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Filmmakers Addressing COP-15: An Interview with Barbara Ettinger

Published on December 6, 2009

By Emily Exton

Environmental issues have long been at the forefront of global activism. As technology has evolved, the way that environmental issues are promoted has changed as well. Earlier activists saw writing as a way to uncover truths, whether it was the horrors of the meat industry in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, or the detrimental effects of pesticide use in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. As film has emerged as a leading form of media around the world, environmentalists are finding new ways to tell their stories.

Today, environmental issues are at the forefront of the documentary world. Recent films like An Inconvenient Truth, The 11th Hour, Crude Impact, Earth Days, and Age of Stupid, all focus on environmental crises like global warming and oil, and what we can do to help solve them. In 2009 alone many documentaries have explored the realities of our world and the harmful practices on our environment. Film also has an immediacy about it that allows for these issues to reach a global audience. With the increase in the Internet as well, film has become one of the most accessible mediums of communication.

The 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15) is another way in which these voices and issues will be brought to the attention of many, in hopes of progress and future change. COP-15 takes place from December 7-18, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. During this time world leaders and environmentalists will come together to discuss the pertinent issues regarding the future of our environment and what we can do to save our planet.

To further understand the perspective of environmentalists through film, I spoke with documentary filmmaker Barbara Ettinger.

Barbara Ettinger on location

Her most recent project, A Sea Change, tackles the under publicized issue of ocean acidification, which threatens the lives of organisms living under the sea.

Barbara and her husband Sven are committed to this issue, and are using the film to raise awareness and create change. They are traveling to COP-15 to further discuss the dangers this presents on the world’s oceans, as well as suggest possible solutions.

A Sea Change is the first documentary of its kind. What inspired you to make a documentary about ocean acidification?

Back in November, 2006, my husband, Sven, and I had just completed a documentary called Two Square Miles about a small community’s fight against a Swiss cement company threatening to build north America’s largest coal fired cement plant one mile from the local hospital.

We had spent four years making it, and we were exhausted. We swore to each other that we would take a restorative break. Shortly after, we picked up a copy of The New Yorker and came across Elizabeth Kolbert’s shocking article, “The Darkening Sea”. This was the first we had heard of “ocean acidification”.

We were puzzled as to why we didn’t know abut it and Googled the term to find out who was doing what, and hoped to see that someone was making a lot of noise about the issue to build public awareness. There were six citations on a single page, and no one that we could see was making a film, or television segment, nor was there any mention in news stories. Because of the immediacy of the issue, we realized that there was no time to waste.

We called and visited with a scientist, Dr. Richard Feely, who was listed on one of the posts and asked for his assistance. He kindly agreed to help us. We also went to talk with Elizabeth Kolbert, which is where the journey to learn more about ocean acidification begins.

How did you decide that your husband would be the protagonist of the story?

We knew that ocean acidification would be a difficult story to tell. As Elizabeth Kolbert said, it’s tough to make a compelling story about a pteropod. I was trying to imagine the ideal protagonist for the film, and came up with a list of criteria: preferably someone a bit older, so that he would have lived through a time of abundance in the sea, and would feel the pain of what a world without fish could be like. I also wanted someone whose life had been engaged with the ocean and with fish, and ideally, fish not just as food, but as culture, lore and love. It would be best if this person was not purely American, as this is a global issue. Lastly, it should be someone who has grandchildren, and is ultimately concerned about the world that is being left to them.

Sven and Barbara

When I looked at the list I had assembled, I realized that character is my husband.

He was born in Norway to a family that owned a fish store, he moved to Alaska at the age of six where his father ran a salmon cannery, and then eventually his family moved to Seattle where they were part of the Norwegian - American fishing community in Ballard.

Why did you choose not to reveal this relationship to the viewer during the film?

I must confess that I wanted to concentrate on the strength of the narrative, and didn’t give much thought to whether I should be part of the film, or not.

The journey of a grandfather seeking answers for the sake of his grandchildren took precedence. At one point my associate producer, Ben Kalina, thought we should try to weave me into it, so we shot a couple of scenes which ended up feeling pretty self conscious.

The purity of Sven’s relationship to his oldest grandson, Elias, and the single-minded pursuit of ocean acidification keep the film keenly focused.

Was it difficult working together?

No. It was wonderful. The difficult part was seeing Sven through two different lenses - the first as my husband, the second as the “talent” or protagonist. I had to separate these two people from one another so that I got what I wanted from the grandfather, interviewer, lead character.

He understood his role and was just as dedicated as I was in creating a documentary that could “make a difference” in bringing ocean acidification into the public discussion about life in a high carbon world. But I did need to be his supportive and encouraging wife at the end of long and difficult days of shooting!

How did this film differ from your previous documentaries? What were some of the challenges?

It was my first attempt to address a global environmental issue and one that required work in distant filming locations. We shot on the East Coast, on the West Coast, up in Alaska, in British Columbia and in Norway. We even accepted an invitation to film at the Ny Alesund Research Station in Svalbard, 1000 kilometers north of Norway at 79 degrees north latitude.

On the road, we had a crew of six and there were challenges not only of getting people and gear from here to there, but also of keeping folks in good spirits and ready everyday to bring their best to the work. Because the topic is such a dark one, it was critical that we were all dedicated to the same mission, and shared our thoughts and concerns with one another. We worked very hard, nearly around the clock, and we all relied on one another other to make a thoughtful, thorough, and beautiful piece.

What are your hopes for the film? What impact do you think it will have on viewers?

My dream was to make an informative film that wraps the science in a highly human tale of family, love and legacy. It is intentionally understated and presupposes that less is more. We wanted a film that could engage a broad range of viewers. We are very pleased by the success of the film to date. It has played to packed audiences in this country, it has won film festivals abroad, it has aired on national television on Discovery’s Planet Green, it has played on five continents to date, NOAA recently purchased 2400 copies and now the film is going off to COP-15 in Copenhagen.

Sven Huseby on location in Norway

We have festivals and screenings scheduled straight through next spring. We are now scheduling screenings for the summer of 2010 and working on related curriculum materials.

If the audiences we have been speaking to are an indicator of the films effectiveness, I believe we are making the difference we hoped to.

We have a steady flow of visitors to the website who participate in the action steps we suggest, requests for screenings continue at a good rate, sales of the DVD are strong. We are getting large Christmas orders from people who want to give the film as a Christmas present!

Who or what is currently the largest threat to our oceans?

The US, China and India and their CO2 outputs are the largest threats to the ocean. We need to set targets that will slow and then increasingly decrease the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. That in turn will stabilize the explosive increase of CO2 in the oceans.

Today, the oceans absorb 22 million tons of CO2 per day and it is doing so at a rate of increase that hasn’t been seen since the K-T extinction period 64 million years ago. This rate of increase doesn’t allow calcifying marine organisms the time for evolutionary adaptation.

What can we do in our everyday lives to help stop ocean acidification?

We can decrease our personal carbon footprints. We can first of all be conservation minded and do our best not to waste the precious energy we use. Even better, we can use less. We can improve the insulation in our homes, we can weather-strip our windows and doors, and we can explore ways of moving away from fossil fuels. We can make sure that drive fuel efficient cars.

We can raise the consciousness of our families, of our friends and of our communities. We can make demands of our politicians for better climate policies. We need to do this locally, nationally and globally. Stay informed, be active and be part of the solution.

What are you doing to further the message of the film? What are the next steps for you and Sven?

Right now we are off to use the film at COP-15. When we return, we have further college screenings, we have conferences, we have community events where we will show the film and Sven is hoping to publish an article on the subject in a magazine for seniors, reaching out to the grandparent community. I admit that we are also tired. We are starting Year 4 of this project and we have to find the time to simply stay fit and strong. People often ask me what film project I’m looking to get started on next. I confess to them that this one still has a ways to go, and we are dedicated to see that it continues to get out its message. And besides, it is an endlessly fascinating journey.

Film festivals solely dedicated to environmental issues are currently taking place all over the world.

The Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. is the largest environmental film festival in the world. Now in it’s 18th year, the event will take place March 16 – 28, 2010, and will screen over 130 films.

In Europe, the Environmental Film Festivals Network, created by Claudio Lauria of Barcelona, promotes environmental films and festivals around the globe, and provides resources to fellow environmental filmmakers and activists.

The number of festivals that focus on environmental issues demonstrates the importance these issues have not only on the global film community, but also our everyday lives.

Upcoming Environmental Film Festivals:

Princeton Environmental Film Festival
Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival
DC Environmental Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival at Yale University