On 21 September 2009, IBG, Inc. joined forces with dozens of non-profits worldwide to bring The Age of Stupid to over four hundred screens across the globe, helping the film to break their own record (set in London, UK) for the largest film premiere in history. We are proud to announce that the screening we were given ownership of in Century City, CA was sold out!! One of our own members nearly didn’t have a seat inside the theatre.
For over two hours the crowd was captivated by the Green Carpet arrivals, the film itself and the Q&A session afterward. The brilliance of The Age of Stupid is that it touches upon the humanity of the environmental crisis the world is facing. While we’ve heard statistics and scare tactics on the news for several years, writer and director Franny Armstrong taps into our very basic need to connect to other people and, through that, not only reach a higher understanding but also a sense of truly caring about the environmental state of the world. Throughout the course of the film, facts are presented in a way that is not only clear and concise, but puts human faces onto a problem that is often presented as anything but human. When we hear the same statistics and predictions time and time again, slowly we begin to tune those out and retreat to a more comfortable state of blissful ignorance, or denial. When suddenly forced to see the impending catastrophe and the causes of the environmental disaster through the eyes of a young African woman hoping to be a doctor but confined by societal disadvantage, an older mountain guide in France who has seen firsthand climate change over the course of several decades, a former Shell scientist who lost all he had in Hurricane Katrina, a young family pioneering wind power while facing immense resistance in rural England … suddenly, the victims are human. The facts make sense. We’ve connected to this issue in a personal, emotional way.
Please visit Age of Stupid to see if the film will be playing in a cinema near you, to donate to the cause, and to get involved.
