Two of the most powerful documentaries screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this year centre on young activists, namely Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg and Canadian Indigenous clean water activist Autumn Peltier.
I Am Greta and
The Water Walker, while chronicling each teen’s very different path toward activism, have a lot in common—which is why TIFF brought the two young women together for a "Youth For Change" chat moderated by environmental justice journalist Naomi Klein. What came out of the conversation was an immensely vital message during a time of upheaval and uncertainty: if we can come together to fight a pandemic, we can certainly do it to halt climate change.Asked by Klein about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world, Thunberg replied that, “It shines a light on the fact that the climate crisis has never once been treated as a crisis—as an emergency. It builds on this dissonance that we have tried to highlight for so long. Maybe it will become more clear to people that this is a very unsustainable situation, that it’s an absurd situation. So I think that the corona crisis might change the way that we perceive and treat crises because it has set a very clear example. Overnight, social norms can change completely,” she added. “It shows that we can really change. Once something like this happens, we can change.”“The way I look at it, seeing how we’ve all come together for an issue like this [makes me] think back on issues here in North America,” said Peltier, “Why can’t we come together this quickly for the drinking water crisis?” Peltier, who is from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, fights specifically for clean drinking water in First Nations communities.[video_embed id='2036589']RELATED: Why the new doc 'The Water Walker' is a wakeup call for the world [/video_embed]Thunberg sees the connection between many of the challenges we’re facing as a planet right now—from a lack of clean drinking water on Indigenous lands to the rising carbon emissions. "We have to adapt and find new ways,” she says. “These crises are not disappearing—they’re even more urgent now than they were before. We are fighting for the same cause. We are fighting for justice and sustainability." Her solution? Diversity. “It is absurd to think we can solve such a crisis by thinking and acting the way we have always done. We need diversity and we need new perspectives.”Which means that the burden of climate activism or the preservation of clean water sources can’t be placed on the shoulders of a handful of young “celebrity” activists—especially when those activists are still children. “You’re only 15 years old, why does it matter what you say?" is a message Peltier is used to hearing. “But [the message] is more impactful coming from a child, because we shouldn’t have to be the ones to speak up about these issues,” she says.Thunberg agrees, expressing her frustration over being offered celebrity instead of action. “Nathan [Grossman], the director, wanted to portray this celebrity culture that we live in and show how absurd it is that instead of focusing on the climate, instead of listening to the scientific message which is clearly not getting through, people are instead listening to and talking about me. They’re wanting to take pictures with people like me and Autumn—climate activists—because it just feels more convenient. If you pose next to a climate activist you can just say ‘Oh yes, I care so much about the climate’ and then you don’t have to do anything. By showing how absurd it is, it shows that this can’t be left to individuals, it is too much responsibility for people like us… It is not up to us children. It is so much responsibility that is being put on children.”Instead, it should be adults who are mobilizing to pressure their governments to act when it comes to the climate crisis. "It isn’t going to be the politicians who suddenly realize there’s a climate crisis… But by influencing all people in general, we can build that pressure towards elected officials. That’s how a democracy works," says Thunberg. “Something that has become more clear now [during that pandemic] is that we cannot put a price on a human life,” she continues. “We need to care for each other.”[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Golden Retriever puppies settle down for a nap in big, fluffy pile [/video_embed]
