Transition Heathrow is a grassroots action group working to build resilient Heathrow communities, capable of collectively coping with the injustices and threats of climate change and peak oil.
‘Just Do It’ – the new feature film documentary which follows climate change activists from groups such as Plane Stupid, Climate Camp and Transition Heathrow over the past few years is to be shown in the Heathrow area on Thursday 22nd September. The film showing will be hosted by ourselves and local community café the ‘Com.Cafe’.
Following the risky business of climate activism and direct action which has never been caught on camera before – the film follows activists on their mission to make sure the issue of climate change gets the full attention it deserves. The film is all about action rather than words. Where politicians speak and nothing happens – ‘Just Do It’ showcases those individuals who put there bodies on the line and face arrest to ensure action happens.
The resistance to Heathrow’s now scrapped 3rd runway features heavily in the film as does the story of the birth of Transition Heathrow.
The screening will be followed by a special Q&A session.
SCREENING INFO (Everyone Welcome):
WHERE: The Com.Cafe, 60 Byron Way, West Drayton, UB7 9JD
WHEN: Thursday 22nd September, 18:30 – 20:30
COST: FREE (Some drinks and refreshments on offer from the Com.Cafe)
The hype has been unbearable but finally the wait is over. On Friday, Just Do It the film will be revealed to the country as it hits cinemas across the UK.
Showcasing those who have been involved in direct action protests around the issue of climate change over the last couple of years, the masks are finally taken off and it is revealed who is behind all the trouble.
Grow Heathrow features heavily in the film as 3 of the main characters Lily, Rowan and Paul explain how using direct action to engage with communities has had a big part to play. The film includes footage of ‘Grow Heathrow – the Beginning’ and tells the story of the squatting of the Berkely Nurseries site and how it fits into the growing wave of action on climate change.
We have now all seen the film and agree with most of the conclusions it makes. Capitalism has always been the problem and the film doesn’t try to deny this. For me, what the film does well is document a journey from someone who is worried about climate change and simply wants to ‘bring down emissions’, to the realisation that actually capitalism is the system perpetuating climate change and that the battle to stop the worst affects of climate change is actually part of a much bigger picture and wider battle for justice.
On Wednesday night we were invited to go and watch one of the first film screenings of new film documentary The Crisis of Civilisation at Imperial College London. The film investigates how global crises like ecological disaster, financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single failed global system.
With brilliant animations throughout, the film doesn’t sidestep any of the big issues. Each chapter always refers back to capitalism as the system that is causing and perpetuating almost every global social issue. If you haven’t quite got your head around the massive problems in the world and what is causing them then this is a great film to watch as each crisis is broken down and explained extremely well.
Particularly interesting to us at Grow Heathrow was the emphasis placed on the centralisation of land ownership in the hands of very few people as being a root cause of many of the failures of the current system. The film proposes that it is only through reclaiming land and returning it to productivity that we will be able to build resilient communities and start to create alternatives. Dispossession and the loss of skills necessary to sustain ourselves have left us dependent on a deeply destructive global system that is addicted to oil – leading to climate change, the exhaustion of the world’s oil supplies, food instability, and underpinning much of the geopolitics that lead to international terrorism.
Check out the trailer HERE and keep an eye out for its future release soon. It’s definitely worth watching.
On Friday 15th April, from 7pm – 10pm indigenous activists resisting the Alberta Tar Sands will join with Transition Heathrow for a workshop on building community resilience and the UK Premiere of the Tipping Point: The Age of the Oil Sands! The visit is part of the 2011 Tar Sands Tour.
7:00 pm What are the Tar Sands?
Learn more about the Tar Sands giga-project and the growing resistance.
What have they got to do with us in the UK?
Learn about how the UK is involved in the tar sands and the vibrant movement in the UK working in solidarity with First Nations community members to shut down the tar sands.
Melina Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta, and also works as Greenpeace Tar Sands Climate and Energy Campaigner.
Jasmine Thomas is a member of the frog clan from Saik’uz British Columbia, Canada. She is strongly opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project that plans to cross through her own and 52 other First Nations unceded traditional territories in British Columbia and Alberta.
Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation is an activist for Indigenous rights and environmental justice and Tar Sands Campaigner with IEN
UK Tar Sands Network works in solidarity with IEN to pressure UK companies and banks to disinvest from the Alberta Tar Sands
As part of the P.E.D.A.L departure weekend at Grow Heathrow there is going to be a very special film screening of Paths Through Utopias on the evening of Saturday 19th at 7pm.
Paths Through Utopias is a utopian road movie exploring a post-capitalist Europe. Shot during a 7 month journey in 2008 visiting ten utopian experiments, the film is half of the book-film project published in France by Editions Zones. From the direct action Climate Camp set up illegally besides Heathrow airport to a hamlet squatted by French art punks, occupied self-managed Serbian factories to a free love commune in an ex Stasi base, this magicorealist travelogue transports us to a parallel universe where money is worthless and private property has been abolished.
Come down to catch this very special film screening.
‘We have 30,000 days, 100 Months, 5 years left! Copenhagen (now Mexico) is our last chance!’ In the face of consensus on the reality of climate change scientists, policy makers and campaigners are increasingly in the habit of issuing deadlines, ultimatums and points of no return. But what impact does this language have on the decisions taken by activists, campaigners, and policymakers?
A provocative new film, ‘Beyond the Tipping Point?’, produced and directed by Dr. Stefan Skrimshire from The University of Manchester was launched on Thursday 15th July 2010 at the Manchester Museum.
Now launched, it has been made freely available as an educational tool for campaign and community groups, schools and universities, to encourage people to discuss and reflect on the actions and decisions they take in relation to climate change.
Including footage from last year’s UN climate talks in Copenhagen, the film features interviews with a Met Office international climate expert, a Bangladeshi social justice campaigner; members from direct action group Plane Stupid, Buddhist leaders and leading academics. A rich diversity of perspectives emerge from these interviews. Whilst some of the contributors argue that ‘shock and awe’ will force the public to take action, others say activists must be more careful in the way they communicate. One interviewee argues that we should focus our attention on adapting our neighbourhoods to combat the unavoidable effects of rising temperatures.
Leo Murray of direct action group Plane Stupid says:
“This (film offers) insight into the implications of an imminent point of no return in the climate system, and should be seen by everyone involved in the struggle to prevent us from reaching that point…This type of critical reflection will be invaluable to our understanding of our own actions and what we seek to achieve by them.”
Professor Alastair McInosh, author of Hell and High Water, says:
“What I love most about this short film is how it draws out the beauty of those who care. It is a prophetic work that touches the spirituality of where hope’s tenderness resides.”
On a dark, cold and wet February evening underneath the roaring sound of planes taking off from Heathrow airport, about 25 residents huddled around a big screen in Harmondsworth Community centre, Harmondsworth being one of the villages directly threatened by the proposed 3rd runway at Heathrow.
The film showing was organised by campaign group Transition Heathrow who have moved into the village of Harlington to implement plans that look at creating a more sustainable Heathrow that will be equipped to deal with the imminent harsh impacts of climate change and peak oil.
The evening commenced with a short 10 minute animation called Wake Up Freak Out by Plane Stupid’s Leo Murray which delved into the science behind climate change and what a future in 10/20 years time could look like.
After a short break involving lots of cake and tea the audience were shown the film The End Of Surburbia. This film looks at the dwindling supplies of oil and starts to address the concept of peak oil, this concept is very simple – it refers to the idea that the world has a finite reserve of oil and that it is running out. Some believe that global oil production will reach its peak during this decade and then fall forever into a state of decline. Although fairly long and involving lots of interviews, what most engaged everyone in the room was the last 10 minutes of the film which starts to to look at how local communities will be affected and ways in which to tackle these massive issues, at a local level.
Once the film was over everyone gathered in a big group to voice there concerns and ideas for the future. Everyone was keen to discuss these issues and will be looking to facilitate these exciting ideas and plans through Transition Heathrow and other local groups.
Transition Heathrow will be holding a massive ‘open space’ meeting probably on Saturday the 13th March and everyone from the film showing will hopefully be attending along with many more local people. The open space meeting is for anyone that may be interested in looking into and implementing local transition plans on anything from transport and food growing to education, direct action and transition justice.
“The land occupied by Transition Heathrow has been cleared by themselves with the support of the local community and others. It has shown that it can be a workable market garden and resource for the community and environment. They should be able to continue their work for the benefit of all.” by KAREN WILLIAMS, LOCAL RESIDENT
‘Just Do It’ – the new feature film documentary which follows climate change activists from groups such as Plane Stupid, Climate Camp and Transition Heathrow over the past few years is to be shown in the Heathrow area on Thursday 22nd September. The film showing will be hosted by ourselves and local community café the ‘Com.Cafe’.
