Directed by Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film) and Nick Maher (Unplanned America), and co-written by Gameau and NYT bestselling author Paul Hawken (Drawdown, Regeneration), the film What is Regeneration? is a 5-minute rousing call to action to join a global movement of regenerators who are working to heal our ecosystems.
Launched Thursday 8 December at 12PM AEDT via a livestream digital event on the Regenerators YouTube channel and https://www.facebook.com/startregeneratingFacebook page, the virtual event featured a panel discussion with regenerators from around the world, including: Damon Gameau – director of 2040 and Regenerating Australia, Paul Hawken – environmentalist and author of Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation, AY Young – musician, Battery Tour Founder and UN Sustainable Development Leader, Kristy Drutman – climate activist and founder of Brown Girl Green, Juma Xipaia – Indigenous Brazilian Amazon activist and leader belonging to the Xipaya people, and Anna Kernahan – climate and ecological activist, writer and artist.
Gameau says the short film captures the Regeneration movement that is taking hold around the world: “Regeneration is inclusive, decentralized, and is transforming people’s lives. It repairs and restores the damage that human beings have done to the planet and is the only meaningful pathway we have left. Regeneration prioritizes life.”
To write What is Regeneration? Gameau teamed up with author and environmentalist Paul Hawken. Hawken’s books, the New York Times bestseller Drawdown and Regeneration, and the projects these inspired, offer a solutions-focussed blueprint for overcoming the climate crisis. “Regeneration places life at the center of every act and decision, a framework of action that touches all aspects of human and biological existence. To change the atmosphere, we need to change the biosphere. Regeneration encompasses every ecosystem and social system as a whole,” said Hawken.
Acclaimed actor Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, The Big Lebowski), who is also known for his work supporting environmental organisations such as the Amazon Conservation Team, leads the film with a sincere call for all of us to join the movement. “Calling all regenerators, join us. We’re all in this together,” says Bridges.
Joining the panel is the Cacique (Chief) Juma Xipaia, one of the most eloquent voices in the Amazon and winner of the Jackson Wild Grand Prismatic Award. Her mission to protect the forest, cultural heritage, intellectual property, and territories of indigenous peoples rings loud in the short film. “We need to regenerate our forests, but especially the minds of people. How can we change our relation to the planet, the economy, with the same mindset? That’s the first regeneration we need, the one of the ideas in our minds,” says Xipaia.
AY Young, is a musician and entrepreneur. Currently, he is on his “Battery Tour,” a solar powered concert series, and he is the only United Nations Global Youth leader representing the U.S. His latest album and fundraising initiative ‘Project17’ is focused on the 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He features in the film and will perform his Regeneration anthem as part of the launch. “My music is all about mobilising youth, corporations and every facet of humanity to get plugged-in to Project17 and start regenerating. As a musician and inspired activist I am honoured to be a part of this important film,” says Young.
Also on the launch panel and featured in the short film is Kristy Drutman, a Filipina-American climate activist and founder of Brown Girl Green – a multimedia series focussed on the intersection between race, culture and climate. “Regeneration means an opportunity to reconnect to nature, to move away from extractive industries and to create economies and liveable cities that everyone can enjoy,” says Drutman.
Anna Kernahan is a climate and social justice activist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, as well as a writer and student at university. They founded Fridays for Future, a weekly protest to demand climate action from world leaders, and are one of the many young faces in the short film’s cast. “I felt terrified once I discovered the truth about the climate crisis and was overwhelmed by it. However, seeing youth all over the world unite in solidarity with the same message, it filled me with hope and a reason to take action,” says Kernahan.
What is Regeneration? directs viewers to the new Regenerators platform, theregenerators.org, where an interactive action planner enables people to ‘start regenerating’ now.
Structured around 10 key action areas, the Regenerators platform is a globally-relevant, content-rich hub of compelling stories, impactful actions and inspiring profiles of Regenerators who are implementing solutions for their communities. The action planner offers the opportunity to take action in areas people are most interested in or passionate about. Users simply answer five questions in five minutes and are instantly provided with a list of recommended actions they can take right away. New actions are added to the database regularly so people can return and re-do their action plans at any time and receive new recommendations.
What is Regeneration? is a collaboration between Regen Studios and Project Regeneration.
ABOUT THE FILM
What is Regeneration? is a 5-minute short film and a rousing call to action to join a global movement of Regenerators who are working to heal our ecosystems. The film features climate action leaders like Jeff Bridges, Paul Hawken, Christiana Figueres, Kate Raworth and Damon Gameau, and other Regenerators from around the world. It leads viewers to The Regenerators platform. This new platform includes an interactive action planner that enables people to start regenerating. Structured around 10 key action areas, the platform is a content-rich hub of compelling stories, impactful actions and inspiring profiles of Regenerators who are implementing solutions for their communities
