D Louie Psihoyos | USA, 2015
Racing Extinction is a fantastic documentary capturing and creating social change. The gist is that animals are going extinct faster than we can document them and that the oceans are becoming more acidified because of the CO2 emissions being absorbed in to the oceans making them acidic. In other words, we are in the anthropocene, the age when humans have made a significant impact on the world’s ecosystems.
We were lucky enough to go to a screening with a Q&A from the director Louie Psihoyos afterwards and we got an insight into the making of the film based on his responses to questions from the audience. He based the documentary on scientific evidence, however he said that if you want an audience to change you have to get them to emote.
Several techniques are used in the film to create this affect, including a scene where an archivist is listening to the recording of the last bird of its species, calling for a mate that will never reply. My friend was very emotive and cried throughout the film. My response was less extreme however such a directly emotive technique could also have the opposite effect and cause the audience to feel as though they are actively being manipulated. Every documentary, film, television show or news report is inherently manipulative, I just happen to think that this form of manipulation is morally just, because of the cause it is fighting for.
This documentary is something that everyone should see, however only people who are interested in the issues discussed are likely to attend. There were cheers in the audience when it was suggested that people should stop eating meat which suggests that the film is preaching to the choir. A question was levelled at Louie about how the film will be used to cause social change. Louie mentioned that the film will be airing on the Discovery Channel in December, before the United Nations Climate Change Conference. He hopes that the documentary will put pressure on governments internationally to drastically reduce CO2 emissions.
Lastly, Louie mentioned that “if you start to care about animals, go might start caring about people”. Racing Extinction will be released on the Discovery Channel in December.
