Film Director Damon Gameau
By Laurie Casey
Late last week, after downing half a bottle of wine on a Zoom call with friends, I checked email and found a surprise message from a publicist: Damon Gameau, the director of “2040: The Regeneration,” could talk to me in the next hour. It was 9 p.m. on a Thursday night; as he lives in Australia, it was 1 p.m. his time. I hesitated for only a moment before rebooting Zoom. And I have to say that I was so glad I talked to this dynamic, passionate thinker, who infused my evening with hope for the future . . . and no, it wasn't just the wine talking. You need to see this film.
“2040: The Regeneration” is full of hope . . . for our children . . . for humanity . . . for our planet. Gameau went around the world to find people already working on climate change solutions, and he hired a bunch of designers to envision what our planet could look like once we implement these solutions on a wide scale. I’ve been volunteering and working for the One Earth Film Festival for 6 years, and even though we try our best to find films that uplift and offer practical solutions, a film like this one is in a class all its own.
I asked Gameau three quick questions to give you a taste of the film. Read it, then book your free tickets (donations appreciated!).
Casey: It's so refreshing to watch a film full of hope for humankind and the environment! Thank you. When you set out to make this film, was that your intention? Or were you surprised by the hope you discovered?
Gameau: I didn’t know what to expect. I was new to the climate space. I spent a year researching this film. I guess the turning point came with a chat with a psychologist who helped me explain some of the behaviors the brain goes through when we are only hearing the narratives of doom and gloom and overwhelm. And I thought, yes, we have been doing that for a long time, and I think we can argue that a lot of people feel paralyzed. And from that, they disengage. They don’t know what to do.
We love hope. That’s what gets us up in the morning: the idea that we are going to have a better day than yesterday, that we can make a change in our lives or make some sort of progress. So I thought this was an opportunity to reframe this whole topic, not as a story of deprivation and sacrifice, but as a story of opportunity and that we can create a better world on the other side of this crisis.
Casey: As you show in your film, we have the creativity, the vision, the tools and solutions. Did you discover a catalyst or secret sauce for making "the Regeneration" actually happen?
Gameau: I can only go off our experiment, I suppose. The film was a small part of a much larger ecosystem we built. At the end of the film, when people are feeling empowered and uplifted, they can go on our website and activate their own plan. We structured a questionnaire that asks people how much time they have and what subject in the film resonated with them. Was there a particular subject, whether it’s agriculture, energy or oceans, that aligns with their own values and gets them excited? If so, we steered them in the direction of six or seven things they can do to see that through.
To me that’s been the most exciting and rewarding part of this journey: To see what our community has actually done, that’s brought to life some of the solutions we see in the film—the marine permaculture platform, the microgrids. We’ve raised millions of dollars just through $10, $20 donations from people because they want to do something and get involved. A million students in Australia were taught the 2040 curriculum because teachers were desperate for solutions they could show the kids and get them excited about careers of the future.
I feel like we have some tangible evidence. This is one strategy we can use to motivate people: to give them entry points that align with their passions so they can get involved. If we just keep paralyzing them with fear, it’s too existential, too large. And people think, “I can’t do anything about this. It’s beyond my control.” But if we motivate them with hope and aspiration and get them excited and then align that with things they can do, then we have a better chance of creating action.
Casey: Let’s turn to the art of filmmaking. From an artistic standpoint, what are you most proud of in this film?
Gameau: The dreaming and the imagination of asking, “What would 2040 look like if we extrapolated these ideas now?” The process of working with the designers and special effects team—who were largely a group of 25 year olds—was so fun. I saw joy in their faces while discussing what a future might look like with more greenery and nature in our cities or fewer cars on our roads, or regenerated farmlands. Having those discussions —and kickstarting the creativity and imagination in them and then seeing it brought to life on the screen—was really magical. If you think of any depictions of the future in most of our films from Hollywood, it’s the opposite of that. There’s certainly no nature anywhere. And I think if we’re not careful, they just become the subliminal images we plant in the minds of our kids.
So it was lovely to see these designers thinking about the future in a very different way. They made decisions about what side of the road would a driverless car pull over on. What kind of trees would work as food in certain cities? What trees will grow back in the tar sands of Canada? They made all those really fun creative decisions. It was magic to watch.
We’re not using our imaginations anywhere nearly enough. We’re not dreaming as much as we could in this moment. We’re letting other people build 2040 while we’re listening to podcasts and music and scrolling social media. Other people are designing our future. I guess I just wanted to remind people that we do have a say in that, and it’s really important we do it right now. Otherwise we’ll be living someone else’s future.
And after speaking with Damon Gameau—charismatic, passionate and super smart—I'm even more excited to see this film. It’s screening virtually at 7 p.m. on November 5. And Gameau will do a live Q&A after the screening.
For the perfect evening, order takeout from your favorite locally owned restaurant, throw on your pjs and snuggle up on your sofa with your laptop. So easy! Full tummy and lots of yummy, much-needed hope to fill your heart.
Virtually at 7 p.m. for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2040-the-regeneration-virtual-screening-discussion-tickets-127395083123
If you want to see the film the way it was meant to be shown, on a screen, Gorton Theater is screening it at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets will go fast, as they only allow 25 people at each screening due to COVID safety measures. Tickets here:
In person at 11 a.m. for $10: https://gortoncenter.org/event/2040matinee/
In person at 7 p.m. for $10: https://gortoncenter.org/event/2040/