We want to call your attention to an important new documentary, The Reluctant Radical, that is now available for Community and Educational Screenings around the world. You may remember that in October 2016 Deia Schlosberg (Producer, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change & Co-producer, Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock) was arrested and charged with felonies while filming a climate activist shut down the Keystone pipeline in North Dakota. On that same day, four more tar sands oil pipelines in three states were also shut down in a bold, coordinated action that halted the flow of oil equivalent to 15% of US daily oil consumption. The activists are now known as “valve turners.” After Deia’s arrest, she joined forces with Director Lindsey Grayzel to finish the documentary The Reluctant Radical, which is an intimate character portrait of valve turner Ken Ward. The film has been gaining attention as a beautiful and honest film that raises important questions about the complexities of climate action in these perilous times. Please join us in supporting this important work by hosting a community screening. Details can be found on the website.
ABOUT THE FILM:
If a crime is committed in order to prevent a greater crime, is it forgivable? Is it, in fact, necessary? THE RELUCTANT RADICAL follows activist Ken Ward as he confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of the fossil fuel industry to combat climate change. The film reveals both the personal costs and also the fulfillment that comes from following one’s moral calling- even if that means breaking the law. The film follows Ken through a series of direct actions, culminating with an action that shuts down all the U.S. tar sands oil pipelines and threatens to put him behind bars for 20 years. Ken Ward has no regrets, and his certainty leaves the audience to consider if he is out of touch with reality, or if it is the rest of society that is delusional for not acting when faced with the unsettling evidence that we are collectively destroying our world.
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