made without the editorial control of a broadcaster or the legal concerns of a publisher.
Crowd funding enables us as creative artists to be supported by our audience in a more direct way, without the involvement of cultural gatekeepers. We would like to see a world in which the act of creation can be independent from commercial pressures or motives.
So, if you too think this is a story which must be told, then please help fund this film and make it happen.
CHANGE
We believe that it’s important to ‘be the change you want to see’. We have devised a method of production and distribution that we feel embodies the spirit and culture of the movement that we are portraying.
It is clear to us that social change cannot be measured by profit margins.
By applying community-led alternatives to existing production models we encourage the measure of the film’s success to be defined by how much it contributes to a genuine cultural shift, rather than by box office takings.
That’s why we want it to be available for free alongside the commercial release. In this way, we can support the Creative Commons and Free Culture movement and enable as many people as possible to watch it and be inspired.
Just Do It is a film that needs to be made.
