After 21 years of continuous failure in UN climate change negotiations 195 nations, 20.000 worldwide negotiators meet at a private airport shielded by the military in the north of Paris for a last attempt to save our planet. Behind closed doors these delegates have to agree on the first global climate change agreement that shall operate for the next decades and be a milestone in multilateral diplomacy. An agreement that will impact each human on earth, born or unborn. A negotiation that will decide if we as a species can survive.
“Guardians of the Earth” shows the battle towards this monumental agreement through the perspective of major players as the head of the UNFCCC, the fossil fuel exporting countries and the most vulnerable states to climate change.
Unreleased footage gives insight into the process behind closed doors and reveals the conflict of a globalized society: the dilemma between solidarity versus national self-interest – a fight between economic growth and massive loss of lives. As sea levels keep rising, glaciers are melting, heat-waves, droughts and Super-Typhoons become more frequent – time is running out to act – climate change is our reality.
While showing the complex progress to the final success of the agreement, the film also exposes the crucial question for the viewer: Can mankind unite to challenge the biggest threat of our times?
AT/DE, 2017, 86 MIN
Credits
Director Filip Antoni Malinowski
Editor Frank Brummundt
Cinematography Jakob Fuhr, Attila Boa, Filip Antoni Malinowski
Sound Helge Ole Haack, Peter Rösner, Sergey Martynyuk mit Musik von Nils Frahm
Producers Jürgen Karasek, Filip Antoni Malinowski
Co-production Perfect Shot Films, Berlin
Trainee & Set Management Stephan Podest
Featuring
Saleemul Huq (Bangladesch), Christiana Figueres (UNFCCC), Helmut Hojesky (Österreich), Laurent Fabius (COP Präsident), Naomi Klein (Kanada), Peter Woolcott (Australien), Yeb Sano (Philippinen), Carole Dieschbourg (Luxemburg), Ronny Jumeau (Seyschellen), Noora al-Alamer (Bahrain), Tony deBrum (Marshallinseln), John Kerry (USA), Al Gore (USA), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Österreich), Donald Trump (USA)
Awards / Festivals – Selection
Participant of Zagreb Dox Pitch, Leipzig Co-production Meeting, Baltic Sea Forum for Docs, Marketplace dokfest München
CPH:DOX Kopenhagen, One World Prague, Dokpoint Helsinki, Watch Docs Warschau, Diagonale Graz, DocsMX Mexiko, Movies That Matter The Hague, Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, This Human World Film Festival Wien, Transitions Film Festival Melbourne, Cinemaambiente Torino, ECOCUP Moskau, EUCFF China, Washington DC Environmental Film Festival, European Climate Diplomacy Week Sydney & Canberra, Stanford University FF, European Film Festival Paliíc, Climate Diplomacy Week Belgrade, New Earth International Film Festival Kraków, Green Fest Belgrade Serbia, New Way FF Madrid, Move It! Dresden, Rokumentti FF Helsinki, China International Film Week, Instidoc Maputo Mozambique, EU Climate Diplomacy Day – Islamabad, Pakistan, Glocal FF Schweden, COP 24 Katowice, Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental de Cali FINCALI, Colombia, Human Rights Nights Bologna, Italy, Inkafest Peru, CliMates Austria, Eco Film Festival London, Wake Up Europe: Turin, London, Berlin, Brüssel, Paris, Madrid, Göthe Institut, Extinction Rebellion Berlin, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Chile, Another Way FF & MK2: Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Badajoz, Cadiz, Malaga, Toledo, Take One Action (UK), COP26 Glasgow
Funding
Austrian Filminstitute, MEDIA Creative Europe, German Federal Filmboard, ORF Film & Fernsehabkommen, Bayerischer Rundfunk BR, FFF Bavaria, DFFF, Misereor Stiftung