Extinction Rebellion video starring Emma Thompson marks one year since climate emergency declaration
Climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion has released a ‘comedy about climate change’ to mark the first anniversary of the UK declaring a climate emergency.
Extinction, starring Emma Thompson, tells the story of a small group of determined activists, who – in the midst of a rebellion – are invited to meet with the Environment Minister, Lord Grant.
Although written several months previously, the film was shot during a fortnight of continuous protest by Extinction Rebellion in April 2019. Over 1,100 people were arrested for taking part in the April rebellion in London, and over thirty countries took part in protests across the world. Following 11 days of protest, a small group of activists were invited to meet representatives from the Government and the Shadow Cabinet, and the next day the UK Parliament become the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency.
Emma Thompson said: “Everything depends on what we do now. In a crisis, you have to convince people to take positive and immediate action. The suffragettes taught us that. You have to be active in your disobedience. I hope this film makes protest seem as useful and as maddening as it is. I hope it illustrates the frustration of trying to get through to government officials who can’t hear anything but the sound of their own voices”.
Co-writer Sam Haygarth said, “A year ago, I was on top of a big pink boat in the middle of Oxford Circus. Thinking about that now, it feels like a fantasy. But it was real. It happened. Like any movement, we made countless mistakes. We got things wrong and we needed to change. But we also proved that civil disobedience works. We woke people up. I hope our film is a fitting celebration.”