Free Screening of 'Age of Stupid' 8pm AM150, NUIG

by Liamo Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:36

Dr. Kieran Hickey (Department of Geography/ECI (Environmental Change Institute NUI Galway) will give an introduction to the film and will take some questions questions from the audience.

His Biography (taken from NUIG website)

From Cahir, Co. Tipperary, a town dominated by a castle, abbey, the River Suir and the Galty Mountains, it was impossible to grow up without an interest in all things geographical and to know and understand the environment of the town and its hinterland from a physical and human perspective. One of the best ways to know your own place is to explore other places and come back to it with a fresh perspective and gain new insights. As a result I have studied and worked in Armagh, Cork, Coventry, Kilkenny, Maynooth, Oxford and Scotland. I have been fortunate to have travelled to many European countries including Iceland, Slovenia and Turkey aswell as Eqypt, Dubai, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, the USA and Canada.

My main research focus falls under the heading of historical and current climate change and global warming. Particular foci have been on patterns of storminess, historical and contemporary climate change in Ireland and elsewhere, coastal vulnerability to climate and sea-level rise in Ireland and elsewhere and the natural and cultural history of wolves in Ireland.

Caption: Dr. Kieran Hickey on RTÉ

by Miss Furniture. Tue Sep 22, 2009 13:32

The Guardian (UK) : "The first successful dramatisation of climate change to reach the big screen."

Not quite.

The film "Soylent Green" in 1973 dealt with a similar overcrowded and overheated world set in 2022.
See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green
.

by Dunk Sat Sep 26, 2009 17:21

letting more people know of your event and wrote a little piece about these strange times...

spreading word
http://www.politics.ie/environment/106275-another-nail-...24841

commentry
S21-S22 : A world awakening out of its "age of stupid"
http://www.politics.ie/environment/106415-s21-s22-world....html
+ imc-ie
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/93749&comment_limit=0&c...60015

good channel 4 news piece about the film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPIY7SrKdsg

regards

Strange strange times indeed on our little planet earth and her 6+ billion inhabitants of the human species...

Anyway, this week, 2 major things happened:
The Global Wake-Up Call + AGE OF STUPID

Finally the world is waking up to the fact that we are in serious environmental trouble, for some there is sheer despair that its already too late, but for many more they see these days as perhaps the most important we, as a collective species, have had to or might ever have to deal with.

- Years ago, for the most part, there was huge ignorance of the mess we were getting into.
- In 10 or 20 years it will probably be too late, because unless we change our ways now, we will have inadvertantly set of the eco time bomb we have been building in the last few years.
- BUT here and now, we have the opportunity to change things, to really change things. For many it is an opportunity to stand up and participate in this process for change. Governments wont act unless we force them, that only happens when there is a critical mass movement to force that change, a few years ago, that looked so unlikely to happen. But now, that all seems to be changing, thankfully.

Acts of absolute creativity, bottom up organisation, celebrational actions, mass invitation to join the party (not political party but feasta, or fiesta), its catching, people are beggining to be buzzed up, they seem to be WAKING UP. Cynics might say "its not enough", but its a start. Also positivity and imagination are powerfull tools for change. And with that, why not let us imagine the best case scenario; we all wake up, true global understanding, solidarity and action links are forged, massive change happens, the worlds problems get sorted, and we end up happier in the post oil age than we were in the last few years of its sad existence (bank bail outs, nama cuts, depression, suicide, obesity, boredom, columbine...)

Caption: age of stupid - film review